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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 56 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 6/1/2021 & rated 93 points: At Jeanty with Randy and Peter. Drinking fantastically - an outstanding wine. Mature, but still has several years to go. Such a shame Heitz stopped making this. (1132 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 8/29/2020 & rated 92 points: Deep red center, red rim with surprisingly little signs of age.
Sweet, licorice, pipe tobacco, plums and red cherries, creamy, touch of greenness.
Smooth, red currants, cherries, well integrated oak, good acidity, modest tannins, sappy, dusty, a touch chalky, great length.
Great Bella Oaks, drinks well now, but is surprisingly young, will last another 5-10 years. (1127 views) | | | Tasted by Pluecht on 12/25/2019 & rated 94 points: In greT condition. Hold. (1344 views) | | | Tasted by chezbeach on 7/5/2019 & rated 91 points: Drank after two hours breathing in bottle, needed another hour or so to open fully. Still an excellent wine, not past TD prime, good and balanced, still fruit on the front end, solid finish. (1474 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 6/24/2018 & rated 91 points: Getting better with age. Smooth, plenty of fruit. (1929 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 6/16/2018 & rated 92 points: Drinking well. (1148 views) | | | Tasted by helispud on 8/5/2017 & rated 94 points: Wonderful, mature CaliCab. (1870 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 7/10/2017 & rated 93 points: Fantastic Cabernet, rich, great depth. Drinking wonderfully now. (1616 views) | | | Tasted by grizzlymarmot on 2/12/2017 & rated 91 points: Aroma - dark fruit, vanilla, coconut
Flavor - jammy
Texture - smooth and lustrous
Finish - balanced, tart - purple tongue
The fruit is dominant - with no signs of youth or age. So I would call this mature. (1834 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 1/2/2017 & rated 90 points: Drank at Peter and Mary's Xmas eve. Excellent as usual. Drinking well now. (1394 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 10/13/2016 & rated 90 points: Drinking well, but no rush. (1494 views) | | | Tasted by danstrings on 9/25/2016 & rated 90 points: Inky dark, silky and showing no signs of age. Taut and sleek, not a huge fruit bomb at all -- more earth, round sleek dark fruit. (1146 views) | | | Tasted by redwiner on 8/27/2015 & rated 91 points: Drinking well right now. (1795 views) | | | Tasted by danstrings on 7/3/2015 & rated 90 points: Sleek and elegant, lighter next to a Dunn Howell Mountain, bright juicy cherry and ultra ripe strawberry (1663 views) | | | Tasted by eporres on 1/24/2015 & rated 91 points: Classic California Cabernet, one of my go-to wines. Light chocolate, cedar, and dark fruit. I haven't had the experience of others who seemed not to enjoy it as much, but would say that you can never under-estimate the power of a good decant. (1774 views) | | | Tasted by pdadams66 on 5/13/2014 & rated 90 points: Deep dark red center, red rim with only modest signs of age.
Sweet, licorice, crushed raspberries and boysenberries, sinuous, a little musky, some citrus acidity and toasted coconut.
Smooth with an acid undertone, good tannin still, plums and freshly pressed grapes and ripe strawberries, coconut and a little stalky tannin, good length of sweet fruit and dried herbs.
Classic Bella Oaks nose, drinking okay now but will be rewarded by 2 or 3 years of patience. A real shame that Heitz will no longer be making Bella Oaks. (2348 views) | | | Tasted by Les Kangas on 3/29/2014 & rated 96 points: One year later, magnificent. One hour air in Riedel cab glasses. (2454 views) | | | Tasted by Les Kangas on 9/2/2013 & rated 90 points: Had tonight just before 2002 trailside. Was the same wine, although the bella was a bit more fruity and better. Decanted one hour and on Riedel cab glasses (2395 views) | | | Tasted by its_juicy on 3/30/2013 & rated 91 points: drank with a marbled delmonico steak. perfect pair (2788 views) | | | Tasted by fdub on 3/8/2013 & rated 88 points: From magnum. A bit austere and plain when in the company of the other great wines at the table. (2749 views) | | | Tasted by Les Kangas on 2/14/2013 & rated 90 points: Thank you for the tip on decanting for one hour instead of longer. It was very good and has legs for additional aging. Drink now or a couple more years. Drank in reidel cab vinum (2170 views) | | | Tasted by WineGuyDelMar on 1/22/2013 & rated 89 points: Wine lacks the concentration I would expect from Bella Oaks. The regular Heirz bottling that's much cheaper has more extraction but none of the nuances of the Bella. I did love the layering of flavors, especially the mint tones reminiscent of Marthas Vineyard. The finish was a little short and am now wondering if I should have decanted 3 hours or so instead of 1 hour. (2203 views) | | | Tasted by danstrings on 10/21/2012 & rated 88 points: A bit more lean and spicy, with some oak showing thru, but an elegant Napa cab nonetheless. (1852 views) | | | Tasted by sipnwine on 7/27/2012 & rated 92 points: Really enjoyed this, great wine, never had a flavor profile like this before, wish I had more. (1974 views) | | | Tasted by Pugs on 4/21/2012 & rated 89 points: a bit disappointed in this. tannins weren't as polished as i would have liked and the finish fell short to me. i think it could probably use a couple more years in the cellar. would be interesting to try in 2015. (2130 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Heitz Cellar Producer websiteCabernet 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)Rutherford Rutherford,
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