1986 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon, Rutherford, Napa Valley

Five bottles available.

Francis Ford Coppola bought Gustave Niebaum's Victorian house and roughly 1,560 acres of the original Inglenook vineyard in 1975, with money from The Godfather. Rubicon was the wine he made from it: first produced in 1978, held seven years before release, modelled deliberately on the long-aged Inglenook Cask Cabernets that had come off the same Rutherford ground a generation earlier. Production ran to about two thousand cases.

Where this bottle came from

Bottles at this age reach us through private collectors we know personally, people who bought long ago and cellared properly ever since. Every one is inspected before we take it and stays in temperature-controlled storage from the moment it enters our hands.

What to expect

Laurie Daniel, tasting a Rubicon vertical in 2017, found the 1986 smelled a little cooked but that the flavours were still fresh, with black currant, anise and celery seed. That is the only published professional note we could find on this vintage, and we would rather give you one honest note than five invented ones. Expect a mature, savoury, mid-weight Napa Cabernet in the old style: structure and earth rather than sweetness and oak.

There is no published critic score for the 1986 Rubicon that we can verify. Galloni's 93 points belongs to the 1979 and does not transfer.

The details

• Producer: Niebaum-Coppola Estate (today Inglenook)
• Appellation: Rutherford, Napa Valley, California
• Vintage: 1986, part of Napa's strong 1984 to 1987 run
• Grapes: a Cabernet Sauvignon-led Bordeaux blend. The estate does not publish percentages for this vintage.
• Format: 750ml
• Drinking window: now. Fully mature.

Serving and pairing

Stand upright for two days. Decant gently off the sediment forty-five minutes ahead and serve at 62°F. Roast lamb, mushrooms, or aged cheese.

Five bottles, shipped from our Florida cellar in protective packaging. Browse more rare and limited vintages.