Burgess Cellars house spotlight
Tom Burgess, who bought the old Souverain hillside in 1972, is on camera for Burgess Cellars. This 2018 Sorenson's Reserve is from that family chapter, named for Bill Sorenson, the first winemaker.
2018 Burgess Cellars 'Sorenson's Reserve' Howell Mountain Cabernet, Napa Valley (95V)
The last vintage from Burgess's oldest hillside vines, Vinous 95, a 2018 Reserve you can open at seventy-five dollars.
The 2018 Sorenson's Reserve is 92 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot and Malbec from the oldest vines on the Howell Mountain property: black fruit, scorched earth, tar, orange peel, menthol, and licorice, now $75.
The last vintage from vines that dated to 1979, named for the first winemaker
Sorenson Vineyard is the original Burgess hillside, named for Bill Sorenson, who made 41 vintages after Tom Burgess bought Lee Stewart's Souverain in 1972. Antonio Galloni 95: the 2018s are the last vintage from the oldest vines on the estate, which dated back to 1979. Dark and ample, generous black fruit, scorched earth, tar, orange peel, menthol, and licorice, a classic Burgess wine. Gaylon Lawrence bought the house in 2020. This bottle is the family chapter's last old-vine Reserve: 92 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 percent Petit Verdot, 2 percent Malbec, 28 months in 40 percent new French oak, 14.5% alcohol.
The house
Tom Burgess bought the old Souverain hillside in 1972. Bill Sorenson was the first winemaker. The Lawrence family took it on in 2020.
The wine
Barrel selection from the oldest Sorenson vines. 92% Cabernet Sauvignon. 28 months, 40% new French oak. 14.5% ABV.
The scores
Vinous 95, Antonio Galloni: classic Burgess, last vintage from the 1979-era vines.
The drinker
Black fruit and tar first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye or short ribs.
Black fruit, then tar, menthol, and licorice
Galloni found generous black fruit, scorched earth, tar, orange peel, menthol, and licorice, dark and ample, a classic Burgess wine. In the glass expect dusty violet, crushed plum, crushed blackberry, old cigar box, and worn leather on mountain tannin that still has years in it.
A generous Napa Cabernet year. Burgess used it for the last old-vine Reserve before the 2020 sale and the later rebuild. Drink now with a long decant, or hold through the 2030s.
Black fruit, crushed plum, blackberry, dusty violet, orange peel, menthol, cigar box.
Full, 14.5% ABV, 28 months 40% new oak, mountain tannin, ample acidity.
Tar, licorice, leather, length. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Oldest Sorenson vines, then 28 months in French oak
The Reserve is a barrel selection from Sorenson, the oldest vines on the Howell Mountain property, planted from the early 1980s back toward 1979. Ninety-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 percent Petit Verdot, 2 percent Malbec. Twenty-eight months in French oak, 40 percent new. 14.5% alcohol. That is how black fruit and tar stay in front of toast.
Galloni called these the last wines from those oldest vines. The later house farms regeneratively. This 2018 is the old hillside in bottle.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. The tannin is real. The perfume is already dark and complete.
From Souverain's hillside to a Reserve named for Bill Sorenson
Mike Grgich and Warren Winiarski learned this hillside before Tom Burgess made it a Cabernet house.
Tom Burgess bought Lee Stewart's original Souverain on the slopes toward Howell Mountain. Bill Sorenson ran the cellar for 41 vintages.
The label often reads Napa Valley. The fruit is hillside. Sorenson's Reserve is the selected barrels from that original vineyard.
The 2018 is the last old-vine vintage Galloni tasted before the Lawrence chapter. Seventy-five dollars is the number that puts it on a table.
Ribeye on the iron, short ribs in the pot
Mountain Cabernet wants char and collagen. Black fruit and tar have a place to land.
Two plates. One ribeye. One short rib. Both can take Sorenson tannin, tar, and black fruit.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Perfect Pan-Seared Steaks
A hard crust for a 2018 Reserve that still has mountain tannin.
Why it works: Beef fat softens the 28-month oak while char pulls black fruit, tar, and menthol.
View Recipe for Perfect Pan-Seared Steaks (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs
A slow braise for a Reserve that has already waited.
Why it works: Collagen and reduction meet crushed plum while acidity keeps the plate moving.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this Sorenson's Reserve in the cart
Vinous 95. Last old-vine vintage. Seventy-five dollars against a $175 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is Burgess hillside Cabernet from the vines that made the house, not a later blend.
