This one’s from the Schoenstein Vineyard, right next to what is now owned by V29 and called the Aida vineyard. Both are just North of St. Helena on Hwy 29, near the Turley facility.
It’s in a pretty spot right now. It’s acquired enough age that the aromas aren’t just primary, but they still have some freshness and verve of a young wine, showing some darker plummy or blackberry fruit characters but with also some non-fruit aromas of a little bit of cigar ash and pipe tobacco. It also has a touch of green character - not so much a negative green like bell pepper, but an interesting green of just a hint of menthol or mint. One thing I always love about Etude wines is the soft and silky tannin structure, and this one is right on in that department, with real fine grain stuff that won’t overpower but lets you know it’s there. There is a lot of density without being a meal in itself or cloying. The acidity is moderate…to the point that it comes across neither as plush nor tart. Really enjoyed this, and a night-and-day contrast to the 2005 Barbera d’ Alba opened just before which was nice but quite thin and much higher in acidity.
Enjoyed with some marinated tri-tip, it hit the spot. '02 was a great year for Etude overall. The Napa bottling is solid and I go back and forth over which I enjoy more - this bottling or the Rutherford one from the JJ Cohn vineyard.
If you have a couple of these, I’d open one and wait on the rest for a couple more years. The rest of mine have received a stay until at least 2010.
Disclaimer: I used to work for Etude, but not in 2002 and I had nothing to do with these wines other than being lucky enough to get my grimy paws on some. TN written strictly from the POV of wine enjoyment.
They work with more than one vineyard in each of the sub-AVA’s.
The (planned, but keelhauled by the TTB) Calistoga wine could have included Frediani and/or Kenefick. Rutherford could have been Cohn or Morisoli. St Helena could be Schoenstein or Criscione (IIRC?).
Basically, I think they made the decision to keep it a series of wines more specific than Napa Valley AVA but not quite hitch their cart to single-vineyard names in case a). they lost the source at some point or b). they could make a better wine by blending vineyards
Having worked with these sources a bit, though, I think it is more than safe to say that the St Helena will always be Schoenstein-based, & the Oakville will always be Vine Hill Ranch-based. The older Rutherfords are entirely Cohn (again, through 2003 or 2004, IIRC?), but since they had the rug pulled out there, will be mostly Morisoli going forward.
I think the back labels usually are quite specific about where the sub-AVA wines came from with vineyard names. Of course, take what I say with a grain of salt since I left there in 2005 and am working off memory here.
Trying this wine the other night reminded me that I need to pop in and see what is going on over there. I think they have expanded the product line a lot. I hear the Malbec off their estate vineyard rocks…I also am interested in the Fortitude Shake Ridge wines, which were great when I was there.
The JJ Cohn vineyard was planted by, well, JJ Cohn, who was in production at MGM (the Wizard of Oz/Scarecrow connection). Long ago ('40s? '50s?).
A lot of the vineyard was sold to Coppola at some point in I believe the early 2000s. The rest was retained by the Cohn family.
I’m not sure the status now, but I know those early-mid 2000s Etude Rutherford bottlings (and through at least 2005) were mostly, if not all, from the Cohn vineyard. The 2002 was an awesome bottle that I ran out of long ago.
I think the Cohns have around 25 acres still, so I imagine they still sell some fruit. Whether it goes to Etude still, I’m not sure.