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Coppola releases first Inglenook since 1964
Filmmaker-turned-winemaker Francis Ford Coppola has released the first wine bearing the Inglenook label since the Napa Valley estate was broken up in 1964.
A year ago, Coppola successfully reclaimed the Inglenook trademark so that his Rubicon Estate in Rutherford could revert back to its historic original name.
At the same time, he hired winemaker Philippe Bascaules, previously of Bordeaux first growth Château Margaux, as estate manager and winemaker, with Stéphane Derenoncourt continuing as consultant winemaker for the estate.
Inglenook was founded in 1880 by Gustave Niebaum, a Finnish sea captain who used his enormous wealth to import the best European grapevines to Napa.
The estate’s 1941 Inglenook Cabernet is considered one of the greatest Californian wines ever made.
When Coppola first purchased part of the famed property in 1975 with his wife Eleanor, the Inglenook estate had long since been broken up and its name sold off.
The Coppolas spent the next 20 years reuniting the vineyards and restoring winemaking to the historic estate.
The new retro label, designed by a retired US Mint artist, is almost an exact replica of the Inglenook Cabernet label from the late ‘50s, featuring the façade of the estate.
The choice of the 2009 Cask Cabernet as the first wine to bear the new label is fitting.
Cask Cabernet is a tribute to the Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon of the John Daniel Jr era during the ‘30s and ‘40s that spawned many of Inglenook’s greatest vintages.
“When I tasted the 2009 vintage, I recognised the incredible potential of this property and understood Coppola’s desire to bring the quality of the wines to their fullest potential,” said Bascaules.
In keeping with the new trend for retro labels reported earlier this week on thedrinksbusiness.com, Inglenook’s estate wines will also return to their historical labels.
The 2009 Cask Cabernet will be available in the US and other international markets in two weeks.
In addition to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Inglenook is also planted with Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah, along with three hectares of white Rhône varieties that produce the estate’s flagship white, Blancaneaux.
I am curious as to why they say the first since 1964? The Estate continued to make very fine Estate Cabernets past John Daniel’s sale of the property into the mid 70’s. The 1974 Cask Cabernets are still quite wonderful. I have three different cask bottlings from that vintage. I opened a 1974 Napa Cab to toast FFC’s efforts the night it was announced that he had acquired the Inglenook label to re-attach it to the property. In 1975 They made what should have been considered a landmark Merlot that few people know about today. I think I still have one bottle left.
The point is that this is the first offering since JD sold it to a bigger corporate concern who eventually destoyed and disassembled it. Let’s not discount the the 68’s, the 70’s and 74’s and an occasional wine later.
It should be duly noted that the 1981 Cask wine tied for first place and shared the title of “Best American Cabernet Sauvignon” with my own Crystal Valley Cellars Reserve Cabernet (1983) in 1986 at the American Wine Competition which was a big deal in those days. That competition went out and purchased any major Cabernet that was not entered so that the judging included all of the “greats” from that era.
Thank you Mr. Coppola for all your work in bringing back this label. Inglenook Estates has been part of my work history, and I have enjoyed coming back to the winery since your purchase it. In August, 2008…My Wife, Daughter and Husband and enjoyed one of the wine/dinners in the same room, where I last had my last wine tasting/business dinner when I worked for Heublein before they sold the winery.
It brought back so many happy memorials of better times and history of the Inglenook Brand. Now other generations will get to enjoy the Inglenook great varietals wines and the history will live on.
I had purchase vinetages the same year when my two Daughters were born and gave them their bottles on their 21st Birthdays. Both bottles had been signed by the winemakes…and they are still unopened. It is part of our Heritage.
Thanks again!!
Mitch,I too was asking the same question.
My shop in the city during the 70’s sold the big “4” including Inglenook.Just last week I opened a 66′ cask G-28 which had held its own.
Mitch,hope you doing well.
Mitch is right. The last vintage for Inglenook as a brand was 1991; that vintage got dumped at Trader Joe’s about 1994. I also attended one of the Kapalua Wine Symposiums in the late 1980s or early 90s where verticals of Mondavi, BV-PR and Inglenook were featured. The Inglenook winemaker was there – his name escapes me at the moment – detailing the efforts he’d made to resuscitate the brand. And at that tasting it was clearly on the right path. In 1985 and 1986, Inglenook released it’s Reunion, which was a reunion of the winery’s original vineyards. I still have a few bottles of Reunion in my cellar. Also, if you visit Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa, it has a large collection of Inglenook wines, including 1974 Limited Cask (A8 and A16 are drinking extraordinarily well right now). 1964 was the last year that John Daniels made wine at Inglenook, but certainly not the last year of Inglenook as a brand.
Mitch. What was the date that you tasted the 1974 cask? Was it “generic cask or a specific one? I am holding a bottle and trying to decide when to open. If there are going to be further celebrations of the re-activation of the brand, I could bring the bottle in exchange for an invite.