2022 Bryant Family Vineyard, Bettina Bryant Red, Napa Valley, Magnum (1.5L) [OWC]

DR98 "The 2022 BETTINA is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 12% Petit Verdot, and 10% Merlot, aged in 60% new French oak. Conceptually, it sits parallel to the Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon—sharing its pedigree and vineyard sources, but offering a different stylistic lens. First produced in 2009, BETTINA has featured a rotating, artist-commissioned label since the 2019 vintage, with the 2022 artwork by Walten Ford—an evocative visual mirror to the wine’s subtle power and complexity. On the palate, it’s bold yet remarkably elegant, with expressive red berry fruit, vivid energy, and precise, fine-grained tannins. There’s a firm, apple-skin texture to the tannins—crunchy and inviting—balanced by saline-acid tension and a sense of lift. Slightly more ephemeral and restrained than the Bryant, BETTINA feels like a graceful intersection of DB4’s approachability and Bryant’s gravitas, but with its own elevated finesse and architectural complexity—a marvellous wine. Anyone fortunate enough to have it in their cellar will be richly rewarded. Globally, only around 7% of Bryant wines—across all three bottlings—enter distribution. (Drink between 2026-2045)" JC for DR May 2025

RP97+ "A complex blend sourced from David Abreu's Madrona Ranch (Saint Helena) and Las Posadas (Howell Mountain) vineyards, the 2022 Bettina Proprietary Red Wine is slightly floral and violet-like, with buckets of black cherries in support. A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 12% Petit Verdot and 10% Merlot, it's full-bodied and expansive, a bit sturdier and perhaps less elegant than the estate-grown (Pritchard Hill) Cabernet Sauvignon, turning chunky and chocolaty on the finish." JC for TWA Jun 2025