2021 Beaulieu Vineyard BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Wine Spectator reviewed nearly 10,500 wines this year and 2021 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon earned the #2 spot!

Called the "beautiful place",at Beaulieu Vineyard, the winemaking legacy spans more than a century. The story is woven by the remarkable place and the extraordinary people who have shaped winemaking in America. From the visionary Georges de Latour to the legendary André Tchelistcheff, each chapter of the history is marked by a passion for quality and an unwavering commitment to craftsmanship.

In 1900, when Georges de Latour's wife, Fernande, first beheld the land that would become their original Rutherford vineyard, she exclaimed, "Quelle beau lieu!" or "What a beautiful place." Thus, Beaulieu Vineyard was born, with a vision to rival the wines of France right here in the heart of Napa Valley.

During WWII he met Andre Tchelistcheff (essentially the godfather of quality winemaking in California) in France and the Bordeaux-Napa cultural and professional exchange began. His partnership with Georges de Latour heralded a new era of excellence at Beaulieu Vineyard, marked by continuous innovation and a relentless pursuit of quality. Today, his spirit lives on in every bottle produced. 

To honor Tchelistcheff's legacy, Beaulieu Vineyard has made significant investments in innovation, including a state-of-the-art winemaking facility dedicated to producing the flagship wine, the Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This commitment to excellence has earned acclaim from critics and collectors alike.

Beaulieu Vineyard Winemaker Trevor Durling presides as only the fifth winemaker in the winery’s 119-year history. A native Californian, Trevor was raised in Sonoma County, the heart of Northern California’s wine country. With a love of agriculture, science, and cuisine, Trevor pursued his studies at the University of California Davis in the Viticulture and Enology program. As a winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard, Trevor incorporates his passion for creating fine wines, while preserving the heritage and legacy of Beaulieu Vineyard.

"It takes Rutherford Dust to grow great Cabernet."  ~ André Tchelistcheff 

94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot. This exceptional vintage of the flagship wine boasts an intense bouquet of wild sage, blackcurrant, cedar, and fresh mint. The full-bodied palate reveals ripe blackberry, redcurrant, and rose petal, layered with graphite, licorice, and dark chocolate. French oak aging adds sandalwood, clove, and Ceylon cinnamon, while the signature “Rutherford Dust” tannins are silky and polished, finishing long with a cocoa powder texture. Slightly reserved upon release, it offers elegance, balance, and cellar-worthy depth, promising decades of evolution.

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. Produced by Trevor Durling, the fourth winemaker to follow in the footsteps of the great André Tchelistcheff. ~98 Decanter

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 Jeb Dunnuck

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. ~98 James Suckling

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. ~98 Vinous Media

~98 The Wine Independent

Excellent quality, full of flavour, balanced, cassis, liqourice and cocoa bean, espresso, sage, drawn out through the palate. A wonderful example of an intense, concentrated BV, full of estate signature. Tasted twice. 95% new oak for ageing, 3.64ph, harvest September 25 to October 13. ~97 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

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. 7,289 cases made. ~95 Wine Spectator

Deep and brooding with concentration and velvety flavors. A subtle floral lift spins through flavors of sweet kitchen spices, black fruits, and savory length. A sprinkle of dried spices and tobacco add additional depth. Powdery fine tannins and a lengthy finish complete a Cabernet ready to drink now with the potential to develop for years in bottle. ~95 Wine Enthusiast