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  • Country ranking ?

    173
  • Producer ranking ?

    6
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2045
  • Food Pairing

    pink meat, veal and lamb & as well as fish

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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99 POINTS, JAMES SUCKLING / Must Buy - “The spice and walnut aromas are so enticing. Undertones of blackberries and black truffles. Full-bodied, dense and layered with fantastic tension and seamless tannins. It goes on for minutes. All about classic structure and beauty.” - James Suckling

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The Story

For over thirty years, the prestigious Private Reserve wines have offered the best that Beringer and the Napa Valley have to offer. Built on generations of winemaking expertise and crafted from a prized collection of single vineyards, these wines epitomize the transcendent quality attainable through masterful blending. Beringer applies the designation of Private Reserve only to the wines that come from the finest grapes from the best vineyards, made with the most exacting winemaking techniques. The only year a Private Reserve vintage was not achieved was 1979, when photosynthetic shock, or heat shock, prevented the vines from producing grapes.

When Beringer first acquired Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Lemmon Ranch (later called Chabot Vineyard) in 1977, Winemaker Myron Nightingale and then Assistant Winemaker Ed Sbragia knew they had the makings of a distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon. After two years in French oak barrels, the wine was still dark, chewy and tannic. Even bottle aging didn't soften its intensity. In the 1981 Orange County Fair, it won a gold medal as the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the show, and the limited amount produced was released as Beringer's first Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The 1986 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was named the #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator. Today, Laurie Hook carries on the exemplary standard of quality, consistency and balance that the Beringer Private Reserve is known for worldwide. After over two decades producing these reserve wines, her goal remains unchanged from those that preceded her: to make the best Cabernet Sauvignon that Napa Valley can produce – an achievement that has surpassed even Jacob Beringer's ambitious early vision for the winery.

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Wine Information

Yields were down in 2015 as a result of the continuing drought and further reduced by cold weather during flowering. However, a warm summer with almost no rain allowed for optimal ripening, and the resulting harvest, while small, was of outstanding quality. Grapes are small and packed with flavor and color, creating wines with excellent extraction and structure.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

I was able to taste to two vintages of the Private Reserve, and the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve comes from a vintage loved by the estate. The final blend is the normal 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot brought up in 85% new French oak. This full-bodied, ripe, voluptuous beauty shows the vintage to a T, offering a blast of sweet blackcurrants, licorice, ground herbs, and graphite aromas and flavors. Blockbuster styled, with full body and an expansive, sexy texture, it has the depth and density to continue drinking brilliantly for 20+ years.

  • 97p

Firm, intense and well-structured, with a mix of spicy oak, red and black currant, mineral, sage and dusty berry. Turns elegant and refined, yet shows a sturdy backbone on the finish.

  • 95p
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Information

Origin

California, Napa Valley

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Inside Information

Beringer’s reserve vineyards offer Cabernet Sauvignon of such quality that a minimalist approach to winemaking has long defined this special blend. Each vineyard is vinified separately, and tailored pump-over techniques are used for optimal extraction. The wine is aged for 20 months in hand-selected, custom-toasted barrels of French Nevers oak (85% new) before assemblage, where winemaker Mark Beringer prioritizes the expression of vintage and our vineyards’ unique terroir.

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