WTN: American Beauties (well, three of four)

Seven Hills 1998 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Seven Hills Vineyard, $28
This is outstanding. It has superb, bright black currant and red berry fruit, still very vibrant, with nuances of herbs, smoke, earth and chocolate on the nose and palate. It’s fruit-forward but not the least bit jammy, neither overextracted nor overoaked; the acidity keeps it focused and the non-fruit elements keep it complex. Texturally, it’s smooth though a touch softer than I normally prefer. An absolutely perfect match with mesquite-smoked leg of lamb marinated in a mint-rosemary sauce.

Pepper Bridge 2001 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $50
This is really enjoyable; the three years of age since I tasted it at the winery have mellowed and improved it considerably. It tastes nicely mature (normally I would have given this 10 years or so but the winemaker recommends five years and I think he’s right) with cassis, earth and chocolate aromas and flavors. Beautifully balanced with the oak restrained and integrated, velvety texture, some tannins remaining but not intrusive. Outstanding match with marinated grilled lamb, beef and chicken shishkabobs. However, much as I liked this, I wouldn’t buy it again because of the price; there are other wines from the area (like the Seven Hills above) that I find as good or better for roughly half the tariff.

Edmunds St. John 2004 El Dorado County Gamay Noir Bone Jolly, $20
Wow — this is one wine that more than lives up to its billing. It has a terrific nose mixing flowers (perhaps violets and roses), strawberry, cherry, dark earth and minerals. On the palate, there is vibrant strawberry/cherry fruit accented by dark earth and minerals. Well-balanced, complex, bright acidity, smooth-textured. Excellent match with a sun-dried tomato/artichoke/olive/feta pizza. The next day, it’s just as good, with a touch of chocolate added. Very fine match with leftover garlic top pesto and Copper River sockeye salmon.

Beaulieu 2000 Napa Valley Tapestry Reserve
This Bordeaux blend is too oaky for my tastes, but it has enough stuffing to stand up, making it something I can appreciate on its own terms if not love. It has cassis, some darker berry fruit, cedar, earth and lots of oak — making for a very chocolaty finish — on the nose and palate. Fairly dense, it has enough acidity and tannins to provide some structure. It did match quite well with Peruvian rotisserie chicken, even standing up to the hot green sauce. This was a gift; it’s not a wine I would buy but I was glad to be able have something to serve as a good point of contrast with the wines I usually buy and drink.

Good notes, Bruce. Reminded me that I have a Beaulieu Tapestry that I may want to try soon. I'm not fond of overoaked wines myself so maybe I will try to allow the tannins to integrate a little longer. If I had several I would try one now and another in a couple years.

Thanks. I see no reason why you couldn't give it a few more years.

Bruce, do you find the George de la Tour as over-oaked as well? I'm kinda sorta sensitive to oak, and I didn't find it annoying when I did a tasting-but I've learned to be wary of tasting room impressions.

Sorry, but I'm afraid I have no idea; the Tapestry is the only Beaulieu I've had in recent memory and it was gift.

In 2004 I was able to taste a 1994 Beaulieu Georges de la Tour thanks to a generous friend. It was my favorite of twelve different high-end '94 Cabs we tasted. (Not oaky.) But it may take a decade to integrate that fully.

I agree with both the tasting note and comments on the Tapestry. I think letting it age should help the oak integrate better.

I haven't been on the website lately, but the Beauliue site used to have a graphical taste profile for each wines that showed the relative "oakiness" of each wine.

I just looked at the website and didn't see quite what you described. However, it does say of the 2003 Georges de la Tour that it will require 7 to 9 years to reach maturity and has the potential to age for 20 years.

It's becoming more and more apparant to me that I drink some California wines too young. That Alexander Valley Cab (Lancaster) I had last week definitely need five years to better integrate. If it ever would.

The problem is I lack sense memory and palate experience to know what wines will benefit from aging and which wines are just bad (or at least, not to my palate).

I just looked at the website and didn't see quite what you described. However, it does say of the 2003 Georges de la Tour that it will require 7 to 9 years to reach maturity and has the potential to age for 20 years.

Beware that the BV's Reserve and Tapestry changed for the worse starting in 2002, when they decided to go with the trend in using overripe grapes. Being a long time fan, I have not found the 2002-2004 Reserves or Tapestrys to be worth buying. Both are overripe and alcoholic. They will not age gracefully or nearly as long as prior wines (such as the 94 Reserve, which I tasted a week ago at the winery along with the insipid "Port Like" 2004 Reserve).

The "dump" part is that BV is one of the few wineries that has access to old vine fruit for their Cabernets. At least for the Reserves. Most other wineries making these super-ripe & alcoholic monsters don't. They go Super-Ripe to try and trick their customers into thinking they're getting top-flight fruit. Right...from 3-5 year old vines. But the clothes wear thin quickly.

One more thing, I've found that looser grained oak (such as American) tend to show earlier, but disipate faster. I've yet to have an old (15+year old) BV that was oaky. I cannot say the same for Cabs that use strictly French oak. Of course, older BV Reserve used 1/3 new oak at best. The current Reserves use 100% new oak, of which at least 50% is French. I am a big fan of American oak for Cabernets and Zins.