Rutherford
The 2021 growing season turned out an ideal vintage for Napa Valley’s Rutherford producers and an especially good year for those who love the region’s calling card, ‘Rutherford dust’ spice aromas and grainy-dusty tannin profile.
In this dry year, Rutherford growers fared among the best of all the AVAs in the valley, producing a crop of wines widely viewed to have exceptional ageing potential. Like much of Napa in this drought year, 2021 saw an early growth spurt for the vines, followed by veraison in early July, culminating in fewer, smaller, and more concentrated berries developing evenly and smoothly.
This allowed for a picture-perfect harvest, with producers taking advantage of the opportunity for multiple passes through the vineyards to select optimally ripe berries.
It proved to be a tremendous recipe for capturing ripeness, power, and concentration without sacrificing acidity, structure, and (more importantly for Rutherford dust fans) terroir-specific nuance.
Scroll down for the top-scoring Rutherford & St Helena 2021 Cabernets
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Rutherford & St Helena 2021: the top-scoring Cabernets
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