Scarecrow 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a magnum-format (1.5L) expression from the legendary J.J. Cohn Estate on the western edge of Rutherford, nestled against the Mayacamas range in Napa Valley. The blend comprises 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot, aged 21 months in 75% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Winemaker Celia Welch, working alongside farmer Mike Wolf, coaxed exceptional quality from a smaller 2021 vintage in which yields were down 30–35%.

The wine opens with a dense, brooding core of blackcurrant jelly, plum preserves, boysenberries, and dark cherries layered with notes of cinnamon stick, rosebud tea, anise, graphite, smoked tobacco, incense, and mocha-laced oak. On the palate it is full-bodied and tightly wound, with ultra-fine, grainy tannins and remarkable tension framing intense baking spice and mineral-laced black fruit flavors. The finish is extraordinarily long and complex. Critics have awarded the 2021 vintage perfect scores from Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent, 100 pts) and Jeb Dunnuck (100 pts), along with 99 points from Decanter, 98+ from Wine Advocate, 98 from Vinous, and 97 from Wine Spectator. The drinking window extends from approximately 2025 through 2058 depending on the critic, with peak drinking expected after several years of additional cellaring.