Rutherford’s instant classics

There’s a sense of mounting excitement as the late-release Cabernet Sauvignons from Rutherford begin to appear. It’s like waiting for the last races of the day at Santa Anita. These are the big-name thoroughbreds, and their presence on the track is a thrill.

Rutherford-designated Cabernets are the wines from the heart of Napa Valley that typically show California’s highest potential in a given vintage. As a group, these are the most sumptuous expressions of the legendary Rutherford terroir, which makes them the best Napa Valley has to offer. After aging in new oak barrels for 18 to 24 months, then mellowing in bottles for a few more months prior to release, they are the last wines of their vintage to hit the shelves and mailing lists -- and they do so at prices ranging from $50 to more than $100 a bottle. Now that the 2000s are finally entering the marketplace, we can get a sensory picture of that difficult but successful growing season.

A tasting of two dozen Rutherford Cabernets placed the 2000 vintage in solid stylistic territory: ripe, generous, well-structured wines that are generally richer and more luxuriously textured than those of the 1998 vintage, yet not as powerfully opulent as the 1999s. I’m willing to bet that in vintage-comparative tastings 15 years from now, the 2000 Rutherford Cabs will win, place or show.

Recent vintages have seen a sharp increase in the number of wineries bottling Rutherford Cabernets -- more than two dozen in 2000. And many Napa Valley wineries rely on a dollop of precious Rutherford Cab to power up a Napa Valley blend. Nearly 60% of Rutherford’s 3,298 acres of vines are Cabernet, accounting for nearly 15% of the Napa Valley’s Cabernet acreage.

Rutherford lies at a critical point in the valley’s topographic and climatic continuum, between the flatter, more open lower valley and the narrower, rockier upper valley. A faint sigh of cool, moist air from the Russian River Valley via a network of mountain canyons tempers the hottest days. That moisture-sweetened heat infuses the grapes and radiates softly in Rutherford Cabernets.

The 2000 vintage started out with an early, wet spring. By the time the vines were beginning to leaf out, the ground throughout California was fully saturated. Moderate weather through late spring allowed the vines to set the largest crop since the bumper vintage of 1997.

Then, fierce heat during the second week of June put everything slightly off-kilter and raised the possibility of an early harvest. The summer was moderate, however, with temperatures well on the cool side. By veraison (when the grapes change color and begin the final push toward ripeness) things appeared to be going along swimmingly, until another heat spike in early September again put picking crews on notice.

In October everything changed again. The mercury nose-dived, and ripening slowed down dramatically. There was even rain early in the month.

But nerves of steel are a primary requirement in the high-stakes world of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Growers avoided the temptation to pick early, patiently waiting for the skins to soften and the seeds to turn brown, signs that the grapes are fully mature. “It was a real Bordeaux-like vintage,” notes independent vineyard manager David Abreu. “They go through this every year. Our best vintages are always drawn out, but you have to be able to sit through heat, rain or cold.”

The 2000s show how nature rewards the patient vintner. Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosche is a good example: generously perfumed and concentrated, with crystal-clear fruit flavors and a nicely raspy texture, echoing on the palate for a long time with a seductive earthy note. Niebaum-Coppola’s 2000 Rubicon, from vines near Bosche, is a little more massive, with a piercing note of violets and earthy black fruit flavors.

The BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve 2000 is rich, smooth and amply oaked, but for once I prefer BV’s other bottling from the appellation, the Rutherford Cabernet, for its high-toned purity and claret-like structure. Sawyer Cellars, near the southern appellation boundary, produced a broad-textured, rich Cabernet in 2000, with smooth tannin and spicy oak seasoning. Sequoia Grove’s 2000 Reserve has a spiced earth nose leading into mouth-filling fruit with supple tannin and a long, succulent finish.

Merryvale-Beckstoffer Vineyards 2000, from vines on the east side of the Rutherford AVA, is remarkably luscious, with svelte tannin and powerful momentum through the palate. The 2000 Quintessa is another beauty, offering a focused Cabernet nose -- Bordeaux kicked up several notches -- and concentrated flavor in a long, sleek trajectory through the palate to an elegant finish.

By contrast, the 1998 Rutherford Cabs are superbly structured, but sometimes the joints and angles were a bit too apparent. They’re showing signs of aging well, but may never develop the gleaming depth of flavor that sets the great vintages apart. Some producers, notably Niebaum-Coppola, didn’t bottle reserve wines in 1998.

The 1999 Rutherford Cabs are ripe, powerful wines with plenty of structure sheathed in rich fruit and velvety tannin.

At this point, the 2000s remind me of Cabs from other relatively cool vintages (such as 1975 and 1977, 1986 and 1993) which have aged well -- in some cases better than the heavy fruit-bombs from warmer years. So I’d bet that cellaring some of these will pay off well in the long run.