Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 750ml

The 2021 vintage of Scarecrow is a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot, all harvested from the J.J. Cohn estate in Rutherford. Aged 21 months in 75% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. A seamless wine, it boasts a super dense core of bright, ripe blackberry and black cherry fruit framed by superfine, dusty-mineral-laced tannins. Lovely kirsch and dried currant fruit intermix with dried floral notes, grapefruit peel, and a long core of crushed stone minerals with hints of espresso beans and crunchy pomegranate seeds. It’s so fresh, with impressive density and a core of beautifully precise and sweet ripe fruit balanced by the persistence of its pure mineral character. The backstory of this iconic cult Napa label points to co-founder Bret Lopez’s grandfather, Joseph Judson Cohn, who bought 78 hectares in Rutherford near Inglenook in 1942 as a summer getaway for his family. Cohn, who passed away at 100 in 1996, was described as ‘one of the five men who built Metro Goldwyn Mayer’ and “one of the powers in the business,” who preferred “no screen credits, no publicity.” He was head of production at the studio during its heyday when it produced classics such as “Ben Hur” and “The Wizard of Oz”. In 1945, Cohn’s Rutherford neighbour, John Daniel Jr. of Inglenook, convinced Cohn to plant some hectares of vines and sell him the fruit. Much later, Cohn’s grandson, Bret Lopez, who fondly remembered summers at the Rutherford estate, desired that the Cohn Ranch, as it was called, remain in the family after Cohn passed away. Lopez and his sisters inherited it but had trouble co-managing the property. When Lopez offered to buy the sisters out, it was decided that the best way to find a fair price was to put it on the open market. The family didn’t fully understand the property’s value, but valley insiders did. As interest grew, Lopez began to see that he wouldn’t have the money to buy the property from his sisters unless he found a partner. As one of the “sellers”, he’d have the right of first refusal, but if he couldn’t match the highest bid, it wouldn’t matter. Lopez found a willing partner in his neighbour, Francis Ford Coppola, who owns Inglenook. An ideal partnership was formed with Coppola’s cash and Lopez’s equity. Ultimately, Lopez kept roughly ten planted hectares, the late 19th-century house, and some of the hillside wilderness behind the home. Coppola absorbed the rest of the Cohn Ranch into his Inglenook estate. Lopez and his wife, Mimi DeBlasio, set out to create a wine label that pays homage to his grandfather, and in 2006, the first vintage of Scarecrow (’03) was released. Celia Welch makes the wine, and Mike Wolf farms the 10-ha J.J. Cohn Estate. Both Welch and Wolf continue to work in tandem today.