I don't reach for Cabernet Sauvignon that often, and to be honest I find most examples from California are a combination of over-wrought and over-priced, which tends to serve as a distinct restriction on my purchases of said wines, but ever so often I just get a hankering for one.
Beringer has a reputation that has perhaps been sullied by their ample portfolio of affordable and accessible wines. You can't fault a winery for trying to produce mass market products. We live in a mass market world afterall. You could fault Beringer for producing only mass market wines, if that is what they did, but they still produce a portfolio of excellent and compelling wines, primarily from Cabernet Sauvignon both from single vineyards and under their Private Reserve label.
Both the Private Reserve, and today"s Rancho del Oso are products of Howell Mountain, arguable one of Napa's premier appellations, and probably my favorite. The altitude and volcanic soil of the region tend to produce wines that are firmer than we might expect from Napa, with more tannic backbone and relatively less overt fruitiness. There's also a deep soil tone that I find lends complexity to the wines.
Modest intensity on the nose, though there is an attractive blend of dark soil, black currant, blackberry, and red currant fruit along with some subtle and well integrated cigar box oak, a touch of green herbs and and underlying chocolate creaminess.
Sufficient acidity, not quite juicy but lively enough. Tannins remain a blend of fruit and wood tannins, significant and pleasant and offering some volume on the mid palate. Very pleasant with a touch of herbaceous on entry and lingering retronasally on the finish which shows a fine blend of cigar wrapper, toasted oak spice, currant, blackberry and blueberry fruit and enough of a lingering soil signature to lend some depth and complexity to the finish. Air livens things up a bit, this definitely needs about 30 minutes of air to stretch its legs and while it should prove to be equally delicious for several years there is nothing to be gained from keeping this any longer. 88pts
Beringer has a reputation that has perhaps been sullied by their ample portfolio of affordable and accessible wines. You can't fault a winery for trying to produce mass market products. We live in a mass market world afterall. You could fault Beringer for producing only mass market wines, if that is what they did, but they still produce a portfolio of excellent and compelling wines, primarily from Cabernet Sauvignon both from single vineyards and under their Private Reserve label.
Both the Private Reserve, and today"s Rancho del Oso are products of Howell Mountain, arguable one of Napa's premier appellations, and probably my favorite. The altitude and volcanic soil of the region tend to produce wines that are firmer than we might expect from Napa, with more tannic backbone and relatively less overt fruitiness. There's also a deep soil tone that I find lends complexity to the wines.
Modest intensity on the nose, though there is an attractive blend of dark soil, black currant, blackberry, and red currant fruit along with some subtle and well integrated cigar box oak, a touch of green herbs and and underlying chocolate creaminess.
Sufficient acidity, not quite juicy but lively enough. Tannins remain a blend of fruit and wood tannins, significant and pleasant and offering some volume on the mid palate. Very pleasant with a touch of herbaceous on entry and lingering retronasally on the finish which shows a fine blend of cigar wrapper, toasted oak spice, currant, blackberry and blueberry fruit and enough of a lingering soil signature to lend some depth and complexity to the finish. Air livens things up a bit, this definitely needs about 30 minutes of air to stretch its legs and while it should prove to be equally delicious for several years there is nothing to be gained from keeping this any longer. 88pts
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