Beringer 2021 "Private Reserve" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

98 Points - limited                                                                             
Limited Reserve Cabernet from Beringer.  One of the top-rated Cabs of the vintage.

97 Points Decanter: "Beringer's Private Reserve in the 2021 vintage combines 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, and 2% Malbec. It was aged 18 months in 65% new French oak. It's a very stylish wine with an excellent balance between its powerful, fine-grained tannins and plump, juicy, black-toned fruits. The bouquet is lovely, too, revealing a wealth of vintage-specific savoury potpourri character in its sagebrush, dried rose petal, and coriander atop candied red berry fruits and fragrant ironstone minerality. Full-bodied, with a deep core of succulent blackberry fruit that is downright silky. Between the dazzling fruit character and perfectly integrated tannin, the Private Reserve has a seamless quality, making it so approachable now but well-endowed with the structure to age gracefully."

97 Points Vinous: "The 2021 Private Reserve is the most refined of the 2021s from Beringer. The aromatics alone are so alluring. There's 12% Cabernet Franc in the blend this year, and that comes through loud and clear. Crushed flowers, espresso, mint, licorice and red/purplish fruit all grace this silky, super-polished offering."

96+ Points Jeb Dunnuck: "The flagship from Beringer, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is from a mix of sites and is based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 2% Malbec brought up all in barrel. Its deep ruby/plum hue is followed by rock-solid aromatics of darker currants, chocolate, leafy herbs, and lead pencil shavings. It's a classic 2021 on the palate and has a more inward, concentrated mouthfeel, ripe yet building tannins, ample mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's holding things relatively close to its vest at the moment, yet it clearly has potential. Hide bottles for 4-5 years if you can, and it's going to have well over two decades of prime drinking...

...As I have written in the past, the Beringer Private Reserve program incorporates many of the single vineyards that they own and also bottle separately in lots from 250 up to nearly 1,000 cases. These wines are generally only available at the winery or through their membership club. Various parts of these single vineyards are all put through taste trials, and the result, when there’s a unanimity of opinion, is the great Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Beringer, one of the most successful Cabernets of Napa Valley.

With each vintage of the acclaimed Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the Beringer Winemaker chooses the best lots from our reserve vineyards in the Napa Valley, each of which demonstrate remarkable expression of terroir. Beringer’s extraordinary collection of vineyards is the result of a significant and decades-long relationship between viticulture and winemaking.