Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve, Beaulieu Vineyards 2020

Gorgeous vivid and intense purple colour, bright and deep. Heady fragrance, ripe but fresh dark black fruit with dark chocolate, hints of tobacco and florality that lifts the aromas out of the glass. Smooth, supple and sumptuous, instantly vibrant and mouthwatering, clean and precise, almost razor sharp tannins give bite and tang straight away. Fresher and more lean than I was expecting with juicy, mouthwatering acidity, tension and direction. Feels stylish and so well built. Crunchy and tangy herbal blackcurrants, plum and currants join menthol aspects that give a spiced mint aspect to the finish. The fruit is just the right side of sunkissed, crystalline with focus and persistence alongside nuanced dark chocolate, leather, liquorice and tobacco leaf spice. A beautiful expression, lively and enticing with total estate signature on show. Alcohol is well wrapped and this leaves you wanting more. Ageing 24 months in French oak barrels (95% new). 3.65pH.

As with most Napa estates in 2020, BV Private Reserve was low yielding after a dry year, and is knitted down with black pepper, crayon, earth, cassis and grilled cocoa bean flavours, full of spiced pleasure. There is a luscious underpinning of acidity also, with muscular tannins that allow the juice to flow through them while holding everything in place. A 2020 vintage that has been carefully handled, where all wine lots were treated separately for the entire winemaking process and kept in stainless steel tanks to be able to fully track flavours before putting in 95% French oak. Trevor Durling winemaker.