1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour
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Tasting notes
The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Georges de Latour is produced from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was aged in 60% American oak and 40% French. Fifty percent of the oak was new. Medium brick colored, it opens with expressive scents of stewed tea, redcurrant jelly, potpourri and dried mint with touches of dusty soil, bay leaves and smoked meats. Medium-bodied with well-sustained intensity in the mid-palate, it has a satiny texture and beautifully pure, perfumed red fruits with a mineral kick on the long finish.
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Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Healthy dark red. Far more aromatically expressive on the nose than the '05, offering scents of redcurrant jelly, tart cherry stomp, rose petal and brown spices. At once suave and penetrating on the palate, with red fruits and savory soil tones lifted throughout by a floral character that's quite fresh considering the age of the wine. This silky, energetic, well-balanced wine finishes with harmonious tannins, a hint of spearmint and superb length. Incidentally, this wine, along with the 2004 and 2010, was not in the original line-up for this extensive vertical tasting, but the winery presented it at the end at my request. This bottle was far more satisfying than a sample I tasted a few years ago in my 1994 horizontal of Napa Valley Cabernets. (13.5% alcohol; 3.75 pH; 5.8 g/l acidity; aged in 60% American and 40% French oak, half new)
(13.8% alcohol): Deep bright red with ruby tones. Sexy aromas of redcurrant, plum, smoked meat and nutty oak, with a floral note emerging with air. Suave and smooth if a bit dry in the middle, offering flavors of currant, tobacco, mocha and smoke. Nicely delineated but clearly less ripe than the 2004 version. Finishes with firm, slightly drying tannins.
About the producer
Beaulieu Vineyard remains one of the most historically important wineries in Napa Valley. It is it one of the longest continuous running wineries in the region, as one of the few that kept operating throughout Prohibition.