Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate shows the elevated ripeness of the year in its flamboyant personality. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, espresso, menthol and cloves fill out the layers. Sumptuous and creamy, with fine energy, the 2022 is impeccably balanced. It’s a terrific effort in a very challenging year. I imagine it will drink well with minimal cellaring, although bottle age will likely help some of the baby fat.
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Jeb Dunnuck
While the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate isn't going to make you forget the 2021 (or any of the recent vintages), it's still a terrific effort in a very challenging vintage. Its ruby/purple hue is followed by a medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling, nicely balanced wine that has ample jammy raspberry and cassis fruits interwoven with baking spices, sandalwood, sweet tobacco/cigar, and hints of chocolate. It shows the ripe, sunny, sexy style of the vintage and has velvety, resolved tannins and outstanding length. I was able to follow this bottle for multiple days and it held up beautifully, so I see no reason it shouldn't have 10-15 years of longevity. Nevertheless, it's a front-end-loaded, charming, absolutely delicious Cabernet Sauvignon geared for drinking over the coming decade or so.
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.