Wine Critic
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Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon (3 bottle OWC) 2021
Wine Robert Parker (Wine Advocate) -
The 2021 Scarecrow is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard on the western edge of Rutherford, nestled back against the Mayacamas range. Boasting a fabulous nose of deep, dark, black cherries and earthy-spicy notes accented by a touch of mocha-like oak, this full-bodied wine is ripe, rich and velvety. There's ample density and concentration, but the wine still retains a sense of freshness on the long, elegant finish.
One of the more fabled wines in Napa Valley, Scarecrow is based on a 25-acre vineyard in western Rutherford, nestled up against the Mayacamas. Today, the property is owned by Bret Lopez, grandson of movie executive J.J. Cohn, who originally purchased the acreage as a summer retreat for his family. The oldest existing vines were planted at the request of neighbor John Daniels (Inglenook) in 1945, who guaranteed Cohn he would purchase the fruit.
About one-third of the vineyard is dry-farmed, including those old vines planted on St. George rootstock, referred to at the estate as, "The Old Men." According to winemaker Celia Welch, "In a great vintage, they're unparalleled. In some vintages, other blocks may outperform them because of modern trellising and access to irrigation."
Cuttings from those old vines have been grafted onto an adjacent parcel, now referred to as, "The Young Men." Vineyard management is handled by Mike Wolf.
In addition to the Scarecrow and M. Etain bottlings reviewed here, the estate occasionally releases an extremely limited production wine (typically one or two barrels) selected from "The Old Men" parcel and called Toto's Opium Dream. Some vintages have been offered to the trade as Premiere Napa Valley auction lots, but 200 bottles of the 2016 version were recently offered to members of the mailing list at the price of $5,500 per bottle.
Readers who just have to have any of the Scarecrow wines and for whom price is no object can find them fairly readily in the secondary market, albeit often at a hefty premium to the release price, but the best way to secure an allocation is to sign up for the waiting list and patiently wait for others to drop off. - Joe Czerwinski
