If you're looking to enhance your spring and summer collection, now's the time to experience our very first estate-grown and Rutherford-designated wine: the 2018 Bella Union Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Available exclusively from us, this masterfully crafted new Cabernet allows us to bring a beautiful union of two stunning estate vineyards and the very best qualities of one of Napa Valley’s most renowned AVAs together in a single wine.
Bella Union winemaker Brooke Bobyak calls the debut vintage "the epitome of Rutherford Cabernet." She adds, "It's also the first wine we've made that marries the voices of two distinct estate vineyards while also expressing the most celebrated hallmarks -- generous fruit, savory earth, rich tannins and that trademark 'Rutherford Dust' -- of Napa Valley's Rutherford AVA."
The vineyards themselves stretch across some of the region's most coveted bench lands. Starting in Oakville and stretching north to Rutherford, the famous “Rutherford Bench” rests in the heart of the Napa Valley floor. Our estate vineyards are planted in the western foothills of this small, three-mile-long AVA, where the well-drained loams and open exposures yield juicy, concentrated Cabernet clusters with opulent flavors and supple tannins. Rather than harvesting the vineyards in a single sweep, we pick each block based on individual maturity and ripeness. Once in the winery, Brooke and her team use a mix of stainless steel, concrete and neutral oak open open-topped fermenters to draw out the color, texture and flavor of each Cabernet lot before aging them exclusively in French oak.
Our inaugural vintage of Bella Union Rutherford Cabernet spent 18 months in a 50-50 split of new and neutral French oak. The resulting wine is loaded with velvety tannins, full fruit flavors, hints of raspberry preserves, cocoa and dusty spice. We cannot wait for you to taste it. In fact, whether you pour it on date night, transform a 15-minute lunch into a two-hour affair, or savor it leisurely (by a firepit, under a canopy of stars), we hope our newest Bella Union masterpiece becomes a luxury staple for the long spring and summer days ahead.
Want to update your collection with this limited-production, winery exclusive? Shop the new release before it sells out.
Don't forget to make room on your spring and summer table for Bella Union's flagship Napa Valley Cabernet, too.
A celebration of the art of Cabernet, the 2017 Bella Union Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley draws on our 40-year mastery as Napa Valley winemakers and our intimate knowledge of the region’s top vineyards. Artistry is always in season.
