$225.00
Deep hues of dark red illustrate the density of this wine. Dark blackberry and black plum encompass nuances of espresso, dark chocolate and toasted vanillin oak along with a hint of dusty terroir. Cassis, black plum, and blackberry dominate with integrations of dark chocolate and toasted oak. This is a dark, centered wine of tremendous length with a structured core and fine-grained tannin.
RU3 is the signature expression of St. Supéry’s Rutherford Estate Vineyard. This 2018 vintage represents a trinity of the vineyard’s best blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
and Petit Verdot grown on the Rutherford Bench, a geologic marvel of well-drained, mineral-rich alluvial soils and sandy clay loam that yields a world-renowned complexity
of flavor. Hand-crafted at every turn, RU3’s fruit is hand-sorted twice, first as clusters and then individual berries and placed in barrels that are hand-rolled during fermentation.
Less than two hundred cases of this singular wine exist, the pride of winemaker Michael Scholz.
The fruit was hand-harvested in the cool morning hours and brought to the winery in half-ton bins. At the winery, the clusters were sorted using a double sorting system. First, the clusters were sorted by hand. The fruit then ran through a small de-stemmer that removed stems from the grapes before the individual berries being sorted to ensure that the ideal grapes were chosen. These berries were delivered to a fermenter where there was a period of resting on skins. Warm fermentation temperatures were encouraged along with gentle cap maceration to achieve the desired color and structure for the wine before an extended maceration time on skins prior to final pressing. The wine was transferred directly to barrel for 20 months of maturation.
Ninety eight percent of the blend was fermented in wood. Seventy two percent of the sorted berries used in this blend were fermented in small French oak tanks, twenty five percent of the sorted berries were fermented in French oak barrels. Three percent of the sorted berries were fermented in concrete. All to add layers of complexity to the blend.
VARIETY/BLEND
85% Cabernet Sauvignon
10% Merlot
5% Petit Verdot
96+ Points, Jeb Dunnuck – “The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon RU3 comes all from Rutherford and is a rich, concentrated 2018 with a slightly closed, backward style yet gorgeously pure dark fruits, chocolate, graphite, and tobacco-laced aromas and flavors. With plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe, seamless tannins, and a great finish, it’s beautifully done. Hide bottles for 4-5 years in the cellar, and it should reward with 20+ years of prime drinking.”
95 Points, James Suckling – “Aromas of currants, coco and violets with some Spanish cedar. Full-bodied with layers of creamy, round tannins that are nicely pointed and textured. Juicy and chewy finish. Fresh.”
93 Points, The Wine Spectator – “Bright, ripe and focused, with tasty plum and cassis notes lined with a subtle iron hint. Features flashes of anise and apple wood, which add nice range through the finish.”
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