Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 750mL

The 2021 season was joyous and welcome after the challenges of previous vintages, producing exceptionally high- quality fruit, some of the best in recent years. Rain early in the year led to almost no notable precipitation for the rest of the season, providing an ideal environment for grapes to flower, bloom, and set in early spring. Budbreak occurred early in April, followed by flowering and bloom in May. The summer saw early, even ripening throughout the valley, with veraison appearing in early July. Low yields, in part due to drought conditions, created intensely flavored small berries. After one of the earliest starts on record, harvest for red grapes began at the end of August. With optimal ripening and taste, our winemakers took their time bringing grapes in. The result is wines of fantastic character, with amazing color extraction, aromatic intensity, tremendous balance, and structure that are equally lush and fruity. A tremendous year to taste the nuances and terroir distinctions from around the valley.

Grape Varietal:

94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot

Tasting Notes:

This is a truly remarkable vintage of our iconic flagship wine. The bouquet is intense with fragrant notes of wild sage, blackcurrant, cedar, and fresh mint. The palate is expansive and full-bodied with a sumptuous mouthfeel, showcasing layers of ripe blackberry, redcurrant, and red rose petal alongside earthier tones of graphite, licorice root, gravely stone, and dark chocolate. Subtle baking spices from the French oak barrel aging provide sandalwood, clove, and Ceylon cinnamon notes, while the signature “Rutherford Dust” tannins are silky, polished, and fine-grained, finishing long with a cocoa powder texture. Slightly reserved upon release but incredibly drinkable, elegant, and pleasing, the tannins provide approachability with beautiful harmony and balance. There is significant presence, depth, and concentration in this Private Reserve, foreshadowing cellar-worthy potential that will continue to evolve, unfold, and develop across the next few decades.

98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck, December 2023. "The flagship 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges De Latour Private Reserve is in the same ballpark as the 2019 and is an incredibly elegant yet concentrated 2021 that does everything right. Purple-hued, with ample cassis, wild sage, graphite, and darker chocolate-like aromatics, it picks up a Graves-like gravelly earth character with air and is full-bodied, has ripe, polished tannins, beautiful overall balance, and a great finish. As with many of the top 2021s, it’s a touch reserved and closed and needs 4-5 years of bottle age, but will drink well for 30 years."

98 Points - James Suckling, February 2024. "Intense aromas of iodine, blackcurrants, cedar, sandalwood and mint follow through to a medium to full body with silky tannins that spread across the palate and expand in a balanced and harmonized way. Hints of chocolate and fruit at the end. Some tar. Drinkable but better in a few years. Try in 2027 and beyond."

95 Points - James Molesworth, November 2024. "This is packed with dark, winey flavors of black currant and blackberry paste underscored with alder, sweet tobacco, warm paving stone and black licorice notes, while a violet accent fills the background. The polished finish makes this accessible now, but there’s plenty of life ahead. Drink now through 2042."