Adobe Road house spotlight
Official Adobe Road Winery tour of Kevin Buckler's Petaluma riverfront house. Carbon is the Racing Series Petite Sirah-led blend named for carbon fiber.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2021 Adobe Road Carbon Napa & Sonoma Counties across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $84.39 and the average is $99.12. Our slash is $86.00.
2021 Adobe Road Carbon Napa & Sonoma Counties, USA
Garrett Martin's Carbon, 70 percent Petite Sirah and 80 percent new French oak, a dark 2021 Napa-Sonoma red you can open at eighty-six dollars.
The 2021 Carbon is 70 percent Petite Sirah with 13 percent Petit Verdot, 9 percent Cabernet, and 8 percent Malbec, 80 percent new French oak: black cherry, licorice, and deeply toasted oak, now $86.
The darkest Racing Series bottle they could still drink
Carbon is named for carbon fiber. The 2021 is 70 percent Petite Sirah, then Petit Verdot, Cabernet, and Malbec, aged in 80 percent new French oak. Opaque, strong, full, still approachable. Black cherry, licorice, toasted oak, ripe plum, crushed blackberry, violet. This is the current Carbon, not the 2018. Eighty-six dollars.
The house
Kevin and Debra Buckler opened Adobe Road in Petaluma in 2002. Garrett Martin makes the wines.
The wine
70% Petite Sirah, 13% Petit Verdot, 9% Cabernet, 8% Malbec. 80% new French oak. Napa and Sonoma fruit.
The idea
Carbon is the strongest, darkest wine they could make without losing the drinkable line.
The drinker
Black cherry and licorice first. Serve 62 to 66 F. Decant 30 minutes. Ribeye or short ribs.
Black cherry and licorice, then toast, plum, and violet
The 2021 pours opaque: black cherry, licorice, deeply toasted oak, ripe plum, crushed blackberry, violet. Petite Sirah gives the ink. Petit Verdot adds perfume and grip. Cabernet and Malbec keep the mid-palate from turning into a wall. Full, sculpted, still a table wine.
A warm, concentrated California red year. This 2021 Carbon carries that density and still drinks now after a decant.
Black cherry, licorice, toasted oak, ripe plum, crushed blackberry, violet.
Full, Petite Sirah-led, 80% new French oak, sculpted tannin.
Toast, violet, length. Serve 62 to 66 F. Decant 30 minutes.
Petite Sirah first, then a dark Bordeaux frame
The 2021 Carbon is 70 percent Petite Sirah. Thirteen percent Petit Verdot, 9 percent Cabernet, and 8 percent Malbec complete the blend. Eighty percent new French oak is the frame, not a whisper. Garrett Martin built it to be the darkest Racing Series wine that still stays drinkable.
Napa and Sonoma fruit, Petaluma cellar. Same Racing Series idea as the 2018 Carbon, current vintage.
Decant 30 minutes. Serve 62 to 66 F. A hard-seared steak is the plate.
Fast cars, a dark bottle, a Petaluma cellar
Buckler named Carbon for the material on a race car. The juice had to be as serious as the label.
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 Petite Sirah-led bottle in that set.
The 2021 is the current Carbon: same idea as 2018, a later vintage, more new oak, still built to pour.
Ribeye on the board, then short ribs
Petite Sirah wants char, fat, and collagen. A hard-seared ribeye takes the toast. A braise takes the licorice close.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One red-wine short rib. Both can take Carbon tannin.
Serve 62 to 66 F. Decant 30 minutes. This is a dark blend, not a splash pour.
Pan-Seared Ribeye
A hard crust for Petite Sirah, toast, and black cherry.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion 80 percent new oak while beef pulls licorice and plum.
View Recipe for pan-seared steaks (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs
A slow braise for a dark Napa-Sonoma blend.
Why it works: Collagen and Petite Sirah need each other. Toasted oak meets the glaze.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this 2021 Carbon in the cart
Garrett Martin, 70 percent Petite Sirah, 80 percent new French oak. Eighty-six dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the current Racing Series Carbon, not a leftover 750 from another vintage.
