Current Releases
2010 Bordeaux-Styled Wines
Coming off the richly textured, concentrated wines of warm 2009, we all wondered what the cooler vintage of 2010 would provide. The sensory key is in the heat pattern of the vintage: the cool spring and summer gave way to a splendid autumn ripening for the 2010s. To punctuate this I need to repeat what I wrote last September: the data show that October 1, 2010, was warmer than September 1, August 1, July 1 or June 1 of the same year! This stellar finish to the season gave us terrific fruit.
We’ve seen the satisfying results of such vintages, where Mother Nature was more affable: smaller berry size, medium skin density, full phenolic/flavor maturity and lower potential alcohol levels. The wines show a sensuous balance and harmony, with striking character and expression.
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2010 Père de Famille, Cabernet Sauvignon
A wine of unexpected dimension and pleasure, similar in fruit expression to some of the respected hillside Napa versions of Cabernet, where their altitude plays the cooling influence of our overall cooler season. A densely saturated vibrant black/red color leads to a nose of pure black currants, at once inky yet penetrating. Studded with notes of dried thyme, anise and pipe tobacco, the aroma emerges as pure Cabernet. The entry is plump, supple and refined, enriched by blending with small amounts of Petite Verdot and Merlot.
My consistent notes across months of tasting state, “…perfect balance”, where Cabernet’s power is matched by finesse and fruit. The palate is full and round, and not dumbed-down by heavy over ripeness: it maintains its Columbia Valley cut and precision. And there’s no doubt about this wine’s ageability; the balance of fruit and chemistry is right to take this many years in the cellar.
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Blending Detail and Aging Profile
- 86% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 8% Merlot
- 6% Petit Verdot
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AVA or Vineyard Detail
- 73% Red Mountain - Ciel du Cheval, Kiona, Klipsun
- 21% Horse Heaven Hills - Alder Ridge
- 6% Yakima Valley - Red Willow Vineyard
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Acclaim
Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate: “… 95 points ... Diversely-sourced, and blended with 8% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, the Betz 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Pere de Famille leads with classic aromatic expressions of its star player: cedar box, juniper berry, arbor vitae, cassis, blackberry, and dark tobacco, all of which reprise on a luscious, savory palate underlain by ultra-fine tannin and possessed of vibratory energy. The sheer abundance of primary juiciness here – like the energetic ping to its enervating, reverberative finish – strikes me as especially typical of the best marriages of cepage and terroir, which happens to be precisely what Betz is wistfully referring to as “something that happens with Cabernet in Washington.” Something indeed! I would go easy on this for a few years and look forward to at least a decade of high performance.
Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar: “… 94+ points. Bright red-ruby. High-pitched aromas of blackberry, redcurrant, dried mint and thyme. Densely packed, tactile and sweet but youthfully bound-up, with brisk acidity giving terrific cut and precision to the wine's dark fruit and spearmint flavors. Finishes with strong tannic spine and a terrific structure for aging. As young as this cabernet is, with its inner-mouth perfume it's showier today than the Clos de Betz. I'd wait at least five years on this one. Interestingly, Bob Betz told me that the latest pickers got prunes in 2010 waiting for their pHs to go up and acids to come down. "Still, October saved the vintage," he added. (The 2009 Pere de Famille, which I rated 93(+?) last year, had gained in fullness and pliancy with another year in bottle, and merited 94 points. But the 2010 should show an even more eventful evolution in bottle.)
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2010 Clos de Betz, Bordeaux Blend
Children of a Common Mother: our two 2010 Bordeaux blends clearly display the growing conditions of the cooler year, in color, aroma, flavor and texture. With Merlot as the dominant variety in this blend, the color isn’t as inky black s the Père de Famille, but the Clos de Betz still shows the dense color saturation from core to edge of the glass. Then the aroma takes center stage, with pure, vibrant black cherries, camphor, cocoa and a slight kirsch essence. Its foundation is a classic, complex expression of Washington Merlot, but since 40% of the blend is made from Petite Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the aroma takes on additional dimension of anise, rose petal and baking spice.
My tasting notes reflect an on-going satisfaction at the sense of complete ripeness for a cooler vintage: thank you, Washington Merlot. It enters very supple and plush, with a jolt of black cherry and red berries that stays true to the aroma. Dried herbs, chocolate and a touch of smoky oak play supporting roles. The finish dances with a combination of refined tannin and vibrant fruit, the signs of a successful future in the cellar.
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Blending Detail and Aging Profile
- 35% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 58% Merlot
- 7% Petit Verdot
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AVA or Vineyard Detail
- 51% Red Mountain - Ciel du Cheval, Kiona, Klipsun
- 19% Horse Heavan Hills - Alder Ridge
- 30% Yakima Valley - Red Willow Vineyard
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Acclaim
Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate: “…93 points…. Diversely-sourced – its Merlot blended with 35% Cabernet Sauvignon– the Betz 2010 Clos de Betz emphasizes black pepper, pungently resinous herbs, and arbor vitae, characteristics I imagine are in part a reflection of its 7% of Petit Verdot, that grape being demonstrably (I’m tempted to say notoriously ) efficacious. Cassis, huckleberry, and walnut offer bitter-edged but sappy fruit satisfaction; a crushed stone undertone adds a sense of intrigue; and mineral salts savory saliva-inducement in a gripping, palate-staining finish. This ought to be worth following for at least the better part of a decade.
Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar: “93+ points. …Bright, full red. Spicy high notes to the aromas of raspberry, graphite, sandalwood and cocoa powder. Juicy, perfumed and precise; not a fleshy style but elegant, vibrant and extremely young. Today the wine's mid-palate flavors and texture are still a bit suppressed by the bottling, but this long, firm-edged wine has the structure and inherent material to be outstanding. In fact, I retasted the 2009 next to it, and while that wine was silkier and plusher, it is not likely to match the 2010 for complexity a few years down the road.
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