Inglenook Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

On the nose, black cherries, strawberries, and raspberries create a rich perfume that's enlivened by notes of violets and baking spices. There's an exceptional balance of ripeness, not overdone or underdone, enhanced by moderate acidity, even development on the palate, and impressions of blueberry cream and black raspberries. This wine is meaty. Supple, long lasting tannins frame richly textured flavors that linger on the finish. Ensemble: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot.

Our 2013 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon is a voluminous wine with upfront sweetness and fine, powdery tannins that develop intensity. Highly aromatic and immediately expressive, the palate reflects the nose with fragrant nuances of red and black fruits that include raspberries, cherries, blueberries, plums and blackberries, all enlivened by exotic spices, notes of tobacco, and a touch of dark chocolate. This is a big wine, one that demonstrates great texture, a freshness brought about by balanced natural acidity, and a long, rapturous finish. It will continue to evolve over the next 10-20 years.

Over the last few years, we’ve refined our Cabernet Sauvignon program, using smaller boxes for picking, a new destemmer that is gentler on the fruit, and we apply greater scrutiny during the fermentation process by evaluating individual blocks of fruit daily to determine which will benefit from pump overs. Also, this vintage, we implemented by-the-hour pay for our pickers rather than by-the-ton, as an additional quality measure that encourages our vineyard staff to pick more slowly, be gentler with the fruit, and focus on selecting higher quality clusters as a means of pre-sorting. These methods have greatly enhanced the quality of our Cabernet Sauvignon. Unlike Rubicon, which is aged exclusively in French oak, we age our Inglenook Cabernet in a combination of French and American oak for 18 months, this year using a large percentage of new oak to support the tannin structure.