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Beringer Vineyards

Those of my ilk tend to perpetuate certain notions. For example, the idea that smaller or newer is better, as if merely being either bestows some magical ability. It's a symptom of our society, with its 24-hour news cycle and instantaneous social declarations. It’s also a symptom of a wider problem, that of the irrelevant critic, remaining relevant through generally unverifiable claims.


It's easier to make a splash by calling attention to the latest high-dollar, low-production wine that few have tried (or will ever try) than to remind people of wines that have been out there for years, grinding away through times good and bad. Take Beringer for example: It's old, corporate, and big, therefore not worthy of attention, according to the geeks. But in fact, its scale allows Beringer to create good wines quite easily, offer them at reasonable prices, and distribute them widely.


The voices that form the accepted opinions on wine tend to live on the coasts, where obscure and rare wines abound. For everyone else, envy seems to be the recommended course of action. Better to long after the unattainable than to just break down and buy something like a wine from Beringer. The truth is, of course, that Beringer has always produced an impressive array of wines that satisfy consumers from the lowest to the highest ends of the spectrum.


During my recent trip to Napa I visited Beringer not only because they are one of the great historic houses of the valley, with production dating back to 1876, but because they continue to offer great products.  Beringer is not, however, only about wine; it also serves as an embassy of sorts, one of the welcoming doorways through which wine lovers of all types stride on their way to a better understanding and appreciation of wine, the Napa Valley, and how the two are entwined.


For me the story is relatively simple. I am familiar with the Napa Valley and with Beringer, though there is always something new to learn. Today, that would be the Modern Heritage Collection, a tasting room and website-only line of wines from Beringer that draws on some of the historic vineyards of Napa. And then there is the move into a burgeoning category of Bordeaux blends with the Quantum red blend, which is mostly made with Bordeaux varietals--grapes they know well here--with a small addition of Petite Sirah for that little something special.


But new wines were not the only thing I came to taste. I also wanted to revisit the wonderfully consistent Private Reserve Cabernet, which has proven to be a winner all the way back to 1981, my first vintage with the wine--and one that was still drinking well in 2007 when I finished off my last bottle. The wine I tasted during this visit, the 2009, is still available for under $100 a bottle; it’s a mighty fine wine, and at that price a pretty good deal. So next time you think of Beringer, stop for a moment and remember: a winery this big can afford to make world class wine like this, and can afford to sell it for a fair price.


I’m not demanding you go out and try the wines of Beringer. I’m saying you probably should. Not every wine is great, of course, but at the top there are some mighty attractive wines to be had. It’s easy to dismiss Beringer and other wineries of their ilk, but to do so is to risk missing out, not only on some fun wines, but also on some (literally) valuable perspective: perspective on what a winery can and should be producing, how they can and should be pricing their wines, and last but not least, how they preserve the history of the Napa Valley, something newer wineries often have no interest in doing. If you disagree, please have a glass of perspective. Might I recommend the Private Reserve?



TASTING NOTES


2009 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Napa Valley $135

Vanilla cream with toasted nut meat and floral nuances top mocha-inflected, huge, creamy blueberry and black cherry fruit on the imposing, upright and intense fruit-driven nose. There’s plenty of lightly toasty, smoky oak nuance as well, but they sit in the background. This shows impressive pinpoint focus on the palate and is very smooth and opulent without being weighty. There’s a great firmness to this without any tannins poking out of the deep, slightly earth-tinged, creamy dark fruit that shows hints of coffee and tobacco on the palate. The tannins do pop out of the creamy fruit on the back end, along with spice and a little hint of tartness, revealing the firmness of the acid. This is just a seductive wine with super fine depth and exceptional polish. 94 points


2007 Beringer Nightingale Dessert Wine Napa Valley

Corn silk, almond caramel, dried apricots, dried white cherry and white chocolate drive from the glass topped with an intriguing touch of caper. Rich and downright unctuous on the palate with lovely botrytis spice topping creamy, luxuriously deep apricot fruit. This is packed with botrytis character that leads to a long, spicy finish, ending on a fine bitter apricot pit note. There is a significant amount of VA here, enough to be off-putting to some. But the wine still packs in layers of flavor and impressive richness. 93 points


2011 Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay $39

Almond nougat and dried orange peel aromas greet the nose followed by rich, smoky honeycomb notes and the spice of toasty oak. There’s a pop of tangerine on entry and this is downright flannelly on the palate, showing tremendous richness and creamy, honeyed pineapple and guava flavors on the short finish. A bit of a powerhouse, but this is more dense than huge. A bit soft for me, nonetheless well made in its style. 91 points


2010 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet $29

Dark fruit accented with lightly stemmy olive notes greets the nose, followed by a smoky top note over a nice base note of sweet bramble and blackberry fruit with slightly leathery accents. This is silky with slightly chalky tannins that offer nice cut on the palate. There’s a lot of fruit here, pretty purplish fruit with nice cranberry edges that leads to deep blackcurrant and blackberry flavors that are nicely bright on the palate and framed with spice and mocha accents. With time, this turns fairly tannic, very clean and fresh, with a moderately long finish that turns a touch pasty on the finale with just a little wood tannins sticking out. Medium full-bodied and smooth yet faceted, this is a safe bet to please a lot of people. 90 points


2010 Beringer Quantum Napa Valley Red Blend $60

75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petite Sirah, 3% Petite Verdot

Fine tobacco, nut, tomato leaf and sweet slightly jammy red fruits offer lovely complexity on the nose, with really fine grape spice and integrated wood spice aromas. This is big and broad in the mouth, with soft slightly chewy tannins early followed by late-arriving tannins that are a bit harder. A touch inky on the front, broad and slightly matte on the mid-palate, this picks up steam on the back end with rich blackcurrant and candied blackberry fruit flecked with bright black spice and soft herb-inflected flavors that drop off onto a slightly wood-sweetened finish with plenty of coffee and mocha tones. Powerful but relatively well balanced, this is a rather muscular and spicy wine for Beringer which today, while the quality is evident, comes off a bit clumsy.  89 points


2011 Beringer Modern Heritage Pinot Noir Stanly Ranch Carneros $35

A little tight on the nose, showing slightly unusual aromas that include a bit of green olive, low smoked herb notes and stemmy notes. Aromatically this is fairly savory and a little floral, with early black fruit then dried cranberry aromas. While a bit soft on entry, this turns bright with red cherry and cranberry fruit on the palate and just a little meaty edge. With some nuanced oak notes, this is broad in the mouth, with cherry fruit that darkens on the palate, offering nice length though the finish does turn a touch chewy with wood tannins. Perhaps a bit too meaty and savory for many folks, this does speak of its place. 88 points


2011 Beringer Knights Valley Blanc $17

Barrel fermented, 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Semillon.

Nutty on the nose, with low waxy apricot and peach aromas topped with a fine green herbal edge and a hint of floral character. Round, rich and relatively powerful in the mouth with lots of bright, acid-tinged greengage plum flavors over a nice backdrop of wood influence. While opulent, this remains rather elegant in the mouth, with a hint of minerality on the palate, gooseberry fruit on the moderately long, tense finish that shows a  flash of hickory smoke on the finale. This really does show a nice marriage of creaminess and brightness. 88 points


2011 Beringer Modern Heritage Chardonnay Stanly Ranch Carneros $22

Stony on the nose, with a hint of dry stem notes topped with cider apple and pear peel aromas.  Linear on the palate, though this does shows some richness in the mouth with early lemon flavors followed by a nice touch of stony astringency, as well with a hint of peach. This is moderately big with a fruit-driven finish that shows off lovely lemon and almost under-ripe pineapple.  Dry and deep, this shows lovely richness wrapped around a fine acidic spine. 88 points




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