Beaulieu Vineyard: Profile and tasting notes

One of California's oldest wineries in continuous production...

Beaulieu Vineyard was founded in 1900 by Georges de Latour, who was born in Bordeaux in 1856 with a marketing manager’s ideal name.

A chemist who emigrated to California, he was convinced of Napa Valley’s potential as a wine region and bought a couple of hectares in 1900 in Rutherford. He expanded the estate rapidly by buying and planting over 50 more hectares in Rutherford, which even then was recognised as the valley’s sweet spot for red wines.His connections with the Catholic Church enabled Beaulieu to survive Prohibition when other estates foundered. Indeed, by the time of Repeal in 1933, production had expanded fourfold.De Latour knew he needed an outstanding winemaker, and so in 1938 he recruited a Russian oenologist called Andre Tchelitscheff, who proved to be a breath of fresh air, introducing better hygiene and yeast strains, and replacing large redwood tanks with small French oak barrels.

Private Reserve

To honour his employer, Tchelitscheff created the Georges de Latour Private Reserve, of which the first vintage was 1936. It has been made ever since, often purely from Cabernet Sauvignon, or with small additions in recent vintages of Petit Verdot or Merlot. Almost all the grapes came from Beaulieu’s extensive Rutherford plantings.

Also see: Wine Legend: Beaulieu Vineyard, BV, Georges de Latour Private Reserve 1947

Over the past decade, about half the wine has been barrel-fermented to give better oak integration and more sucrosity, and also, current winemaker Trevor Durling admits, to help mask the high tannins. The wine is aged for 22 months in about 90% new oak (entirely French in recent vintages), and about 8,000 cases are produced.

The Clones

There are also small volumes of Cabernet Sauvignon made each year from Clones 4 and 6, the principal clones planted in the Rutherford vineyards. Clone 4 originated in Mendoza and has thick skins but fairly high yields, whereas Clone 6, sourced from old vines in the Sierra Foothills, gives much lower yields and a denser structure.

Ageability

Beaulieu’s wines are fashioned for long cellaring and seem to retain their primary fruit for many years before developing secondary aromas such as tobacco and leather.

An immense vertical tasting held in London in 1999 confirmed that in top years these can be 50-year wines: vintages such as 1939, 1941, 1951, 1968, and 1968 were still alive but mature.

A recent tasting of the latest release Cabernet Sauvignons included a few vintages of Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon back to 1991. At nearly 30 years old it is standing up well, and although it’s evolved in character and now ready to drink, it’s certainly not flagging.

The wines tasted:

BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2016

BV Clone 4 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2014

BV Clone 6 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2014

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2012

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2007

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2006

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 1991

Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernets: Latest releases plus older vintages

You may also like:

Napa new releases to drink in 2019

Screaming Eagle: More than the sum of its parts

Top California Cabernet 2015 wines: Full vintage report