Thanks to this board I was made aware of Ketan’s efforts and his Beta Wines. I ended up picking up 3 of each wine before he sold out. The wines arrived yesterday. Question for those more familiar with the project:
The labels appear to be packaging tape (my shipper was sealed with what looked to be leftover 2011 vintage tape (‘labels’)). Am I correct in my assessment that the labels are packaging tape? If so, any thoughts as to whether they were hand applied or put on via a labeler of some sort?
I’m excited to try the wines once they settle for a bit and hope that Ketan selling out of his current release brings some respite from his losses in 2020.
This is a great question that I don’t know the answer to, but I just want to say here that Beta might have my favorite labels of any wine to bring out for company. It feels like you’re getting a band’s underground mix tape, back when there were such things.
I don’t know how they are applied. I do know that Ketan’s good friend Michael McDermott is an extremely talented artist and has designed many of the best labels in Napa. Ketan is known for having little patience for things like label design as he would rather be in the vineyard. I think Michael designed the tape as possibly a Joke early on and Ketan just went with it! The Beta brand of course is for wine he is making while waiting for the estate vineyard to come online. I would assume the labels for Jasud will be much nicer…but you never know!
I bought last year and this year and its the same label. I don’t remember the tape on the box last year but definitely saw it this time around. If it is just packaging tape, its pretty dang cool. Not sure how they applied them to the bottles. That would be a good question to email in to the winery.
I had to look twice myself when I received my bottles to figure out that I was actually seeing the effects of a “wraparound” of packing tape. I thought I might be seeing a printing mistake and a double image when I first looked. Very unique, and very cool from a design perspective.
My first purchase of Beta was this release. Budget only allowed for a three pack of Moon Mountain. Unknown shipping issue with their contract shipper. Mel emailed me Friday to say Ketan was dropping at FedEx personally. Love great service from the smaller wineries. Can’t wait to get these in the cellar.
Was going to open one on Thanksgiving (2014 Vare), but I’ve never had these wines and have no clue as to whether this would be like driving a Ferrari in first gear, or if it’s ready to go. Any advice on decant time, etc would be appreciated…
The 13 was superb recently and 14 should be a more accessible vintage.
2013 Beta Wines Vare Cabernet Sauvignon
Initially very acidic and thin on the palate before being poured into the decanter. After 30 min started to open up and gained strength over a couple hours. Dark purple in the glass but deceptively light on the palate with classic Cabernet bouquet. Good acidity and lithe palate with elegant tannins, no heat, and an extremely long finish. Most similar to 70s era old school Cabs to my palate. Tremendous wine and the best cab I’ve had in a long time. Outstanding.
Haven’t had a '14 yet, but in my experience, they tend to be released when they’re young but ready. I’ve popped an '11, '12 and '13 the week of shipment and each was was great – a brief decant helps. And I’m waiting for more tasting notes before opening a chardonnay, so if anyone has info to share…
I cracked my first Beta last night, a '14 Vare that arrived a couple of weeks ago. I really liked it - very red fruited, with what I’d call clarity of flavor and a solid elegance to it. VERY long finish, that is ripe, and fruit driven, and unblocked by oak or over-ripeness or any other influences. Absolutely nothing hits you over the head. It’s a much more subtle and interesting approach than so many cabs that have become common where there is pure power and effects turned up to 11. I would say you have to focus a bit and involve your senses deliberately to get the full effect of a wine like this. I find this makes the wine a bit less obvious, and more interesting.
You hear the term “singular expression” a lot. To me, this wine shows that, exactly. I think the winemaking success here is in letting that come through. I’m glad I jumped on the train, interested to see what’s next.
Got a “save the date” on the 2015 wine release next week. Anyone try these (maybe doubtful given recent times)? I am going to get some anyway, just wondering…
Jeff - have not had a chance to taste the 15s. To decant question earlier, i believe these wines really benefit from a long decant. Had a 12 a year ago and it did not start getting going until 2 hrs in and at 6 hrs went to an entirely different level