Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford (Napa Valley) 2004

Etude is fast becoming one of my favorite California wineries, mainly because of their brilliant Cabernets. Indeed, if you held a gun to my head, I’d confess that Etude has overtaken Silver Oak, Duckhhorn, Ridge, and Behrens & Hitchcock, which used to be my personal top California red wine sources (if you want me to explore the question of whether, say, Screaming Eagle should be at the top of my pantheon, I’d be glad to do so ... on your dime).

Etude’s base Cabernet is blended from multiple Napa vineyards in Rutherford, Oakville, St. Helena, and Calistoga. Being a California chauvinist, blending wines from multiple terroirs to produce a consistent result dosn’t offend my sensibilities the way it would a French terroirist. Having said that, however, I do believe that terroir matters even in the Golden State.

In 2004, Etude bottled a mere 12 barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Cohn and Morisoli Vineyards in the Rutherford AVA.  Is there any of the famous Rutherford dust in this wine? I don’t taste it yet, but in my experience the dusty element becomes more pronounced as Rutherford Cabs age.

Instead, I taste and smell an intensely fruity wine suggesting blackberry, black currant, cassis, mocha java, and some well integrated smoke, toast, and vanilla from the oak in which it doubtless aged.

Try to find some of this wine (I scored a half case). Try some now, but also lay it down for 15-25 years. It’s going to be a great wine that keeps getting better for a very long time. Grade: A