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2004 Acclaim
December 31, 2004
Wine Enthusiast Magazine named our 2002 Syrah La Serenne to its "Top 100 Wines of 2004" in the Best of Year issue. In the #48 spot of the wines they call "The Year's Must Have Wines" out of the 6000 wines they reviewed, they wrote this about our Syrah:
"94 points Betz Family Winery 2002 La Serenne Syrah (Columbia Valley)
Dense and plush with exotic scents of roasted coffee, smoke, toast, cedar and blackberry jam, this is very young, showing mostly primary fruit and lots of new wood. But the ripe, sappy fruit, from an exceptional block in the Boushey vineyard, stands out, seamless and pure. Like a racehorse, this wine is sleek, powerful and perfectly proportioned. It offers immense enjoyment as soon as the cork is popped, but will go for a good 10 years in the cellar."
December 31, 2004
Annual Top Picks
Highly Recommended
94 Betz Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Père de Famille 2001
94 Betz Syrah Red Mountain La Cote Rousse 2002
November 30, 2004
The International Wine Cellar
By Stephen Tanzer
2002 Betz Family Winery Syrah La Cote Rousse Columbia Valley 90(+?)
"(50% new oak, all French) Medium ruby. Musky black raspberry and chocolate on the nose, with hints of game and hot asphalt; still a bit reduced. Fat, sweet and rich, with flavors of black raspberry, minerals and Asian spices. Lush, fine, serious tannins coat the cheeks. Still quite youthfully unevolved."
2002 Betz Family Winery Syrah La Serenne Columbia Valley 93
"($38; 100% Boushey fruit; from a cool site and a crop level of just 2 tons an acre) Bright medium ruby. Musky, reduced, distinctly wild aromas of blueberry, raspberry and game; this shows real French funk. At once pungent and suave on entry, then creamy and exotic in the middle, with an almost pinot-like silkiness of texture. Superb dark berry intensity of flavor complicated by notes of licorice and smoky torrefaction. Finishes with lush but strong tannins, sappy berry and meat flavors and impressive hang time. Very expressive syrah in a Northern Rhone style."
2002 Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz Red Table Wine Columbia Valley 91(+?)
"($30; a blend of 57% merlot, 33% cabernet sauvignon and 10% cabernet franc) Good medium ruby. Aromas of crunchy black raspberry, smoke, coffee bean and baking spices. Rich and plummy, with a compelling creaminess for this cuvee, along with excellent structure and grip. This very young wine, which was bottled in May, closed up in the glass and showed building tannins with aeration. Finishes very firm and long, with notes of minerals and woodsmoke."
2002 Betz Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille Columbia Valley 93(+?)
"(a blend of 77% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 6% malbec) Bright medium ruby. Complex, sophisticated aromas of black raspberry, cassis, blueberry, game, leather and smoke. Large-scaled and creamy-sweet, but also sappy, suave and spicy, with a lovely light touch. Winemaker Bob Betz thinks this is very closed today in the middle, but I find it explosively perfumed, even if it's a bit tightly wound at present. Finishes very long and spicy, with fine tannins coating the teeth and palate. Betz is now using mostly Darnajou barrels for this wine's merlot component."
October 31, 2004
Wine Adviser / Paul Gregutt
Show Cases: 24 of the State's most impressive wines
Betz Family Winery 2002 La Serenne Syrah
"Betz Family makes two Syrahs, both exceptional, but this one, from Boushey vineyard fruit, is so instantly delicious, so irresistibly potent and flavorful, that it gets the nod here. Exotic scents of roasted coffee, smoke, toast, cedar and blackberry jam set this right at the top of Washington's syrahs. Pure, powerful and perfectly proportioned."
October 15, 2004
Spectator Selections
Highly Recommended
The issue's most impressive wines. Includes top-scorers and wines that represent optimal purchases based on their score, price and availability.
94 Betz Family Winery
Syrah Red Mountain La Côte Rousse 2002
"Deep, dark, dense and chunky, a formidable mouthful of blackberry, dark plum, currant and a whole rack full of spices, all impeccably pulled together on a rangy but lithe frame. It's still settling in. Best from 2006 through 2012. 275 cases made. —H.S."
92 Betz Family Winery
Syrah Columbia Valley La Serenne 2002
"Dense, ripe and generous, with nicely pointed acidity to keep the blueberry, plum, cherry and smoky tar flavors lively. Has real depth and distinction, finishing long and packed with flavor. Best from 2006 through 2012. 275 cases made. —H.S."
91 Betz Family Winery
Clos de Betz Columbia Valley
"Ripe and rich, bulging with black cherry, currant and dusky spice flavors, veiled with fine tannins and a mineral touch as the flavors linger effortlessly. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2005 through 2010. —H.S."
September 02, 2004
HOT WINES
"These are the most exciting discoveries from our editors' most recent tastings, publishedexclusively in Wine Spectator Weekly. They are high-scoring, low-production winesfrom around the world that may be difficult to find, but are worth seeking out."
Betz Family Winery Syrah Red Mountain La Côte Rousse 2002
94 points | 275 cases made
"... Bob Betz hung out his own shingle in 2000 and look what's happened already. He's making small lots of heady stuff. This Syrah is deep, dark, dense and chunky, a formidable mouthful of blackberry, dark plum, currant and a whole shelf full of spices, all impeccably pulled together on a rangy but lithe frame. It's still settling in. Best from 2006 through 2012."
August 31, 2004
2001 Betz Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille
"Smoky oak, freshly laid road tar, and a myriad of dark fruits are found in the nose of the dark-colored 2001 Père de Famille. A medium to full-bodied wine of wonderful intensity, purity, and great length, it displays a satin-textured core of ripe blackberries, cassis liqueur, and spices. Drink this beauty between 2006 and 2018. 92 Points."
2002 Betz Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille
"Produced from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Malbec, the black-colored 2002 Père de Famille explodes from the glass with sweet black cherries, cassis and jammy blackberries. This big, lush, rich wine is intense, deep and concentrated. Palate staining layers of super-ripe black fruits, tar, and spices dominate the medium to full-bodied personality's flavor profile as well as the exceptionally long finish. 92 points."
August 26, 2004
Betz Family Winery Syrah Columbia Valley La Serenne 2002
92 points | 275 cases made
"Using grapes from Dick Boushey's vineyard in Yakima Valley, Bob Betz came up with this dense, ripe and generous red. Nicely pointed acidity keeps the blueberry, plum, cherry and smoky, tarry flavors lively. Has real depth and distinction, finishing long and packed with flavor. Best from 2006 through 2012. —H.S."
July 31, 2004
Spectator Selections
Highly Recommended
The issue's most impressive wines. Includes top-scorers and wines that represent optimal purchases based on their score, price and availability.
94 Betz Family Winery
Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 2001
"Rich, densely packed and powerful, a lively mouthful of plum, blueberry and exotic spice flavors that last and last on the aristocratic finish. Has plenty of grace to balance the scales. Best from 2006 to 2015. -H.S."
The Savvy Shopper
"In Washington State, Betz Family Winery crafted its best wines yet from the 2001 vintage. Bob Betz sources grapes from 5 Columbia Valley regions for his "Left Bank" and "Right Bank" Bordeaux-style reds, Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille (94) and Clos de Betz Columbia Valley (91) ..."
March 03, 2004
Wine Adviser / Paul Gregutt
"Admirers of the dense, concentrated, limited-production wines of Betz Family winery, take note: The 2001 Clos de Betz, a blend of 50 percent merlot, 44 percent cabernet sauvignon and 6 percent cabernet franc is a gorgeous wine, supple and muscular, with deep roasted flavors of meat, smoke and espresso. The 2001 Père de Famille ($44), its sibling, uses the same three grape varieties but is predominantly cabernet sauvignon, and shows more focus and a tighter core of mineral-laced, Red Mountain fruit. Both are outstanding and highly recommended."
March 03, 2004
SIPS
by Roger Downey
"Get this! ... But serious wine drinkers can hedge against the future by stocking up on the stellar 2001 vintage. And stellar is the only word to describe the '01 Père de Famille from Betz Family Winery. A red blend (80/15/5 cab/merlot/cab franc) mostly from Red Mountain, it's already utterly balanced, a noble, supple wine, but there's enough steel beneath the velvet to suggest it's only going to improve for the foreseeable future. It's about $45 at the winery and in fine wine shops."
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