Talk to us about Futo 2012 & 2013!

This is a small but magnificent estate on the lower hillsides of the Oakville corridor in the Mayacamas Mountains just below Bill Harlan’s estate and the Bond Winery. The original wines that came from their Oakville estate have been supplemented by grapes from another estate in Stags Leap, and some blends were put together at a less-expensive price point, one called He-Li-An-Thus and a Stags Leap/Oakville blend called OVSL. The quality of these wines is truly world-class, and what proprietor Tom Futo has done with extraordinary success has been to use a relatively significant percentage of Cabernet Franc with his Oakville blend, while the Stags Leap relies primarily on Cabernet Sauvignon.

David Abreu planted many of the vines on site; Clark Vineyard Management (a well-respected vineyard management company based in the Napa Valley) helped Futo transition to their own vineyard management team. Their in-house vineyard management team makes the extra steps in terms of quality – hand selecting only the fruit they want to ripen, keeping the grapes from the vines at the end of the rows separate during the wine making process (not using this fruit in their own wines), and only using free run juice in their wines (no pressing).

From Robert Parker about the 2013 vintage:

The 2013 Proprietary Red Estate Oakville showcases even more Cabernet Franc (35%) and is blended with 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot. This is another wine that has aspirations for a three-digit score. Flowery, fragrant aromatics, including blueberry, blackberry and currants are all present along with licorice and graphite. Full-bodied, opulent and stunningly concentrated, but slightly more coiled, less flamboyant and exuberant compared to the 2012, this is another stunner that ideally should get 4-5 years bottle age and then be consumed over the following 35-40+ years. There are 501 cases of the 2013.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon 5500 is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot, but production was smaller at 375 cases. This is more coiled, reserved and tightly knit, but again, a wine of great intensity. It has a burgeoning complexity with a floral note intermixed with creme de cassis, creosote, subtle background earth and barrique aromas. Multidimensional and with a finish of close to a minute, this is an amazing wine, but oh so young and in need of 4-6 years of bottle age. It is another 35- to 40-year effort.

The 2013 Proprietary Red OVSL (77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc) is a small cuvée of 535 cases, and like its bigger brethren, bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is the strongest of the three vintages in that it is a richer, more concentrated wine. I would think it’s hard to cull out such high-quality juice from the other lots, but Futo did it. Silky tannins, stunning blueberry and blackberry fruit with a hint of burning embers are all present in this multidimensional, complex, fleshy and succulent style of wine. Drink it over the next 20+ years.