Adobe Road 2019 "Blue Dog" Cabernet Sauvignon Napa & Sonoma Counties 3L

Kevin Buckler didn't come to wine through the usual channels. He came through racing — an accomplished GT endurance racing driver who founded Adobe Road Winery in Petaluma in 2002, bringing the same focus, precision, and competitive drive to winemaking that he applied to motorsport. Blue Dog is the most specifically occasion-driven wine in the Adobe Road portfolio — a cuvée that winemaker Garrett Martin produces only when the vintage gives him exactly what he is looking for. "We only make it in special years where the blend of Cabernet tastes just right," Martin says, and 2019 was one of those years.

The 2019 vintage across California was warmer than the immediately preceding years — a growing season of extra sunny days that, in Garrett Martin's own words, "perfectly ripened this fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon." Where the 2018 benefited from a more moderate California season, 2019 delivered the fuller, riper, more exotically spiced character that the warmer Sonoma sourcing specifically contributes when the sun gives the vines what they need. Martin's winemaking note for the 2019 is direct: "Blue Dog Cabernet Sauvignon is a celebration of Cabernet from two of the best growing regions in the world — Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Napa always brings a polished texture and dark fruit flavors. Sonoma offers exotic spices and silky tannins. The blend of both is captivating and perfectly balanced." Wine-Searcher's aggregate for the 2019 vintage is 89 points.

In a 3-liter double magnum — four bottles in one, aging more slowly and more gracefully than any standard 750ml format — the 2019 Blue Dog arrives at the table as exactly the statement a double magnum should make: a wine that announces itself before the cork is pulled, fills a gathering, and earns every bit of the attention it commands.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Adobe Road Winery was founded in 2002 by Kevin and Debra Buckler in Petaluma, Sonoma County — a winery whose motorsport founding philosophy translates directly into precision sourcing and exacting winemaking standards across a portfolio deliberately built around the finest individual vineyard sites in Northern California. Winemaker Garrett Martin works closely with Kevin Buckler on every Blue Dog release, studying the fruit across both the Napa and Sonoma components to achieve what the program explicitly describes as "captivating and perfectly balanced" harmony between the two appellations' distinct character contributions.

The blend is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon drawn from two distinct California growing environments. The Napa Valley component — sourced from Rutherford — contributes the polished texture, finesse, and dark fruit concentration that Rutherford Cabernet specifically and consistently delivers. The Sonoma County component — sourced from Dry Creek Valley — contributes the exotic spices, silky tannin structure, and the plush, generous fruit character that cooler, windswept Sonoma Cabernet produces. In the warmer 2019 vintage, those extra sunny days added additional ripeness and concentration to both components, producing a Blue Dog of particular richness and accessibility alongside the classic dark fruit and spice framework that defines the program. The 3-liter double magnum format ages the wine more slowly than a standard 750ml bottle, the lower wine-to-glass ratio slowing oxidation and allowing the wine to develop further complexity and integration over time.

Critics Reviews

Garrett Martin, Winemaker — 2019 vintage specific note (confirmed):
"Blue Dog Cabernet Sauvignon is a celebration of Cabernet from two of the best growing regions in the world: Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Napa always brings a polished texture and dark fruit flavors. Sonoma offers exotic spices and silky tannins. The blend of both is captivating and perfectly balanced! The 2019 vintage was a bit warmer than previous years. Those extra sunny days perfectly ripened this fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon. As always, the quality work of our amazing vineyard partners set the stage for incredible wines to be made!"

Adobe Road / Garrett Martin (house tasting notes, confirmed across vintages):
"Blue Dog comes bounding out of the glass with loads of fresh blackberries, black plums, and warm strawberry compote. Silky tannins frame the anise and ripe fig complexities on the decadently layered palate, with a black pepper spice on the long finish. From front to back this wine feels luxurious."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Deep inky purple-red — the 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford and Dry Creek in the warmer 2019 vintage producing a color of genuine concentration. Fresh blackberries and black plums bound from the glass with vivid dark fruit intensity — the winemaker's own "Blue Dog comes bounding out of the glass" characterization is, as always, the most accurate single-sentence description available. Warm strawberry compote adds a slightly baked, ripe-fruit secondary dimension that is specifically and notably more pronounced in the 2019's warmer-vintage character than in cooler years. Anise adds savory, licorice-edged depth. Exotic spices — the Dry Creek Sonoma component's most specifically and the most memorably distinctive aromatic contribution in this warmer, riper growing season — add a warmth and complexity that sets this vintage apart.

Palate
Polished, silky, and captivating — Garrett Martin's own description of the 2019 confirmed on the palate from the first sip. The Napa Valley Rutherford component's finesse and dark fruit concentration carry the entry, followed by the Sonoma component's silky tannin framework. Ripe fig adds warm, sweet secondary fruit complexity alongside the dominant blackberry and plum. The 2019's additional ripeness from the warmer growing season is most directly apparent here — a richer, more immediately generous palate than cooler vintages produce, the extra sunny days' contribution to the Cabernet's phenolic maturity most apparent in the wine's seamless, perfectly integrated tannin structure.

Finish
Long and black pepper-spiced, with the dark fruit and anise carrying through to a close of genuine luxury. The silky tannins persist alongside the spiced, concentrated character of the warmer vintage, providing real structure without hardness. Decadently layered throughout — a finish built for the occasion that a 3-liter double magnum creates.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Ribeye steak and prime cuts of beef
• Rack of lamb
• Wild game
• Aged gouda, blue cheese, asiago
• Grilled pork