2016 Betz Family Clos de Betz

JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  4/23/2019, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (Betz Columbia Valley Clos de Betz, Red, United States) Login and sign up and see review text.

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  The 2016s From Washington State, 4/11/2019, (See more on JebDunnuck.com...)

  (Betz Family Winery Clos De Betz Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

• By Stephen Tanzer
  Focus on Washington: The New Normal (Nov 2018), 11/1/2018, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Betz Family Winery Red Wine Clos De Betz Washington Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  Latest Releases from Washington State, 4/5/2018, (See more on JebDunnuck.com...)

  (Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz) Login and sign up and see review text.

JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  3/20/2018, (See more on JamesSuckling.com...)

  (Betz Columbia Valley Clos de Betz, Red, United States) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Betz, 4/21/2019

  (Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz) Hello friends. It remains one of my great professional thrills to get to work with the wines of Betz Family Winery. I’ll repeat what I have said before: Bob Betz’s face would doubtless be chiseled on a Mt. Rushmore of Washington winemakers. He is one of only two Masters of Wine making wine in Washington (Billo Naravane of Rasa is the other), having achieved that honor back in 1998. After a 28-year career at Chateau Ste Michelle, he launched his eponymous winery in 1997, crushing 150 cases worth of wine in the Woodinville warehouse district. Since then, production has grown considerably, but the winery’s acclaim has grown even more, forcing the family to close their mailing list in 2008 and establishing them as one of Washington’s cult wineries. Steve and Bridgit Griessel came on board as managing owners in 2011, and the winery is open to its list members on just two weekends each year: once in the fall, for the release of its Rhone portfolio, and once in the spring, for the release of these Bordeaux-styled wines. The challenge, as usual, is allocations. (As a reminder, our allocation scheme favors breadth over depth, so that everyone gets one bottle before anyone gets two. And our formula for prioritizing allocations includes overall orders, frequency of orders, recency of orders, list tenure, and # of bottles requested, among other factors.) Just like every spring, these are painfully limited wines, but trust that we’ve done our best to source as much as possible for our list members. Clos de Betz is a blend of 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot, raised in 100% new French oak for 19 months. Listed alcohol is 13.5%. Year after year, it’s a glorious wine, best 8-12 years past vintage, and an exemplar of the power and grace of Washington Merlot. This year’s version is a balanced beauty, featuring plum and cherry fruit, woodsy cedar and threads of oak, and a robustly tannic structure adding earthy/leafy nuance. Pure and propulsive. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. Jeb Dunnuck: Copyrighted material withheld.