BEAU RIVAGE WINES - 6PK VERTICAL

For Berserker Day 2021, we’re offering a six-pack containing two bottles each of our first three vintages of Beau Rivage Chenin Blanc: 2017, 2018, and 2019. From organically farmed (but not certified) fruit grown in the alluvial soils of Clarksburg, California, it’s fermented in used cooperage and matured on the lees before bottling. You can find out more about the technicalities on our site. We’re actually just about to release the 2018 vintage, so the 2017 is coming from library stock, and the 2019 represents a preview of a wine that won’t be formally on the market for another year or so. But we were keen to offer three vintages together, because we have personally found it very instructive comparing them.

2017 was our first vintage, made back when William worked for Decanter Magazine and I had just started in the wine industry myself and was financed on a shoestring. It has taken a while to unwind, but today it might be our favorite of the three: it was quite a classic growing season and the wine is very nicely balanced at under 12 per cent alcohol (labelled at 12.1 to avoid making too much of a statement). In the last few months, a sort of oyster shell, gently reductive quality has emerged, something I caught glimpses of from barrel and which we really appreciate. This also has the advantage of being the most mature of these three vintages. Whereas the 2018 and 2019 were bottled under DIAM, which is neutral and very consistent, this was bottled under stupidly expensive certified TCA-free corks from Amorim, which consumed much of the modest profit margin (to my chagrin), and which I think contribute a touch of cork oak vanillin / lactones that didn’t come from the barrels.

2018 was a comparatively late, cool season, and the fruit sat on the vines without, disconcertingly, much happening. That’s reflected in the lowest alcohol level of the three vintages, 11.4 per cent if I remember correctly. There’s an interesting aromatic top-note that’s reminiscent of what William describes as Sauvignon “botanicals”, and which leads him to jokingly refer to this as, if people will forgive the lèse-majesté, our Vatan vintage. It’s taut and tangy, with the least texture for now but a lot of length, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it turn out to be the best of the three in six or seven years. Right now, I like it best on day two; though admittedly that’s not a luxury that’s often afforded to a 27-dollar domestic Chenin.

2019 is the ripest wine of the three, landing at 12.4 per cent, and it was the most complicated of the three growing seasons by some margin. Yields were down by half, and you can feel that on the palate in the form of more volume and texture. The wine is still crisp and refreshing, but there’s more body and the salinity of the finish seems to be kicked up a notch. It’s the wine we know the least well as it wasn’t bottled that long ago so we’re still getting acquainted. We are especially pleased that the aromas remain quite classical in profile, testament to our efforts at sorting out botrytis. One of the things we hoped to demonstrate with this project is how one can take fruit that isn’t always exactly pampered in the winery and do interesting things to it with the right attention to detail and the right techniques, and the 2019 might be the vintage that best exemplifies that.

We had a lot of help and inspiration in starting this project, from the likes of Kalin Cellars’ Terry Leighton, Tegan Passalacqua, and Aron Weinkauf from Spottswoode. When we were trying to figure out haulage for our first harvest, the late Ulises Valdez offered to truck our fruit back to Saint Helena personally if we couldn’t find anyone to help—what a great guy he was! In Burgundy, people have gradually unwound and shared an idea or two with William, which has also been very instructive. So we hope that the wines do justice to all the advice and opportunities we’ve had, and we hope folks enjoy them!

The moment you all have been waiting for - Offer Details!


Today’s offer is a 6pk that contains two bottles of our 2017, 2018 and 2019 Chenin Blanc for $135 with $10 shipping to California and $20 shipping to the rest of the country. Finally, if you choose to purchase 12 bottles total, shipping is free! This is a saving of 20% on the bottles of wine and the shipping cost speaks for itself. I will be in the chat for any help that is needed or feel free to email us at info@beaurivagecellars.com with any questions. Follow the link below to purchase!

SOLD OUT

Thank you everyone for the support! If you were unable to get in on this specialty pack feel free to sign up for our mailing list for more information on future releases: https://beaurivagecellars.vinespring.site/#/register

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Looks great William! can’t wait!

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Excited for you guys! Looking forward to trying the wines!

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Looking forward to this tomorrow. Will definitely be in for a case.

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Awesome thank you Anthony! We look forward to sharing with you

Thank you Erica! Can’t wait for you to try!

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Very excited for this offer. I’ll certainly purchase as soon as available!

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I continue to read this in William Kelley’s voice. It makes this compelling offer even more compelling. :slight_smile:

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Well, this ought to be great!! Looking forward to (finally) trying the Chenin. Been meaning to for awhile.

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flirtysmile

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We need a Euro kiss emoji. Guess this will have to do. [highfive.gif]

Excited to try this. And thanks for the detailed notes to help put each vintage into perspective.

This is one I’m excited about

Hmmmmmmm … very interesting! [berserker.gif]

Brian I have no doubt this wine is in your palate wheelhouse!

Smokin value too.

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I wouldn’t think of just south of Sacramento in the Central Valley as being great terroir, but this is pretty convincing:
https://www.beaurivagecellars.com/the-place

I also live in Ohio and think it makes some good wine, so… I should probably just shut up and trust William and Frank know just a bit more than me

Excited about this one – order coming early in the morning!! :slight_smile:

Yeah, it’s a surprising place! The parcel we work with is right here: Google Maps

Amusingly, we a right next to a block of Valdigué which I believe goes into Korbel’s “Blanc de Noirs”.

There is a lot of untapped potential in Clarksburg, which has a climate that tracks pretty closely with the Yountville-Oakville sector of Napa Valley as it happens.

Order in for a 6-pk! Added it to my cart when it first appeared on the website, but gotta follow the rules and wait for the release time… Really excited for this one! Thanks Frank and William!

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champagne.gif Order in!

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