Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
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On the nose, the 2016 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon opens with very focused fresh, ripe black cherry and blackberry aromas. In the background, scents of garrigue – lavender, thyme, and bay – emerge and build complexity. On the palate, the wine is superbly balanced to the point that it is difficult to identify individual flavor components, although cassis bud and blackberry do reveal themselves. The fine-grained, polished tannins are very much in harmony with the oak and exhibit an underlying firmness that continues throughout the long, lingering aromatic finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Beautiful aromas of ripe cabernet sauvignon with blackcurrants and perfume that follow through to a full body, firm and silky tannins and a pretty long finish. Shows poise and polish. Drink in 2021.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The base cuvée is the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec sourced all from Rutherford. It has a classic, Saint Julien-like bouquet of crème de cassis, tobacco lead, damp earth, and spice that gives way to a full-bodied, concentrated, textured Cabernet that hits all the right marks. The top Rubicon release has a touch more elegant and precision, but this isn't far off. Drink this stunner any time over the coming 20 years or more.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with notions of cherry tart, redcurrant jelly, freshly crushed blackberries and wild blueberries with hints of pencil lead, tobacco and underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, the palate possesses plenty of juicy black and blue berries with a firm, chewy frame and savory finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This impressive wine opens in a bouquet of violet and dried herb, with an intensity of tannin power at its back. Red and black currant, cranberry and clove combine in a seam of textured complexity and nuanced flavor. Enjoy 2026–2036.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy blackberry and red currant fruit is stitched with bramble and anise notes, backed by an apple wood accent on the finish. Still a bit tight, so give this a little time. Best from 2021 through 2027.
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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.
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.