Scarecrow M. Etain Cabernet Sauvignon (scuffed label) 2017
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aromatically, the wine shows very pretty, bright tones of cherry, raspberry and blueberry, along with cinnamon bark, spiced tea and vanilla. At entry the wine is soft and full-bodied, and the palate shows a continuity of texture from start to finish. Flavors of warm blueberries and fresh cranberries, a hint of aniseed and a base note of cocoa all meld together in an integrated finish which displays the texture of heavy satin.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Rocking crème de cassis, flowery incense, smoked tobacco, and a touch of chocolate all emerge from the 2017 M. Etain, which has the classic elegance of this cuvée paired with medium to full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, and just terrific overall balance. It picks up plenty of minerality on the finish, and while approachable today, it will drink well for 20 years or more. The blend is 84% Cab Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot, and 3% Merlot, all from the estate in Rutherford, that spent 18 months in 70% new French oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, the 2017 M. Étain is deep garnet-purple colored and prances out of the glass with exuberant baked cherries, warm mulberries, plum pudding and crème de cassis notes with touches of Provence herbs, tilled soil and pencil lead plus wafts of spice box and potpourri. Full-bodied, firm and earthy in the mouth, the palate has bags of freshness and a firm structure with loads of spicy nuances on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Well-rendered, featuring a range of ripe yet sleek flavors of cassis, loganberry and boysenberry that won't quit, all while licorice snap and graphite details run underneath. Not shy, but has the energy to support all the elements. Will need a bit of cellaring to fully round into form. A big, gutsy Cabernet. Best from 2021 through 2032.
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John Daniel Jr. took the helm at Inglenook in 1939, determined to restore the label to pre-Prohibition standing and produce world-class Bordeaux-style wines. In 1945, Daniel convinced his neighbor, J.J. Cohn, to plant eighty acres of Cabernet vines on the 180-acre parcel Cohn had purchased a few years prior. The property served as a summer retreat for Cohn's wife and their family. He had no ambitions to become a winemaker himself, but Daniel promised to buy his grapes, so Cohn planted vines. The rest, as they say, is history.
J.J. Cohn fruit figured prominently in Inglenook's superlative Cabernet Sauvignons of the post-war era, and has more recently gone into wines of such renown as Opus One, Niebaum-Coppola, Duckhorn, Insignia and Etude.
J.J. Cohn Estate grapes are highly sought-after in part because Cohn bucked the trend, begun in the mid-1960s, of replacing vines planted on St. George rootstock with the supposedly superior AxR#I hybrid. Over time, vines grafted onto this new stock proved highly vulnerable to phylloxera. But by then, virtually all of the old St. George vines in Napa had been destroyed. Only the original 1945 J.J. Cohn vines survived. These highly prized "Old Men" continue to produce uncommonly rich fruit—the hallmark of Scarecrow wine.
But the Scarecrow story doesn’t end there. This is more than a tale of enchanted ground and the exceptional wine that flows out of it. The Scarecrow story is a story, too, of an extraordinary family legacy. Joseph Judson Cohn was born in Harlem in 1895 to Russian immigrants. Cohn spent his childhood in dire poverty and never learned to prefer the taste of fresh bread over stale—even after he’d found great success in Hollywood.
A move west in the 1920s launched Cohn’s studio career. Highly resourceful and extremely capable, Cohn began as a bookkeeper, distinguished himself early and rose quickly through the ranks to become Chief of Production at MGM. His unofficial credo, "Nothing is impossible," became the motto of his MGM staff. They knew him as a man who simply refused to take "No" for an answer.