Inglenook Rubicon (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2014
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2014 Rubicon demonstrates harmonious, lasting character. Composed this year almost entirely of Cabernet Sauvignon, offers a sweeter, rounder nose than one might find in other vintages, which is a testament to the seamless integration of fruit, tannin, and oak. Weighted throughout, the wine’s fragrance and flavors are linear from start to finish, with sophisticated notes of dark berries, black cherries, currants, spice and vanilla flowing together, bringing impressive complexity to this outstanding vintage.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackcurrants, dark chocolate and dried flowers. Very aromatic. Full body, velvety tannins and impressive intensity and richness. Opulent fruit, yet this is still lightly austere and velvety. A beauty every sense of the word. Harmonious, classic wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The proprietary red, the 2014 Rubicon (96% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot) has a saturated black/purple color and a nose of blackberry and cassis with some camphor and charcoal. Chewy, rich and full-bodied, with exceptional precision and personality, this is a stunningly delicious and complex wine with a good 25-30 years of further potential. It is the antithesis of the rustic, somewhat coarse reds that were made under the Rubicon moniker when Francis Ford Coppola first acquired the Inglenook estate. Kudos to him for making dramatic improvements. Approachable already, this wine won’t hit its stride for another decade and will last 30 or more years.
Rating: 95+ -
Wine & Spirits
The 2014 Rubicon is part of a trajectory of change at Inglenook, begun when Philippe Bascaules arrived in 2011 as estate director. He has worked with viticulturist Enrique Herrera to moderate sun exposure on the grapes and to prune early, in December, so that the bloom and harvest occur earlier in the season. His goal is to avoid excess heat and to ripen the cabernet during August, as he believes early ripening to be more efficient, allowing him to pick fruit without the cooked flavors that might come with longer hang time. He shortened the growing season by ten days between 2012 and 2013, and an additional three days in 2014, selecting the most perfectly ripe grapes for Rubicon. His 2014 may be the finest release yet under his tenure, a classical Rutherford cabernet with sapid red fruit and the kind of deep, umami-rich tannins that André Tchelistcheff once described as Rutherford dust. Or maybe they’re a little more gravelly than that. Those distinctive tannins allow the wine to feel elegant and clean while still lending it tensile strength.
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Jeb Dunnuck
In the same ballpark as the 2015, the 2014 Rubicon (97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot) is a ripe, full-bodied 2014 that boasts a deep purple color, loads of currants, incense, and cedary spice aromas, terrific mid-palate depth, and building tannin. It can be drunk today or cellared for 15-20 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Tiny amounts of Merlot and Petit Verdot were added to this succulent, elegant wine with cassis, cranberry and black cherry flavors and rounded structure. A light note of cocoa dust and soft texture balance its exotically spiced lushness with delicious integration.
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Decanter
Notes of briary plum, blackcurrant, dried herbs, graphite and rich soil introduce an elegant, open-knit and nicely balanced wine with fine tannins, juicy acidity and good length through the finish. This has more depth at the core than the 2013 rendition: a step in the right direction for a terroir which has the potential to produce one of Napa Valley's greatest wines.
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Wine Spectator
Loam, sage and smoldering tobacco notes sit atop a core of steeped red and black currant fruit. The finish shows a tarry edge. Once this merges fully, it should provide a character-filled, slightly rustic impression of Cabernet.
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A decade later, Francis Ford Coppola purchased 1,500 acres of this historic property and revived Captain Niebaum's fine winemaking tradition. In 1995, Niebaum-Coppola acquired the remainder of the property and restored the Inglenook Estate to its original dimensions.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.