Winemaker Notes
The 2015 vintage, California’s fourth season of drought, evidenced itself in vines which seemed weary of their thirsty roots and reluctant to bear more than just a small amount of fruit. This will long be remembered as one of the smaller vintages in Napa Valley, though the flavor intensity found in these wines cannot be underestimated. The fruit for the 2015 Monsieur Étain was harvested at night entirely by hand between September 4 and September 21, 2015. The wine was fermented on skins for approximately four weeks, then gently pressed and transferred to French oak barrels (80% new). After one year the blend was created and returned to barrels for a final six months in French oak, to allow integration between the separate vineyard blocks. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration. A total of 416 cases were produced in late March, 2017.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced from younger vines on the estate and containing 3.5% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon M Etain reveals a deep garnet-purple color and nose of crème de cassis, dark chocolate and espresso with dried herbs, preserved plums and licorice. Full-bodied and sporting a great concentration of expressive black fruits and spices, it has an approachable frame of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing with herbal and earthy nuances.
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Vinous
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon M. Étain is a gorgeous wine to drink now and over the next handful of years, as it is peaking. Sweet red cherry, tobacco, worn-in leather and coffee are front and center. Supple contours add tons of allure. The stress of the drought year with an unusually low crop is evident.
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.