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Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2023

$79999
Use code 10OFF to get 10% off 12+ bottles
At the heart of this Rutherford estate sit roughly two acres of Cabernet planted in 1945 on phylloxera-resistant St. George rootstock, among the oldest surviving Cabernet vines in Napa Valley and still dry-farmed. The land was bought in 1943 by MGM executive J.J. Cohn, who planted Cabernet at the urging of his neighbor John Daniel Jr. of Inglenook; for decades the fruit went to Inglenook, Robert Mondavi and Opus One. When Francis Ford Coppola acquired most of the property in 2002, Cohn's grandson Bret Lopez and Mimi DeBlasio kept the buildings and the old vines, and named the wine Scarecrow after the character from Cohn's studio's most famous film. Celia Welch made the debut 2003 and has guided every vintage since. This is the flagship, built from the finest lots of the year, and it is textbook Rutherford Cabernet: dense, dusty-tannined and perfumed. Production is small and sold almost entirely through a mailing list with a multi-year wait.

Shipping

Every step of the journey is managed to uphold the integrity of each bottle.

  • Nationwide Access: Flat-rate shipping available to most U.S. states with delivery in 3-5 business days.
  • Temperature-Monitored Shipping: We closely monitor weather conditions and make informed decisions to ensure shipments travel safely, with insulated packaging and refrigerated transport available when required.
  • Wine-Specific Protective Packaging: Specialized materials designed to maintain label integrity and prevent breakage during transit.
  • Provenance Assured: All wines are maintained in climate-controlled conditions at our shop until the moment of dispatch.

Returns & Exchanges

We stand behind every bottle we sell.

  • If the wine is less than 10 years old and it is corked, you may return it to us for a full refund or exchange within 60 days of purchase. You must show us proof of purchase. We understand that you may not live near a shop and that it is difficult to ship open bottles of wine to us, so if there's any problem feel free to Contact Us and we'll work it out.
  • For wines older than 10 years, the consumer bears the risk of a faulty cork, but we accept returns of older bottles if the wine is faulty as a result of improper storage. Please come by the store or Contact Us if there is a problem.
  • We may, at our discretion and to the extent permitted by law, accept returns of unopened wines within 30 days of purchase if they were properly stored by the purchaser, subject to a 15% re-stocking fee.

View our complete return policy →

Have Questions?

Our team is here to help.

Hours

Monday - Friday: 11am - 8pm

Saturday: 12pm - 5pm

CLOSED SUNDAYS

Email: help@flatiron-wines.com
Phone: (415) 780-1405


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Antonio Galloni

98 points

"The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is a total stunner. Deep and vertical in build, this is going to need many years to be at its most expressive. Iron, chalk, mint, blood orange, espresso, licorice and pomegranate are all seamless in the glass. Potent tannins kick off the mid-palate and finish." —Antonio Galloni

Robert Parker

100 points

"The 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 Scarecrow is one for the ages, built around a core of dry-farmed vines planted in 1945. Slightly herbal nuances weave in and out of perfectly ripened black cherries, underscored by hints of crushed stone. And while the wine is full-bodied, creamy and seductive, it offers incredible opulence without any sense of heaviness, supported effortlessly by fine-grained tannins. Hints of licorice, mocha and black olives on the finish only add to the web of complex flavors and textures, punctuated by tremendous length." —Joe Czerwinski

More about Scarecrow

The term cult wine gets thrown around a lot in Napa Valley. Usually, it just means a wine is impossible to find and incredibly expensive. It conjures images of endless waiting lists, closed doors, and secondary market markups that defy all logic. But if you strip away the hype and the velvet ropes, true cult status is rarely an accident. It almost always traces back to a very specific piece. That is exactly the case with Scarecrow, an estate that didn't just invent a marketing gimmick, but actually inherited one of the most historically significant vineyards in American wine.

Long before the mailing lists existed, this land in Rutherford belonged to J.J. Cohn, the legendary Hollywood producer behind The Wizard of Oz, which is where the Scarecrow name comes from. Back in 1945, he planted Cabernet Sauvignon on St. George rootstock. While the rest of Napa Valley was busy tearing out and replanting their vineyards due to the phylloxera epidemic in the 1990s, these deeply rooted, dry-farmed vines survived. Today, they are some of the oldest Cabernet vines in North America, sitting right on prime Rutherford bench soils. That is the kind of pedigree you simply cannot manufacture in a boardroom.

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Cabernet Sauvignon

  • Vintage

    2023

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Organic

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Full Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Dry-aged ribeye, rack of lamb with rosemary, red-wine-braised short ribs, mushroom-heavy dishes, aged hard cheeses.

Tasting Profile

Blackcurrant and dark plum with cedar, cocoa and the dusty earth note Rutherford is known for. Full-bodied and deeply concentrated, with fine-grained tannins and a long finish. Built for the cellar; give it a long decant if you open it young.

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