Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is superb wine with dark chocolate, berry and spice. Extremely perfumed. Full body, super silky tannins. Great finish. This is so delicious. Ripe yet fresh. Tannins are polished and elegant. `
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The seductive 2012 Proprietary Red Bettina offers up a more Margaux-like femininity compared to the overwhelming power and richness of the Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is a blend sourced from three of David Abreu’s vineyards – Madrona, Thorevilos and Lucia. Notes of Christmas fruitcake, underbrush, blackcurrants, black cherries, licorice and spice box emerge from this complex 2012. At this stage, it is more evolved and aromatically satisfying than the pure blue and black fruits of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Full-bodied and opulent with impeccable balance as well as purity, this wine is already hard to resist because of its surprising complexity and poise. Drink it over the next 15-20 years.
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Wine Spectator
Shows wonderful focus and purity of flavor, extending from initial hints of dusty, loamy earth to cedary oak accents and a taut core of dusty dark berry and savory notes. Impressively graceful and textured. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2029.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.