Beaulieu versus the Wine Dictator

Oops, I meant The Wine Spectator, the magazine that one of my favorite retailers likes to make fun of by mocking its cultural imperialism over the wine world. In any case, some of you may have heard of the war of words between the folks at the venerable Napa winery Beaulieu Vineyard and The Wine Spectator senior editor James Laube. The conflict broke out in 2002 after Laube accused BV’s wines of showing “high levels” of TCA (the chemical behind cork taint) and suggested that the whole winery might be infested. Beaulieu shot back that Laube was complaining about amounts of the compound that are undetectable to the average palate, and unfairly singling them out for a problem widespread in wine production.

I was prompted to revisit the hostilities by a bottle of 1997 Beaulieu Vineyard Tapestry Reserve. To find out where, after tasting it, Wine Girl stands on the battle lines, click here:

According to Laube, 1997 saw the first signs of the TCA problem at Beaulieu. He’s rated every subsequent vintage of this Bordeaux-style blend in the low seventies — shameful (and some may say provocative) scores, considering Beaulieu’s noble stature in the history of viticulture in Napa Valley.

Me, I loved the Tapestry. My notes: “For an 11-year-old wine, its color is amazingly dark and its fruit surprisingly bold. Loads of blackberry, kirsch, and plum flavors coat the tongue. Deft touches of cedar and velvety tannins round out what, to me, is a balanced, complete package. Time in the bottle has done lots of good, and no bad, to this delicious liquid. Integrated, relaxed, vivid, with no signs of oxydation.”

I checked fellow tasters of various vintages of Tapestry online and they agree. “Laube must be on crack,” writes John on CellarTracker, “as this [2001] had no hint of TCA. A great bargain for the price.” (I paid $37 for my Tapestry back in 2000.) Hundreds more tasted good fruit, balanced oak, and admirable complexity — and none of the “chalk,” “clay,” and “cement” notes that the WS critic came away with.

What I did notice, though, were a bunch of complaints about bottle variation. (”Isn’t that what BV stands for?” joked one commentator.) Bottle variation is a sign of sloppy winemaking — specifically, a failure on the part of the winemaker to check batches of a single wine for consistency over the course of barrel ageing, blending, and bottling it. (Beaulieu produces about 400,000 cases of wine overall, per year.)

Perhaps WS should STFU about TCA and go after BV for BV!