Opened this one and decanted 6 hours before tasting. This really opened it up, bringing out a nutty flavor in addition to notes of black currant and fig. A well balanced wine, but a bit lacking in depth.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
After 24 hours to blow off some funk/nastiness, this turned out to be a very pleasurable and rich rhone blend. Concentrated and intense with dark raspberry and blackberry fruit, ripe fruit on the palate with a softish not too tannic finish. This was interesting, but a little indistinct, well balanced and tasty. Probably a good time to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 1 hour before pouring. It needed more. Brett aromas needdd to blow off. After an additional hour, it was better. Individual flavored not as easy to identify as previous bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Perfumed, charming, and austere. A prettier wine than the same vintage 'K The Boy' and not as dense. Came away with the impression that it is in a phase and needs a year or so. A beautiful wine, distinctly Washington, and well made.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Well balanced on the palate. Drinks perfectly balanced right now. Black cherries, crushed black berry with spice notes. Nice finish. Units stride right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drank from a 3L bottle. Fantastic representation of a southern Rhone inspired blend. Comprised of Grenache at 82% and equal parts of Mourvèdre and Syrah it showed lovely notes of red cherry, strawberry, baking spices and licorice. Lovely mouthfeel and dialed in acidity. Paired excellent with ribs and pork sliders with blue cheese coleslaw.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Not a tremendous amount of evolution from the first bottle 14 months ago. still predominantly dark red fruit driven, with a bit of spice and a small amount of pepper, spice, heat and wet stone. Maybe even a touch of minerality. Still a nice well made wine, but short of greatness and lacking a multidimensionality that I was hoping would be there. Perhaps expectations were too high for a mostly grenache wine?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Mineral, hints of earth and ripe fruit on the nose. Medium body, with a rich lush palate and a medium finish. Agree with comments below that this is a crowd pleasing wine, well integrated and very enjoyable now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
kirsch and macerated cherries with rich texture. A good effort though not too exciting. New world grenache just doesn't do it for me. Poised and balanced but just ever so slightly jammy. drink now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Domestic Rhones (David's House - Washington, DC): Herbal on the nose, like rosemary and sage, mixed up with red berries, smoke and rhubarb. Pure velvet on the palate, rich but very balanced by the acid and fine tannins. Flavors of red cherries, strawberry, along with milk chocolate and herbal nots of white pepper and rosemary. A green olive note lingers onto the finish. A stunning blend of 82% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre and 9% Syrah.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
As others have said, there is some fizz on this wine early on. We decanted for about 30 minutes before drinking. It has nice flavors and a full long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Interesting.....I got a bit of the fizz also; it disappeared rather soon. this was a pleasant drinker but not particularly noteworthy. I would not buy this again at the offering price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Agree with Beezers comments: Decanted for about 1.5-2 hours, tasty blue and maybe some darker fruits, a bit of fizz in the beginning that wore off as the wine aired. Very smooth and decent finish, 10 seconds. Tasty treat and worth a try. I would say the quality and value are a match.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Opened initially yesterday, and this wine was at first a bit fizzy and seemed overly acidic and quite unpleasant. This experience improved as an hour went by. Put the cork back in the bottle and set it back in the cellar. TN from tonite. Clear, with medium ruby/purple at the core, gently fading to pale ruby at the rim. The nose appears to be clean; but offers up developing aromas that are med intensity, to include charcoal, peppery spice, wet earth, red berry fruits, and a dusty sensation. Not as fruit-forward as I would have imagined. And based on the notes that mention that the barrels used for this wine were one-year old already, the oak characteristics seem to be poking through too much, so although this bottle was purchased from the winery directly, and stored perfectly til now, it seems a bit off so far. On to the palate... The wine is dry, showing a very slight frizzante that I would have hoped would have completely blown off by day 2, but alas, still present, although far less apparent. The wine shows medium body and med alcohol levels (listed 14.8% on label), and offers up med intensity flavors of tart red cherry fruit, charred wood, pepper, and a hint of licorice. The wine shows a med level of acidity, and med tannins that are slightly astringent , matching nicely with the tart red fruit. The finish is med(-) and is nice with tart red fruit, licorice, and coffee. This wine is starting to grow on me now, I was thinking the bottle was bad, and I was going to hold off on a rating, but it is lulling me in and becoming more enjoyable with each sip. There is nice texture and layering of flavors, but the spice and char flavors were initially a bit overwhelming to me. This is a good quality wine that is drinking well now, and I would imagine it will improve in bottle and continue to drink well for another 3-5years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I had this with a cheese plate on 11/17/12. It had a soft, fragrant, harmonious bouquet of smoke, black cherry, cola, spice and mineral aromas. The palate was soft, smooth and round with flavors of cherry, cola, spice, minerals. 90+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Enjoyed at Brad's Crib for Bears Monday Night Football. Decanted a couple hours. Moderate aromatically. Blue fruit. Cool plum and some grape slate and minerals. Candied fruit as well but more complex and darker. Some funk and damp moss. Touches of menthol and pine. Very balanced and easy to enjoy. A little less complex and dramatic than other Betz I've enjoyed in past.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Grenache is not typically my veriatal of choice...but Betz sure steps up there game on this wine. Let it breathe for about 45 minutes (fairly short) but opened up nicely. Very earthy on the nose, and packed with dark fruit. Very smooth drinker, same dark fruit shone through with a bit of spice box. A definite recommendation.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drinking well right now with rich fruit on the palate. Some tannins if you want to swirl to coax them out. The nose a little more subdued but could be because I had just smelled a corked bottle from another producer before opening the Betz.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Well balanced, medium bodied, food wine. I think this could be served up with most dishes. The nose is a little less earthy than other Rhone styles, but still herbacious with a hint of spice. Berries on the palate, especially raspberry, and perhaps rhubarb. A memorable choice, it is hitting its stride now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Enjoyed at The Palm with a wedge salad. Wonderfully vibrant nose. Candied cherry notes with a pleasant, crisp acidity. Perfect for a warm Florida spring evening. Definitely not a CdP, but an enjoyable Washington Grenache. Good QPR.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
i would agree with eric's note on this wine although i didn't get much spice. the palate was very "grapey" but pleasant with light oak and well balanced acidity. a tasty, well made, but simple crowd pleaser. i don't see any evolutoin coming in the future, based on this bottle, but it will clarify a touch with a bit more time in bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Sweet and sappy with nice spice. While this is not really my preference in Grenache (I have a pretty strong blind spot for Châteauneuf-du-Pape), as with past vintages this is an easy, juicy, crowd-pleasing wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Blind Grenache Tasting w/ Ben Smith, Dick Boushey, Bob Betz, and MrBigJ (Wild Ginger, Seattle, WA): (Group's #5 (my #4)) – 0 first place votes, 1 second place vote, 2 third place votes, 2 fourth place votes, 5 fifth place votes – Right away it was obvious that this wine was much younger, and still had not come all the way together. I think that it was intended to be tasted along with the barrel samples from 09 to show how all the individual components of the barrel samples would be blended, but this bottle ended up in the final flight. Not really fair, or intended, but that’s what happened. This will be a very nice wine when it is ready to be released in November 2010. When we realized that we had tasted this wine 6 months before it's release date, it made sense why it seemed like it hadn't all come together yet. Not Rated
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
11/21/2020 - osagher wrote: 87 Points
Opened this one and decanted 6 hours before tasting. This really opened it up, bringing out a nutty flavor in addition to notes of black currant and fig. A well balanced wine, but a bit lacking in depth.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/21/2017 - thebonnydooner wrote: 90 Points
After 24 hours to blow off some funk/nastiness, this turned out to be a very pleasurable and rich rhone blend. Concentrated and intense with dark raspberry and blackberry fruit, ripe fruit on the palate with a softish not too tannic finish. This was interesting, but a little indistinct, well balanced and tasty. Probably a good time to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/6/2017 - drrobvino wrote: 90 Points
Very nice Grenache, fully mature. The alcohol slightly pokes through on the palate, but it is not obtrusive. Drink now through 2018.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2016 - DJPremierCru Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted 1 hour before pouring. It needed more. Brett aromas needdd to blow off. After an additional hour, it was better. Individual flavored not as easy to identify as previous bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/6/2016 - Motz wrote: 93 Points
Perfumed, charming, and austere. A prettier wine than the same vintage 'K The Boy' and not as dense. Came away with the impression that it is in a phase and needs a year or so. A beautiful wine, distinctly Washington, and well made.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/11/2016 - WAWINEFAN wrote: 93 Points
Wow, that wine is yummy! Drinking beautifully. Too bad I'm all out after this one. You go Bob Betz!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/26/2015 - RobSpectator wrote: 92 Points
Consistent, well balanced, exceptional value.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/24/2015 - PeterSM Likes this wine: 91 Points
Best qualities realized one hour + after opening. Drank well the second day of opening also.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/5/2015 - RobSpectator wrote: 92 Points
Well balanced on the palate. Drinks perfectly balanced right now. Black cherries, crushed black berry with spice notes. Nice finish. Units stride right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/28/2015 - dsimmons Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drinking well. My last bottle of this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2014 - johnnyo wrote: 93 Points
Drank from a 3L bottle. Fantastic representation of a southern Rhone inspired blend. Comprised of Grenache at 82% and equal parts of Mourvèdre and Syrah it showed lovely notes of red cherry, strawberry, baking spices and licorice. Lovely mouthfeel and dialed in acidity. Paired excellent with ribs and pork sliders with blue cheese coleslaw.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2014 - circadumonde wrote: 92 Points
Can sum up this evolving beauty (from its initial tasting) in 3 words--put.on.weight. Will be excited to try it again in 5 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/20/2014 - WAWINEFAN wrote: 92 Points
Drinking very nicely right now. Opened and let sit in the glass for about 15 - 30 minutes. Smooth with a nice long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/17/2014 - dankrems wrote: 89 Points
Not a tremendous amount of evolution from the first bottle 14 months ago. still predominantly dark red fruit driven, with a bit of spice and a small amount of pepper, spice, heat and wet stone. Maybe even a touch of minerality. Still a nice well made wine, but short of greatness and lacking a multidimensionality that I was hoping would be there. Perhaps expectations were too high for a mostly grenache wine?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2013 - gbbwino wrote: 92 Points
Exceeded my expectations!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/15/2013 - dleaf wrote: 91 Points
Great good pairing(Wild Ginger) made this a delicious choice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/1/2013 - forcumba Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mineral, hints of earth and ripe fruit on the nose. Medium body, with a rich lush palate and a medium finish. Agree with comments below that this is a crowd pleasing wine, well integrated and very enjoyable now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/21/2013 - mattyboy_ wrote: 89 Points
kirsch and macerated cherries with rich texture. A good effort though not too exciting. New world grenache just doesn't do it for me. Poised and balanced but just ever so slightly jammy. drink now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/16/2013 - lirvingham Likes this wine: 93 Points
Thoroughly enjoyed this bottle. Classic Betz in a Grenache.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/29/2013 - dsimmons wrote: 89 Points
My second of these and IMHO still too early. Lots of fruit but I believe that additional cellar time will benefit this wine with improved balance.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/8/2013 - Redteeth wrote:
No fizz on this one and a lot of character. An enjoyable bottle ofr wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/25/2013 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 92 Points
Domestic Rhones (David's House - Washington, DC): Herbal on the nose, like rosemary and sage, mixed up with red berries, smoke and rhubarb. Pure velvet on the palate, rich but very balanced by the acid and fine tannins. Flavors of red cherries, strawberry, along with milk chocolate and herbal nots of white pepper and rosemary. A green olive note lingers onto the finish. A stunning blend of 82% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre and 9% Syrah.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/12/2013 - WAWINEFAN wrote: 89 Points
As others have said, there is some fizz on this wine early on. We decanted for about 30 minutes before drinking. It has nice flavors and a full long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/30/2013 - Redteeth wrote:
Interesting.....I got a bit of the fizz also; it disappeared rather soon. this was a pleasant drinker but not particularly noteworthy. I would not buy this again at the offering price.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/5/2013 - dleaf wrote: 92 Points
Very lovely. Fresh fruit. More nose than previous bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/11/2013 - JLuch1 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Agree with Beezers comments:
Decanted for about 1.5-2 hours, tasty blue and maybe some darker fruits, a bit of fizz in the beginning that wore off as the wine aired. Very smooth and decent finish, 10 seconds. Tasty treat and worth a try. I would say the quality and value are a match.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/5/2013 - drrobvino wrote: 88 Points
Opened initially yesterday, and this wine was at first a bit fizzy and seemed overly acidic and quite unpleasant. This experience improved as an hour went by. Put the cork back in the bottle and set it back in the cellar. TN from tonite.
Clear, with medium ruby/purple at the core, gently fading to pale ruby at the rim.
The nose appears to be clean; but offers up developing aromas that are med intensity, to include charcoal, peppery spice, wet earth, red berry fruits, and a dusty sensation. Not as fruit-forward as I would have imagined. And based on the notes that mention that the barrels used for this wine were one-year old already, the oak characteristics seem to be poking through too much, so although this bottle was purchased from the winery directly, and stored perfectly til now, it seems a bit off so far. On to the palate...
The wine is dry, showing a very slight frizzante that I would have hoped would have completely blown off by day 2, but alas, still present, although far less apparent. The wine shows medium body and med alcohol levels (listed 14.8% on label), and offers up med intensity flavors of tart red cherry fruit, charred wood, pepper, and a hint of licorice. The wine shows a med level of acidity, and med tannins that are slightly astringent , matching nicely with the tart red fruit. The finish is med(-) and is nice with tart red fruit, licorice, and coffee.
This wine is starting to grow on me now, I was thinking the bottle was bad, and I was going to hold off on a rating, but it is lulling me in and becoming more enjoyable with each sip. There is nice texture and layering of flavors, but the spice and char flavors were initially a bit overwhelming to me. This is a good quality wine that is drinking well now, and I would imagine it will improve in bottle and continue to drink well for another 3-5years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/5/2013 - dankrems wrote: 88 Points
A core of dense red fruit with some earth, graphite and stone around it. A decent wine but not outstanding.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/17/2012 - garambler wrote: 91 Points
I had this with a cheese plate on 11/17/12. It had a soft, fragrant, harmonious bouquet of smoke, black cherry, cola, spice and mineral aromas. The palate was soft, smooth and round with flavors of cherry, cola, spice, minerals. 90+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/22/2012 - beezer6 wrote: 90 Points
Enjoyed at Brad's Crib for Bears Monday Night Football.
Decanted a couple hours. Moderate aromatically.
Blue fruit. Cool plum and some grape slate and minerals. Candied fruit as well but more complex and darker.
Some funk and damp moss. Touches of menthol and pine. Very balanced and easy to enjoy.
A little less complex and dramatic than other Betz I've enjoyed in past.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/16/2012 - dsimmons Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is a delicious wine but at this point needs a bit of a decant. Last glass was best
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/4/2012 - mrmassiecre wrote: 91 Points
Grenache is not typically my veriatal of choice...but Betz sure steps up there game on this wine. Let it breathe for about 45 minutes (fairly short) but opened up nicely. Very earthy on the nose, and packed with dark fruit. Very smooth drinker, same dark fruit shone through with a bit of spice box. A definite recommendation.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/26/2012 - Saul wrote: 93 Points
Shameful to buy just one. This bottle is rocking now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/10/2012 - dleaf wrote: 92 Points
Drinking well right now with rich fruit on the palate. Some tannins if you want to swirl to coax them out. The nose a little more subdued but could be because I had just smelled a corked bottle from another producer before opening the Betz.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/26/2012 - markopf wrote: 93 Points
Really good, and drinking good right now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/21/2011 - Penguino212 wrote: 91 Points
Well balanced, medium bodied, food wine. I think this could be served up with most dishes. The nose is a little less earthy than other Rhone styles, but still herbacious with a hint of spice. Berries on the palate, especially raspberry, and perhaps rhubarb. A memorable choice, it is hitting its stride now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/8/2011 - Saul wrote: 90 Points
I liked it, very light and well balanced. I kept tasting a mettalic (super slight) bite on the finish, not sure if that was me or the wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/19/2011 - RobMichaels wrote: 92 Points
Enjoyed at The Palm with a wedge salad. Wonderfully vibrant nose. Candied cherry notes with a pleasant, crisp acidity. Perfect for a warm Florida spring evening. Definitely not a CdP, but an enjoyable Washington Grenache. Good QPR.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/21/2011 - linserge wrote:
Eric: it was red.
Others: beautiful fruit, perfectly balanced, not much structure, as designed.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/3/2011 - Gargamel wrote: 91 Points
i would agree with eric's note on this wine although i didn't get much spice. the palate was very "grapey" but pleasant with light oak and well balanced acidity. a tasty, well made, but simple crowd pleaser. i don't see any evolutoin coming in the future, based on this bottle, but it will clarify a touch with a bit more time in bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/13/2010 - Eric wrote:
Sweet and sappy with nice spice. While this is not really my preference in Grenache (I have a pretty strong blind spot for Châteauneuf-du-Pape), as with past vintages this is an easy, juicy, crowd-pleasing wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/5/2010 - last chance wrote:
Blind Grenache Tasting w/ Ben Smith, Dick Boushey, Bob Betz, and MrBigJ (Wild Ginger, Seattle, WA): (Group's #5 (my #4)) – 0 first place votes, 1 second place vote, 2 third place votes, 2 fourth place votes, 5 fifth place votes – Right away it was obvious that this wine was much younger, and still had not come all the way together. I think that it was intended to be tasted along with the barrel samples from 09 to show how all the individual components of the barrel samples would be blended, but this bottle ended up in the final flight. Not really fair, or intended, but that’s what happened. This will be a very nice wine when it is ready to be released in November 2010. When we realized that we had tasted this wine 6 months before it's release date, it made sense why it seemed like it hadn't all come together yet. Not Rated
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment