A food-friendly Cabernet with delightful aromas of blackberry, baking spices, and rich palate notes of black cherry, lush tannins, and a hint of raspberry.
Beautiful flavors of ripe blackberries, bramble, cassis, and baking spices with lush tannins that bring complexity and length to the finish of black cherries, baking spices and a hint of raspberry.
Winemaking
2017 began with record rainfall during the winter, but Cabernet can take a little rain. Extended cold soaks provided natural extraction from the grapes and allowed the native populations a chance to increase population. Pump overs were performed twice daily once our native yeast began fermentation, reducing pump over duration later in fermentation. Once the fermentation slowed, the skins were allowed to rest in the wine, keeping overall contact from 30-50 days. The wine was aged for 24 months in French oak (25% new) and bottled in April 2020.
Winemaker’s Comments
“The red loam soils on the hills of Kunde provide a great foundation for growing great Cabernet. When we pick our vineyards in October, we know that we maximized the hang time the fruit was given to express the terroir of the Sonoma Valley. This is a tasting room exclusive, best enjoyed with the family around your favorite summer barbeque grills; burgers to spare ribs this one is versatile.”
Food Pairing
Grilled New York Steaks with a dollop of blue cheese butter
At Kunde Family Estate, our winemaking mission is to craft elegant wines with a real sense of place—beautifully balanced and expressive of our dramatic vineyard landscape.
For over a century, five generations of the Kunde Family have farmed our 1,850-acre estate in the heart of Sonoma Valley—a truly remarkable legacy in the modern age of California winemaking. A fervent, forward-thinking vision of land stewardship and sustainability began over one hundred years ago and has been shaped with each successive generation.
Today, Kunde Family Estate is still family owned and operated with a hands-on team of 4th and 5th-generation family members at the helm. At the end of the day, every decision we make, every wine we craft, and every experience we provide honors the legacy of founder Louis Kunde, who emigrated from Germany and purchased the original Wildwood Vineyards ranch at the turn of the century in 1904. Cresting the second century was a profound milestone for the family. Moving forward, we remain committed to innovation and state-of-the-art facilities, while also maintaining a deep, personal commitment to sustainable winegrowing and preserving the land for generations to come.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Lab rat reporting for duty. Please forgive typos and the ever so helpful autocorrect as I’m submitting from a mobile device.
Kunde Estate 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County arrived Friday (thankfully in the morning) and had 2 days to chill out in the wine fridge.
Pop n pour into Riedel Cab glasses. It’s a beautiful deep color that I’ll call eggplant. Initial nose of plum and dark berries. Initial taste is also plum, blackberries and raspberries. Strong tannin; mouth-puckering.
Left open to breathe while we finished other stuff, and then prepared dinner. Grilled rib-eyes, roasted Brussels sprouts and Parmesan garlic toast (not the frozen kind) and homemade berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Three hours later with dinner the wine has evolved. Still getting a bit of plum and berries, but dark cherries have taken center stage. Also a bit of chocolate. The tannins are still present Busch much smoother. Medium finish. Held up to the steak. Hubs thought it was good with the sprouts, I did not, though I don’t know that I’ve ever had a wine with sprouts that I’d call a good pairing.
Overall well balanced tasty CS that delivers well above what I’d get for $25 at Publix. Not surprised as I’ve been drinking Kunde for over 30 years; consistent quality wines that are value priced. Ready to drink with a short decant. We agreed this would be a buy at $18-20 and will nicely fill a gap in our coolers for current drinking CS.
Thanks to Alice, WD, and the good folks at Kunde for the opportunity!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2017 Kunde Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon - $30 = 12.49%
So happy to be selected as a rat once again. For two reasons:
This Kunde cabernet is right up the fairway for my far-from-expert palate, and
My lack of wine knowledge has not prevented Casemates from sending me free wine. So, there’s continued hope for the normals!
On to the review.
Upon opening the cork exited cleanly, no cracking and the telltale dark coloration was present as well. Testing the fragrance from the bottle, there was some slight fruit on the nose, no particular alcohol scent was present. On first pour I got a whiff of slightly more alcohol. Also, and forgive me, a little funk was present. A bit dank, reminiscent of the barrel aging. It wasn’t offensive, but overpowered any sense of fruit.
First sip presented light fruit on the back of my tongue and was slightly astringent towards the back of my throat. Figured it was best to let this breathe for a bit. Of course, drinking wine is like oxygen to me, so I allowed myself to let the bottle breathe while I inhaled the glass I had. For what it’s worth, the taste was fine, albeit a little neutral, but I was still getting that funk smell from this first pour.
After a few minutes it did finally dissipate, and I started to find this a very light, dry and approachable cab. About this time my dinner was ready and happily paired it with homemade smoke pork ribs and rice pilaf.
This is the point of the review where I distract from my lack of knowledge of wine with some well positioned food pictures. Is it working? Are you spending too much time looking at the thoughtful focus, the composition and the lighting of the shot? Perfect. You are now under the impression I know more about wine than I actually do.
Somewhere into the 3rd rib, the residual funk odor gave way to note of fig, plum and earthy goodness. The pairing was excellent and even though I’ve been enjoying my most frivolous purchase to date – a Bartesian, kind of a Keurig for cocktails – I was very pleased to get back to wine to enjoy with this meal.
I normally would prefer to do a day 2 review but given that I did not open this one until last night, I’ll have to provide an update later this evening. That said, I’ll close how I opened… this is a cab that is right up the fairway, easy to drink and enjoy, given you allow a few (20 in my case) minutes to let it oxygenate properly.
So the ultimate question: would I buy this? I think yes, as it reads to me about $25 or $30 dollars per bottle. At the price offered this is a pass and I’ve already considered the 4-bottle option at the time of this posting.
Thanks as always to the Casemates team for allowing my limited experience to inform others on how to pick wine. This is fantastic for my ego. Less so for my liver. Maybe.
@ACraigL So a buddy of mine, 83 years young, had been starting to slow down his beverage alcohol consumption over the last few years. Bought a Bartesian awhile back. He loves it, back to drinking like a 40 year old!
@kaolis I was never much for cocktails, but since I’m going to bars so infrequently now, I figured I’d splurge (with some shirt money). I’m really enjoying it. Raspberry Ginger Gimlets are my go-to now.
Question, looks like there is a Sonoma County bottling that appears to be sourced fruit, this one, and a Sonoma Valley bottling that is estate fruit?? Anyone know?
@jrbw3@kaolis@klezman the $25 msrp listed is for the estate bottle not the SC is what I’m seeing.
As tasty as it may be, I feel the discount (here) is not exciting.
Is it as steep a discount from msrp as we’ve seen from some other Casemates offerings? No, but Kunde is a solid and consistent producer with good value at regular prices, so at $17.50/bottle, I’m happy to pick up a case. YMMV
@jrbw3@kaolis@klezman@pseudogourmet98 ok, but the main page on wine-searcher is misleading:
2017 Kunde Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma Valley, USA
Avg Price (ex-tax)
$ 25 / 750ml
Red - Bold and Structured
2017 Kunde Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
Winemaking
Winemaker’s Comments
Food Pairing
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$270.00/Case for 12x 2017 Kunde Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County at Kunde Family Winery
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Tuesday, Sep 6 - Wednesday, Sep 7
2017 Kunde Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
4 bottles for $79.99 $20/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $209.99 $17.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
This is the first CaseMates offer I have ever seen which is also available from my local Total Wine (and at about the same price too).
Lab rat reporting for duty. Please forgive typos and the ever so helpful autocorrect as I’m submitting from a mobile device.
Kunde Estate 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County arrived Friday (thankfully in the morning) and had 2 days to chill out in the wine fridge.
Pop n pour into Riedel Cab glasses. It’s a beautiful deep color that I’ll call eggplant. Initial nose of plum and dark berries. Initial taste is also plum, blackberries and raspberries. Strong tannin; mouth-puckering.
Left open to breathe while we finished other stuff, and then prepared dinner. Grilled rib-eyes, roasted Brussels sprouts and Parmesan garlic toast (not the frozen kind) and homemade berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Three hours later with dinner the wine has evolved. Still getting a bit of plum and berries, but dark cherries have taken center stage. Also a bit of chocolate. The tannins are still present Busch much smoother. Medium finish. Held up to the steak. Hubs thought it was good with the sprouts, I did not, though I don’t know that I’ve ever had a wine with sprouts that I’d call a good pairing.
Overall well balanced tasty CS that delivers well above what I’d get for $25 at Publix. Not surprised as I’ve been drinking Kunde for over 30 years; consistent quality wines that are value priced. Ready to drink with a short decant. We agreed this would be a buy at $18-20 and will nicely fill a gap in our coolers for current drinking CS.
Thanks to Alice, WD, and the good folks at Kunde for the opportunity!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations.)
2017 Kunde Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon - $30 = 12.49%
So happy to be selected as a rat once again. For two reasons:
On to the review.
Upon opening the cork exited cleanly, no cracking and the telltale dark coloration was present as well. Testing the fragrance from the bottle, there was some slight fruit on the nose, no particular alcohol scent was present. On first pour I got a whiff of slightly more alcohol. Also, and forgive me, a little funk was present. A bit dank, reminiscent of the barrel aging. It wasn’t offensive, but overpowered any sense of fruit.
First sip presented light fruit on the back of my tongue and was slightly astringent towards the back of my throat. Figured it was best to let this breathe for a bit. Of course, drinking wine is like oxygen to me, so I allowed myself to let the bottle breathe while I inhaled the glass I had. For what it’s worth, the taste was fine, albeit a little neutral, but I was still getting that funk smell from this first pour.
After a few minutes it did finally dissipate, and I started to find this a very light, dry and approachable cab. About this time my dinner was ready and happily paired it with homemade smoke pork ribs and rice pilaf.
This is the point of the review where I distract from my lack of knowledge of wine with some well positioned food pictures. Is it working? Are you spending too much time looking at the thoughtful focus, the composition and the lighting of the shot? Perfect. You are now under the impression I know more about wine than I actually do.
Somewhere into the 3rd rib, the residual funk odor gave way to note of fig, plum and earthy goodness. The pairing was excellent and even though I’ve been enjoying my most frivolous purchase to date – a Bartesian, kind of a Keurig for cocktails – I was very pleased to get back to wine to enjoy with this meal.
I normally would prefer to do a day 2 review but given that I did not open this one until last night, I’ll have to provide an update later this evening. That said, I’ll close how I opened… this is a cab that is right up the fairway, easy to drink and enjoy, given you allow a few (20 in my case) minutes to let it oxygenate properly.
So the ultimate question: would I buy this? I think yes, as it reads to me about $25 or $30 dollars per bottle. At the price offered this is a pass and I’ve already considered the 4-bottle option at the time of this posting.
Thanks as always to the Casemates team for allowing my limited experience to inform others on how to pick wine. This is fantastic for my ego. Less so for my liver. Maybe.
@ACraigL OMG did I write PASS up there? I think maybe I meant something like, I wouldn’t pass on this one… Anyway. it’s a buy. Sorry about that!
Glad to hear it was just a Faux-PASS?
@pmarin Haha, yep. Pairs well with my mis-steak.
@ACraigL So a buddy of mine, 83 years young, had been starting to slow down his beverage alcohol consumption over the last few years. Bought a Bartesian awhile back. He loves it, back to drinking like a 40 year old!
@kaolis I was never much for cocktails, but since I’m going to bars so infrequently now, I figured I’d splurge (with some shirt money). I’m really enjoying it. Raspberry Ginger Gimlets are my go-to now.
Question, looks like there is a Sonoma County bottling that appears to be sourced fruit, this one, and a Sonoma Valley bottling that is estate fruit?? Anyone know?
@kaolis Everything would indicate this is the county bottling, not the SV.
@kaolis @klezman This is disappointing. Typically a big fan of Kunde.
@jrbw3 @kaolis Sorry, I don’t understand. Have you had the Sonoma County bottling and determined it was not to your tates?
@jrbw3 @kaolis @klezman
And no tech sheets up for either of them.
@jrbw3 @kaolis @klezman the $25 msrp listed is for the estate bottle not the SC is what I’m seeing.
As tasty as it may be, I feel the discount (here) is not exciting.
@jrbw3 @kaolis @klezman @ttboy23
The Sonoma Valley is $35 on the Kunde website, the Sonoma County (this offer) is $25.
Is it as steep a discount from msrp as we’ve seen from some other Casemates offerings? No, but Kunde is a solid and consistent producer with good value at regular prices, so at $17.50/bottle, I’m happy to pick up a case. YMMV
@jrbw3 @kaolis @klezman @pseudogourmet98 ok, but the main page on wine-searcher is misleading:
2017 Kunde Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma Valley, USA
Avg Price (ex-tax)
$ 25 / 750ml
Red - Bold and Structured
@jrbw3 @kaolis @klezman @pseudogourmet98 @ttboy23
not really all that unusual for wine-searcher to have an incorrect ‘match’