Cabernet Sauvignon
2010
Founded by a successful Finnish sea Captain, Gustave Niebaum, in the 1880’s, Inglenook Estate in Rutherford California was once the most highly regarded of the earliest, great Napa Valley estate wineries. Over the years the estate passed through the hands of Niebaum’s descendants. Eventually the family started to sell off plots of the historic homestead. Even the proud name was put on the market in 1964 and sold to a corporation as merely a brand name. But in 1975, Francis Ford Coppola...
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Two thousand ten saw one of the coolest growing seasons of the last 30 years. Chilly spring temperatures resulted in slight delays in bud break and bloom, but the weather didn’t affect fruit set or the maturation of clusters through the bloom stage. The consistently cool weather allowed the fruit a slow rate of sugar development and necessitated longer hangtime. This resulted in highly fragrant and flavorful grapes and, subsequently, a more elegant wine.
The fruit was handpicked and placed in small fermenters for a 21-day maceration. For added complexity, we used a combination of French and American oak barrels and aged our Cabernet for 18 months to integrate flavors and tannins.
Our 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon offers an alluring nose of dark cherries, blueberries, chocolate, tobacco and sweet toasted oak. Round upon entrance with a distinct note of cranberry, the wine is very consistent between aroma and taste, generously opening up on the mid-palate and persisting with long, luscious flavors on the finish. One hour of decanting is recommended. With structure and complexity, this rendition of Cabernet Sauvignon will be receptive to aging.
A powerful, vibrant wine, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon shows the pedigree of this historic Rutherford vineyard. Remarkably light on its feet for such a big wine, the 2013 offers exceptional depth and pedigree from the very first taste. Even with all of its obvious intensity, the 2013 manages to remain polished and vibrant.
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The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is exquisitely layered and nuanced, yet also captures plenty of the vintage's intensity and pure power. Inky dark fruit, licorice, dark spices, menthol and new leather are all laced together in a super attractive, mid-weight wine loaded with nuance and personality. With time in the glass, the 2013 blossoms nicely and acquires more savory, cedar, tobacco and underbrush notes.
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This is the wine our California editor Luke Sykora wanted to drink, and tasting it side by side with Rubicon, I had to admit that it showed beautifully. Cask is 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance mostly Cabernet franc and a little Merlot. In the past, the team at Inglenook described the difference between their two top Cabernets as Rubicon presenting the riper black fruits of Rutherford, and Cask focusing on red fruits. In 2012, the situation for me was reversed; Cask had the darker fruit at our tasting, still cool in tone and not heavily extracted. It brought out a rocky, stony firmness in the tannins, where Cabernet grape-skin freshness matched the monumental feel of the oak impact. These are fascinating wines to taste in tandem over the course of several hours with friends…and over the course of several days, if you have a bit left in the bottles.
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Full-bodied with lots of layered fruit and round, creamy tannins. The palate shows lovely ripe-berry character with chocolate and hazelnut and a long, flavorful finish. Hints of black truffles. Plenty going on here with a firm framework that gives the wine form and interest.
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This wine has such excellent drive, powerful but rounded and appealing at the same time. Blackcurrants and milk chocolate combine on the nose followed by a chewy, dark-fruited, liquorice-edged palate. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot. Wines are aged for 18 months in 100% French oak 43% new oak.
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Showing balance within a full-bodied frame, this wine is juicy in blueberry, black cherry and a hint of wild game. Oak adds spice and length, giving the plush, polished tannins room to expand and grip as a finishing touch of coffee bean builds.
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A firm and silky red with currant, light chocolate and walnut aromas and flavors. Ultra-fine tannins. Full to medium body, delicately austere tannins and a pretty finish. Second wine of Inglenook.
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A wine with ultra-fine tannins, silky texture and light walnut skin undertones. Full-bodied, yet extremely balanced and pretty. Fresher than the 2012, giving it tension and focus. Second wine of Inglenook.
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A bold, dramatic wine, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cask offers plenty of the radiance of the vintage, along with sweet floral and spice notes that add lift to the expressive red fruit. Deep, unctuous and supple throughout, the 2012 Cask is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. Dark cherry, raspberry jam and mocha with attractive smoky savory underpinnings add the closing shades of nuance in this very pretty, silky Cabernet Sauvignon from Inglenook. The 2012 has really blossomed over the last year. This is the last vintage the designation 'Cask' was used for Inglenook's Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 is in a great spot right now, where all the elements have come together and the wine is super-expressive.
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A darker, meatier wine than the Rubicon release, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon offers lots of blackcurrants, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and damp earth-like aromas to go with a medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling, concentrated style on the palate. It shows the vintage’s purity as well as its freshness, yet brings a rich, expansive vibe that's a joy to drink. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
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This shows the lighter style of 2011. It has so much fresh herb and green tobacco on the nose with subtle currant undertones. Medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and very, very fresh. Refined tannins. Polished all around. Second wine of Inglenook.
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Big rich savoury Napa valley cab nose with black pepper, leather, light barnyard, tobacco, cedar, cassis jam, black berry and menthol aromas. The attack is suave and elegant on the palate with small, grainy tannins. Coffee, vanilla, cedar, tobacco and smoky black berry and mint flavours mark the palate. Still lots of oak and some tannins on the finish suggesting to age over the next 2-5 years. Try it now with grilled steak.
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"Inglenook's 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Cask presents a distinctly Old World profile. Sweet tobacco, cedar, savory herbs, plums and black cherries are some of the nuances that take shape in the glass. This pretty, mid-weight Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent choice for drinking over the next decade or so. Readers should expect a lithe, feminine wine built on aromatics, nuance and understatement." Antonio Galloni
A solid example of Napa Valley Cab, Inglenook's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon features notes of cherry, tobacco and cassis, along with a hint of eucalyptus. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, it's medium to full-bodied, silky and focused, with decent length on the finish.
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Tight, rich and focused on a dense core of spice, dried dark berry, cedar and tobacco leaf, this is firmly tannic, ending with loamy earth, black licorice and crushed rock details. Drink now through 2023. 6,300 cases made.
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