1996 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

Community Tasting Notes (19) Median Score: 90 points

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  9/1/2023 - aaronwine Likes this wine: 90 Points

  From a well stored half bottle. Expected this to be gone. I had a 1994 half bottle that I had to toss. This one is quite enjoyable with some vegetal notes and Rutherford dust. While on the downward trajectory my bottle is showing nicely with smooth tannins and a lengthy finish - a touch of alcohol starting to emerge through the fading fruit. 13.0% alcohol and made in a balanced style - perhaps right before the switch over to high octane Napa cabs. While I like and respect many of today’s Napa cabs I tend to get way more excited about the older Napa style which showcases more complexity, balance, and harmony IMO.

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  9/23/2020 - WilliamF17 wrote: 81 Points

  Not yet dead but pretty close . . . still a bit of fruit and mild beef bouillon notes; Brick red and getting clearer; acidic but still reasonable, medium body

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  9/7/2020 - MateusPetrus wrote: flawed

  Nothing left. Undrinkable.

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  9/15/2019 - tomoem Likes this wine: 91 Points

  A superb showing for a 23 year old. I do love old wine and am often biased to see past over the hill or unbalanced wines, however I really found this wine to be at its lifetime best tonight.
  
  Firstly the wine starts with balanced acidity and tannin. It shows its aged fruit flavors very well. Immediate notes of sweet prune, cigar ash, and light cherry. I mostly love it's melancholy flavors and mouth feel.

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  4/22/2016 - Not647f wrote:

  For Seder (our quick and kind of secular one) we braised lamb shanks Morroccan style, steamed asparagus, and made more traditional things as well. I bought two of these and two 1990s in the hopes we would learn something about how these classic but reasonably priced Napa Cabs would hold up. Sad to say, the 1990 was gone. The first of these took a minute to open up, but then gave the kind of pleasure unique to an aged wine. I've recently had a few 1996 Cabs and the vintage is doing great. Both bottles had that freshness combined with mellowed notes of herbs but still plenty of vibrant red fruit. Tobacco hints, a whiff of leather, so this isn't young wine, but it is quite alive. I suspect K&L bought these from someone at Diageo when they sold the Napa businesses about a year ago as the library gets cleaned out when the enterprise changes hands. Superlative wine, superlative experience.

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View all 19 Community Tasting Notes

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