We had a great visit to Rubissow with our Wines of California & Europe class on the first day of August. I’ll post the notes on the estate next week but in the meantime here are two of their stars.
Rubissow, Napa Valley, Mount Veeder, Rubissow Vineyard, Merlot 2005 This wine puts together the best of ripe fruit and sweet oak. There are cherries and plums galore and a nice thread of acidity. This is elegant Merlot, where all of the corners are polished and the wine speaks suppleness. The fruit is all sourced from the family’s vineyard on Mt. Veeder and the grapes in this wine are 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14.5% $50 at the winery.
Rubissow, Napa Valley, Mount Veeder, Rubissow Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 The nose sports a sense of Bordeaux with cedar, cigar box and sweet spices like clove yet there’s also plenty of cherry and raspberry fruit to place this firmly in California. In the mouth there is an acidic backbone that drives the fruit a long way while the tannins are ripe and silky – another elegant wine. Like the Merlot, all of the fruit comes from the estate on Mount Veeder. The wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with the addition of 6.5% Merlot and 1.5% Cabernet Franc, unfined and unfiltered. 14.5% $75 at the winery.
Proprietors Peter Rubissow and Ariel Rubissow-Okamoto. Winemaker Tim Milos. The wines are produced and bottled in Calistoga. Rubissow Wines