Winemaker Notes
A wine of considerable charm, energy and finesse, 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is opaque ruby red in color, and opens with aromas of ripe cassis, blackberry, espresso and cedar. Although powerful below the surface, the wine is extremely focused and well-balanced, with silky tannins, ample freshness, and vibrant structure, that lead to a crescendo in the lengthy, polished finish.
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 0.5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Full-bodied with lots of layered fruit and round, creamy tannins. The palate shows lovely ripe-berry character with chocolate and hazelnut and a long, flavorful finish. Hints of black truffles. Plenty going on here with a firm framework that gives the wine form and interest.
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Decanter
This wine has such excellent drive, powerful but rounded and appealing at the same time. Blackcurrants and milk chocolate combine on the nose followed by a chewy, dark-fruited, liquorice-edged palate.
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Wine Enthusiast
Showing balance within a full-bodied frame, this wine is juicy in blueberry, black cherry and a hint of wild game. Oak adds spice and length, giving the plush, polished tannins room to expand and grip as a finishing touch of coffee bean builds.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A darker, meatier wine than the Rubicon release, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon offers lots of blackcurrants, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and damp earth-like aromas to go with a medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling, concentrated style on the palate. It shows the vintage’s purity as well as its freshness, yet brings a rich, expansive vibe that's a joy to drink. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A solid example of Napa Valley Cab, Inglenook's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon features notes of cherry, tobacco and cassis, along with a hint of eucalyptus. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, it's medium to full-bodied, silky and focused, with decent length on the finish.
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.