Over the past two weeks we’ve been featuring the AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) of Napa Valley starting in the north - Week 1 highlighting Calistoga, Spring Mountain AVA, and Diamond Mountain AVA and Week 2 focusing on Howell Mountain AVA, Chiles Valley AVA, and St Helena AVA. Today we give you the two leading areas responsible for paradigmatic high-quality Napa Cabernet: Rutherford and Oakville.

1. Rutherford AVA

(image left from OnlyinSanFrancisco.com and right from Rutherford-Appellation-Wineries.com)

It’s probably starting to sound like a broken record, but Rutherford IS Napa Cab. It makes up 70% of the 3500 acres planted.

Last year I had my first real experience with Rutherford Cabernets. It was a mellow afternoon at Salt Tasting Room when Wes from Calibrium brought by famous sommelier, and general manager of Rubicon Estate, Larry Stone. If you aren’t familiar with him check out this article. Larry had come to taste through our local BC wines and he had brought along two from the high-end, Francis Ford Coppola estate: the flagship “Rubicon” and the American oak aged “CASK Cabernet.” We were the only three people in the restaurant and at the time I wasn’t fully aware of how iconic Larry Stone was.

Joining the folks at Rubicon, there are roughly 50 resident wineries in Rutherford and 80 vineyards. The vine elevations here don’t exceed 500 feet and most plantings are on the well drained valley floor.

André Tchelistcheff (CHEL-uh-cheff) , the father of modern American viticulture, was once quoted as saying “It takes Rutherford dust to grow great Cabernet,” a healthy mix of gravel, sand, loam, volcanic deposits and marine sediment. Marketing personnel all throughout Rutherford have used the phrase “Rutherford Dust” ad nauseam to describe everything, including the taste characteristics.

Because I didn’t have the $120 (it’s $170 cost in Vancouver) to revisit the Rubicon (the bottle looks like it should sell for $50 alone), I decided to try something from the oldest winery in the AVA (est. 1900) and probably the most accessibly priced Cabernet with “Rutherford AVA” printed on the bottle:

Beaulieu Vineyards ‘06 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
Purple fruit, licorice, dark chocolate. Big, yet well defined with balanced acid and light finely grained peppery tannins. No sloppiness - I’d even say a touch of elegance. The 14.7% alcohol doesn’t bother me or drown the lengthily finish. For $19.99 at BevMo! (with my ClubBev! card), I’m quite happy with the quality of this Cab.

I’ve also had the chance to attend a sit-down tasting with legend Mike Grgich and wines from his Rutherford based Grgich Hills Estate, but from what I can gather, most of his fruit comes from Yountville AVA vineyards. Besides the already mentioned, other big name Rutherford based wineries include: Cakebread, Caymus, Frog’s Leap, Staglin, and ZD Wines.

2. Oakville

Just to the south of Rutherford lies Oakville’s 5700 acre boundry, which, save for 700 acres, is nearly entirely planted to vine. That gives you a pretty good idea of the terrain type - sprawling and flat on the valley floor, with essential free-draining gravel soils and nothing planted over 600 ft elevation. This is home to some of the most famous Cabernet Sauvignon based wines in the world, where it often expresses a minty herbaceous character. You’ll find the whole spread of Bordeaux varietals planted here as well.

Oakville is home to famous producers such as Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Screaming Eagle, Groth, Far Niente, Nickel & Nickel, Silver Oak, Harlan and highly regarded vineyards such as Heitz’s Martha’s Vineyard and Mondavi/Beckstoffer’s To Kalon Vineyard (the history of To Kalon is on Mondavi’s site). The Oakville Winegrowers Association’s website includes a slick interactive map which gives you an idea of where all the wineries and vineyards are located within the appellation.

Recently a bottle of Sweet Muscat from 1886 was discovered in someone’s private cellar. The wine was produced by the original incarnation of the Far Niente Winery (Italian phrase meaning “without a care”) and is believed to be the oldest surviving bottle of California wine. Just a little Oakville fun fact for you…

My experience with Oakville Cab begins and ends with Groth. Not a bad trip to be on by any means, but obviously not extensive. A very good concentrated and complex Cabernet that wont set you back a mortgage payment like some of Oakville’s cult wines will (Screaming Eagle’s $1300 & Harlan’s $700).

Please feel free to contribute any information, experience or tasting notes you have that relate to Rutherford or Oakville below and check back next Sunday for more AVA action.

3 Responses: