Wanted to see if anyone has tried this recently - Looks like they switched winemakers in 2017, and the '18 and '19 vintages are both generating very high scores ('18 was 97 Vinous /96 Dunnuck /96 Decanter/etc etc, and '19 is getting 100 Ian D’Agata/97 Decanter/100 Suckling)
I am familiar with GDL - had the 2017 approximately one year ago - have not had the 18 or 19. Did not notice any changes in quality/design with the 2017, seemed comparable to prior years. These are big wines (tannins/oak) and great with steak, but think they need at least 5 years of age to shine IMO. I have also noticed a fair amount of bottle variation - some outstanding, some just very good.
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Interesting about the bottle variation - wonder if they do different bottlings during the year under the same vintage umbrella (WE noted they’re making 12k cases of GDL in '19)
The 2019 is at my local Costco for $125. Doesn’t seem like a screaming deal.
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Considering this wine’s history, and site - they could probably get twice that. Look at what their neighbor’s wines are selling for -
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WTSO has the 2018 for $99 with free shipping. Agree with Thomas - flagship wines from other Napa wineries of similar pedigree that used to be in the same ballpark price range have appreciated much more in the last decade or so, so much so that I’m almost puzzled why Beaulieu hasn’t followed suit.
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they produce a lot of GDL, i assume the pricing is what the market will bear given that level.
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Jeff,
How mulch does Montelena make? Or better yet, how much does any 1st growth make?
Cheers
Lafite is around 26,000 cases, I believe…so a lot more. Latour and Haut Brion are much lower.
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Hey Larry -
I dont know broad production numbers off the top of my head any more but in responding to the not charging as much as their neighbors, the vast majority of bottles that command the uber high prices in napa are 2000 cases or less. I believe GDL is at least 15K+ and i dont think the market supports that volume at $300+. When i lived in Marin, i was in the BV “club” because A) i do enjoy GDL and B) they had a great club tasting room that almost always had fun back vintages open to taste so i would take out of town friends there on our Napa excursions to enjoy a bit of Napa history. When in the club i could always exchange the lower level bottles for GDL with no fuss. Very good customer service but also they clearly had enough or there would have been some friction at least (i could not do the same with the lower production Clone 4 for example). As for !st growth comp, while palates may differ, the global market for large production Napa Icons and 1st growths are not comparable
btw - my best visit to the club was in 16 or 17. They were pouring current 13 GDL (which was a baby but great) and they had the 97 GDL and 97 Clone 6 open to try. Plus, about 10 minutes after we arrived a group of 6 from st louis arrived. They were clearly huge customers, he was asking about getting more of the Rarity Mags and it sounded like adding a couple of cases of GDLs to his previous order. He has asked them to open an 85 GDL for his visit and they had done so. They all just wanted to try and then asked if my group wanted to taste, it was great. Pretty damn cool hour or so at BV.
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We did something similar around that time for about $50, older GDL & Clone 4 among others. It was cool.
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I don’t know where these grapes are sourced from. Do you ? I thought the vineyard they used to use has been sold off.
Wondering the same - SOMEONE on this site knows -
From the website -
“We hand selected grapes from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon vines from the western bench of the Rutherford AVA in our iconic BV Ranches No. 1 and No. 2, originally planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. We focused on clonal selections (6, 4, 169, 7 and 8), which yield small berries with the high skin-to-juice ratio needed to make intense, long-lived wines. The fruit was handpicked and optically sorted once it arrived to the winery in order to ensure the highest quality selection. These specifically chosen vines are deeply rooted in the well-draining alluvial fan soils of Rutherford, considered one of the finest regions in the Napa Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon.”
Still not sold on this being the original vineyard - I think all their original vineyards were planted by Latour - I thought I remember them selling off that specific vineyard years ago -
Know I saw a recent Cabernet offer that specifically indicated grapes from the GDL vineyard (for sure), but for the life of me I can’t quite recall it!! Very frustrating… Will remember in my dreams tonight and update.
BV Ranch 3 & BV Ranch 4 were sold. Still looking up where the old GDL were sourced.
http://www.beckstoffervineyards.com/heritage/georges-iii/history
I’m sure that’s a big factor. Also, it has been through a series of corporate owners, starting with Heublein in 1969, then RJR Nabisco, then Grand Metropolitan/Diageo, and Treasury since 2016. That doesn’t help the cachet. (See also Mondavi, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Joseph Phelps.) How often is BV mentioned here?
I haven’t had a GdL in years, but the label had a reputation for riding on its laurels in the later 80s and 90s. I remember the '94 was sort generic and lacked structure.
Finally, the top end of the California cab market is driven by the new-new thing mentality. A decades-long track record of producing excellent wines isn’t valued much (perhaps Ridge excepted). I guess Screaming Eagle has been near the top of the heap for 20 years now, but how many of today’s true cult cabs still have that status in 20 years?
1994 - 1996 BV Tapestry were excellent for $30.
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I’ve had a few Tapestrys and Rutherfords in the past two decades that were awful – overripe and candied. Real dreck. That may influence the perception of the GdL, as well, because the old Rutherfords (and the Beautour in its day) were great values and really solid wines.