Lot Overview
- Region: 100% Alexander Valley (Pocket Peak AVA), 1,300–1,500 feet elevation
- Vintage: 2023
- Varietal: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot
- Oak Aging: 50% new French oak
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Cases Available: ~130
- Cam Price: ~$12.50/bottle ($149/case)
- Retail Estimate: $60/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: Copper Six Wine — Star Springs Ranch, Alexander Valley (Grand Cru Custom Crush)
- Wine Berserkers Guess: Copper Six Wine ✓ (same as Claude)
- Drink Window: 2025–2038 (peak 2027–2034)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Sourced from an amazing vineyard site at 1,300–1,500 feet elevation in the mountains of the newly formed Pocket Peak sub-AVA in Alexander Valley. The producer is a small boutique operation — the lot size of 330 gallons will only get us about 130 cases — but rest assured, this is first-run juice produced at a super high-end custom crush facility and raised in 50% new French oak cooperage. Normally $60/bottle, quite reasonably priced given what others in the region are charging.
Tasting Notes
Vibrant deep ruby in the glass with a beautiful, lively bouquet featuring spicy, powdery florals mingling with blackcurrant and black cherry complexed with pencil lead and a kiss of tobacco leaf and light cocoa underpinning. Super lifted and pretty. Medium-full bodied on entry with exquisite balance yet bursting with elegantly rendered boysenberry and blackcurrant attenuated over nicely integrated, robust, mineral-driven tannins and a nice sweet tobacco flourish. Finishing long, complex, pure, and elegant — a very sophisticated Cabernet Sauvignon that hews true to its sense of place. Super pretty with terrific energy, drinks great now but will age gracefully for another 10-15 years.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status: Allow 60–90 days minimum post-bottling.
Claude’s Source Guess: Copper Six Wine — Star Springs Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley (Grand Cru Custom Crush)
Copper Six is a first-generation, family-owned boutique Sonoma County winery producing limited quantities from select Alexander Valley vineyard sites including Star Springs Ranch, a high-elevation property in the eastern mountain corridor that falls within the Pocket Peak AVA footprint. They produce at Grand Cru Custom Crush in Healdsburg — one of Napa/Sonoma’s premier custom crush facilities — matching Cam’s “super high-end custom crush facility” description precisely. Their production is small and club-allocation focused, consistent with Cam’s “only 130 cases” from 330 gallons.
The WE review of Copper Six’s 2022 Star Springs Ranch Cab specifically noted “tobacco, pepper, pencil lead and leather” — nearly word for word Cam’s tasting note of “pencil lead, tobacco leaf, and light cocoa.” The $60 retail matches exactly. The stylistic description of elegance, precision, and terroir transparency over power aligns with Copper Six’s stated winemaking philosophy of “quality first wines.”
The existing page had Skipstone as the primary guess, but Skipstone’s retail of $85-100+ creates a significant price mismatch with Cam’s “$60/bottle.” Copper Six fits the price, the custom crush facility, the small production, and the tasting note vocabulary far more precisely. WB independently identified Copper Six.
✅ Confidence: High — custom crush facility confirmed, $60 retail confirmed, Star Springs Ranch Pocket Peak elevation fits, tasting note descriptors match, and WB independently identified Copper Six.
Drink Window
Early: 2025 — Cam says it drinks great now.
Peak: 2027–2034. Mountain Alexander Valley Cab at this quality tier peaks 4–10 years from vintage.
Hold: 2038. Cam says 10-15 years and the structure supports it.
My Call: ✅ Drink window: 2025–2038 (peak 2027–2034)