Rubicon Estate

                                                                                   Coppola Estate

                                                                                          Vineyards

                                                                                            Caves

                                                                                                   Tasting Room

                          David Mayer                                                                  The Wine

Rubicon Estate, www.rubiconestate.com,  

The Rubicon Estate Winery (formerly Niebaum-Coppola Winery and Inglenook Winery) is located in Rutherford, California, USA. The winery sits on a portion of the historic Napa Valley property first acquired in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, founder of the Inglenook Winery.

In 1975, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor, purchased Niebaum’s Victorian home, along with 120 acres of surrounding vineyards. In 1995, Coppola reunited the two original Inglenook parcels by purchasing the grand Inglenook chateau and surrounding vineyards (neighboring vineyards include Heitz Wine Cellars Martha’s Vineyard and Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour). The winery underwent a name change in early 2006, and is now known as Rubicon Estate. Coppola’s winemaker is Scott McLeod, a UC Davis alumnus with winemaking background in Tuscany.

Rubicon is the winery’s flagship wine. Total case production has risen from 1,000 cases per year to over 50,000 cases per year since 1995. The company also produces Rosso and Bianco, two wines in the $10 range.

Their current wines consist of ;  2009 Marsanne;  2007 Cuvee Rutherford;  2007 Edizione Pennino;  2007 Cabernet Franc;  2007 Merlot;  2007 RC Reserve Syrah;  2006 Cask Cabernet;  2008 Blancaneaux;  2006 Rubicon.  

We got to taste their reserve wines; the Edizione Pennino Zinfandel was big and spicy;  the Blancaneaux, white blend was bright and creamy;  the Cask Cabernet was big and bold;  the Rubicon flagship Cabernet was delicious, a cellar wine.   The tasting room is open daily, it is a must stop if you are visiting Napa.