Winemaker Notes
This inaugural 2018 Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon opens with an expressively perfumed bouquet of exuberant dark-berry fruits, Black Forest cake, and crème de cassis, florals of violet and rose petal, and lifted baking spice notes from the well-integrated oak barrel character. On the palate, juicy, saturated black cherry and macerated red raspberry supported by darker hints of espresso, mocha, and bittersweet chocolate. The structured “Rutherford Dust” tannins are grippy and plush, with signature cocoa powder texture and expansive mouthfeel. Rich, with depth and balance, leading to a velvety-smooth and persistent finish.
Blend: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe inaugural 2018 Rutherford Reserve Cab won us over with a juicy, concentrated swath of boysenberry preserves on the luxe entry. Once the dust settles, it leaves behind a sensation of powdered mocha and mulberry. Dynamic on the midpalate, the wine releases graphite, dried rose, and cherry skin to keep you salivating. A hint of blue sage on the finish also comes through on its continuing perfume along with some toasty cedar. Aged in (80% new) French oak, with some Malbec and Petit Verdot blended in.
Smooth and rich with a bright acid structure, this classic and generous Napa Cabernet is enormously drinkable now but would benefit from some aging
Tasting of blackberry and toasted oak, this richly layered wine is sumptuously built, with soft, well-integrated tannins. Elements of tobacco, cedar and sage figure into the fruity foundation, powerful in style with lasting grace.
Rich and broad in style, featuring a wave of warmed cassis and dark plum fruit flavors scored with licorice, sassafras and singed alder. Everything is knit tightly through the lengthy finish, where a bolt of iron courses underneath for extra support. Best from 2023 through 2037.
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.
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.