Winemaker Notes
Cabernet Sauvignon is fermented to dryness and then aged in 100% French barrels sourced from the French cooperages Marques, Berger, Orion, and Remond. This deep, dark red wine exudes rich and concentrated flavors of blackberries and blueberries along with hints of earthy undergrowth. With the unmistakable characteristics known as “Rutherford dust,” this wine is filled with powerful tannins and a long-reaching finish. Their Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic that is built to be enjoyed and cellared for years.
Pair this Cabernet Sauvignon with savory dishes like prime rib and roasted potatoes, or pugent cheeses such as gorgonzola and camabert.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Polished yet potent, this extremely deep and concentrated wine feels smooth around the perimeter yet snugly grips its powerful black-fruit flavors in fine-grained tannins. Nuances of mint, graphite and black cherries emerge with more sips for a captivating complexity. Best from 2027–2037.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe, broad and polished, this moves slowly but with authority, offering a deep well of cassis and black cherry puree flavors inlaid with notes of iron, sassafras and apple wood. Shows serious latent grip, too. Seems set to cruise in the cellar for a bit. Best from 2025 through 2039.
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.