Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
No other vineyard zone on earth can convey welcoming opulence quite like the Napa valley, and this luxurious wine from the Rutherford AVA doesn't betray the profile. A dark, saturated red-black in colour, it has extravagant scents of blueberry fruits mingled with the exoticism of incense spice. The palate is ample, mouth-filling and broad, and the Cabernet flavours here are typically gentle yet generous, layered and comforting. The tannins have a chocolate ice-cream softness to them, as unforbidding as you like. A fine red to relax with - but don't be misled; it's intricate and complex, too. Drink 2019-2028.
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Wine Enthusiast
An entirely varietal wine from the heart the appellation, this red is burly in dried herb, turned earth, nutmeg and clove. Thick tannins wrap around a density of caramel, dark chocolate and licorice, offering structure and graceful integration.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
10% Petit Verdot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 4% Merlot. Hinting a bit more of aged integration on the nose than either of its mates with a lovely marriage of cassis, dark cherries, cocoa and sweet oak that stays the course throughout its considerable length, this very deep offering is long on richness and savor despite edging ever so slightly to ripeness and heat. Its ample varietal tannins are buffered by so much fruity extract that near-term drinking is hard to condemn, but a few more years of time in the bottle will put the finishing touches of polish to what is a complete and very generous Cabernet.
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.