Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2016

Grapes: 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot, multiple vineyard locations on Howell Mountain (Steinhauer Ranch, Bancroft Ranch & Pauli) join fruit sourced from Gamble Ranch (Oakville), Saint Helena's Home Vineyard, Chabot and Mount Veeder's Lampyridae. Aged 20 months in French Nevers oak (83% new).

Rich, full-bodied and deeply rewarding, this vintage expression is one for the ages (and ageing). Notes of crème de cassis, black and blue fruits and baking spices frame flavors of ripe plum, dark cherry and chocolate in a muscular yet exceedingly well balanced and elegant wine. A memorable, lingering finish continues to reveal multiple layers of complexity to be enjoyed over the next two decades.

The Beringer reserve vineyards offer Cabernet Sauvignon of such quality that a minimalist approach to winemaking has long defined this special blend. Each vineyard is vinified separately and monitored carefully from the moment the fruit comes into the winery at Harvest. Tailored pump-over techniques are used for optimal extraction, and the wine is aged in hand-selected, custom-toasted barrels of new French Nevers oak (83% new). Each lot aged 20 months before selection of the final blend, to allow each vineyard to express the depth of its unique terroir. 

"... the deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve sings of crème de cassis, kirsch, blackberry preserves and blueberry pie, with loads of chocolate box, floral and baking spices hints. Full-bodied with a firm, chewy frame and loads of savory accents, it delivers a long, multilayered finish."

95/100 points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, WINE ADVOCATE, October 2018

"Breathtaking. Exceptional integration of super ripe blackberries and the very finest oak. The tannins build up beautifully, forming wave upon wave as the wine flows across the palate. Then the wave breaks on your palate and shoots way out at the finish, so that you wonder where it will end and normal life begin again. Needs time to soften, but this is so, so good. Give it two or three years."

99/100 points, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, May 2019