The Terraces Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
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It all begins with the land and The Terraces are very proud to say they farm it themselves. They are passionate about dirt, native plants, bees, apples, cooking, grapes and of course, crafting delicious wine. 2020 celebrates 135 years of continuous grape growing and 35 years of winemaking on the ranch.
The people at The Terraces Winery firmly believe it is their responsibility to build on this legacy by improving the habitat for native species each year, while reducing the impact of growing premium wine grapes. Awarded the Fish Friendly Farming certificate in 2008, they farm sustainably and work diligently to improve their environment each year.
The Terraces Winery was created 35 years ago, and since 2001, has been owned and operated by the Crull Family. The ranch, also known as Quarry Vineyards, encompasses over 115 acres on the east side of the Napa Valley in the Rutherford AVA. The soils are well-drained, volcanic deposits, with a total of just 25 acres planted to grapes in 14 discreet vineyard blocks, allowing an incredible degree of precision farming.
The first wines produced were an ‘85 Zinfandel and an ‘86 Cabernet. All the Terraces’ wines were made at Caymus until 1991, when construction on the winery was complete. Their overall goal is to craft wines of balance and elegance that deliver great value. They strive for rich flavors but not over-ripeness. For them, each wine must have a backbone of lively acid and elegant tannins. They are fortunate to have a winery on site so the wines never leave the ranch until they are in the bottle, allowing them to carefully supervise each stage of their development. They currently make small lots of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Falanghina, Tempranillo, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah, and an estate blend, Rhyolite. The Terraces also sells 70% of their Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to Nickel & Nickel under their Quarry Vineyard designation.
The Terraces are inspired by life, people, music, travel, what they see, taste and hear. They take that inspiration and interpret it in what they create. They strive to create epic wines that capture a sense of place and time, and that bring joy. Cheers!
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.