The Wine Advocate

RP 98+

Drink Date:

2024 - 2050

The 2018 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color, it slips slowly, sensuously out of the glass with expanding notions of blackcurrant pastilles, fresh, ripe blackberries and preserved black cherries with suggestions of iron ore, garrigue and dusty soil plus a waft of black olives. The full-bodied palate is tightly coiled with tons of black fruit and earthy layers supported by firm, finely grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral laced. A highly energetic wine with an amazing array of bright sparks—this is an absolute jaw-dropper!

While the Bella Oaks vineyard in Rutherford has a lot of history, formerly selling fruit to famous wineries such as Heitz and Staglin, it is only now being launched as a producer in its own right. Since acquiring the vineyard in 2010, Suzanne Deal Booth has set about rehabilitating the vineyard with the help of David Abreu. More recently, Nigel Kinsman—winemaker at Accendo and his own Kinsman Eades label—has come on board as winemaker with Michel Rolland consulting. Talk about a dream team! While I tasted some very promising 2017 barrel-sample components last year, this 2018 in bottle truly launches the new face of this vineyard treasure straight into stardom. Production is still tiny at this stage—only 324 cases of the 2018—but with new plantings in the pipeline, it could be well worth getting on board when this is released in Fall 2021 and staying on board!

Published: Jan 29, 2021