2010 Cabernet Sauvignon

Scarecrow's 2010s are gorgeous, and also quite a big step up from the 2009s.

Scarecrow is one of the more intriguing stories in Napa Valley. Today the property is owned by Bret Lopez, grandson of J.J. Cohn, the famous movie executive whose name adorned the property until fairly recently. Lopez spent his childhood vacations here, and always retained a key interest in the property. According to Lopez, the house remains furnished pretty much as it was when he was a child. Lopez then went on to build a career as a world-class photographer, but never lost his passion for the estate. Lopez teamed up with his neighbor Francis Ford Coppola to buy out his siblings when the property came up for sale. As part of the transaction, Lopez kept the parcels right in front of the house. Scarecrow is notable for its old vines planted on St. George rootstock rather than the ill-fated AxR1 rootstock that ultimately proved to be vulnerable to phylloxera. Today the wines are made by Celia Welch and show tremendous potential. Welch uses 90% new oak barrels and bottles with no fining or filtration. She prefers commercial yeast strains for the alcoholic fermentation, largely because the wines are made at a custom crush facility and it is therefore impossible to control the environment. After spending several hours at Scarecrow tasting and walking through some of the spectacular older, gnarly, head-trained vines, it is impossible not to conclude that the estate most likely needs its own winemaking facility and internal winemaking team to realize its fullest potential, all pretty standard among top-flight wineries in Napa Valley today.