{"id":9071,"date":"2026-11-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/?p=9071"},"modified":"2026-11-06T12:25:33","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:25:33","slug":"immortal-estate-impassable-mountain-2017-cabernet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/immortal-estate-impassable-mountain-2017-cabernet\/","title":{"rendered":"Immortal Estate Impassable Mountain 2017: The Mountain Cabernet in Our Next Collector’s Drop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Immortal Estate Impassable Mountain 2017 is a 96-point mountain Cabernet from terraced Sonoma slopes as steep as 55%. It is the wine in our next Collector’s Drop, coming next week.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some vineyards you can drive past. Hidden Ridge is not one of them. It sits on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Mountains, on terraced slopes as steep as 55%, at 1,100 to 1,700 feet. Every cluster is picked by hand. From this site comes Immortal Estate’s flagship, Impassable Mountain. The 2017 earned 96 points from Jeb Dunnuck, and it is the wine in our Collector’s Drop, opening next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what makes it worth a place in a serious cellar, including the parts of the story most product pages leave out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a Glance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wine<\/strong><\/td>Immortal Estate Impassable Mountain 2017<\/td><\/tr>
Grape<\/strong><\/td>100% Cabernet Sauvignon<\/td><\/tr>
Vineyard<\/strong><\/td>Hidden Ridge, Sonoma side of the Mayacamas, 1,100 to 1,700 feet<\/td><\/tr>
Critic<\/strong><\/td>Jeb Dunnuck, 96 points<\/td><\/tr>
Drink<\/strong><\/td>Now through 2045<\/td><\/tr>
Collector’s Drop<\/strong><\/td>Coming next week. Get a text when it opens.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Want to know the moment it goes live?<\/strong> Text me when the drop opens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Hidden Ridge to Immortal Estate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The vineyard’s story starts in 1990, when Lynn Hofacker began carving it out of the mountain. Hofacker had a gift for planting vines where few would try. Under the Hidden Ridge name, the site built a quiet following. In fact, Wine Spectator ranked its 2009 “55% Slope” Cabernet #32 in its Top 100 of 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, Tim Martin, a cofounder of Tusk Estates, invested in the property<\/a> and renamed it Immortal Estate. The estate released its first wines under the new label in July 2018. The winery has said the 2013 Impassable Mountain, made at the same site, received 100 points from Robert Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name has a story too. The label shows the immortal jellyfish, a creature that can return its cells to a younger state. The idea is simple: wines meant to outlast the people who make them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why 55% Slopes Make a Better Cabernet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Only 50 of the estate’s 150 acres are planted. The vines face mostly east and south, on slopes so steep most rows are terraced. The soils are lean, a mix of uplifted alluvium and decomposed volcanic material typical of the Mayacamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That combination does two things. First, lean soil and steep slopes hold back the vines, so the berries stay small and concentrated. Second, the site sits above the fog line but catches cool Pacific breezes in the morning and late afternoon. The winery says this keeps it a little cooler than Spring Mountain, just to the east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the growing day is long and moderate. Tannins ripen fully, while the fruit keeps its natural acidity. For a collector, that is the profile to look for: power now, with the structure to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Question Collectors Ask About 2017<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2017 season opened with heavy winter rain that ended years of drought. Spring was cool and summer was moderate. Then the heat arrived over Labor Day weekend and stayed through September and into October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the night of October 8, a windstorm and downed power lines sparked several fires across Northern California. We want to be direct about this, because experienced buyers will ask. Immortal Estate picked this wine from October 9 to October 30, after the fires began. The winery reports the vineyard was spared direct impact. It credits fire crews and the same ocean winds that shape its wines, which it says kept a steady stream of fresh air moving and the smoke away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context, Sonoma County Vintners reported at the time<\/a> that about 90% of the county’s grapes were picked before the fires. Most of what remained was late-ripening Cabernet, like this. Still, the best check on any 2017 is the glass. Jeb Dunnuck tasted this one in 2021 and scored it 96.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collector’s Drops sell out. Get a text when this one opens<\/a> so you are not reading about it after it is gone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It Was Made<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The team picked the vineyard in twelve separate lots over about two and a half weeks. They chose each block by taste, sometimes down to a few rows. After hand sorting, the fruit cold soaked and then sat on its skins for 30 to 40 days in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wine went into 85% new French oak, where it finished its malolactic fermentation. Only barrels from two lots made the final blend. In the end, Immortal Estate Impassable Mountain 2017 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery racked it three times and bottled it unfined and unfiltered in July 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Jeb Dunnuck Tasted in Impassable Mountain<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Dunnuck reviewed the 2017 in July 2021 and gave it 96 points. He found black cherry, blackberry, currant, tobacco, chalky minerality and lead pencil. In his words, it is full-bodied, with chocolatey oak, real freshness and a great finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunnuck was also clear about style. This is not a Cabernet for anyone wanting Bordeaux-like delicacy. Instead, he wrote, it brings “a Napa-like sense of opulence and decadence.” His drinking window runs from 2024 to 2045.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winery’s own note adds sweet spice, red and black fruit, marionberry and black tea, carried on plenty of ripe tannin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immortal Estate Impassable Mountain: Open It Now or Hold It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2017 is nine years past harvest and already inside Dunnuck’s window, with two decades still ahead of it. That gives you a choice most young Cabernets do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n