Winemaker Notes
Brilliant, velvet red color. Aromas of boysenberry, red currant, pencil shaving, dust and herbs de Provence. Mid-bodies, ample mid-palate with soft tannin structure and hints of oak in the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This wine was fermented in stainless steel with two pumpovers per day and then saw extended maceration on the skins post primary fermentation; aged in (80% new) French oak for 22 months, it displays a united front of powdery tannins, coffee bean, plum skin, and soil. These notes find a haven in the broad texture, unmasking its denseness with a flow of blackberry and black cherry on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Soft-edged plum and cassis notes give this red a friendly feel, while light hints of vanilla, sandalwood and dried anise add range through the finish. There's sneaky length too. Best from 2023 through 2034.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Sanctuary Cabernet Sauvignon shows excellent firmness with the right amount of tannins. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of black fruits, dust, and oak. Enjoy it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye. (Tasted: March 14, 2022, 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.