Scarecrow M. Etain Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 6% Malbec and 3% Merlot, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon M. Étain is very deep purple-black in color and is a little youthfully mute to begin, opening out to reveal notes of crushed black and red currants, black cherries, warm plums and tilled black soil with hints of bay leaves, lavender, chargrill and unsmoked cigars plus a waft of pencil shavings. Full-bodied, rich, bold and seductive in the mouth, it has a firm frame of wonderfully ripe, fine-grained tannins and fantastic freshness lifting the red and black fruit layers with a long, earth-laced finish. 850 cases were made.

4 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 Celia Welch has hit a home run again with the legendary J.J. Cohn Vineyard in Rutherford, a site that includes a block of old vines planted in 1945, which certainly must make them some of the oldest Cabernet vines in all of Napa Valley. There are 2,000 cases of the 2014 Monsieur Etain, which is a great enough Cabernet by itself. Wonderfully pure crème de cassis notes with some white flowers, lead pencil shavings and incense are followed by a deep, full-bodied wine with silky tannins, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel and a beautiful finish of 40+ seconds. This is an exquisite, dense, rich but sexy Cabernet Sauvignon. And now for the good news -- there are 2,000 cases of it. Drink it over the next 20 or more years. Drink through 2038. (RP)  (12/2016)

93 points Wine Spectator

 An exquisite offering, deftly balanced, elegant and refined, with a crescendo of flavors that remains on point. Complex, featuring mineral and red and dark berry notes and a kiss of dusty, cedary oak. (JL)  (11/2017)

92 points Vinous

 Graphite, smoke, licorice, incense, scorched earth and dark cherries infuse the Cabernet Sauvignon M. Etain with real depth and pedigree. Striking aromatics give the wine the freshness and energy that are typical of the vintage. The M. Etain was bottled a bit earlier than Scarecrow. Perhaps for that reason, it is super-expressive today. Far more than a second wine from the property, M. Etain increasingly has a personality all of its own. With time in the glass, the 2014 is positively striking today. (AG)  (12/2016)