Napa’s Nested AVAs : Rutherford
“It takes Rutherford Dust to grow great Cabernet Sauvignon.”
- “Maestro” André Viktorovich Tchelistcheff
"Rutherford’s benchlands, marked by varying alluvial fans, produce rich, dense and often famous Cabernet Sauvignons. Riparian sites here, scoured over the eons by the Napa River have a broad variety of soil types and textures. These soils produce wines, including Sauvignon Blancs, characterized by remarkable elegance, complexity and understated power. "
- Kristin Belair, Honig Vineyard & Winery
Rutherford is located at the widest part of Napa Valley, therefore the vines enjoy the most sun of any of the valley floor appellations. This makes for ripe wines with soft tannins and dense fruit. The benchland, which has deep gravelly soils and protection from the hot sun, lends a nobility and elegance into the mix, along with distinctively grainy tannins from the “Rutherford Dust.” The western benchland is protected from the hot afternoon sun by the mountains of the Mayacamas; across the valley, along the eastern edge of the appellation, a complex series of hills and folds in the Vacas make for a series of unique microclimates. Rutherford is home to some of Napa Valley’s most famous and historic wineries but it also contains some large tracts of vineyard holdings by larger farming operations. It is located south of St Helena and immediately north of Oakville, at the heart of the Napa Valley winegrowing area. It is named after Thomas Lewis Rutherford, who married Elizabeth Yount, granddaughter of Napa's pioneering vigneron George C. Yount (see Yountville).
The Rutherford AVA is located in what was the original Rancho Caymus land grant that was awarded to early Napa Valley pioneer George C. Yount in 1836. The land grant consisted of two leagues of land bestowed by Governor Nicolas Gutierrez, with influence from Yount's friend General Mariano Vallejo. In 1864, George Yount gave a 1040 acre portion of the rancho to his granddaughter Elizabeth and her new husband Thomas Rutherford as a wedding gift and the area still bears their name to this day. While George Yount is considered the first person to plant grapevines in Napa Valley, the Rutherfords were among some of the early Napa winemakers as well, planting vineyards through the late 1880's.
In the late 1880's Phylloxera infested much of Napa County, slowing wine production to a standstill. However, grapevine planting and growing in Rutherford were not affected as much as other regions in the Napa Valley. The first person to import grapevines with Phylloxera resistant rootstock was Georges de Latour (pictured here), who purchased four acres of land near Rutherford in 1900 and named it "Beaulieu" or "Beautiful Place." De Latour went on to become a prominent supplier of Phylloxera resistant rootstock to other vineyards throughout California.
In 1920 with the passing of Prohibition, many Napa Valley wineries were forced to shut down or begin producing grape juice instead. Through his close connection with the Catholic Church, Georges de Latour was able to stay in business by producing Sacramental Wine for religious ceremonies. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, De Latour continued to produce fine table wines for the public and gain recognition for Napa Valley as a region producing high quality wines. De Latour's Beaulieu winery and nearby Inglenook winery began to earn gold medals in international competition and in 1939 Rutherford's reputation for fine wines was established when Georges de Latour won a gold medal at the Golden Gate International Exposition for his 1936 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon.
In addition to solidifying Rutherford's status as a fine wine producing region, Georges de Latour also inspired a younger generation of many of the region's more contemporary winemakers such as Andre Tchelistcheff. During his career as a winemaker, Tchelistcheff introduced new methods of winemaking including vineyard frost protection, cold fermentation and malolactic fermentation and was the creator of the original "Georges de Latour Private Reserve" label. Which became the Napa Valley’s first “cult” Cabernet when it was released in 1940. The slogan “Rutherford dust” is now associated with notes of chocolate, cherry, spice, and minerality in the wines from the region
Grapes of Rutherford
Abundant sunshine and warm temperatures allow Rutherford's grapes to reach optimal maturity over the course of the growing season, producing deep, richly flavored wines. Located 12 miles (20km) north of Napa town, and half that distance again from San Pablo Bay, Rutherford summer days are also blessed with damp, cooling fog rising northwards up the valley from the Bay Area. The fog is sufficient to moderate the hot Californian sunshine, which might otherwise overcook the grapes, depriving the wines of aromatic complexity and the acid structure essential in all cellar-worthy wines. Instead, Rutherford's grapes make wines that often display a sought-after balance of flavor and acidity, due to their long, even ripening period. This influence is particularly noticeable in Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon wines, which bear the same hints of eucalyptus and mint as their Oakville neighbors. The term "Rutherford dust" is commonly used in tasting notes to describe Cabernet Sauvignon and other red varietals produced here. It refers to a fine, dusty-like tannin structure that is produced from the unique terroir of the AVA. (Rutherford Dust Society)
There is a complex array of soil types throughout Napa Valley, both volcanic and marine in origin, but it is the Rutherford Bench alluvial fan that is arguably the most famous. It stretches for three miles from Oakville to Rutherford. The foothills with gravelly benchland soils provide the perfect combination of water retention and adequate drainage for viticulture. While the Bordeaux varieties dominate the Rutherford vineyard, tiny quantities of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are grown in the AVA. Few of these ever command the price and prestige of their Cabernet cousins.
Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford seems to have a little bit of everything. It's fruity, sweet, smoky, leathery, and uniquely "dusty." Like you walked into a study and dusted off an old leather book. Around harvest time, everyone's car is covered with a fine powder. It's annoying if you like clean automobiles. But wine people love it. After all, it's Rutherford dust. It’s yet to be proven whether it's physical dust collecting on the grapes, getting into fermentation tanks, and flavoring wines. Regardless, Rutherford wines have this "dusty" quality to them and it's one of the highlights of this sub-region of Napa Valley.
