Press Room

Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

Score: 92 | January 31, 2024 | Wine Advocate

Sourced from estate vineyards, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford showcases scents of ripe cherries but folds in some darker elements, like dusty earth and cocoa. Full-bodied, tannic and firm, this wine shows plenty of concentration and ample length on the finish.

Score: 92 | December 27, 2023 | James Suckling

Notes of plums and blackberries with hints of sweet tobacco, spices and cedar. Full-bodied, with velvety, grainy tannins and a smooth, supple mid-palate. Ripe and dark-fruited with a lingering finish. Better after 2025.

Score: 92 | September 21, 2022 | James Suckling

Aromas of blackcurrant, redcurrant, rosemary and blackberry. Full-bodied with gentle, fine tannins. Nuanced, with notes of lead pencil and blackberry coming through clearly. Steady. Drink or hold.

Score: 93 | November 15, 2022 | Wine Spectator

Juicy and youthfully coiled up, with layers of plum, red currant and blackberry fruit that will unwind in time, carried by iron and sweet bay leaf notes that add energy through the sleek finish. Best from 2023 through 2034. 567 cases made.

Score: 92 | September 21, 2022 | JamesSuckling.com

Aromas of blackcurrant, redcurrant, rosemary and blackberry. Full-bodied with gentle, fine tannins. Nuanced, with notes of lead pencil and blackberry coming through clearly. Steady. Drink or hold.

Score: 93 | March 10, 2022 | Jeb Dunnuck

Another gem is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford, a more savory, red and black-fruited 2019 that has complex notes of tobacco leaf, truffle, and loamy earth. I love its tannins, it’s medium to full-bodied, and incredibly elegant on the palate. It picks up more classic green tobacco and underbrush notes with air and is a satisfying, complete, balanced Cabernet to enjoy over the coming 15-20 years.

Score: 93 | January 1, 2022 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford is soft and understated but also offers lovely creaminess, all in a mid-weight, restrained style that is hugely appealing. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, spice and mint lead into the pretty, silky finish. The 2019 is a real charmer.

Score: 91 | February 28, 2021 | Wine Spectator

Well-rendered, with a focused and streamlined feel to the mix of cassis, bitter cherry, savory and sweet tobacco notes. Light tug of earth keeps it nicely grounded. Drink now through 2027. 207 cases made. — JM

Score: 89 | April 1, 2021 | Wine Enthusiast

Graphite, rock and iron elements contribute an underlying earthiness to this intensely concentrated wine - a good representation of the appellation's warmth and richness. -Virginie Boone

Score: 92 | June 30, 2021 | Wine Spectator

Plush along the edges, but still nicely focused in feel, with cassis and plum reduction notes holding sway, while vanilla, sweet bay leaf and warm anise details fill in. Shows a late tug of warm earth on the finish. Best from 2022 through 2030. -JM

Score: 94+ | February 26, 2021 | Wine Advocate

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford District Collection has a deep garnet-purple color and slips sensuously from the glass with alluring notes of baked blackberries, stewed plums and crème de cassis plus nuances of Indian spices, chocolate mint and dusty soil. Full-bodied, rich and laden with loads of black fruit preserves layers, it has a wonderfully spicy undercurrent and velvety tannins, finishing with a refreshing lift. Impressive! 248 cases were made. -Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Score: 95 | January 27, 2021 | JebDunnuck.com

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford is another gem that has the charming, already approachable style that’s common from wines from Raymond, yet it also shines for its balance, mid-palate depth, and length on the finish. Lots of textbook Cabernet tobacco, earth, cassis, and spice notes emerge from the glass, and it’s another head-turning wine in the lineup that can be drunk today yet also cellared for 15 years or more.

Score: 91 | January 22, 2021 | Wine Spectator

Well-rendered, with a focused and streamlined feel to the mix of cassis, bitter cherry, savory and sweet tobacco notes. Light tug of earth keeps it nicely grounded. Drink now through 2027. 207 cases made. — JM

Score: 93 | January 1, 2021 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford is a juicy, open-knit wine that will drink well right out of the gate. Hints of spice, leather, cedar and tobacco add lovely aromatic nuance to a core of succulent dark fruit. This is an especially forward, luscious style that works beautifully.

-- Antonio Galloni

Score: 94+ | October 29, 2018 | Wine Advocate

Aged for 20 months in 53% new French oak, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford District Collection is deep garnet-purple colored with beautiful notes of kirsch, black and red currants, minted cherries and chocolate box with touches of cedar chest and unsmoked cigars. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy with a lively line and a very long, fruity, uplifting finish. 330 cases produced.

Score: 90 | October 31, 2018 | Wine Spectator

Dark, rich and earthy, in a pleasing way, with a touch of chalkiness amid the mix of gravel, charcoal and tobacco flavors, firming on the finish. Best from 2020 through 2029. 

Score: Gold | January 30, 2018 | American Fine Wine Competition
Score: 95 | December 29, 2017 | JebDunnuck.com

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford is blockbuster stuff that has everything going for it. Rich, full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and still polished and elegant, it offers copious cassis, spice, toasted bread, graphite and violet aromas and flavors. As with all these wines, it’s impeccably made and has the class to keep for 15+ years.

Score: 94 | December 1, 2017 | Wine & Spirits

Jean-Charles Boisset is determined to make Raymond a player in contemporary Napa Valley wine, dedicating his team to biodynamic farming and bringing a Folies-Bergère-meets-Dalí style to the winery’s tasting rooms. Boisset purchased Raymond in 2009 and hired Stephanie Putnam, late of Far Niente, as winemaker the following year. She now produces a range of 100 percent cabernet sauvignon “District” wines like this latest Rutherford release, a blend from the original Raymond estate on Zinfandel Lane and fruit from a vineyard in the western benchlands, allowed a long fermentation without added yeast. This vintage feels cool and elegant, shot through with brightness, as if the wine’s freshness were backlighting its red fruit purity. The wine isn’t heavy or grippy, but it completely fills its structure with luscious fruit, scents of roast mushrooms and dusty tannins that give it stature and staying power.

Score: Silver | November 21, 2017 | Grand Harvest Awards
Score: 92 | November 1, 2017 | Wine Advocate

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford District Collection is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with an open-knit nose of baked plums and earth notions plus incense and dusty earth hints. Full-bodied with soft acid and plush tannins, it shows warm fruit and good length.

Score: 90 | October 16, 2017 | Wine Enthusiast

Boldly rich, with a hint of heat, this wine is ripe and dusty—two of the appellation’s most famous aspects. Blackberry, pepper jelly and tobacco flavors commingle, with sturdy grip of tannin and oak. 

Score: 90 | December 9, 2016 | Wine & Spirits

Powerfully extracted, this needs long exposure to air before the hard edges relent, moving from mineral oil, heat and black tannins to a smoother, softer feel. The texture becomes round and lush, while the mineral notes in the tannins keep it to an elegant line.

Score: 96 | October 26, 2016 | The Wine Advocate

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Rutherford represents 738 cases, and this is truly a remarkable wine and probably the best Raymond wine in many a year. Aged 19 months in 55% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, this seamless classic has a fragrant blackberry and cassis-scented nose, a touch of licorice, creosote and incense, Asian spice, and subtle background oak that make this a juicy, dense wine with moderate tannin, but with fabulous mouthfeel and intensity. This should drink well for 20-25 or more years.

Score: 92 | December 17, 2015 | Wine Enthusiast

Cherry-berry crumble topped with vanilla cream gives this wine a brambly, succulent quality, dusted in light cinnamon spice, cedar and well-integrated tannin and oak. Powerful and full-bodied, it’s fruity, balanced and enjoyable now. —V.B.

Score: Silver | December 1, 2015 | Grand Harvest Awards
Score: 92 | October 28, 2015 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford is a powerful, intense wine. Bittersweet chocolate, iron, black cherry and plum flow through to the finish, where a kick of classic Rutherford dust puts an exclamation point on a gorgeous, expressive 2013 to drink over the next 10-15 years. - Antonio Galloni
 

Score: Gold | February 9, 2015 | American Fine Wine Competition
Score: GOLD | November 1, 2014 | San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo International Wine Competition
Score: GOLD - Best of Class | September 25, 2014 | International Wine Channel TV Awards
Score: 93 | June 1, 2013 | Wine & Spirits

This wine is a blend of fruit from two sites on the valley floor in Rutherford-- blocks 1 and 2 at the Raymond estate as well as the Heitz Trailside Vineyards between the Silverado Trail and Conn Creek. The interaction of the fruit and the French oak is impressive, to the fact that more than 90 percent of the barrels are second use-- allowing the dynamic Rutherford tannins to stand firm. The fruit is refined, in a strawberry, raspberry, cranberry mode that freshens the finish. Delicious now with roasted hen-of-the-woods mushrooms next to a steak. (500 cases)

Score: 89 | May 31, 2013 | Wine Spectator
Leaning toward the herb and dill side of Cabernet, this is lean and rim, with crushed rock, currant, cedar and tobacco leaf elements. The leanest of the new Raymond District Cabernets.
Score: 92 | May 1, 2013 | Wine Enthusiast
Cellar Selection. Edgy tannins are the star in this young Cabernet. They give the wine a gritty feeling, making it hard to embrace the ripe blackberry, black cherry and currant flavors. The dryness, fine acidity and overall balance suggest this will have no trouble negotiating the next 10 years in the cellar.
Score: GOld | February 1, 2013 | American Fine Wine Competition