A Perfect 100-Point Score

History of Georges de Latour

When André Tchelistcheff joined Beaulieu Vineyard in 1938, he tasted the de Latour family’s private wine – what they called “Private Reserve” – from the 1936 vintage. In 1940, Beaulieu Vineyard released the first vintage of Private Reserve and named it in our founder’s honor. The resulting wine became the first release of Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that was destined to become Napa Valley’s first “cult” Cabernet. In 80+ years since Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has become one of the most collected American wines.

Wine Ratings Explained

A wine score is the simplest way for wine critics to communicate their opinion about the quality of the wine. The 100-point wine-scoring scale was popularized by Wine Spectator and by Robert Parker, an esteemed U.S. wine critic and author of The Wine Advocate. While not all judges agree with Parker’s scale and criteria, it is the most widely used wine rating scale and has not only become the U.S. standard, but also an international standard.

How Experts Score the Wines

James Suckling has over four decades of experience as a wine critic and a journalist. His team of experts tastes thousands of wines each month and rated 25,000 wines in 2021 with only 35 perfect scores. He rates wines using Parker’s 100-point scale which he’s used for close to 40 years based on color, aromas, body, structure, and overall impression. Suckling often rates wines by doing a blind test, where the varietal may be known, but the brand is not. Blind tastings help to keep out any personal biases and provide the fairest rating of a wine. 

What the Ratings Mean

• 95-100- A classic, superior wine. It’s a must-buy and a bottle to drink in its entirety!
• 90-94- An all-around phenomenal wine. It’s a wine to drink a glass of and is an outstanding purchase.
• 85-89- A very good wine with strong qualities.
• 80-84- A good wine that is worth enjoying.
• 75-79- A drinkable wine that is not hugely recommended.
•  74 or below- This wine is not recommended.

“Wow! The aromas to this are really exceptional, with a tangerine edge to the blackcurrants, graphite, lead pencil, flowers and wet earth. It changes all the time. So expressive and refined. Full-bodied with great intensity and depth of fruit. The ultra-fine tannins display millions of layers. The texture on the palate is superb and lasts for minutes.”

James Sucking, May 4, 2022 

James Suckling Full Review 

This report includes a very special wine – the Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Georges de Latour Private Reserve 2019. Its pedigree in Napa Valley is legendary. It was first produced in the 1936 vintage and it was arguably the first great wine of the United States. Often simply called the BV Private Reserve, this wine also holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the favorite wines of my late father, John Suckling. I remember my dad drinking the wine often in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He loved the 1958, 1962 and 1964. When I joined the American wine magazine The Wine Spectator in December 1981, my father gave me a bottle of the 1962 BV Private Reserve from his cellar and said: “Jimmy, go home and drink this and think about what you are drinking. You will understand what great wine is about after you do that.” The fact that he was a collector and drinker of top Bordeaux at the time only added credence to his words. And, of course, I followed his instructions and still remember the balance and structure of the ’62 BV. The wine was so filigree in nature with layers of fine tannins and complex aromas and flavors of currants, tobacco and mahogany.

I had some of the same sensations tasting the 2019 last week with BV winemaker Trevor Durling. The young wine is structured and racy with fabulous intensity and length, but it’s a clear refitting and upgrade from the slightly big and overdone bottlings of the recent past. Durling said he has been working toward a more “refined” and “drinkable” BV Private Reserve in recent years to honor the great bottlings of the 1960s and 1970s. He certainly achieved this with the incredible, and perfect, 2019. I’m calling it “the new 1974 Georges de Latour,” which was a legend.

-James Suckling, May 4, 2022