2014 Inglenook, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley, California, USA

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.

A top wine region in Napa Valley, California, Rutherford is famed for its Cabernet Sauvignon, characterised by rich dark fruit flavours and a unique "Rutherford Dust" terroir. With its warm climate and well-drained soils, the region has been integral to Napa Valley's rise as a world-class wine producer since the mid-19th century.

Inglenook was established in the top-rated Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley in 1879 by a Finnish sea captain, Gustave Niebaum. After a chequered history, which included the winery shutting down during prohibition, the estate regained its original reputation for producing very fine wine during the 1940s when it was owned by John Daniel. In 1975 film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the majority of the acreage under vine, using his profits from The Godfather films. He named the wines made during his ownership Niebaum Coppola, and in 1995 purchased the totality of the estate. Finally, in 2008, Coppola was able to purchase the trademark of Inglenook, and announced that from that moment onwards the wines would all once again be known by their original name of Inglenook. The first such release was the 2008 vintage. The consulting oenologist here is the celebrated Stephane Derenencourt, who has done so much to refine the production in a clutch of top-class Bordeaux chateaux.