Inglenook Red Blend Rubicon 2014 750ml

TOP 100 NAPA AND SONOMA WINES OF 2017 #49 - Aromas of blackcurrants, dark chocolate and dried flowers. Very aromatic. Full body, velvety tannins and impressive intensity and richness. Opulent fruit, yet this is still lightly austere and velvety. A beauty every sense of the word. Harmonious, classic wine. Drink in 2019.

The proprietary red, the 2014 Rubicon (96% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot) has a saturated black/purple color and a nose of blackberry and cassis with some camphor and charcoal. Chewy, rich and full-bodied, with exceptional precision and personality, this is a stunningly delicious and complex wine with a good 25-30 years of further potential. It is the antithesis of the rustic, somewhat coarse reds that were made under the Rubicon moniker when Francis Ford Coppola first acquired the Inglenook estate. Kudos to him for making dramatic improvements. Approachable already, this wine won’t hit its stride for another decade and will last 30 or more years.

Inglenook’s 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon is dark and quite potent. Inky blue/purplish fruit, spice, chocolate, menthol, licorice and plum give the wine its deep, unctuous personality. Stylistically, the Rubicon is darker, inkier and more voluptuous than the straight Cabernet. Soft tannins and silky contours add to the wine’s considerable appeal.

In the same ballpark as the 2015, the 2014 Rubicon (97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot) is a ripe, full-bodied 2014 that boasts a deep purple color, loads of currants, incense, and cedary spice aromas, terrific mid-palate depth, and building tannin. It can be drunk today or cellared for 15-20 years.

100 BEST WINES 2017 - The 2014 Rubicon is part of a trajectory of change at Inglenook, begun when Philippe Bascaules arrived in 2011 as estate director. He has worked with viticulturist Enrique Herrera to moderate sun exposure on the grapes and to prune early, in December, so that the bloom and harvest occur earlier in the season. His goal is to avoid excess heat and to ripen the cabernet during August, as he believes early ripening to be more efficient, allowing him to pick fruit without the cooked flavors that might come with longer hang time. He shortened the growing season by ten days between 2012 and 2013, and an additional three days in 2014, selecting the most perfectly ripe grapes for Rubicon. His 2014 may be the finest release yet under his tenure, a classical Rutherford cabernet with sapid red fruit and the kind of deep, umami-rich tannins that Andre Tchelistcheff once described as Rutherford dust. Or maybe they’re a little more gravelly than that. Those distinctive tannins allow the wine to feel elegant and clean while still lending it tensile strength.

Tiny amounts of Merlot and Petit Verdot were added to this succulent, elegant wine with cassis, cranberry and black cherry flavors and rounded structure. A light note of cocoa dust and soft texture balance its exotically spiced lushness with delicious integration.

Notes of briary plum, blackcurrant, dried herbs, graphite and rich soil introduce an elegant, open-knit and nicely balanced wine with fine tannins, juicy acidity and good length through the finish. This has more depth at the core than the 2013 rendition: a step in the right direction for a terroir which has the potential to produce one of Napa Valley’s greatest wines.

Loam, sage and smoldering tobacco notes sit atop a core of steeped red and black currant fruit. The finish shows a tarry edge. Once this merges fully, it should provide a character-filled, slightly rustic impression of Cabernet.