Inglenook Rubicon Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Francis Ford Coppola, who bought the famed Inglenook property in the 1970s with proceeds from the Godfather movies, has been restoring it ever since to its early 20th-century glory. He told me he transferred ownership to his children (a little-known fact), but he remains the guiding light and last year hired former Chateaux Margaux winemaker Philippe Bascaules to oversee operations. If Bascaules can improve on this 2009, I'll be impressed. It is glorious, the best Inglenook (formerly called Rubicon) I've tasted, with broad shoulders and a solid spine, brimming with textbook cabernet flavours of cassis and black-olive tapenade complemented by dark chocolate and jaw-twisting tannins. Sunny California fruit with Bordeaux structure. It would sing with rare beef and improve with up to 20 years in bottle. Score - 94. (Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, Nov. 14, 2012)