My bottle. Very cut and structured, like an Oscar statue, with bold, complex, spicy black fruit. After years of backwardness, it's excellent drinking right now and should hold here if not improve for years to come. Read once that Parker called Chaleur (another WA wine) the Lafite of WA; if that's true, then this is the Leoville Las Cases. Very grand juice. Sadly, it's my last of six (why I know so much about the backwardness.)
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Very smooth wine with a bit of acid holding it up at this point. Nice blue fruits on the nose and palate. Another made the comment that it was very old world-like and they weren't far off.
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Pop & pour. Nose at first was somewhat redolent of bandaids, with some nice blackberry fruit. As the wine aired out, the bandaid aroma faded, replaced by a nice woodsy smell of cedar. This carried over to the palate, showing blackberry, earth and cedar. Quite smooth and creamy in the mouth, this is absolutely drinking at peak right now. By day 2, the complexity had faded somewhat, and just the fruit showed, but still had the creaminess. An excellent WA Cab, but this should probably be consumed within a year or two, now for best results.
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Betz Family Winery - 1997-2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective (Russell's, Bothell, WA): Tasted from magnum. The nose of this wine had berry and slightly medicinal aromas, but they were marred by some brett and rubber aromas that didn't blow off like they did on the 98. The brett seemed to come out more with some time in the glass and smelled more like band aid than barnyard. The palate was not very complex or interesting. The best way that I could find to describe it was just to call it "wet". This was just a simple wine with some berry flavors and a short finish. This was my least favorite of the flight as well as the whole tasting. There were comments about fruit from Portteus in the mix as it was another bretty Cabernet just as the 98 had been. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Portteus and Millbrandt vineyards.
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Betz Pere de Famille Vertical Tasting (+more) (Bothell): from magnum nose: sweetest fruit, drippy and red, plus a little bit of dust palate: there was a bandaid funk but only a smidge. I found it a bit more tired in comparison to the lively 1997, but it still performed well.
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Fantastic showing. Wow what a wine. Still deep and brooding after nearly 12 years, this is showing nice notes of cedar and blackberry. Sappy and silky on the palate with black cherry and mineral. This is still showing plenty of structure and is a really lovely example of the best that Washington has to offer.
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My last tasting was four years ago, this bottle did not disappoint, a mature WA Cab. Good balance dark cherry and tobacco, opened up after thirty minutes and drank well for hours. Drinking very well right now, but probablly at it's best.
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This wine is at peak. Color showing some age but despite it's maturity it had great lively fruit with notes of tobacco, sour cherry, baking spices, licorice, cedar and just a touch of brett. super long finish with lingering acidity.
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Really rich nose of tobacco,saddle leather,and black cherries. Nice balance of fruit- dark cherries,gorgeous rich cigar tobacco, leather,and tart cherries on the medium finish along with some dark chocolate.( Nice acidity still kicking) This should drink at this level for a few years yet.
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Popped and poured from cellar to rest. in less than 15 minutes. Dark in color. Muted nose but still had that classic Cab profile, dark fruits with some earthiness, over the course of an hour plus this did open a bit wth bigger fruit. The palate was also a bit muted, there was that classic currant and assorted dark fruit that opened up a bit by the end of the dinner, the secondaries were that as well still some tannic backbone to it.. held its own with the goat cheese salad and Juliia's Duck Confit and my Rack O' Lamb. Wonder what it would be like in a few more years?
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I"m hoping this was an off bottle, very closed down. Very little beyond some dusty cellar sort of profile on the nose. Something very muted about the fruit, almost hard to find any fruit profile at all in the mouth. One of the real downsides to buying older wine from unknown sources, I don't know if this wine is off from storage or off from being over the hill, or just off. Oh well.
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Really seemed to need air to open up and express itself. This and the '98 surprised me with how Dark and initially Closed they seemed. Licorice, syrupy and slight oak (?) aroma. Dark and Powerful. Bob commented that He liked where this wine was headed with age/air and appreciated the Full Mid Palate.
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Another brett induced Betz bottle. I may be more sensitive to it than others, but it was not completely off-putting in this wine. Old world aromas were peaking out of the glass and fruit profile was just as dark as the 98. The wine is still in balance, and I found more grip in this vintage than from prior vintages.
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Betz Family Winery: A Bordeaux varietal retrospective with Bob Betz (Seattle, WA): A little mute aromatically, hints of pickles and resin, not singing like the 1997 and 1998, slowly and reticently yielding some stern, dusky aromas. Others complained of brettanomyces, but that was not an issue for me. A gorgeous palate, nicely saturated, hints of leather, a DARK, dark profile. Finishes a little sweet and maybe still faintly oaky? Vineyards: Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Portteus, Millbrandt. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc.
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Bummer. A problem I've had with Betz wines over about 5 years from the vintage date. Bad gamy taste, undrinkable. Not a bottle flaw, since all of my 750ml went dead over a year ago, but I had hope for the magnum, but no luck. Was tasted in a group fo about dozen magnums. Poured out the two Betz cabs ('99 and '00) and drank all of the rest, including several 98s and 99s, and enjoyed them all. Very sad, since these were both tasty and promising wines in their earlier years. (Editorial note. Changed from 50 points to FLAWED. I have had these wines, and they are fine. Heat damage or cork failure can easily cause this ort of showing and is not necessarily endemic of the entire production.)
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No tasting notes recorded, but this is a real wine of balanced weight. Tasting beautifully right now it was impressive right from pulling to the cork until several hours later.
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Whistler trip...Deep purple in color with a nice fragrancy. Starting to show more subtle nuances with a soft texture, yet is very heavy in the mouth. Finish is starting to lengthen but a kick. Should only show better with time. Will try to wait another year before opening another.
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7/10/2015 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:
Beautiful wine that showed maturity but also breed. Was mistaken for an aged Bordeaux in blind tasting. Nice balance and flavors.
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7/14/2013 - Neecies Likes this wine: 94 Points
My bottle. Very cut and structured, like an Oscar statue, with bold, complex, spicy black fruit. After years of backwardness, it's excellent drinking right now and should hold here if not improve for years to come. Read once that Parker called Chaleur (another WA wine) the Lafite of WA; if that's true, then this is the Leoville Las Cases. Very grand juice. Sadly, it's my last of six (why I know so much about the backwardness.)
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11/17/2012 - powersaxo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very smooth wine with a bit of acid holding it up at this point. Nice blue fruits on the nose and palate. Another made the comment that it was very old world-like and they weren't far off.
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4/7/2012 - Traxx wrote:
Brett. Garbage.
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1/5/2012 - RPerro wrote: 92 Points
Pop & pour. Nose at first was somewhat redolent of bandaids, with some nice blackberry fruit. As the wine aired out, the bandaid aroma faded, replaced by a nice woodsy smell of cedar. This carried over to the palate, showing blackberry, earth and cedar. Quite smooth and creamy in the mouth, this is absolutely drinking at peak right now. By day 2, the complexity had faded somewhat, and just the fruit showed, but still had the creaminess. An excellent WA Cab, but this should probably be consumed within a year or two, now for best results.
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12/22/2011 - johnnyo wrote: flawed
Oxidized :(
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3/19/2011 - last chance wrote: 88 Points
Betz Family Winery - 1997-2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective (Russell's, Bothell, WA): Tasted from magnum. The nose of this wine had berry and slightly medicinal aromas, but they were marred by some brett and rubber aromas that didn't blow off like they did on the 98. The brett seemed to come out more with some time in the glass and smelled more like band aid than barnyard. The palate was not very complex or interesting. The best way that I could find to describe it was just to call it "wet". This was just a simple wine with some berry flavors and a short finish. This was my least favorite of the flight as well as the whole tasting. There were comments about fruit from Portteus in the mix as it was another bretty Cabernet just as the 98 had been. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Portteus and Millbrandt vineyards.
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3/19/2011 - tarheel17 wrote:
Betz Pere de Famille Vertical Tasting (+more) (Bothell): from magnum
nose: sweetest fruit, drippy and red, plus a little bit of dust
palate: there was a bandaid funk but only a smidge. I found it a bit more tired in comparison to the lively 1997, but it still performed well.
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3/12/2011 - Eric Likes this wine: 93 Points
Fantastic showing. Wow what a wine. Still deep and brooding after nearly 12 years, this is showing nice notes of cedar and blackberry. Sappy and silky on the palate with black cherry and mineral. This is still showing plenty of structure and is a really lovely example of the best that Washington has to offer.
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11/15/2010 - jcbrand wrote: 92 Points
this wine still has a lot of life in it. flavor profile was more old world than new world...
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8/5/2010 - Montecalvo wrote: 93 Points
compared side-by-side with quilceda creek and this won. more evolved with excellent balance. good length. probably close to its peak.
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7/26/2010 - Mark wrote: 91 Points
My last tasting was four years ago, this bottle did not disappoint, a mature WA Cab. Good balance dark cherry and tobacco, opened up after thirty minutes and drank well for hours. Drinking very well right now, but probablly at it's best.
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5/31/2010 - scuderia vino wrote: flawed
Over the hill. Previous bottle 4 months ago was great.
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5/28/2010 - johnnyo wrote: 93 Points
Great wine!Same as previous notes.
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4/4/2010 - Yossarian wrote: 93 Points
Outstanding varietal character, aromatic, opened nicely, tannins and fruit nicely balanced. Complex, long finish.
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4/1/2010 - johnnyo wrote: 93 Points
This wine is at peak. Color showing some age but despite it's maturity it had great lively fruit with notes of tobacco, sour cherry, baking spices, licorice, cedar and just a touch of brett. super long finish with lingering acidity.
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3/5/2010 - LeatherPalate wrote: 91 Points
Really rich nose of tobacco,saddle leather,and black cherries.
Nice balance of fruit- dark cherries,gorgeous rich cigar tobacco, leather,and tart cherries
on the medium finish along with some dark chocolate.( Nice acidity still kicking) This should drink at this level for a few years yet.
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9/21/2009 - sayward wrote: 93 Points
drinking great here. Still tight with lots of black colored berries on the nose and palate. A great wine.
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8/2/2009 - Whine-oh wrote: 89 Points
Popped and poured from cellar to rest. in less than 15 minutes. Dark in color. Muted nose but still had that classic Cab profile, dark fruits with some earthiness, over the course of an hour plus this did open a bit wth bigger fruit. The palate was also a bit muted, there was that classic currant and assorted dark fruit that opened up a bit by the end of the dinner, the secondaries were that as well still some tannic backbone to it.. held its own with the goat cheese salad and Juliia's Duck Confit and my Rack O' Lamb. Wonder what it would be like in a few more years?
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6/5/2009 - jcbrand wrote: 92 Points
tobacco, leather, black cherry
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5/8/2009 - Traxx wrote:
I"m hoping this was an off bottle, very closed down. Very little beyond some dusty cellar sort of profile on the nose. Something very muted about the fruit, almost hard to find any fruit profile at all in the mouth. One of the real downsides to buying older wine from unknown sources, I don't know if this wine is off from storage or off from being over the hill, or just off. Oh well.
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3/17/2008 - lorenzo wrote:
Really seemed to need air to open up and express itself. This and the '98 surprised me with how Dark and initially Closed they seemed. Licorice, syrupy and slight oak (?) aroma. Dark and Powerful. Bob commented that He liked where this wine was headed with age/air and appreciated the Full Mid Palate.
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3/17/2008 - Red Mountain Man wrote:
Another brett induced Betz bottle. I may be more sensitive to it than others, but it was not completely off-putting in this wine. Old world aromas were peaking out of the glass and fruit profile was just as dark as the 98. The wine is still in balance, and I found more grip in this vintage than from prior vintages.
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3/17/2008 - Eric wrote:
Betz Family Winery: A Bordeaux varietal retrospective with Bob Betz (Seattle, WA): A little mute aromatically, hints of pickles and resin, not singing like the 1997 and 1998, slowly and reticently yielding some stern, dusky aromas. Others complained of brettanomyces, but that was not an issue for me. A gorgeous palate, nicely saturated, hints of leather, a DARK, dark profile. Finishes a little sweet and maybe still faintly oaky?
Vineyards: Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Portteus, Millbrandt. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc.
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7/2/2007 - ewsds wrote: flawed
Bummer. A problem I've had with Betz wines over about 5 years from the vintage date. Bad gamy taste, undrinkable. Not a bottle flaw, since all of my 750ml went dead over a year ago, but I had hope for the magnum, but no luck. Was tasted in a group fo about dozen magnums. Poured out the two Betz cabs ('99 and '00) and drank all of the rest, including several 98s and 99s, and enjoyed them all. Very sad, since these were both tasty and promising wines in their earlier years. (Editorial note. Changed from 50 points to FLAWED. I have had these wines, and they are fine. Heat damage or cork failure can easily cause this ort of showing and is not necessarily endemic of the entire production.)
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6/10/2007 - Spencer wrote: 91 Points
A bit high-toned, but evolved very nicely in the decanter. Well-balanced and complex. This is still quite young and should continue to age gracefully.
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4/30/2006 - Mark wrote: 92 Points
No tasting notes recorded, but this is a real wine of balanced weight. Tasting beautifully right now it was impressive right from pulling to the cork until several hours later.
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2/21/2006 - Spencer wrote: 92 Points
Another excellent bottle of this wine. I think it's just now entering maturity, and should last for another ten years or so.
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5/10/2004 - ErikK wrote: 92 Points
Whistler trip...Deep purple in color with a nice fragrancy. Starting to show more subtle nuances with a soft texture, yet is very heavy in the mouth. Finish is starting to lengthen but a kick. Should only show better with time. Will try to wait another year before opening another.
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