Inglenook Rubicon 2017
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This is absolutely delicious. Powerful, intense and concentrated with seductive black cherry and raspberry leaf aromatics. It slowly and steadily pulls you in and compares to the very greatest Cabernets in its excitement, structure and grip. As the liquorice, chocolate and cassis notes stretch out, it comes to a mouthwateringly slow conclusion. This keeps the savoury edge of Cabernet and the tannins give focus and poise. Opulent and concentrated, and very good. 100% new oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A barrel sample blend made up of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, the deep purple-black colored 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon displays a simply gorgeous nose of red roses, cherry pie, black raspberries and blackberry compote with touches of black tea, incense, cinnamon stick and tilled soil. Medium-bodied with a firm frame of grainy tannins, the palate delivers compelling layers of floral and earth-inspired flavors with a long, perfumed finish. 4,070 cases are estimated to be produced.
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James Suckling
This shows a wonderful core of ripe fruit with berry and currant character. Hints of spices and tobacco. Some cedar. Full-bodied, creamy and rich. Fresh. Beautiful length. Drink after 2022, but already so delicious.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made from 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, this grand estate wine is floral and well integrated, the tannins grippy yet refined. Iron, graphite, currant and cedar all play a part, with notes of dark chocolate, espresso and dried herb offering contrast and complexity. Enjoy best after 2027.
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Wine Spectator
This is slightly taut in feel at first, offering red and black currant and cherry fruit spliced with singed cedar and grilled savory notes, ending with a slightly firm edge. But with some coaxing and air, the fruit shows more generosity, while the finish allows floral and mineral hints to show themselves. A restrained style worth cellaring, and a solid effort for the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2021 through 2031.
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A decade later, Francis Ford Coppola purchased 1,500 acres of this historic property and revived Captain Niebaum's fine winemaking tradition. In 1995, Niebaum-Coppola acquired the remainder of the property and restored the Inglenook Estate to its original dimensions.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.