1974 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve
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The 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour was served blind at a restaurant in Beaune, from a vintage where California excelled. The wine is in a very beautiful place, born in a year when, in my limited experience, California could do no wrong. There is a noticeable maturation in color, with just a touch of turbidity. The bouquet instantly puts your mind at rest that you are in the company of a noble Napa Cabernet. Vestiges of red fruit, mulberry, singed leather, espresso and light terracotta aromas meld together effortlessly. You’re already in the palm of its hand before putting the glass to your lips. The palate is beautifully balanced with fine-grain tannins and brown spices intermixed with dark berry fruit and an easy-going yet persistent mocha and espresso-tinged finish. The 1974 is not a show-off. It’s just an exquisite, mature Californian Cabernet entering its dotage with panache. (NM)
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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1974 was an “outstanding” vintage, according to André Tchelistcheff. This comment is backed up by a number of great, long-lived Napa wines I have tasted from this year, including Heitz Martha’s Vineyard and Chappellet. It was a vintage that clearly produced a notably fuller/riper style at Beaulieu. Medium brick-tawny colored, the 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour gives up intense scents of cherry cola, leather, tilled soil, dried cranberries and preserved plums with subtle nuances of eucalyptus, smoked meats, iron ore and raisin cake. Medium to full-bodied, opulently fruited and packed with spicy dried berries, it has a plush texture, seamless freshness and a long, earthy finish. A riper expression, the alcohol has crept up to 13.5% this year from 12.5% examples made in the 1960s. A whopping 29,900 cases were made—the largest production in the history of this label.
Pale reddish-amber color is clearly more evolved than the trio of wine from the 1960s. Similarly totally evolved on the nose, showing a pronounced balsamic character and currant and mocha qualities that verge on pruney. Fat-verging-on-viscous on entry, then rich, spicy and high-toned in the middle palate, showing distinct oxidative and balsamic qualities. Thins out on the back half, losing its sweetness and finishing with edgy tannins and acids. This bottle is clearly in decline. This outstanding vintage, which featured near-perfect growing conditions, produced very ripe fruit, and the highest production ever of the Georges de Latour Private Reserve, at 29,900 cases, which is four or five times the amount of wine that has been bottled under this label in recent years. (13.5% alcohol)