2020 Beaulieu Vineyard BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA (750ml)

WINEMAKER'S NOTES:

This vintage is a powerhouse example of Beaulieu Vineyard's flagship wine, with an intense and fragrant bouquet of ripe, dark berries, grape compote, black cherry, orange peel, and black plum, alongside savory, perfumed notes of wild violet, rose petal, fresh spearmint, bay laurel, and earth. Warm baking spice notes from the French oak barrel influence add vanilla, caramel, and allspice. Saturated dark fruit is present and voluminous throughout the palate, exhibiting mouth-coating structure with density and enveloping richness. Full-bodied and multilayered, secondary notes of bittersweet dark chocolate, umami, leather, tobacco leaf, and graphite add additional nuance and complexity. The signature "Rutherford Dust" tannins are pronounced, framing the wine and presenting a firm grip with chewy, cocoa-powder texture. The mouthwatering palate is lively and fresh with balanced acidity, demonstrating length and a lovely generosity. Incredibly pleasing upon release, yet certain to age for many years to come.

Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot

TASTING NOTES:

Fascinating, fresh and ripe fruit flavors fill this full-bodied, velvety-textured wine with blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. Subtle oak spices add interest from the aroma through the finish. Decant this time-tested wine if drinking soon.

- Wine Enthusiast, 97 pts. 

A very fine and polished BV private reserve that shows focus, tension and subtle complexity with lead pencil, fresh sage and dried herb undertones. Medium body, fine tannins and a pretty finish. Very refined.

- James Suckling, 94 pts. 

The star of the show from this team in 2020 is the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges De Latour Private Reserve, a deep purple-hued Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 24 months in French oak (95% new). It has terrific aromatics of blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, graphite, and spice, and these carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied, has solid tannins, good mid-palate depth, and outstanding length. There are some firmer, chalky tannins here, but this is beautifully done and should have two decades of longevity.

- Jeb Dunnuck, 93 pts. 

A ripe, poised wine, with a core of warmed cassis and plum reduction notes, gilded with a hint of violet and underscored by a warm loamy edge. Offers a solid frame, thanks to generous toast, with apple wood and alder hints hanging through the finish as the dark, fleshy fruit slowly unwinds. Solid.

- Wine Spectator, 92 pts

While some wineries opted to skip the 2020 vintage, BV has bottled a seemingly excellent 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour. It features black cherries, cassis and toasty oak on the nose, while its medium to full-bodied palate is a bit coarse and open-knit, but it shows no overt evidence of smoke taint to this taster, as the wine finishes long and velvety.

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 92 pts