2018 Betz Family Clos de Betz

The 2018 Clos De Betz checks in as 55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot, and it has its Merlot component front and center, with loads of ripe cherry, currant, chocolate, tobacco, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. Nicely textured and medium-bodied, with good mid-palate depth as well as ripe tannins, it's approachable today, yet I think it will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise over the following decade. The style at Betz has changed subtly over the past handful of years, with winemaker Louis Skinner imparting his own style. The wines today are slightly less concentrated, and the deep, inky purple color preferred by the previous winemaker, Bob Betz, has been replaced with a more vivid ruby/purple hue that’s not always opaque. I love the overall balance of the wines today and I think taken as a whole, the new style emphasizes elegance and age-worthiness over sheer richness and power. Most of these 2018s should be given at least a few years in the cellar and will have broad drink windows. Louis is one of the most intelligent and inquisitive winemakers out there and he’s doing a fabulous job with these wines.

Bright ruby-red. Deep, claret-like scents of black raspberry, licorice, fresh herbs, mocha, cocoa powder and tobacco leaf. Densely packed and lively; an energetic, fairly low-fat style with terrific intensity and inner-mouth clarity and lift to the flavors of dark berries, tobacco leaf, licorice and herbs. If there's no easy early sweetness here, there are no hard edges either. This very pure wine finishes long, with firm, well-buffered wines to support graceful evolution in bottle. Perhaps not quite as sappy as the 2017 but really saturates the palate and vibrates. I would never have guessed this very blend included 55% Merlot. Still, with 24 hours in the recorked bottle this wine softened nicely and gained in sweetness.

The 2018 Clos de Betz is composed of 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot. In the glass, the wine is brilliant dark ruby with a firm ruby edge and opens to a nose that is full of red fruit tension and aromas of black raspberry, black plum, dark cherry and spiced red potpourri. Medium-bodied, the mouthfeel is silky with firm tannins and a balanced structure. The wine continues with flavors of dark cherry essence and a soft smoky tone across the lingering finish. It’s a delicious wine that will be approachable upon release, but don’t feel rushed to drink it right away—it has finesse and will age beautifully, so be patient. Only 7,200 bottles produced.