Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford shows a black cherry and kirsch-like component often seen in top Rutherford Cabernets, with an almost Margaux-like delicacy and a dense ruby/purple color. It has a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet tannins, beautiful purity and texture and incremental richness that builds gently and graciously. This is a gorgeous 2012 to drink over the next 10-15 years.
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James Suckling
Very pretty aromas of terra-cotta and blue fruits. Raspberry and blueberry. Some black licorice. Full body, chewy and polished tannins and an attractive finish. Shows reserve and finesse for the vintage.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a pure, bright, supple core of wild berry, raspberry and blackberry that is intense, focused, dense and persistent. The flavors cascade on the finish, echoing mineral and crushed rock details. Drink now through 2028.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Unquestionably superior, the perfectly poised and well balanced 2012 Round Pond is well positioned to be one of Rutherford's top efforts of the vintage. Over the last decade, the winery has solidified its place amongst the valley's top performers and it is very well priced. Deep ruby, blackish color; ripe currants and black fruit in the aroma, some smoke, excellent depth; medium bodied, firm and layered; wood is strong now, but will settle down shortly, still pretty tasty; medium finish, youthfully fine aftertaste. (Tasted: August 12, 2015, San Francisco, CA)
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.