2019 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, USA
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $80.12 and the average is $106.82. Our slash is $80.00.
Inglenook Cabernet 2019
2019 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, USA
Estate bottled Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford.
James Suckling scored this 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon 95 points, Jane Anson scored it 94 points, and Antonio Galloni scored it 94 points!
James Suckling tasted this vintage in January 2022 and found ripe blackberry and blackcurrant running into licorice, clove, walnut, and chocolate, with a full body, velvety tannins, and a juicy line of fruit that keeps a little earth on the finish, and he asked to wait until after 2024, which this bottle has now done.
Jane Anson met a wine whose depth shows in the first pour and that was still fresh two years after bottling, and she found "black cherry, fennel, and cigar box" with slate and tobacco beside them, a Napa Cabernet that wanted more time before the tannin lay down.
Antonio Galloni, writing for Vinous, called this one of the most potent Cabernets he had tasted from the estate in a long while, still young when he wrote, and he found "black cherry, mocha, and licorice" building with spice and leather once the wine had air, the tannins grippy and in need of time.
Jancis Robinson scored it 17 points on her 20-point scale in October 2022, a quieter glass than the others, set apart by a mint note and a dry finish.
When James Suckling, Jane Anson, and Antonio Galloni all stop on this same Rutherford Cabernet, what are you waiting for?
"Rutherford Cabernet, with the estate's own name on the label!"
The Dream of Inglenook, the winery's own film.
The name on the Rutherford Bench
Gustave Niebaum founded this estate in 1879, and the Coppola family has kept the stewardship since 1975. The name returned to the property in 2011. The fruit is grown on the Rutherford Bench, and this bottle is estate bottled.
The Cabernet is the estate's tribute to John Daniel Jr. and to the 1941 he made from the cuttings Niebaum brought from Bordeaux. The 2019 is still that idea: organically farmed fruit, and only fruit from this estate.
A generous crop, picked in turn
A wet winter fed the vines, and a cool spring brought budbreak in the second week of April. Rain returned late in May, bloom came early, and the crop was generous. July stayed cool. August and September warmed, and the fruit ripened gradually and evenly.
Harvest started on 20 September in the Gate block, with Cabernet Franc, and finished on 17 October in Red Barn, with Cabernet Sauvignon. Nine blocks are in the wine: Chateau, Cohn, Creek, Gate, Gio, La Lomita, Lower Cask, Red Barn, and Walnut.
Cabernet, with a little Cabernet Franc
The blend is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc, at 14.2% alcohol. It spent 19 months in 100% French oak, 50% of it new, and it was bottled in June 2021.
The estate's own glass is a deep ruby, opening on brambly black cherry, vanilla, warm brioche, and cassis, then red cherry, graphite, and fennel. The tannins are polished, and the finish is long and fragrant.
Francis Ford Coppola Shares His Vision For The Vineyards At Inglenook, the winery's own film.
Ribeye, and venison
Beef and venison are the plates that meet this Cabernet. A ribeye gives the tannin a browned crust and some fat to work against. Venison is the leaner cut, and the earth in the finish has a place to land.
Pan-seared ribeye
A thick ribeye with a deep brown crust.
Why it works: The black fruit and the tannin meet the crust and the fat. Beef is the plate this Cabernet is poured beside.
View Recipe for Pan-seared ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Venison loin
Seared venison loin with a rosy center.
Why it works: Venison is leaner than the ribeye. The earth in the finish has a cut that does not cover it up.
View Recipe for Venison loin (opens in a new tab)Take the bottle.
A 95-point Rutherford Cabernet, estate bottled, from the ground that has carried this name since 1879.
The bottle is $80. Add it.
