We’ve been carrying wines from the Molnar family for over fifteen years now. Arpad Molnar lives in Oakland, and his brother Peter lives in Berkeley. The partriarch of the two brothers lives in Piedmont. These guys are local.
We particularly love their Lake County Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon.
Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon is an estate-grown mountain Cab from Obsidian Ridge Vineyard, planted at 2,640 feet atop the Mayacamas range north of Napa Valley, on the ridge separating Alexander Valley and Clear Lake. Red Hills Lake County is one of the newest American Viticultural Areas, named for its defining volcanic soils. The 105-acre Obsidian Ridge Vineyard is named for the obsidian rock that shoots through the red soils of this steep, sloping terroir. It produces wines with great tannic structure. T
The owner of Obsidian Ridge (as well as Molnar Family and Kazmer & Blaise wines) is the Tricycle Wine Company, whose principals are brothers Arpad and Peter Molnar, along with winemaking partner Michael Terrien. Their thoughts on winemaking are compelling: “Our winemaking philosophy is to do right by the land, and make wines of place through minimal intervention and through respect for the flavor of the Californian grapes and the Hungarian oak. Our wines speak clearly of their origins.”
In a Wall Street Journal story in October, 2012 about the rising stock of Lake County wines, Lettie Teague singled out the 2009 Obsidian Ridge Cab. “Marked by dark fruit, currant and tobacco, it’s intense and impressive—one of the best Cabernets I tasted on my visit.”
The Obsidian Ridge vineyard is planted at 2,640 feet above sea level upon the Mayacamas Mountain Range in Red Hills Lake County. The vineyard’s red, volcanic soils are also shot with obsidian glass and gravel. The blend is nearly entirely Cabernet Sauvignon, with a touch of Petit Verdot and Malbec, and the vines were planted back in 2000. Young wines are aged exclusively in Tokaj oak by Kádár, the cooperage Obsidian has owned for nearly three decades. Located in Kádárok Völgye (Valley of the Coopers), this region of the Tokaj appellation has a written history of over 1,000 years of coopering. Aromatically the wine has coffee nibs, jammy blueberries as well as a hint of black pepper and lingering perfume of purple flowers. On the palate, the wine has flavors of dark chocolate, high-quality coffee beans, blackberries as well as silken tannins