2017 Bryant Family Vineyard, Bettina Bryant Red, Napa Valley, Bottle (750ml)

RP96+ "The blend this year is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. It was aged in French oak, 90% new, and bottled in July 2019. Very deep purple-black colored, the 2017 Bettina Bryant Proprietary Red is a little youthfully subdued to start, soon unfurling to display notes of dark chocolate, fertile loam, beef drippings and wild mushrooms over a core of creme de cassis, plum preserves, wild blueberries and Morello cherries plus a waft of underbrush. Full-bodied, the palate bursts with bold red and black fruit notes, framed by firm, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and perfumed. 450 cases were made." LPB for TWA Oct 2019

JD96 "The most ripe and sexy in the lineup, the 2017 Bettina checks in as 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petite Verdot. Ripe cassis, currants, crushed violets, and tobacco notes all emerge from the glass, and it hits the palate with a big, exuberant, bombastic profile that still stays flawlessly balance and light on its feet. While it shows mostly fruit at the moment, it has beautiful mid-palate depth as well as building tannins. Drink bottles any time over the coming 25-30 years." JD Jan 2020

JS96 "Orange peel and crushed raspberries and blueberries. Hints of flowers. Some chocolate, too. Full-bodied, tight and polished with extremely fine, lightly chewy tannins. Powdery. Really tight and beautiful. Needs time to open." JS Jan 2020

JA96 "Powerful but restrained with a violet-tinged plum colour and plump fruits from the first attack. Full throttle tannins that are fine yet plentiful. This is still extremely closed as this point, so if opening any time soon I would stick with the 2016, but this is exceptionally high quality and will age well. Cabernet Franc completes the blend. The fruit for BETTINA comes from three of David Abreu's vineyards, with winemaker Kathryn Carothers." JA for DR Oct 2020