Renaissance of a Napa Valley Icon - Beaulieu Vineyard

It is hard to dispute the iconic influence of Beaulieu Vineyard in the history of Napa Valley wines. Beaulieu Vineyard is one of the oldest wineries in Napa Valley, dating back to the early 1900. As a matter of fact, founder of the winery, Georges de Latour, was credited with saving Napa Valley from a vine-destroying louse called Phylloxera in 1910s. Thanks to Georges’ knowledge of the cure for phylloxera - resistant rootstock that he would import by the millions over the next decade - prosperity returned to Napa Valley.

But what brought BV to the fore front of the Napa Valley wine scene was in 1938 when Georges de Latour, realized that he needed a winemaker who understood European standards and knew how to make world-class wine, went to the Bordeaux region of France in search of a man who could make his dream of world-class wine a reality. By chance, he found that man working in Paris at the Institut National Agronomique — a Russian-born émigré named André Tchelistcheff. Tchelistcheff listened to de Latour’s request to work for him in California. In September 1938, Tchelistcheff arrived in California and the rest is history. Under the guidance of Tchelistcheff, dubbed the "Maestro", from 1938 to his retirement in 1973, BV made numerous legendary wines. However, starting in the early 90s, similar to many matured businesses, it started to go into a steady decline. Its flagship wine, George de latour Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has changed in style to a more polite and elegant tone. Even in vintages like the 1994, 1997, 2001 and 2002 where Napa producers were making rich, opulent, powerful Cabernets, BV George de Latour has always come across as lean, soft and restraint. Then, in 2002, a certain wine critic openly criticized BV wines and claimed that many of the BV wines, dated as far back as 1997, were tainted with TCA. At first, it was thought to be just an unusual batch of tainted corks. Then, in September 2002, after facing mounting pressure from the wine industry, BV finally admitted that they have isolated the TCA taint to one humidified red wine cellar. However, its reputation has already been damaged. BV may have reached its low point when its 2001 George de Latour Reserve Cabernet got a 69 points rating from the Wine Spectator magazine. All these seem to lit a fire under this sleeping Giant. Starting in 2002, BV began a renaissance champaign to reinvigorate people's perception of its winery and its wine making philosophy. It invested millions of dollars in upgrading its wine making facility. New state-of-the-art equipments were brought in to improve the quality of the wine making process from start to finish. Simultaneously, they begin to change their wine making philosophy of trying to produce a bigger, richer style of wines. I started noticing the stylistic change with the 2003 vintage.

This morning, I sat down and tasted through the three newly released BV red wines from the 2004 vintage. Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of these wines. They all have the telltale richness from the 2004 Cabernets from Napa Valley. Two of them merit a good to outstanding rating. I have high hope that BV may be ready for a second renaissance of its past glory.

2004 Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve Dulcet - This wine is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Syrah. The Cabernet fruits are selected from Rutherford BV Ranch 1 and BV Ranch 2 blocks. Both of these blocks offers the Cabernet a softer tannins and fruit forward expression. The wine is aged for 20 months in 50% French & Hungarian Oaks and 50% American Oak, in which 40% is new. I tasted this wine and found that the wine has a split personality. Blackberry & toasty oak came thru in the front like a typical Napa Valley Cabernet but roasted meat and black pepper notes finished in the back palate like a cool climate Syrah. Somewhere in between, I lost the connection. (87 points)

2004 Beaulieu Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - Opaque inky purple in color, this wine is rich, thick and opulent right out of the bottle. It is derived from the best fruit primarily from BV owned vineyards in Rutherford. The Clones in this wine is typically 4, 6, & 337. There is noticeble notes of Mocha, Black Currant, Blackberry, Loamy Soil, and Spices. It is rich, chewy and almost overwhelming. As I mentioned earlier, this wine is completely different than what I have tasted from previous vintages of BV Georges de Latour. Fruit & Power are what you get. If you are looking for balance, structure and complexity, this is not the wine. (90 points)

2004 Beaulieu Reserve Tapestry - Tapestry started in the 1990 as a complement to Georges de Latour Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. In a way, it is to pay hommage to Andre Tchelistcheff for his bordeaux root as this wine is really a bordeaux blend. In 2004, this wine is, to my surprise, the biggest and brawdiest of all BV wines and it is distinctively California in style. It is composed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Rich, black purple in color, it smells mocha, chocolate, blackberry and cedar oak. The attack is aggressive and the tannins are chewy. This is ,by no imagination, a shy wine. (88 points)

Wine: 2004 Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve Dulcet
Current Score (Future Potential): 87 (89)
Region: Napa Valley
Vintage: 2004
Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon & Syrah
Date Reviewed: 09/20/07

Wine: 2004 Beaulieu Vineyard George de Latour Reserve Cabernet
Current Score (Future Potential): 90 (92)
Region: Napa Valley
Vintage: 2004
Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon
Date Reviewed: 09/20/07

Wine: 2004 Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve Tapestry
Current Score (Future Potential): 89 (90)
Region: Napa Valley
Vintage: 2004
Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Petit Verdot
Date Reviewed: 09/20/07

Disclaimer: I am passionate about what I do. I tasted wines daily and evaluate them based on my own experience. I recognize and respect that making wines is a very hard work. It takes passion, huge financial risk, patience, and vision. Unfortunately, not every wine is a star. I tried to evaluate wines as objectively as possible. My score is my snap shot assessment of the wine at the time of my evaluation and it may changed as wines tend to evolve or develop in the bottle. My written evaluation of these wines are solely my expression of my opinion.

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