Inglenook

Inglenook sits on the Rutherford Bench in Napa Valley, California, and has one of the longest and most turbulent histories of any American winery. Founded in 1879, it was sold, turned into a budget wine brand, and then painstakingly restored over four decades by a film director; today it is one of Napa’s most historically significant estates.

History

Finnish sea captain Gustav Nibau purchased the Inglenook estate in 1879 and, in the years that followed, acquired the surrounding land, totalling some 445 hectares. He began construction of the chateau in 1881 and completed it in 1887. Following Nibau’s death in 1908 and the estate’s survival of the Prohibition era, control passed to his grandnephew, John Daniel Jr, in 1939.

In 1964, Daniel sold the Inglenook name and winery to United Vintners, which eventually turned the brand into a label for cheap table wine. Francis Ford Coppola, riding high on the success of The Godfather, bought most of the original estate in 1975, naming it Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery. In 1995, he reunited the two estates by purchasing the historic château and the adjacent 38.2 hectares.

In 2011, following years of negotiations, he bought back the Inglenook name itself and reinstated it as the estate’s official name. In the same year, Philippe Bascol of Château Margaux became winemaking director. In 2022, a new 2,100-square-metre winemaking facility named Italia Coppola Wine Caves was completed, housing 120 fermentation vats, one for each vineyard plot.

Vineyards, terroir and grape varieties

The estate’s vineyards are situated on the Rutford Bench, a plot with deep alluvial soils consisting of a well-drained layer of gravel and loam over a stony subsoil, ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon.

The primary grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon, alongside Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Winemaking and wines

The ‘plot-by-plot’ approach allows fermentation to be carried out and the condition of each of the 120 vineyard plots to be monitored separately before decisions on blending are made.

The flagship wine is Rubicon: a Bordeaux blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, the first vintage of which was harvested in 1978.

Other wines include ‘Estate Cabernet Sauvignon’, ‘Cabernet Franc’, ‘Blancano’ (a Rhône-style white blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne), ‘Sauvignon Blanc’ and ‘RC Reserve Syrah’.