Wine Advisor
Inglenook, Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
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Description
If Captain Niebaum was partially responsible for introducing Cabernet Sauvignon to Napa Valley, then John Daniel Jr. was responsible for carrying on his granduncle's tradition of excellence and finessing that varietal to revered status. In honor of Daniel's Cask Wines program that he began in 1949, our estate-bottled vintages from 1995 through 2008 of this grape variety were originally called Cask and bore oak veneer labels. Up until then the wine consisted of 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in American oak barrels. The 2009 vintage, however, saw changes both in name as well as in the production and aging regimen, and now Inglenook's Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec–-depending on the desired profile–-all of which is aged in French oak.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
While still in barrel at the time of my visit, the blend of the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon had been finalized, so the bottled wine should look pretty close to this. Dusty earth, black cherries and cassis mark the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is round and supple, soft and plush, adding baking spices and fresh cherries on the lingering finish. The 2022 vintage was the first processed in the new caves at Inglenook.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is a pretty wine that shows the mid-weight structure of the year. Like many wines in this vintage, aging will be crucial here. All the elements are nicely balanced. This just needs more mid-palate depth that hopefully will build over time.
About the Producer
Inglenook's Chateau winery is completed. Conceived to be a state-of-the-art facility, the Chateau's design is based on gravity-flow, one of the first of its type in Napa Valley, and includes an early form of rebar—using cable from cable-cars in San Francisco—to stave off earthquake tremors and to help the building shift safely during the crush process. True to his fastidious nature in each step of the winemaking process, Niebaum devises California's first grape-sorting table and also installs the state's first bottling line to ensure the wines' provenance from growth to bottle, the latter always bearing the California Pure Wine Stamp and secured with an intricate wire maze to guarantee the wine's integrity.
