2023 Arbuckle Ridge Gateway Cabernet estate spotlight
The market on this bottle
Top score is James Suckling on this vintage, never a Wine-Searcher aggregate.
Wine-Searcher listings for this vintage sit at $35.17. Named critic lock is James Suckling 93. Typical retail on this bottle is $88.
2023 Arbuckle Ridge Gateway Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Scott Saunders. Gateway Vineyard in Willow Creek, the mountain side of Paso. James Suckling 93. Twenty-eight on two or more.
Do not confuse this with the regional Paso Cabernet. This is 100 percent Gateway Vineyard, Willow Creek District. High elevation, marine-cooled, calcareous limestone and shale. James Suckling 93. Two or more are $28 a bottle. A single bottle is $88.
Single-vineyard Willow Creek Cabernet. James Suckling 93.
Scott Saunders is a fifth-generation Paso Robles native. Arbuckle Ridge started as a single barrel in 2011, separate from the family Hearst Ranch wines. Gateway Vineyard sits in Willow Creek, where elevation and limestone give Cabernet backbone instead of east-side plumpness. Eighteen months, 75 percent new French oak. James Suckling 93: concentrated currant and mountain berry, graphite minerals. Vinous noted a saline inflection and unexpected freshness. Two or more are $28.
Cabernet was first planted on the Saunders vineyard in 1992 by Jim and Debi Saunders. Scott grew up in those rows. Arbuckle is the soil: magnesium-rich clay, 500 feet of elevation change from the bottom of the vineyard to the top. Gateway Vineyard in Willow Creek is the single-vineyard Cabernet, not the regional Paso bottling. James Suckling 93 and Wine Enthusiast 91 on this 2023 Gateway.
The house
Scott Saunders. Arbuckle Ridge, Paso Robles.
The wine
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Gateway Vineyard, Willow Creek District. 14.8%.
The score
James Suckling 93. Currant, mountain berry, graphite.
The table
Lamb chops, a smash burger, anything with a mineral edge.
93 points, James Suckling
Named critics only. No shop names. No aggregate score in the corner.
Currant, graphite, then the salt.
Dark cocoa and cedar next to blackberry and graphite on the nose. Palate explodes with boysenberry, plum, a mineral edge, refreshing acidity, and a finish that keeps going. Medium-bodied, classical mountain fruit. Open it a few hours ahead, or give it a full decant. It held on day two.
18 months in 75% new French oak. 14.8% alcohol.
Dark cocoa, cedar, blackberry, graphite. Boysenberry, plum, mineral edge, refreshing acidity. Medium-bodied mountain fruit.
Dark cocoa and cedar next to blackberry and graphite on the nose. Palate explodes with boysenberry, plum, a mineral edge, refreshing acidity, and a finish that keeps going. Medium-bodied, classical mountain fruit. Open it a few hours ahead, or give it a full decant. It held on day two.
Serve near 62 F for reds, colder for whites. A short decant if the note asks for air.
Scott Saunders
100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Gateway Vineyard, Willow Creek District. Eighteen months in French oak, 75 percent new. 14.8 percent alcohol. Scott Saunders.
2023 Arbuckle Ridge Gateway Cabernet
The black-and-white label is a rock arch cut into the California coast. That is Gateway, not the regional Paso bottling. Scott grew up in these vines. Arbuckle Ridge is the passion project. This 2023 is the single-vineyard Cabernet.
7310 North River Road, Paso Robles. Open by appointment. Scott pours it himself.
What to put on the table
Food only. No bottles on the plate.
Reds near 62 F in a proper glass. Whites colder. A 20 to 40 minute decant when the tannins ask for it.
Epicurious cooks lamb chops. A cooking video for the pairing, not a winery film.
Herb lamb chops
Mountain Cabernet and lamb. Graphite and char.
View Recipe for Herb lamb chops (opens in a new tab)
Smash burger
A young Cabernet that can sit next to a Tuesday burger.
View Recipe for Smash burger (opens in a new tab)James Suckling 93. Gateway Vineyard, not the regional bottle. $28 when you take two.
Scott Saunders. Gateway Vineyard in Willow Creek, the mountain side of Paso. James Suckling 93. Twenty-eight on two or more.
Two or more are $28 each. A single bottle is $88. Twelve bottles ship free.
