90 Points Wine Enthusiast
This wine leads with immediate floral-perfume aromas, moving on toward notes of blackberry, black cherry, crushed violets and purple orchids, cocoa, vanilla, nutmeg and a hint of fresh leather. As it opens, the elevated tannic structure softens and the voluptuousness of the fruits really shines through.
 
Winemaker Notes
The Herdsman is the culmination of Matchbook’s quest to create a premium Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dunnigan Hills. The vineyards chosen for the 2020 vintage are the most gravel-heavy sites; the type of soil that produces the most intensely flavored fruit in the appellation. The evidence is in the quintessentially-Cab aromas: lots of cassis, saddle leather, currant, and tobacco. The flavors travel from oak to fruit to spicy peppercorn. Vanilla and toast are followed by blackberry, blueberry and plum. The red berry flavors and mocha spice linger in the long, smooth finish. This is a full-bodied Cabernet that is both complex and elegant.