Inglenook Rubicon 2002

Fragrant, showing cascades of violets, caramelized new oak, sweet cherry pie, cocoa and cassis aromas. In the mouth, it’s unctuous, and floods the palate with sweet, savory flavors. Has a youthful jamminess right now, which will melt off and refine as time goes by. Such is the elegance and balance that cellaring it for 20 years will be no problem. This is the best Rubicon ever.

Perhaps the best vintage of Rubicon to date, this wine grows at one of the best cabernet sauvignon sites in Napa Valley, on the Rutherford benchlands first planted by William C. Watson in 1871, before 19th-century shipping magnate Gustav Neibaum selected the land for his own ambitious estate. Now it belongs to Francis Ford Coppola, who spent the last 30 years reassembling what is now a 1,700-acre property. Winemaker Scott McLeod uses heavily toasted French oak the way he would if he were making a first growth in Bordeaux, and here the fruit lives up to the barrels. The wine has an internal energy; it feels bursting with life, in bloom. The dark fruit is at once luscious and beautifully formed, the flavor lasting for minutes. A genuine expression of place.