Beaulieu Vineyard Clone 6 is an exceptional selection of Cabernet Sauvignon that produces high quality fruit of intensely expressive flavor. Grown in our famed Rutherford vineyards, Clone 6 grapes are a key component of our classic Reserve Cabernets. Each year, our winemakers preserve the unique character of Clone 6 in an exclusive, very limited bottling. This highly extracted wine presents rich, muscular notes and aromas of dried black currants that frame an exotic palate of ripe wild berries, coffee, anise and cedar.
"The Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Clone 6 is quite a bit more plush than the Clone 4 tasted alongside it. Here the fruit is deep, concentrated and super-ripe. The aromatics need time to open up. Today, the Clone 6 is above all else a wine of voluptuousness and fruit intensity. This is an especially primary, intense wine." - Antonio Galloni, January 2018
This very limited bottling of 2014 Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon, demonstrates the unique characteristics of this single, outstanding clone during an exceptional vintage. Full of power and intensity, this Cabernet leaps from the glass with dark fruit aromas and flavors of black currant, blackberry, blueberry and dark plum, interwoven alongside more savory notes of black olive, black licorice, dried tobacco leaves, and toasted vanilla oak. The mouth-pleasing tannins are present, lush and textured, sure to soften and become more rounded as the wine ages, but are incredibly focused when enjoying the wine in its youth. This wine is opulent, concentrated and pronounced, exhibiting a muscular strength and intensity, like a bull fighter with incredible force, balance, energy and finesse. While enjoyable now, this wine will continue to develop complexity in the bottle and will age well for another 20+ years when stored at ideal cellar temperatures.
Dry, early and shaking is how 2014 will be remembered in Napa Valley, yet it had a silver lining with small, concentrated grapes and high quality. February's rains brought the total rainfall up to 'low, but adequate', helping to relieve three years of drought conditions. Warm temperatures promoted early budbreak in spring and accelerated grape maturation. Just as harvest began, a dramatic 6.0 earthquake shook Napa Valley awake on August 24. We finished the very compact, plentiful harvest by mid-October and celebrated the vintage's beautifully ripened grapes.
In 1980, we began a 14-year series of trials in conjunction with UC Davis, to identify Cabernet Sauvignon clones best suited to our Rutherford Bench terroir. Two clones (4 and 6) were ultimately selected for grafting to rootstocks planted in the well-draining, alluvial fan soils of our estate vineyards. As a component of our Georges de Latour and other reserve Cabernet Sauvignons, Clone 4 gives the blend pronounced, lush, full flavors and has softer, more approachable tannins in its youth. Also known as the Mendoza clone, it was identified and isolated in Argentina and then brought to the United States. Known for its larger berries and tighter berry cluster, resulting in a Cabernet with lush, round and opulent style.
At our state-of-the-art winery, dedicated exclusively to the production of our Reserve wines, we hand sorted the destemmed berries of this clone to retain only the highest quality fruit. Cold soaking of the must and gentle punch-downs in open-top fermenters mixed the flavor-rich skins with the juice. Upon completion of primary fermentation, we pressed and transferred the wine to new French oak barrels for in-barrel malolactic fermentation and aging. Because of the uniqueness of the expression of this clonal selection of Cabernet Sauvignon, we treat this wine as a special lot or single vineyard wine.
Jeffrey Stambor joined the Beaulieu Vineyard winemaking team in 1989 as a viticulturist/enologist. As the current director of winemaking, he leads production of the winery’s world-renowned Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon, and presided over the harvest and vinification of 2013 Rarity – the extremely limited release Cabernet Sauvignon blend. He is only the fourth director of winemaking in Beaulieu Vineyard’s history, and the third to craft Georges de Latour Private Reserve over the 77-year history of that iconic wine following Andre Tchelistcheff, the original winemaker, and his immediate predecessor, Joel Aiken.
Alcohol % | 15.5% |
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Enclosure Type | Cork |
Oak Treatment | 21 months in French oak, with 100% new barrels. |
pH | 3.67 |
Blend | 100% Cabernet Sauvignon |
Case Production | 322 cases |
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