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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 87.6 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 14 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by RockinCabs on 5/12/2024 & rated 88 points: A bit smudged tonight by the oxidative sherry/almond notes. Nose was pretty oxidative, but the palate was quite nice. Plum, dried cherry, and fig with cocoa and cedar notes. Still well structured, seamless palate feel and apparent depth. This bottle just featured more of the oxidative notes, and lacked the terroir of the last bottle.
When wines get to this age you are just happy to get an intact example. This was far from a poor showing, but the bottle in March was better (310 views) | | | Tasted by RockinCabs on 3/4/2024 & rated 91 points: A really nice bright red fruited wine with spice, cigar tobacco, mint and some almond notes. Started with a bit of the BV "sherry" note, typical of these older bottles, but really cleaned up and came together into an elegant mature wine. Palate offering plum skin, cherry, mint and clove as this came together in glass.
Lighter bodied, high acidity, and slightly fragile fruit at this point. However it provides a nice historic reference point for the wines made by Andre in the early days of Napa's renaissance. (309 views) | | | Tasted by derrington on 3/6/2021 & rated 94 points: Cork came apart, but we were fortunate and were able to extract it. Ruby color with clearness on the edge. Very fine sediment in the last couple ounces, stood it upright a week in advance. Once open, I decanted and proceeded immediately to the first glass. Acidity and structure holding up very well. I was not expecting it to be so vibrant. Redwood, mint, thyme were initially most prominent with red fruits in the deep in the background. The fruit was more prominent in the second glass presenting red plum, pomegranate and a bit of cherry with the thyme and redwood in balance with the fruit. The fruit very bright front and center on the last glass. It still has years of life ahead of it, but this is my last bottle. Really remarkable. (1196 views) | | | Tasted by salcorn on 10/30/2019 & rated 92 points: Still decent fruit, redwood, forest floor. Holding up fairly well. (1596 views) | | | Tasted by Decanting Queen on 2/19/2019 & rated 92 points: This was at Bern’s and this bottle was obviously perfectly stored over the last 50 years. The cork was in great condition and the color was dark and youthful ruby. Still plenty of fruit left and also some wonderful tertiary flavors that I can’t describe. We were disappointed that this was the last bottle. (2923 views) | | | Tasted by yerrbo on 3/3/2017 & rated 92 points: brought this to a restaurant and let the Somm have a glass as well. The cork took a bit of patience to get out but it relented in one piece. We decanted and filtered out the sediment. On first glance the wine was very dark which worried me even more. To the nose it smelled of a refined funky molasses. My initial tasting was quite surprising as it brought hints of cherry and pomegranate. If it weren't so smooth and complex I would say it was young as it exhibited a vibrancy that I haven't tasted in older Cabs before. (Although I'm no expert so this may be common) The finish carried the vibrancy for some time sort of dancing on my palate. I was shocked at how good this is given that this was a 48 year old standard bottling and the Somm commented to me how floored he was that not only was the bottle still good but that it was this good.
This gives me much hope for the other bottles I have. (2235 views) | | | Tasted by jsteach on 10/1/2016 & rated 92 points: Very surprised how well it drank. Great fruit on the nose. Plenty of red fruit, Lots of mint and some eucalyptus on the pallet. Nice med long finish. Drinking strong after 4 hours. (2579 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 2/18/2015 & rated 88 points: Drank alongside the 68, both from the same auction lot. The fill and cork on the 68 were a little better, and IIRC 68 is considered the better vintage, but I think I actually preferred the 69. Both are very mature and quite similar to each other (as might be expected), but have not dried out, with a little mint/pyrazine, a lot of cedar, some dried fruit character, a little ashy cigar, and resolved tannins. I thought the 69 was just slightly fresher. Both made for pleasant drinking if you like this sort of very old wine. I was just happy both bottles were drinkable. Impressive for non-reserve bottlings at this age. (2387 views) | | | Tasted by Bill Bucklew on 2/18/2015 & rated 90 points: Needed a few hours to really open up, but not too bad PNP. Rich black fruits on the nose, hint of dried raisins and provincial herbs. Picked up a tremendous amount of weight on the palate, brighter fruits with red cherry predominate supported by moderate measures of blackberry, pomegranate, unctuous cranberry and a slight herbal note. Shockingly good, I was not expecting this..".. (2229 views) | | | Tasted by kkleg on 4/13/2014 & rated 85 points: - Crimsom color - Purchased at auction for $45. I figured it would be worth it for novelty value alone. Decanted to remove sediment, but there's not as much as I'd expect from a wine this old.
Some browning around the edges, but quite a bit of color remains. Lots of wood (oak and cedar) on the nose, with a very Port-like aroma. The wood is also dominant on the palate, although the fruit does poke through a bit. The fruit becomes more prominent with some air. There are still some pretty solid tannins present. The finish is really long. Although this wine is clearly past its prime, it still has some life left. (2267 views) | | | Tasted by Cote d'Or on 4/16/2013: Decanted, tasted over 3 hrs
-browning, dried blood, clear rim
-cedar, burnt caramel
-somewhat oxidized notes, caramel, no remaining fruit but a slight sweetness, soft texture
-definitely past its prime but still provides some enjoyment (2023 views) | | | Tasted by salcorn on 5/10/2009 & rated 90 points: Predominant wood nose, good color, still some fruit, characteristic old BV cab nose with cherry, dust (2633 views) | | | Tasted by Siggy on 2/7/2009 & rated 55 points: Tasting Group Dinner - West Coast Cabernet (Dave McMahon's House, Minneapolis): A freebie bottle courtesy of a local retailer. Certainly questionable provenance/storage conditions over the years. Medium brick in color with a clear rim. The nose holds faint promise, revealing some medium cherry fruit and dried herbs, but quickly turns funky and nasty. Riddled with VA/Band-Aid smells and flavors, this is sherried, dilute, and cheesy. Badly over-the-hill. (2842 views) |
| Beaulieu Vineyard Producer website | Profile in The Oenofiles | The Wine Cellar InsiderCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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