1985 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon, Rutherford, Napa Valley

Eighteen bottles available. From one of Napa's great vintages.

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, and deliberately not released until 1985, seven years later, modelled on the long-held Inglenook Cask Cabernets that came off the same ground. Production started at around two thousand cases.

The vintage

1985 is a genuinely excellent Napa year, rated five out of five by Decanter and considered at the time the best since 1974. A cool, extended growing season gave moderate sugars, good acidity and fine tannins. Of the two Rubicons we have from the mid-eighties, this is the one from the stronger vintage.

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

Early Rubicon was made in a restrained, structured, distinctly un-Californian style: mid-weight rather than massive, built for decades rather than for the first five years. Antonio Galloni, writing about the 1979, described dried cherry, iron, underbrush, mint, tobacco and menthol on a lithe frame, which is the family character. At forty-one years old expect that savoury, earthy, tobacco-and-dried-fruit register rather than primary fruit.

We have not found a published critic score for the 1985, and we are not going to borrow one from another vintage. This is bought on the estate, the vintage and the provenance.

The details

• Producer: Niebaum-Coppola Estate (today Inglenook)
• Appellation: Rutherford, Napa Valley, California
• Vintage: 1985, rated 5 out of 5 by Decanter
• 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.

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