Rare library release offering — only 6 bottles available!
 
This is not a “big modern Napa fruit bomb.” At nearly four decades old, it should read as a mature Rutherford Cabernet: less primary fruit, more cedar, tobacco, forest floor, mushroom, earth, dark cherry/currant, savory length and a graceful finish. 
 
The Bosché Vineyard is arguably one of Napa's most historic vineyards and this wine is a Napa Valley icon. In fact, it was one of the valley’s very first vineyard-designated wines. Showcasing the classic "Rutherford Dust" profile, this Napa Valley favorite is dense with red and black cherry, dark chocolate, espresso, black pepper, grilled herbs and cigar box. Don't miss your chance to sip on a piece of Napa Valley history.
Planted in 1970s, the Bosche Vineyard is located on the southern end of the Rutherford Bench near the Mayacamas Mountains, featuring rich clay loam soil.
 
Bosché: One of the First Vineyard Designate Wines in California
Since the 1970 vintage, the Bosché name has graced wine labels at Freemark Abbey, the one and only winery for almost half a century to bottle wine from the legendary vineyard.
“You know, if you look at the early vineyard designates in California history, Cabernet Bosché was certainly one of the first,” Winemaker Emeritus Ted Edwards observed on an early December walk through the Rutherford vineyard. “And this holds true for Freemark Abbey and the partners as being a pioneering winery and pioneering families of the Valley.”
There is probably no one more qualified to comment on the track record of this 22-acre gem, long acknowledged as one of the premier vineyards in Napa Valley. Ted has worked with the grapes since his earliest days at Freemark Abbey in 1980, when Bosché fruit was already producing an established single-vineyard wine. He possesses back-of-the-hand knowledge of the estate’s topography and can frame it neatly within the Rutherford AVA’s famous soil profile. “The gravelly soil just doesn’t hold the water,” he explained. “This is really what you’d call ‘well-drained’ soil. So when people talk about the Rutherford Bench and gravelly clay loam, Bosché is it. I mean, this is on that plateau, the alluvial fan that sloughed off of the Mayacamas Mountains”
Then, with his back to these same mountains, he gestured all around. “This is the heart of the Rutherford Bench.”
 
Tasting Note:
This vintage is known for its intense aromatic complexity, with notes of blackberry, pomegranate syrup, black tea, and forest floor, and a rich, textured palate featuring flavors of forest fruits, dark chocolate, bay leaf, and warm oak spices.
Vintage Conditions: 1987 was characterized by dry, hot weather, leading to concentrated fruit.
 
Freemark Abbey is a Napa Valley winery located in Saint Helena, California. Established in 1886 by Victorian widow Josephine Tychson, she was the first female winemaker on the record in Napa Valley, and the winery was the 16th bonded winery on record in the region. It was the only winery to have both a red and white wine represented in the famous Judgement of Paris tasting of 1976.
Kristy Melton has more than a decade of experience crafting wines with structure, finesse, and age-worthiness. Before joining Freemark Abbey, Kristy held winemaking roles at several Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries including Clos Du Val, Bootleg, Kendall-Jackson, Saintsbury, and others.