Inglenook Blancaneaux 2016
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Wong
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Robert -
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Winemaker Notes
Vivid and elegant with a fresh spray of minerals, 2016 Blancaneaux offers an evocative bouquet reminiscent of white flowers, honeysuckle, Asian pears, and grapefruit zest. Complex and full-bodied, the subtle creaminess on the palate results from a touch of French oak. Its layered structure is well complemented by a lingering finish and vivacious flavors of white peach, citrus, and vanilla.
Blend: 36% Viognier, 32% Marsanne, 32% Roussanne
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Inglenook is one of the most renowned names in the wine business. Over the years, I have tasted a long list of wines produced under this moniker, and so many of them remain as some of the memorable wines I have enjoyed in a lifetime of incredible wines. Inglenook's first harvest in 1882 was just a start as the stories continue to grow. After Francis and Eleanor Coppola purchased the historic estate in 1975, life got even better for this gentleman farmer and the estate. The Inglenook Blancaneaux—the winery's expression of a Rhône style white wine—introduced in 1999 as a partner to Rubicon, showed the world that the Napa Valley could produce world-class white wine blends. The 2016 vintage is a standout! TASTING NOTES: This is a wine of individual merit. Its complex aromas and flavors of ripe fruit, savory spices, and dried citrus should pair it deliciously with cold-boiled chicken in a drizzle bath of sea salt and thinly-sliced scallions. (Tasted: June 26, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A Rhône-inspired blend of 36% Viognier, 32% Marsanne and 32% Roussanne, the 2016 Blancaneaux was fermented and aged in a mix of stainless steel and oak, spending seven months on the lees prior to racking for bottling. Scents of struck match and pencil shavings mark the nose, joining aromas of toasted marshmallow, pear and citrus. In the mouth, this medium-bodied effort is nicely textured, then adds notes of citrus pith and seems almost a bit salty on the finish. It appears to have several good years still ahead of it.
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Wine Enthusiast
The producer’s perennial Rhône-style white blend from its estate, this blends 36% Viognier with 32% Roussanne and 32% Marsanne. Together, they harmonize into a cohesive whole of intense floral aromatics and brightly textured fruit. Gardenia, cinnamon and apple all standout on the nose and on the silky, slightly reduced palate.
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A decade later, Francis Ford Coppola purchased 1,500 acres of this historic property and revived Captain Niebaum's fine winemaking tradition. In 1995, Niebaum-Coppola acquired the remainder of the property and restored the Inglenook Estate to its original dimensions.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.