Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz 2012
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 67% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Very composed. Ripe plum and mulberry fruits with a graphite and earthy, slightly truffle-scented edge. The palate has a very sturdy frame and plenty of depth in the form of blueberry and blue-plum flavors. This has approachable yet strong tannins that carry freshness and balance. Blend of 67% merlot, 27% cabernet sauvignon and 6% petit verdot. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Just over two-thirds Merlot with the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and a pinch of Petit Verdot, this thoroughly delicious wine opens with a complex assortment of aromas, including incense, toast, crushed flowers, spice, bay leaf, licorice and red and black fruit. The palate is deft but brings waves of layered fruit flavors that show great density and richness. It’s hedonistic but doesn’t sacrifice one iota of balance. It drinks best at 62 degrees.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted from magnum, the 2012 Clos de Betz is still lively and fresh, with a firm core of sappy fruit and expressive oak essences. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is balanced, fresh and succulent, with a lively mouthfeel, and this will remain food-friendly for another decade and a half due to the bottle’s size. If you have a regular-sized bottle of this still in your cellar, subtract eight years from my drink date since magnums age slower than regular 750-milliliter bottles. Rating: 93+
-
Wine Spectator
Coffee, sassafras and tobacco notes add depth to the soft-textured cherry and licorice flavors in this supple, expressive style. Finishes with gentle intensity. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2020.
-
Wine & Spirits
A blend of merlot, cabernet and petit verdot, this wine’s dark core of inky blue fruit reveals a waft of turf-scents lurking in the background. The cassis and cherry flavors are caramelly and highly structured by their time in barrel, having been lavished with 65 percent new oak.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker
By carving out specific vineyard blocks and being meticulous in the vineyard and cellar they are able to achieve the quality they aspire to, the result being highly-acclaimed wines that compete on the world stage.
As importantly over the years our winery culture has become a way of life in which everyone – our growers, winery team and customers are family.
Today, Betz Family Winery is headed by two families, committed to be true to their heritage, their family members and true to what Betz embodies: wines of dimension and pleasure that allow the character of Washington to shine through.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.