Loading lot details…
The July 2025 Auction: Part 2
Swipe left for previous · Swipe right for next
1 / 2Lot 3537
Estimate: $675
OWC.
This auction has ended. Bidding is closed.
Collection name
Reviews
98RP
"From the Stags Leap property, about 400 cases of the flagship wine, the Futo 5500, are produced. The 2013 Futo 5500 is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot, aged 19 to 20 months in Taransaud new oak barrels. A fabulous nose of violets, blackberries, sweet black cherries, blackcurrants and flowers is followed by an elegant, pure, full-bodied, seamlessly constructed beauty. What’s interesting about this wine is its incredible elegance and seamlessness, tasting like the haute couture of the vineyard. It is a fabulous, and of course, there’s no Cabernet Franc in it, unlike the Oakville, and has a much higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink it over the next 25-30 years. 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. His winemaking is classic in style, and all his wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is an exciting place to visit . . . . If you haven’t discovered Futo, the wines are not inexpensive, but this is top producer in the Oakville and Stags Leap corridors."
Region
Red
Country
Score
"From the Stags Leap property, about 400 cases of the flagship wine, the Futo 5500, are produced. The 2013 Futo 5500 is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot, aged 19 to 20 months in Taransaud new oak barrels. A fabulous nose of violets, blackberries, sweet black cherries, blackcurrants and flowers is followed by an elegant, pure, full-bodied, seamlessly constructed beauty. What’s interesting about this wine is its incredible elegance and seamlessness, tasting like the haute couture of the vineyard. It is a fabulous, and of course, there’s no Cabernet Franc in it, unlike the Oakville, and has a much higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink it over the next 25-30 years. 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. His winemaking is classic in style, and all his wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is an exciting place to visit . . . . If you haven’t discovered Futo, the wines are not inexpensive, but this is top producer in the Oakville and Stags Leap corridors."
Have questions?
The fourth-largest wine producer in the world, led by California. American fine wine is defined by ripe, expressive fruit and a spirit of innovation, with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon among the most sought-after wines globally.
California's most prestigious wine region, celebrated worldwide for opulent, structured Cabernet Sauvignon. Diverse soils and mountain-to-valley-floor sites yield wines of remarkable ripeness, power and longevity.
A Napa AVA famed for supple, elegant Cabernet marrying power with a velvety, refined texture.