2014 Futo Estate, Oakville, Napa Valley, Magnum (1.5L)

RP97 "The 2014 Oakville Proprietary Red is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. This is a fabulous effort as well, more sexy and up-front than the 2013 at the moment, with gorgeous blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with licorice, graphite and subtle background wood smoke. Opulent and voluptuous, with terrific ripeness, density and a layered mouthfeel, this is a killer wine to drink over the next 25-30 years." RP Oct 2016

AG96+ "The 2013 Futo is the most reticent of the 2013s I tasted on my most recent visit. Given the high amount of Cabernet Franc here and how well all the other wines showed, I imagine that it is just a function of where the 2013 is at this point in time. Still very tightly wound, the 2013 is going to need a few more years in bottle. I wouldn't plan on touching a bottle any time soon." AG for VM Dec 2016

"Kansas native Tom Futo is about as meticulous a wine producer as one can find. His Oakville estate, sitting between 215 and 500 feet in elevation, just below the Bond winery and Harlan vineyard, is composed mostly of sandstone and shale. It is broken up into six separate vineyard sites, with 25 vineyard blocks. His most recent acquisition is the 5500 Estate in the southeast corner of the Stags Leap District, which had once been a rock quarry. Along with his wines from these separate sectors, he also makes a blend of both vineyards which he calls the OV/SL, and more recently has been buying fruit from a vineyard in the Soda Canyon and Atlas Peak region with a terroir of white tufa and volcanic soils, from which he produces a wine called “he-li-an-thus,” so in essence there are four spectacular cuvées based around Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and some Petit Verdot. Mark Aubert was the first winemaker Futo employed, but when he left to start his own estate further north in Napa, he was replaced by the brilliant Jason Exposto, who has done an exceptional job. Viticultural work remains under the direction of the superstar of top vineyards, David Abreu. It is amazing when you consider how great the wines are that Futo wines really began when the original seven-acre Oakville property was purchased in 2002, followed by the completion of the winery in 2008 and the later purchase of the nine-acre Stags Leap vineyard. They haven’t yet been doing this for a decade, but Futo is already one of the superstars in a competitive and formidable lineup of top wineries in Napa Valley.
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. The newer estate, which is labeled Futo 5500, is after the address on Silverado Trail." RP