BV - Beaulieu Vineyard is one of those historical Napa
Valley wineries that everyone at
all serious about wines (especially cabs) should visit at least once. I have been to
Beaulieu Vineyard many times over the past forty years and a visit is always
worthwhile since it is something of an historical landmark. I had many bottles of their 1970 George de
Latour Private Reserve Cabernet, which helped put Napa Valley on the map and
was a great cab back in the 1970s, but certainly would not be now. It was still great in the 1980s, but not much
after that. This was not a big wine with
lots of age potential, but it was the first Napa
Valley elegant cab that I ever
tasted. BV made history with it. Trust me, it was really great back then. I preferred it to most first cru Bordeaux
wines which I actually could afford back
in the 1970s but would have to mortgage my home to taste now with
today's market. Napa Cabs have been
competitive with all the great French red Bordeaux
wines since1970 and went on to prove it in blind tastings in France. And they are, by far, the better deal. Although California
chardonnays did better than some French Burgundies in the famous tasting, (and
I had a case of the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won) I would argue that France
still has the edge in white Burgundies and nobody has come close to matching a
great red Burgundy.
This visit we opted to only sample two wines, the 2008
Rutherford Cab at $32 and the 2007 Reserve Maestro Cab Ranch No. 1 at $65. The former had a blackberry nose with good
fruit and balanced tannins. The later
was even better and was rated 91 by Robert Parker. As good as the Maestro was, we thought the Rutherford
cab was probably the better deal at less than half the price, although both
cabs are very good and well worth a visit.
You can sample wine by the glass or chose the Maestro Tasting of four
wines for $15 or the Premier Tasting of four wines for $20.
Visited 10/5/2011
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