Tucked onto the hillside of the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Mountains lives a vineyard like few others. Hidden Ridge was planted in 1990 on a 55-degree slope to mainly Bordeaux varieties. The 50 planted acres are some of the most extreme in California. For comparison, 55 degrees is the sort of pitch you would see in an extreme skiing movie. You know, the ones where the skier loses his footing and proceeds to fall for what seems like a lifetime. Today there is a ban on any new plantings in Sonoma on slopes over 15 degrees.

Throughout the 90’s the Hidden ridge wines received cult-like status both for its quality, scarcity, and scores with wines consistently topping 95 points. But like with many things, the daily grind and unique challenges took its toll and just 16 years after the first plantings were put in ground, the property was to be sold. Enter a group of investors led by Tim Martin. Wine was a natural progression for Tim after growing up working in the family restaurants. Restaurant work gave way to wine and after completing a lengthy decade long “mentorship” at Lail, Tim went on to start the acclaimed Napa label Tusk. It had always been a dream of Tim’s to own a vineyard and in 2017 he fulfilled that dream by purchasing Hidden Ridge. Tim knew the quality of the vineyard and the wine it could produce; however, he felt the branding behind the wine was dated. So, he and his marketing team at Gauge Branding set off to give the wine a new identity and Immortal was born.

We are beyond excited at Epiphany to be able to offer the first of two wines we will see from the property: “Slope” – The 2016 vintage is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Hidden Ridge Estate Vineyard and received 95 points from Jeb Dunnuck.