2013 | Betz Family Winery | Clos de Betz

Black cherry, damson plum, and cocoa bean lead the charge, while leather, tobacco, sage, and truffle all show up with time in the glass. The palate offers merlot’s weight and density, yet faithfully expresses the freshness and detail of the vintage.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The only other 2013 reviewed on this go around (most were reviewed last year), the 2013 Clos de Betz checks in as a blend of 63% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Petit Verdot, mostly from Red Mountain and Yakima Valley, that spent 19 months in French oak. Sexy, supple, perfumed and beautifully complex, with notes of currants, dried flowers and an almost garrigue like perfume, this full-bodied beauty is already impossible to resist, yet will absolutely cruise for another 10-15 years.

• Wine Enthusiast: This wine is a blend of Merlot (63%), a whopping 22% Petit Verdot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromas of smoke, cedar, dried herbs, licorice, pencil lead, crushed flowers and red and black berries are followed by soft, plump fruit flavors. It brings an undeniable warm vintage appeal but with a compelling sense of elegance and balance.

Producer Information

Betz Family Winery is a small Washington wine producer in the Columbia Valley viticultural area. It sources fruit through a number of partnerships in several of the regions sub-AVAs, dividing its catalogue between red Bordeaux-style and Rhône-style wines. The most prominent varieties are Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Petit Verdot, Merlot and Grenache. The winery was established by Bob and Cathy Betz, with the inaugural 1997 vintage a limited production of roughly 150 cases. Bob worked as the estate's winemaker, having previously spent decades working at the major Washington wine company Chateau Ste. Michelle, and also completing the Master of Wine program. In 2011 however, the Betzes sold the winery to the South African couple Steve and Bridgit Griessel, while remaining part of the management team. Bob stayed on as winemaker until 2016, and remains involved with the winery as a consultant. Betz is best known for its red wines inspired by the French regions of the Rhône and Bordeaux. Fruit is sourced from different partner vineyards in several regions of the Columbia Valley, namely Yakima Valley and its sub-region Snipes Mountain, Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills. In 2016, the Betz winery partnered with South African wine producers Carl van de Merwe and Wendy Appelbaum to make and release a Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc under the label Quinta Essentia. The wine's first vintage was 2015 and limited to 600 cases.

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