Well, here was an unexpected stroke of luck. A wine writer buddy needed help blasting through 20 Rhone-style wines for an upcoming article, and I was offered the job of "tasting assistant." That wasn't the lucky part. The lucky part was that he'd just had lunch with Bob Betz, and came home with all four of Betz's 2005 syrah releases! So, cheap Rhones be damned! We started with the good stuff.
All I can say about the Betz wines is that ever one is simply stunning.
Besoleil ($40) is a blend of different vineyards that hits you with so much fruit and intensity in the nose that it's almost overpowering. It drinks as well as it smells.
La Serenne ($50) is made from 100% Boushey vineyard grapes. Deep, intense, thick as a brick. I'm partial to Boushey, and had a 2004 Lowdon Hills syrah on Saturday that was also Boushey-sourced. Dick Boushey is definitely doing something right.
La Cote Rousse ($50) is 100% Red Mountain sourced, 60% of which is from the Scott Williams vineyard. Outstanding, but not as interesting as either the Serenne or Besoleil.
Chapitre 3 ($75) is Betz's first shot at blending a top end syrah from various lots, Williams (50%), Boushey (38%) and Ciel du Cheval (12%). No doubt about it's intensity and deep inky color, but again, I favored the Serenne and Besoleil. My guess is that this wine, in particular, needs major bottle time.
There were ultimately three of us tasting, and we all came to pretty much the same conclusion. At the end of the night we drained the Serenne and the Besoleil.
Of course, unless you're extremely lucky (even more so than I) you'll never get a crack at these excellent wines. They're all sold out. Which brings up the one Betz offering that (at least as of this writing) isn't, the Costco Syrah ($17) I mentioned last week.
I happened to bring it along, totally coincidentally. It was extremely unfair to taste it after being spoiled by the previous four, but what the hey, we opened it anyway. General consensus (confirmed by last night's second pour): A good value, but nowhere near the depth, flavor or intesity of Betz's gang of four. A tad thin on the finish, rather tannic and a little too much alcohol bite for my taste. Better with the right food.
Which brings me to the Costco 2005 Alexander Valley cab from Nick Goldschmidt. In a word, elegant. I know that's what the literature says, too, but we came to the conclusion before reading anything. It's a bit softer than some Alex cabs I've had (which are certainly softer than Napa cabs to begin with). But if you give this wine a bit of time and air, it sneaks up on you and sweeps you off your feet. ("Dancing with the Four Stars," no fainting allowed, heh.) My wine writer compatriot was very impressed, and concluded that it's easily a $30-35 bottle by today's California standards. $18 at Coscto. I'm going back for more if there's any left.
JJ