Blind tasting: Rutherford dust

Rutherford Dust

The Rutherford growing region in the heart of California's Napa Valley has a combination of climate, slope of terrain and alluvial soil that is ideal for cultivating the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Eons of volcanic deposits, mountain erosion and maritime sediment in a receded river bed have produced a gravelly, sandy clay loam affectionately called Rutherford dust. Rainfall drains easily to the Napa River, so the grapes don't become lazy and glutted with water. Warm, sunny days and cool nights allow the fruit to ripen at a steady pace. The result is a focused and concentrated juice.

The Boston office had a blind tasting of four Rutherford Cabernets. Beyond just exploring the character of these wines, there was a twofold challenge: 1) Could the tasters identify the most expensive wine? and 2) Which wine did the tasters prefer? The answers need not be the same.

The order of presentation was determined by drawing slips of paper out of a hat. As it turned out, the hat arranged the wines fom least to most expensive.

Our offerings

A – $20: 90+ Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, 2014. The 90+ mission is to seek out overstocked wine from respected producers and sell it with a cheaper label. This unburdens producers without eroding their brand names. This Rutherford Cabernet showed the most fruit flavor, and several tasters described it as smooth and light, perhaps the easiest self drinker. But one taster took a whiff and said, "This is not the most expensive wine."

B – $20-$30: Daniel Cohn Wine Company, Bellacosa Cabernet Sauvignon, North Coast, 2014. Daniel Cohn grew up in a family of winemakers, and now he has ventured out on his own label. "Bellacosa" means a beautiful thing, and for this, his first offering, he called in favors from his connections to get their best fruit. While the North Coast growing region is a vast area encompassing Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and more, this Cabernet has a significant content of grapes from Rutherford growers. I picked up an aroma of chocolate cherries, with some smoke and Asian fruit tartness on the tongue. This wine would be a great accompaniment to teriyaki tenderloin and baby purple eggplant.

C – $??: Caymus Vineyards, 40th Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2012. It's hard to put a price on this wine. This was a collector's edition one liter bottle. Some web sites list it as sold out at $85; others show it at $120; some are asking over $200. You could call this a trophy wine. A comparable 2013 Caymus in a traditional 750 ml bottle lists at $72, but for our purposes the 40th Anniversary qualifies as the most expensive. While the label names this a Napa wine, the Wagner family has extensive vineyards in Rutherford. We took it on faith that substantial Rutherford dust went into the making. It has deep flavors and calls for pairing with a hearty meal.

D – $50-$100: Chaix Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, 2013. If you go by the full list price, this one shares the honor as the most expensive wine in our tasting. (There were two possible correct answers to the first question.) The Chaix family has been producing wine for four generations. There is an earthiness to this Cabernet, as if you could taste the soil and the very vines that the grapes grew on. It has inky opacity in the glass, ripe plums in the nose, and grit and tannins on the tongue. It's a bit leathery on its own, but prime rib with glazed mushrooms might unlock the secrets of this true Rutherford.

For comparison and contrast we looked for a white wine from Rutherford, which is hard to find. Since Cabernet thrives there, why plant anything else? But our scouts picked up a $20 Franciscan Estate Chardonnay from Oakville, just south of Rutherford. This is a Chardonnay in the French style, showing delicate fruit that isn't overpowered by oak aging. It had a refreshing modesty next to the big gun Cabernets.

The results

Which wine is the most expensive? Five of eight tasters picked D (one with a comment "or C maybe"), and two picked C, so seven got it right. One taster picked B, which is a vote of confidence for Cohn's up-and-coming skills as a wine producer. No one picked A.

Which wine do you like best? Six of the eight chose C (thanks go to Marc, who supplied this crowd pleaser). One taster chose A. One chose B in a near tie with D; there was a non-voter showing a similar inclination.

All of these wines were new to me, and I was unable to choose a favorite. Probably not D, anyway. But each time I circled around to revisit them I appreciated more and more what each one had to offer. Unfortunately, even the least expensive bottles are priced out of range for casual drinking. If you were planning a special meal and had money to burn, however, you might indulge those near and dear to your heart with some Rutherford dust.

Many thanks to the Boston crew for this opportunity to explore a new region.