Rudd Oakville Estate Red Blend 2021
(Napa Valley, California) - [DM 99] [TWI 98] [JS 97] [WS 95]

About the Winery:
In 1996, food and wine entrepreneur, Leslie Rudd, purchased a 55-acre estate in Oakville, California to pursue his 30-year dream of owning a winery. He expanded the winery caves to a capacity of 20,000 square feet and used the 78,000 tons of stone and bedrock removed during construction to build the stone walls surrounding the property. These recent improvements allow complete temperature and humidity control over different sections of the caves, which gives flexibility in treating each variety uniquely and aids in barrel fermentation when appropriate.

About the vintage:

The 2021 vintage was a gift from Mother Nature. The year began with little rain, leading to an early budbreak during the second year of drought conditions in Napa Valley. Mild spring temperatures supported an easy renewal of the growing season, and rising summer temperatures accelerated the start of harvest.

The Oakville Estate harvest began on August 27th, with optimally balanced Cabernet Sauvignon picked over three weeks. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were harvested in mid‑September, with the final pick on September 20th. This small‑yielding vintage produced wines of great concentration and flavor, with selective barrels composing the Rudd Oakville Estate Red.

Tasting Notes:

The wine shows deep ruby‑to‑purple hues. Aromas include freshly picked red and black currants, black cherries, and Earl Grey tea, layered with dried rosemary and herbs de Provence. Additional notes of pencil shavings, violet flowers, and light cinnamon complete the bouquet.

On the palate, the wine delivers bright, concentrated currants and plums, accented by dark cocoa and freshly ground espresso. Subtle black olive and anise add savory depth. Balanced, dusty tannins provide structure and amplify the wine’s length, leading to a lasting, elegant finish. 

Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot

Ratings & Reviews:

99 Points - Decanter:

Rudd Estate is situated in east Oakville, where vines are subject to late afternoon sun and heat, so mitigating those effects in the vineyard is paramount to ensure a "crescendo of acidity," as winemaker Natalie Bath puts it. Strikingly aromatic with intriguing savoury nuances that lead with ironstone volcanic minerals, nuanced by sagebrush, spicebush, and dried tobacco leaves, framed by pure black cherry, blackberry, and cassis. Medium-bodied, lifted, fresh, and filled with vitality on the palate, layered with more cherry and black currant, fragrant dried herbs and fig leaf, which weave an aromatic and flavour-driven tapestry around the ultra-fine-grained dusty tannins, which dissolve like fine powdery minerals, building to a long earth-and-cocoa-nib-driven finish. There is such freshness and vibrancy in this elegantly fashioned red. The 2021 harvest, completed on the early side by mid-September, marks Natalie Bath's first vintage entirely in the driver's seat as Rudd Estate winemaker (she first worked in the cellars back in 2012).

98 Points - The Wine Independent:

A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2022 Oakville Estate Red was aged for 22 months in French oak, 46% new. It charges out of the glass with bold expressions of blackberry pie, preserved plums, and creme de cassis, with underlying suggestions of chocolate mint, cedar chest, and Indian spices. Full-bodied, rich, and impactful, the palate delivers a velvety texture and exhilarating tension to match the concentrated black fruit flavors, finishing long and spicy. 749 cases were made.

97 Points - James Suckling:
"Very aromatic with red currants, lavender, terra cotta and fresh bay leaf. Flavors follow through to a full body with very firm tannins that are extremely polished. Tension gives a precise focus to this wine. Best after 2027." (February 2024)