Scarecrow

The story of Scarecrow begins in the mid-19th century and is set in Rutherford, a sub-area within Napa County. It all started with the J.J. Cohn Estate, which once bordered the legendary Inglenook vineyard. In 1939, John Daniel Jr. took over the winery and vineyards of Inglenook. John convinced his neighbor Joseph Judson Cohn to plant Cabernet Sauvignon vines on one of his plots of land. Cohn had no intention of becoming a winemaker himself, but Daniel promised to buy his grapes. The grapes that came from J.J. Cohn's vineyards have played an important role in the quality of Inglenook, as well as for well-known brands such as Insignia and Opus One.

In 2003 Bret Lopez, Joseph's grandson, decided to start producing wine under the name Scarecrow. The grapes he used for this were of course from his grandfather's vineyard. The Wizard of Oz was Joseph's favorite classic film and that's how Scarecrow got its name. It is an ode to one of the essential characters from the film.

The vinification is done by winemaker Celia Welch. Celia has won the Rising Star Award for Women for Winesense, among others. After de-stemming the Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes are fermented for an average of 24 days. Then, the wine is transferred to oak barrels of 90% new French oak. First, the wine is left alone for 10 months. In the meantime, the wine is checked for quality and then aged for another 10 months.

The winery has also been producing a second wine for several years. The M. Étain is Cabernet Sauvignon dominated and will be supplemented in a few years with Malbec, Petit Verdot and Merlot.

Less than 2,000 cases of either wines are produced per year. This makes the wines scarce and very exclusive. To get your hands on even a single bottle, you have to be really quick, because the wines always sell out super fast!

The best Scarecrow vintages are: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.