WINE SPECTATOR #2 WINE OF 2024!!
Wine Spectator is arguably one of the most recognized and respected wine publications in the world. So when they come out with their annual "Top Wine" list, it makes consumers take notice, and the wines that make the top 10 spots on this list sell out at an exponential pace. Well, the wine that made the #2 spot on that list for 2024 just landed, and we're giving you the first crack at it!
Winemaker Trevor Durling grew up in Sonoma County, and has worked stints at Sonoma-Cutrer, Gloria Ferrer, and Provenance wineries. However, it was his integral contributions to the Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, a wine that earned Wine Spectator's 2013 #4 Wine of the Year, that caught the eye of Beaulieu Vineyards. Now, Trevor presides as only the fifth chief winemaker in the winery's 120-year history. This illustrates how BV makes conscientious decisions for the long-term, ensuring that their wines may be of the utmost quality, and endure for decades.
The grapes come from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon vines from the western bench of the Rutherford AVA in their iconic BV Ranches No. 1 and No. 2, originally planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. 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. A portion of the wine is fermented in new French oak barrels which provides early integration and enhances the dense, rich texture.
WINE SPECTATOR 95 POINTS - "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."
JEB DUNNUCK 98+ POINTS - "Lastly, 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."
ANTONIO GALLONI 98 POINTS - "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."
Wine Spectator is arguably one of the most recognized and respected wine publications in the world. So when they come out with their annual "Top Wine" list, it makes consumers take notice, and the wines that make the top 10 spots on this list sell out at an exponential pace. Well, the wine that made the #2 spot on that list for 2024 just landed, and we're giving you the first crack at it!
Winemaker Trevor Durling grew up in Sonoma County, and has worked stints at Sonoma-Cutrer, Gloria Ferrer, and Provenance wineries. However, it was his integral contributions to the Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, a wine that earned Wine Spectator's 2013 #4 Wine of the Year, that caught the eye of Beaulieu Vineyards. Now, Trevor presides as only the fifth chief winemaker in the winery's 120-year history. This illustrates how BV makes conscientious decisions for the long-term, ensuring that their wines may be of the utmost quality, and endure for decades.
The grapes come from the finest Cabernet Sauvignon vines from the western bench of the Rutherford AVA in their iconic BV Ranches No. 1 and No. 2, originally planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. 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. A portion of the wine is fermented in new French oak barrels which provides early integration and enhances the dense, rich texture.
- Wine Spectator rated this at a fantastic 95 Points, and named it their #2 Wine of 2024!!
- Jeb Dunnuck rated this at an impressive 98+ points, and says it "does everything right".
- Antonio Galloni rated this at 98 points and thinks it's "outrageously beautiful".
WINE SPECTATOR 95 POINTS - "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."
JEB DUNNUCK 98+ POINTS - "Lastly, 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."
ANTONIO GALLONI 98 POINTS - "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."
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