Betz Family Winery - 1997-2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Retrospective

A group of 10 of us got together up a Russell's in Bothell for a Betz vertical tasting (a few tasters had to cancel last minute). Russell's does not charge a corkage fee for any WA wines that you open, so it's really a nice place to go for a big tasting like this. After the vertical tasting, we were going to taste other Cabernets that were priced in the $45 to $60 range just to see if we thought anything was "Better than Betz"... Though with all the Betz fans in this group, that was going to be highly unlikely...

We started out with a couple bottles of whites, and a nice Rosé that Dave made. The 2007 Betz Rosé was just too old to be fun, and it didn't get passed around.

• 2005 Louis Latour Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  The nose of this wine initially had pear and lemon/lime aromas. After some swirling in the glass, it picked up a nice eucalyptus aroma as well. The palate had a crisp and clean attack with pear and green tea flavors, but was relatively flat on the mid-palate. It did have quite a bit of minerals and high-toned spices that came through on the finish. Some tasters with more experience drinking white Burgundies than me thought that this bottle may be showing some signs of premox. I'm really not sure what to think about that, but I had noted that it was flat on the mid-palate and that was the main thing that other tasters thought wasn't correct for this bottle.

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• 2003 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  The nose had aromas of honeydew melon with some floral and nutty notes. The palate had flavors of apple, peach, and nice nutty and smokey undertones. The mouthfeel of this wine was huge, and even a little unctuous. This did have a nice amount of sweetness to it, and it did go very well some some mixed cheeses. I wondered if tasting this wine next to a white Burgundy made the Burg seem a little flat? I loved this Vouvray, and will be looking to get some with a few years of age on them.

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• 2010 Kaella Winery Rosé Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  Bright reddish-pink color. The nose had aromas of watermelon and raspberry. As we were talking about the wine, it was mentioned that someone had noticed a bubble gum aroma. I was able to notice a real faint trace of a bubble gum note at that point. It wasn't unpleasant or rubbery at all, and I thought it fit in well with the other aromas. The palate had very fresh and light red fruit and citrus flavors. I really enjoyed this Rosé.

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• 2007 Betz Family Rosé Petite Rousse

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  This was over the hill. I just waited too long to drink it. There was a substantial amount of sediment in the bottle, and it had lost most of it's fruit. Not bright and fresh any more, just tart...

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On to the Betz tasting... We started out with the Cabernet portion of the tasting by starting with the oldest vintages first. As it turned out, the oldest wine was pretty much everyone's favorite of not only the first flight, but of the entire tasting also. It was in everyone's Top 3 of the tasting for sure. By the end of this flight, the jokes were flying around the table about the tasting being all downhill from here... They were just jokes - but that 1997 Alpha was seriously a very delicious wine! I ended up ranking this flight 1. 1997, 2. 1998 and then 3. 1999.

• 1997 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Alpha 95 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine was very complex with currant and cherry fruit aromas and hickory smoke, and nutty notes. Near the end of the flight, this was smelling just like a can of Smokehouse Almonds. I loved this nose of this. The palate had flavors of dark fruit, smoke and spices. This had a soft, but full mouthfeel, and revealed itself in layers as the complexity continued to build through a long finish. This wine is still going strong, and I would love to get a chance to taste it again. My favorite of the flight, and also my WOTN. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc sourced from Klipsun and Harrison Hill vineyards.

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• 1998 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Initially the nose of this wine was loaded with brett. After about 15 minutes or so, with just a little swirling, the brett completely blew off. Currant and spice aromas became evident once the brett wasn't in the way anymore. The palate had flavors of plum and currant, but there was a hole in the mid-palate, and a weak finish. This was an interesting wine, and it was fun to see how quickly it changed in the glass. This was very different from the 97 that we tasted next to this, and the addition of Portteus vineyard to the blend was the only change to the fruit sources. I think that most people felt that the brett aromas were probably from the Portteus fruit. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot sourced from Klipsun, Portteus and Harrison Hill vineyards.

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• 1999 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 88 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Tasted from magnum. The nose of this wine had berry and slightly medicinal aromas, but they were marred by some brett and rubber aromas that didn't blow off like they did on the 98. The brett seemed to come out more with some time in the glass and smelled more like band aid than barnyard. The palate was not very complex or interesting. The best way that I could find to describe it was just to call it "wet". This was just a simple wine with some berry flavors and a short finish. This was my least favorite of the flight as well as the whole tasting. There were comments about fruit from Portteus in the mix as it was another bretty Cabernet just as the 98 had been. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Portteus and Millbrandt vineyards.

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This was a fun flight for me. As soon as we tasted the 2000, it just seemed a lot more familiar profile than the 1998 or 1999. The 2000 vintage was when Bob started sourcing fruit from Ciel du Cheval for the Pére de Famille. Just as notable as the addition of Ciel du Cheval was the exclusion of Portteus vineyard. By the end of the first flight, there had been a lot of discussion amongst the group about what part of the 1998 and 1999 profiles came from the fruit sourced from Portteus vineyard. I haven't tasted a lot of fruit from Portteus vineyard, but I do know that I didn't notice brett on any of the non-Portteus vintages. I ended up ranking this flight 1. 2002, 2. 2001 and then 3. 2000.

• 2000 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Tasted from magnum. The nose of this wine had strawberry and raspberry aromas with a note of cocoa powder. The palate seemed like it was just beginning to lose some of it's raspberry and cherry flavors. Some nice dusty notes were also on the palate, and this really tasted like a Red Mountain Cabernet. The finish of this wine was a bit dry and clipped though. Even though the 2000 was my least favorite wine of this flight, I did enjoy all of these wines as this was the part of the tasting where it was obvious that the fruit sources had been changed from the first flight, and these wines were now beginning to show how the current vintages will develop and age. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Alder Ridge, Seven Hills and Millbrandt vineyards.

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• 2001 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose had aromas of currants, roasted coffee, and caramel, but it also had a bit of a musty aroma that hung over everything like a hazy cloud. Not a wet cardboard like smell - no one thought it was corked or off... just a musty aroma that was a bit of a downer on an otherwise fantastic nose. The palate had flavors of plum, currant, cherry and coffee. Good mouthfeel and a medium long finish. If only that musty aroma hadn't been on the nose, this probably could have been my favorite of the flight. As it was, I'd put it ahead of the 2000, but behind the 2002. 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Alder Ridge and Boushey vineyards.

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• 2002 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine was largely unrevealing. After a lot of effort trying to coax anything out of the nose, I ended up with some faint plums, and something that can best be described as "seaside-esque". That's the word for it that we came up with at our end of the table anyway... There was a huge disconnect with the palate though, as it had massive caramel, coffee and super dark fruit flavors. I've never tasted a wine with such a deceptive nose before. This had a big mouthfeel and even a long finish. This must be from the addition of Malbec to the blend starting with this vintage. This was another wine that I would have rated much higher if it just showed something on the nose. However, this wine was still my favorite of the flight. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Malbec sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Alder Ridge and Boushey vineyards.

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By this point of the tasting, the vineyards selected to be included in the Pére de Famille blend were tweaked enough that they looked very similar to the current selections. The highlight of this flight for me was the delicious minty cocoa notes on the 2004 vintage. There was a lot of discussion on our end of the table about how many great wines came out of 2004, but because of the Walla Walla freeze, the vintage just doesn't get the recognition that it actually deserves. I know that I have been guilty of that - but I'm sure going to work on it going forward. The 2004 Pére de Famille was one of the top WA wines that I have tasted from that vintage. I ended up ranking this flight 1. 2004, 2. 2003 and then 3. 2005.

• 2003 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose had aromas of plum, black cherry and soy. This was a great nose. The palate had blackberry and cherry flavors that were a little more tart that I would have liked. This wine also seemed a little more acidic to me than the others in the flight. It did have a good length finish, but the tart cherries was the flavor that seemed to linger the longest, and I was really wanting it to taste like it smelled. I was drinking this next to the 04 vintage that I loved, so maybe I was a bit harsh in my assessment of this wine. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Alder Ridge and Boushey vineyards.

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• 2004 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine was full of roasted notes. Roasted fruits and roasted coffee. There was also a candied cherry aroma that I really enjoyed. The palate was quite different than the nose had suggested. It had flavors of currant, dark cherry and a wonderful mint cocoa note. It had a really silky and powdery mouthfeel and a long finish. The minty cocoa flavor really grew during the finish. I loved this finish on this wine. This was a really close contender for my WOTN, but I ended up giving that honor to the 97 Alpha. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 8% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun and Alder Ridge vineyards.

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• 2005 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine had candied cherries and anise aromas. The palate of this wine was very closed though. Just some light red fruit flavors with a medium length finish. I was really looking forward to this vintage as a couple years ago I had almost picked it as my WOTN in a 2005 WA Cabernet blind tasting. Tonight's showing was nothing like that. As fantastic as the 2005 vintage was in WA, this wine just seemed to be shut down. I expected way more that it had to offer tonight. 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Kiona, Alder Ridge and Red Willow vineyards.

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Now we're getting into some much higher percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blends as well as just some sheer power from the young wines. This was a great flight, and capped off a very nice look of how the Pére de Famille had not only developed and evolved in the bottle, but also how the vineyard selections and blending shaped the wine from vintage to vintage into what it has become for the current 2008 release. I ended up ranking this flight 1. 2008, 2. 2007 and then 3. 2006.

• 2006 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine had candied cherry, ripe plums, and baking spice aromas. The palate had flavors of dark cherries, coffee, and some bell pepper flavors. Nice length finish. The 06 was just a bit different than the other wines in this flight - it didn't have the mint flavors that the 07 and 08 vintages did. 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Kiona, Alder Ridge and Red Willow vineyards.

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• 2007 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 93 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose had aromas of currant, cherry, anise and mint. The palate had flavors of currant, dark chocolate and some minty notes. Very full bodied with a big mouthfeel and a long finish. 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 7% Petit Verdot sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Kiona, Alder Ridge and Red Willow vineyards.

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• 2008 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  The nose of this wine had aromas of red and black fruits, caramel and mint. The palate of this wine had caramel, cherry and a note that tasted exactly like Wrigley's Spearmint. Just a really delicious and powerful wine at this point. This was in my Top 3 Betz wines of the evening along with the 1997 and the 2004. 85% Cabernet, 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Merlot sourced from Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun, Kiona, Alder Ridge and Red Willow vineyards.

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Once we had finished with the Betz portion of the tasting, the organizers wanted to taste some wines from other producers that were also labeled as Cabernet Sauvignons and were available to purchase in the $45-$60 range. The purpose of this portion of the tasting was to highlight what a value the Pére de Famille is when you consider the alternatives in the same price range. This first flight of the "Better than Betz?" portion had a mix of styles - the 2001 Dutch Henry was a real outlier in this flight. None of these in the first flight were considered to be Better than Betz by the group... and no one was surprised.

• 2001 Dutch Henry Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Northfork Reserve Chafen Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The nose of this wine had aromas of currant, damp earth, and brett. A lot of brett... The palate revealed flavors of currant, some slightly medicinal red fruits, tobacco, dusty earth and brett. It did have a nice mouthfeel, and the dust that came out on the finish made the brett not seem quite as out in front as it was on the nose and on the attack. This still isn't my style of wine anymore, I like a much cleaner tasting Cabernet now.

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• 2007 Drinkward Peschon Cabernet Sauvignon Entre Deux Mères 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The nose had loads of blackberry and vanilla aromas along with just a hint of mocha. The palate was loaded with cassis, blueberry and french vanilla flavors with a milk chocolate note. Huge mouthfeel and a long and rich finish. We really enjoy this wine, and look forward to trying it again in another couple years.

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• 2006 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  The nose of this wine had blueberry syrup and a Sharpie-like aroma on the nose. The palate had flavors of tart cherry, raspberry and licorice. There was also some heat that came through on the palate. Good mouthfeel and a fairly long finish. For our comparison to the Betz wines, this bottle was a bit over the price range, but a generous offering. I used to enjoy Quilceda Creek a lot more than I do now.

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We continued the "Better than Betz?" portion of the tasting with a couple of wines that we were going to taste blind. Turned out that the 2001 Dutch Henry might have fit in better with this flight, but we couldn't have known that because these were blind to all of us except the individual who brought them. I really enjoyed the 2001 Matthews Elerding Reserve, but again... not Better than Betz.

• 2000 Pepper Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley 87 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  Tasted blind. The only clue that we were given was that this would be a WA Cab that was in the same price range as Betz Cabs. The nose had aromas of dark fruits, eucalyptus and brett. The palate seemed a little flat with currants, damp earth, and brett flavors. By this point, I had gotten the sense that this was a disappointing showing for this wine, but I didn't have a guess on who the producer was. Once revealed as Pepper Bridge, I was disappointed in this showing also, as this is a producer that I typically enjoy a lot, but not so much this time.

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• 2001 Matthews Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Elerding Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Tasted blind. The only clue that we were given was that this would be a WA Cab that was in the same price range as Betz Cabs. The nose had currant and plum aromas with a nice minty/eucalyptus note. The palate had flavors of currants and red cherries along with mint and chocolate. Good mouthfeel and a long finish. This reminded me a little bit of a 97 Leonetti that I tasted about a year ago, but I knew it wasn't that old by the color. Still, this wine did show some signs of softening with age, and I thought it was in a nice place to drink. My guess was Leonetti, but probably around 99. I was surprised to see this as an 01 Matthews Elerding, as I still have one in my cellar! Nice! I really loved the nose of this wine.

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There were just a couple more wines brought to taste for this portion. Wow, that Myriad was really nice - but there were also several tasters in the group that didn't enjoy it at all. That happens in a diverse tasting group, but it's funny that it doesn't happen with this group and Betz... So, once again... the group consensus was that nothing here was Better than Betz.

• 2008 Myriad Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  The nose of this wine had aromas of kirsch, roasted coffee and a note of smoke. The palate had nice flavors of chocolate covered cherries and espresso with hints of Rutherford dust and a spicy/incense-like note. I've been a fan of Mike Smith's wines for a while, but I think this may be the favorite one that I have had so far. I'll be buying some of these Cabs on the next release - that's for sure! Really great QPR, and one of my favorites of the tasting.

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• 2005 Match Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  The nose of this wine had aromas of plums and berries with notes of tobacco and something olive-like. The palate was loaded with green flavors... Bell pepper, green olive, and green tobacco. This was just too herbaceous for me. Several tasters at our end of the table had "bitter beer face" while tasting this wine. The tasters in this group either really liked this wine, or really didn't. Not a lot of middle ground here... I will say that drinking this just after a 2008 Myriad Rutherford Cab and just before a 1995 Columbia Crest Late Harvest Semillon was probably the worst possible placement for this wine. That's just how it goes sometimes...

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This was a delicious bottle of late harvest Semillon! I've got a few from other WA producers, but after this, I'm going to try to age them longer than I have been.

• 1995 Columbia Crest Late Harvest Sémillon 93 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  This had a really nice golden/amber color. It had great flavors of Turkish apricots, burnt caramel, honey and a note that reminded me of apple pie. This was a really nice closer to a fun tasting!

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This was another fantastic tasting! It was great to have so much specific information about the wines while we were tasting them. I found myself looking back a them a lot when I noticed a change in the style to see if a grape was added or taken away from the mix, or even if a vineyard source changed. My overall favorites from the Betz portion of the tasting were the 1997, the 2004 and the 2008 - but to be able to taste all of them in a single tasting was really a great experience!