It was quite an event at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan; as Korbin Ming, the General Manager of Moonridge Vineyards and Korbin Kameron was pouring thirteen wines including four Library wines.

We started off the tasting with Korbin Kameron Sauvignon Blanc Moon Mountain District, Sonoma County 2023 from Moonridge Vineyards.  Moon Mountain District AVA which is a sub-appellation of the Sonoma County AVA.  Moon Mountain is for the western slopes of the Mayacamas mountains between Sugarloaf Ridge and Carneros, while Mount Veeder AVA encompasses the eastern slopes.  The AVA is named after Moon Mountain Road which runs through the area and means “valley of the moon” in the local Native American dialect.  The AVA was granted in 2013, because of the region’s iron-rich volcanic soils, quite distinctive from the sedimentary soils of the surrounding area.  Initial Fermentation is in Stainless Steel followed by Malolactic Fermentation in French Oak barrels, eighty percent neutral and twenty percent new, for four months.  With one-hundred-fifty cases of wine produced.  A pale straw-colored wine offering notes of lemongrass, melon, and lime.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine with bright acidity displayed tones of calamansi, pineapple and honeydew and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.

We also enjoyed Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain 2006 from the Library of Moonridge Vineyards. The winery was started by Mitchel Ming and named after his twin sons Korbin and Kameron.  Over the years, I have had the good fortune to try the Cabernet Sauvignon wines going back to 2005 and considering that the vineyard was planted in 2000, that was one of the earliest issued wines.  Moon Mountain District AVA is a sub-appellation of Sonoma County, just north of the city of Sonoma and on the eastern edge of Sonoma County and is the western slopes of Mayacamas mountains between Sugarloaf Ridge and Carneros, while Mount Veeder AVA encompasses the eastern slopes.  Fermentation and Aging is done in French Oak, of which fifty percent is new, and the barrel time is eighteen months.  With a production of eight hundred cases produced.  A deep garnet colored wine that offers notes of black fruit, figs, cassis, lavender, and some molasses.  On the palate this full-bodied wine belied its age and displayed tones of black cherry and blackberries, cocoa, espresso and traces of leather, mingling with tight tannins, and ending with a nice long-count finish of fruit and terroir.

We then followed with a tasting of Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon Moon Mountain District 2019 from Moonridge Vineyards.  By this time the Moon Mountain District had become a sub-region of Sonoma County, at it was granted on October 1, 2013.  First commercial planting began around the 1880s and had been continuous since that time.  The terrain is recognized as mountainous, ravines, gorges and hillside plantings on shallow well-drained volcanic soils; dark brown and red, basaltic, ash and rhyolitic tuff (from ancient volcanic explosions). The fruit is hand-harvested, and the wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half is new.  There were six hundred-twenty cases produced.  The deep garnet colored wine offered notes of cassis, eucalyptus and sous-bois.  On the palate this full-bodied wine had excellent balance and displayed tones of blackberries and black cherries, with secondary tones of cacao and espresso ending with a nice long-count finish of dark fruit and terroir.