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2019 Inglenook, Rubicon, Napa Valley
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Start Your Wine Collection with 2019 Inglenook, Rubicon, Napa Valley
Begin your portfolio with a prestigious wine that has a history of growth.- Enjoy fully managed, secure storage facilities with insurance coverage.
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Why We're Buying
Rubicon is the flagship wine of Inglenook. While the exact proportions of this Bordeaux-style red blend change year-to-year, this vintage clocks in 81 cabernet sauvignon, 11 merlot, 5 cabernet franc, and 3 petit verdot. Aged for 20 months in 74 new French oak, the result is a classic Rubicon with silky tannins and boundless energy. Although 2019 Inglenook Rubicon comes from the New World, it wields Old World sensibilities. Estate owner Francis Ford Coppola (yes, the legendary director) calls this red blend “a wine that can please contemporary taste, but with a historical aspect [that defines] our vineyards at their zenith." With critic scores in the mid to high 90s, the marriage of these two worlds is happily ever after. The Final Sip: Francis Ford Coppola has another masterpiece on his hands that belongs alongside his Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now.
Critics Scores
James Suckling
This is a powerful and structured red with full body, focused and polished tannins and a long and flavorful finish. It’s very close to the great 2013.
Decanter
In 2010 there was a change of winemaker at Rubicon, and the new arrival was Philippe Bascaules from Château Margaux. He soon made changes that were, one assumes, aimed at bringing more elegance and less density to the wine. This is certainly apparent here - the nose is ripe and vibrant, with intense mint and blackberry aromas that display purity of fruit and well-judged oak. Suave and polished, it shows finer tannins than the 2006, and enough acidity to give punch and persistence. It has a drier finish than most Napa Cabernets, which often have a sweetness that may be derived from high alcohol. So, there's a welcome austerity here and this will age well.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon is a blend of 81 Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc and 3 Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose pops with vivacious notes of warm cassis, blackberry pie and redcurrant jelly, plus hints of crushed rocks, bay leaves and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers a solid, firm and grainy texture with a lively backbone cutting through dense earth-laced layers, finishing long and minerally. Impressive!
Wine & Spirits
When Philippe Bascaules arrived at Inglenook in 2011, the estate’s Cask Cabernet was defined by its red-fruit character while Rubicon was defined by black fruit. He preferred to focus on the wine’s texture. Now commuting between Rutherford and Château Margaux, where he had worked for two decades with Paul Pontallier, he has changed the viticultural practice at Inglenook. In 2016, Rubicon is neither red nor black—in fact, it’s more blueberry in flavor. But what sets it apart is the plump, polished, mineral texture. As a young wine, it’s shy, gentle, finely structured cabernet, with no rough edges. There’s a sense of certainty, however, that such a wine, from a team secure enough to present it without youthful fanfare, will evolve to express the detail and complexity of this vineyard, its track record proven for more than a century. It’s a different way to think about Napa Valley Cabernet.
Vinous
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon is powerful, dark and unctuous, while retaining a super-classic sense of structure. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, leather, spice and menthol infuse the 2016 with striking textural depth and sweetness.
Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon checks in as 93 Cabernet Sauvignon and 7 Cabernet Franc, and there are close to 4,000 cases produced. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts a stunning nose of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, cedarwood, and lead pencil shavings as well as even a hint of iron. These carry to a full-bodied 2016 that has terrific dept of fruit, solid mid-palate concentration, building tannins, and a great finish. This is a classic, ageworthy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that will benefit from 7-8 years of bottle age and keep for 3 decades.