Adobe Road house spotlight
Official Adobe Road Winery tour of Kevin Buckler's Petaluma riverfront house. This 2018 Carbon is the earlier Petite Sirah-led Racing Series bottle, not the 2021.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2018 Adobe Road Carbon Napa & Sonoma Counties across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $84.39 and the average is $97.78. Our slash is $84.00.
2018 Adobe Road Carbon Napa & Sonoma Counties, USA
Adobe Road's 2018 Carbon, the Petite Sirah-led Racing Series bottle after eight years in glass, a Napa-Sonoma red you can open at eighty-four dollars.
The 2018 Carbon is the earlier Racing Series Petite Sirah blend from Napa and Sonoma: black cherry, licorice, toasted oak, ripe plum, and crushed blackberry, now $84.
Eight years on, the same dark idea, a quieter oak line
This is the 2018 Carbon, not the 2021. Petite Sirah-led, named for carbon fiber, built as the strongest, darkest wine Adobe Road could make without losing the line. Eight years in glass have moved toasted oak toward licorice, plum, and violet. A generous California Cabernet-and-Petite year. Eighty-four dollars.
The house
Kevin and Debra Buckler opened Adobe Road in Petaluma in 2002. Garrett Martin makes the wines.
The wine
Petite Sirah-led Racing Series Carbon from Napa and Sonoma. The 2018, not the 2021.
The time
Eight years in bottle. Oak has settled. Black fruit is still in front.
The drinker
Black cherry and licorice first. Serve 62 to 66 F. Twenty to 30 minutes of air. Ribeye.
Black cherry and licorice, then plum, toast, and violet
The 2018 still pours dark: black cherry, licorice, toasted oak, ripe plum, crushed blackberry, violet. Compared with the 2021, this bottle has had eight years to fold the oak into the fruit. Sculpted tannin, a dark blend that stayed drinkable.
A generous California red year. Eight years on, the oak has settled and the Petite Sirah still has ink.
Black cherry, licorice, toasted oak, ripe plum, crushed blackberry, violet.
Full, Petite Sirah-led, eight years in glass, sculpted tannin.
Licorice, violet, length. Serve 62 to 66 F. Twenty to 30 minutes of air.
Petite Sirah for ink, time for the oak
The 2018 Carbon is the earlier vintage of Adobe Road's darkest Racing Series blend. Petite Sirah leads. Napa and Sonoma fruit, Petaluma cellar, Garrett Martin. Eight years have done the waiting the 2021 still asks of a decanter.
Same house idea as the 2021 Carbon, a different year in bottle. Do not treat them as one SKU.
Twenty to 30 minutes of air. Serve 62 to 66 F. Ribeye is the plate.
The Racing Series bottle named for carbon fiber
Buckler wanted a wine as uncompromising as the material on the car. Carbon is that brief.
Adobe Road is a Petaluma house with Napa and Sonoma fruit. Kevin Buckler raced at Daytona and Le Mans, then opened the winery in 2002.
The Racing Series wines wear metal labels. Carbon is the strongest, darkest wine in that set.
The 2018 is that bottle after eight years. The 2021 is the current vintage on a separate listing.
Ribeye on the board
Aged Petite Sirah wants char and fat. A hard-seared ribeye is the weeknight plate. Lamb is the Saturday plate.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One rosemary rack of lamb. Both can take 2018 Carbon.
Serve 62 to 66 F. Twenty to 30 minutes of air. Eight-year Petite Sirah, not a tasting-room splash.
Pan-Seared Ribeye
A hard crust for eight-year Carbon, black cherry, and licorice.
Why it works: Fat cushions settled oak. Char pulls plum and blackberry.
View Recipe for pan-seared steaks (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Rack of Lamb
Herb and lamb fat for Petite Sirah and violet.
Why it works: Rosemary meets licorice. Lamb fat tames sculpted tannin.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)Put this 2018 Carbon in the cart
Petite Sirah-led Racing Series Carbon, eight years in glass. Eighty-four dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the 2018 Carbon, a different vintage from the 2021 listing.
