Winemaker Notes
The 1994 vintage of this wine was ranked #9 on the Wine Spectator's Top 10 Wines of 1998
The Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is the utmost expression of each vintage and the terroir of the Napa Valley. The collaboration between winemaking and viticulture has been at the core of the Private Reserve program since the first vintage crafted by Ed Sbragia in 1977. Today, Winemaker Laurie Hook draws on her rich experience of working alongside Ed for over two decades as she blends only the best lots from these outstanding vineyards. Each vineyard is aged separately in new French oak for two years before blending, resulting in a wine of great elegance and structure.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
There were close to 10,000 cases produced of the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve, which is an incredible wine any way you look at it. Based all on Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a number of vineyards (mostly Bancroft Ranch and Steinhauer), it’s still deep purple-hued and has a stunning bouquet of crème de cassis, white truffle, damp earth, flowers, and bouquet garni that develops beautifully with time in the glass. While it still has plenty of baby fat and opulence, it’s at the early stages of maturity and has full-bodied richness, a layered, elegant texture, sweet tannins, and flawless balance. This is a brilliant, brilliant Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that’s going to continue drinking well for another two decades. Hats off to Berninger for delivering a wine at this quantity of this quality!
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Production: 9,008 cases; Alcohol: 14.6%; Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon; Harvest Dates: September 10 to October 24. The 2007 Private Reserve is composed of 34% Bancroft Ranch, 33% Steinhauer Ranch, 8% Chabot Vineyard, 8% Lampyridae, and the remainder from St. Helena Home Vineyard, Marston Ranch and Rancho del Oso fruit. A mild spring and summer with only a handful of heat spikes was followed by beautiful weather in September and October. One of the finest Private Reserves made over the last two decades, this phenomenal wine is obviously still an infant in terms of development, but it exhibits a dense purple color as well as an extraordinary nose of blackberries, white chocolate, licorice, tobacco leaf, smoky barbecue, charcoal and a burning ember-like note reminiscent of a Graves from Bordeaux. A dense, luscious, full-bodied, opulent style, with sweet tannin, this locked and loaded, intense, full throttle Private Reserve should be accessible in 5-6 years and last for 25-30.
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Wine & Spirits
Laurie Hook blended this wine from a collection of seven vineyards, the majority coming from Howell Mountain's Bancroft Ranch and Steinhauer sites (70 percent). The power and dark extract of that mountain fruit are plumped up by juicier notes of plums and fat blackberries, all of it wrapped in the char of oak. A potent vintage of Private Reserve, this is built to age ten years or more.
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Wine Spectator
Firm, intense and vibrant, featuring a complex, focused core of earthy currant, sage, black licorice and mineral. Full-bodied, yet sleek and trim on the finish, where the flavors are slow to unfold.
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James Suckling
This is dense with a velvety texture and a lovely palate of toasted oak, coffee, and blackberries. It’s full and round with plenty of structure. Give it three to four years of bottle age.
As California's longest continuously operating winery, Beringer has been defining Napa Valley winemaking since it was founded by Jacob and Frederick Beringer in 1876. By continuing that pioneering spirit, Beringer established many 'firsts' as leaders in the wine industry. They were one of the first gravity fed facilities and among the first to operate using hand dug caves and cellars. Beringer were the first to give public tours in 1934, starting a Napa Valley hospitality tradition. They are the first and only winery to have both a red and a white wine named #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine. Today, they proudly celebrate and remain true to their pioneering legacy.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.