Futo Cabernet Sauvignon 5500 2014
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2014 FUTO 5500 is as clear as a bell. Vivid aromatics of cherry blossom, raspberry and currents, and a beguiling note of alpine herbs combine in a plush yet dense center. In addition to all this freshness is an almost glaze-like layer that provides an explosive backdrop to the contoured finish. The power, purity, and personality of this vintage will provide a thrill ride young or old. Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Spectacular aromas of blackcurrants and flowers such as violets. Bark and tea. Full body and firm and silky tannins. Excellent structure. Minerals, stones and plenty of cement character. Very long and intense. Better in 2020, but already great.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Futo 5500 is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. This is an incredibly sexy, broad, voluptuous and flattering style of wine, with an inky purple color and a big, sweet kiss of spring flowers intermixed with blueberry and black raspberry as well as some cassis. It has a full-bodied palate, but a wonderful lightness of being as it cascades with its fruit, glycerin and purity across the taster’s mouth This is a gorgeously proportioned, remarkable wine to drink over the next 25-30 years.
Other Vintages
2015-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker
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.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.