2013 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating: 100
Drink: 2020-2050

The prodigious 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, including fruit from some of the oldest Cabernet vines still in existence in Napa. This full-bodied classic displays notes of forest floor, earth, crème de cassis, blackberry liqueur, licorice and some pen ink. It is dense, full-bodied, prodigiously rich, massive in intensity, yet relatively light on its feet. This great ballerina of a wine has extraordinary ripeness but pulls back from the edge before going over the top. There are 1,000 cases of this classic, which should age effortlessly for 30+ years.

Some great success was achieved in 2013 with the two cuvées of Rutherford’s Scarecrow Estate.

2013 M. Étain Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating: 95
Drink: 2020-2050

The 2013 M. Étain Cabernet Sauvignon, which is hardly a second wine by any means, offers beautiful blackcurrant fruit with some cedar wood/sandalwood notes, an opulent, full-bodied mouthfeel, stunning purity, and that layered texture that is so enticing. The wine has a beautiful opaque purple color, hints of graphite, blueberry and blackberry fruit, a touch of licorice and the soil undertones that some would say are part of the so-called “Rutherford dust” scenario, although that’s debatable. This wine has the sweetness and opulence to be drunk young, but won’t hit its prime for at least another 5-8 years and keep for 20-30.