Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Inglenook is one of Napa Valley's founding estates, in Rutherford, where Captain Gustave Niebaum planted Cabernet Sauvignon and made wine in the late 19th century. This organic bottling is led by Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Rutherford's gravelly, well-drained soils and its warm, dry climate ripen Cabernet fully, giving the deep colour and firm tannin the grape is known for, while cool nights hold the acidity in balance. With bottle age the fruit has settled and gained savoury complexity. The wine is aged 18 months in French oak barrels, where slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds vanilla, cocoa and a warm spice around the fruit. The colour is deep ruby. The nose is concentrated black cherry and blackberry over cocoa, tobacco and cinnamon, with oak in support. The palate is full and structured, with ripe tannin, good acidity and a long finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. It suits roast and grilled red meat.