| Producer | Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) |
| Country | United States |
| Region | California |
| Subregion | Napa Valley |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Sku | U1011034 |
| Size | 750ml |
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What a spectacular showing of this iconic wine in the terrific 2021 vintage. Deep ruby with a purple hue, it just exudes elegance and statesmanship. It has a noble quality to it that begins with its precise and lifted bouquet of dried rose petals, kirsch, Blackberry, and cassis fruit interlaced with sagebrush, sandalwood, and toasty cedarwood. Perfectly medium to full-bodied, showcasing a dazzling spectrum of silken red and black fruits redolent of strawberry, cherry, plum, and blackberry atop a substantial bed of taut, mineral-tinged tannins. A spine of racy acidity lifts the panoply of fruit, and the finish reveals a plethora of wild herbs, cast iron notes, pastille, and white pepper, nuanced by rich, toasty oak infused with toffee and vanilla bean. It is one of the most satisfying and immediately enjoyable expressions of the Georges de Latour Private Reserve in the last decade.
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.
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.
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. –J.M.
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour is outrageously beautiful. A wine of statuesque build and class, the 2021 represents another major step forward for BV. Black cherry, plum, spice, new leather, menthol, mocha, and gravel soar from the glass. This is an especially refined vintage for this flagship wine. Here, too, there is plenty of tannin, but it is not anywhere near as perceptible as it was in the past. Shorter macerations and gentler overall winemaking, including fewer lots vinified in barrel, have elevated the Georges meaningfully. –A.G.
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