2016 Beta Montecillo and Vare Cabernet release

Just got their email for the 2016 release of Montecillo and Vare Cabernet.
Will be releasing on Sept 14.
[cheers.gif]

Yes, Iā€™m looking forward to this.

Havenā€™t had one in a while. I have ā€˜13 and ā€˜14 Montecillo and ā€˜15 Vare. Anyone drink one of these recently that was ready?

Donā€™t know what my allocations will be, but more than willing to share. LMK via PM.

How are the wines? Iā€™ve bought in past but I havenā€™t opened any. I know there is a lot of support here and other message boards, but the 2014 CT notes were underwhelming and I saw a few folks trying to sell their wines in secondary sales. I see Vinous scored the 2017s a bit higher than 2016 as well.

I have not had the 16 in awhile. I did get to taste the 2019 Jasud from Ketanā€™s home vineyard and it is easily the greatest young Napa cab I have ever tasted and a shining example of his vineyard. It clocks in at ~12.5% abv and has everything you could ask for from the Diamond Mountain Terrior.

The 16 Vare and Monticello gives you an opportunity to buy a fairly priced wine with 5 years of bottle age and to follow along on this journey.

As I have said before full disclosure Ketan is a friend.

4 Likes

Superb, not super fruit forward so if thatā€™s what youā€™re looking for you may be disappointed. More old school.

4 Likes

I havenā€™t opened any of my Beta bottles yet, but every time a release pops up Iā€™m inclined to buy and stash them away. Iā€™ll try to keep buying so I can get a Jasud allocation when Ketan has product to sell.

What is the release pricing on these wines like?

My records show $85, canā€™t recall if that includes shipping.

Would be fun to do a vertical with different Montecillo vineyard wines

Thanks Michael. Is there a producer you would say is stylistically similar? Do you have any view for how differently the vineyards show?

Dicostanzo a little bit, although I think those wines are more fruit forward. Older mondaviā€¦

Monticillo has more fruit; I like it a bit less.

3 Likes

Shipping was separate and steep ($50).

1 Like

$105 all in per bottle here

1 Like

I have not had Beta wine before, but I am somehow on their mailing listā€¦I do not recall what inspired me to sign up eitherā€¦

What can I expect from this wines when drinking? I see the reference to ā€œold schoolā€ a couple times, but what does that mean? They are not over-extracted fruit bombs? Earthy?

Hereā€™s my TN on the '14 Montecillo Cab, the only Beta wine I have opened so far:

Pretty scent of bitter cherry, black and green pepper. Translucent red color and not at all thick or heavy. Intense and penetrating flavor of bitter cherry, with good acidity and tight but ripe tannins on the finish. Finishes with a bit of green pepper on the long intense juicy finish. Just a baby, this could be great with enough cellar time. Classic structure. After several days in a Coravined bottle, the fruit has filled out overcoming the structure with a scent of violet and blue fruit. These flavors repeat on the palate joined by wood spice from stems or oak and a touch of heat. Long smooth finish.

I would not characterize this wine as over extracted or earthy. TN from July. YMMV.

1 Like

Marty Great Scott!!! Fired up for this release! Went back and checked my notes on this and below is what I wrote down after a bottle with friends earlier this summer:

ā€œ Napa cab wearing a Santa Cruz leisure suit and wearing it very well indeed. If you are looking for or crave a bold napa cab, look elsewhere friend. This is all about understated elegance at this stage in its life, which to be clear is very early on indeed. Intense violets & cassis on the nose which is accentuated by some slightly bitter cherry on the palate. Almost feels like youā€™re popping tiny little grape clusters in your mouth as you drink it, forcing you to focus on the nuance of each sip. And really at the end of the day thatā€™s what this wine is all about: nuance. It lingersā€¦a slowly fading snapshot of a bygone California winemaking era for those who care about such thingsā€¦and I do. Really enjoyed this wine!"

Select comments from the group:

ā€œViolet stun gun set to max levelā€
ā€œThis is the Jack Sprat version of Napa Cabā€¦no fatā€
ā€œPour more Krug so I can enjoy myself moreā€¦this is on the lean side but fun to drinkā€
ā€œThis is a cab for everyone who always thought Superman was a bit of a d!ck.ā€ (Note: This comment was from Griff. Nobody really understood what he meant until he clarified that he was talking about Superman as played by Christopher Reeves. And even then we were confused. This is right around the time we started to suspect that Griff had been engaged in some serious day drinking prior to coming over. This was later confirmed to be true.)
ā€œI want to like this more but itā€™s missing oomph in the mid palate and I wonder if will ever find that extra gear.ā€
ā€œSUPERMAN I DEFY YOUā€

Random amusing musing: my experience and enjoyment of this wine differed so drastically from some high flyers on this board that it led to accusations of me ā€œflippingā€ this wine. Insecurity is a real problem folks and I hope this community can rally around those afflicted by this crippling disease.

3 Likes

In for vare; I didnā€™t care for the montecillo quite as much. Hopefully Iā€™ll get my wish request.

I took 3 Monticello & 3 Vare - Iā€™m happy with that allocation and didnā€™t WL more. If I was offered 6 I probably would have taken the extra (knowing myself) but figure leave some for others.
Before I was on the list (a release or two ago) I bought a few bottles here and there at auctions and I still have a few bottles each of:
13 Vare
14 Vare
14 Montecillo
15 Vare
15 Piko (Mag)
18 Chuy

Iā€™ve drank the chard as well as the 11 Montecillo & 13 Vare. Loved both the Cabs, the Chard I need to revisit.