Beringer Winery tasting at Wine Watch with Special Guest Winemaker Mark Beringer

A meal without wine is called breakfast.

Beringer winery is one of the original four of the Napa Valley and although the ownership has changed hands several times over the last century it still remains one of the most storied of all the great houses of Napa.  Tonight we have the next generation of the Beringer family Mark Beringer on hand and although the family no longer owns the vineyards and winery that bears their name it is ironic that Mark has come full circle and is now making the wines at this historic winery that bears his namesake.

Join us as we welcome Mark to South Florida to tasting the new releases from this historic winery, Wine Watch Catering's Toni Lampasone will be making a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines.  This is a seated event and there are only 14 spaces available, the fee for this event is $75 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Beringer Winery Tasting with Winemaker Mark Beringer at Wine Watch
Tuesday, March 29th
7pm

Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay Napa 2013
Price: $37.50       Sale $33.00          Case $383

(94 Points)  "Beringer's 2013 Chardonnay Private Reserve emerges from Gamble Ranch in Oakville. Classy, polished and restrained, the 2013 is absolutely superb. Above all else, the 2013 is a wine of finesse. Hints of pastry, baked apple and spices are woven into the super-expressive, oily finish." Vinous / Antonio Galloni

Beringer Waymaker 2012
Price: $22.50       Sale $19.80          Case $230

A blend of 57% Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petite Verdot, we will be seeing a lot more of these wines from Paso Robles from Beringer.  A good amount of ripe berry fruit, very smooth and easy drinking soft tannins with a short but pleasant finish.  Finish 45+           Very Good

Beringer Quantum Napa 2012
Price: $40.00       Sale $35.20          Case $408

(92 Points) "Beringer's 2012 Red Blend Quantum is gorgeous. Silky, nuanced and expressive, the Quantum captures plenty of vintage 2012 radiance. Red plum, cherry, spice, leather and mint are all laced together in a supple, generous wine full of near and medium-term appeal." Vinous / Antonio Galloni

Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley 2013
Price: $22.50       Sale $19.80          Case $230

(90 POINTS) The 2012 vintage began with textbook conditions that continued through much of Harvest. Spring bud break was ideal with steady flowering and even fruit set. A lengthy stretch of warm days and cool nights during the summer months allowed for optimal ripeness to develop in the grapes and an exceptional quality overall. Late and light rains held off until the grapes found ripeness, bringing exceptional quality to the crush. Located 17 miles northwest of the winery, Knights Valley vineyard is approximately 600 acres, and has rocky, well-drained soils that are perfectly suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Grapes for the 2012 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between October 4th through October 26th.

Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Knights Valley 2012 
Price: $54.00       Sale $47.52          Case $551

A selection of the best fruit from their Knights valley, there are a bit of other varietals in the blend around 3%, dark currant and cassis berry fruit with layers of cassis currants and toasty oak spice, fresh plowed black earth, black pepper spice.  A big and chewy wine with smooth tannins, that dark earth and dark coco like notes through the finish.  Finish 40+     Excellent

Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2012
Price: $138          Sale $121.44       Case $1408

Dark currant and cassis berry fruit, very well endowed concentrated fruit with a good hand of fresh loamy earth, fine herbs, mocha and espresso like notes on the nose, very intense.  A very well built wine on the palate with layers of dark earth, spices and a long fresh finish, very well built. This wine needs some time but has all the right stuff in proportion.  Finish 50+            Most Excellent

Menu

Selection of cheese:  parmesan Reggiano, Beemster Gouda

Cannellini Bean, Eggplant, white truffle and sweet Italian Sausage soup garnished with basil infused extra virgin Olive oil and Mozzarella marsh mellow crouton

Chocolate mole glazed shortrib with carrot mash

This is a seated event and there are only 14 spaces available, the fee for this event is $75 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

A bit about Mark Beringer:

Mark Beringer, great-great-grandson of Beringer Vineyards' founding brother Jacob Beringer, was immersed in wine from the moment he was born in the heart of the Napa Valley. As the direct descendant to Beringer's first winemaker and one of the most iconic family names in Napa Valley wine history, he knew from a young age that he would follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. As a young man he spent many hours working in his family's wine store in St. Helena, expanding his knowledge of wine as well as gaining an appreciation for wines outside of the famous region he has always called home.
After a stint in high school working as a stock clerk at the historical family property at Beringer, Mark graduated from California State University in Fresno with an Enology degree in 1990. Eager to immerse himself in winemaking, he spent a year in the cellars at Benziger in Sonoma and then joined Duckhorn in 1992. Mark began as Enologist and worked his way up to Vice President of Winemaking at Duckhorn. In 2009 Mark joined Artesa as Vice President and Winemaker.
In 2015, Mark Beringer came 'home' to Beringer Vineyards, joining as Chief Winemaker and following in the footsteps of acclaimed Winemaker Emeritus Laurie Hook. 'I'm absolutely thrilled to be making wines for the very winery that my ancestor built, and be part of the next chapter in this important story of Beringer and of the Napa Valley." notes Mark.

A brief history of Beringer Winery:

It the dawn of the 1980's the big story around the Napa Valley was the resuscitation of the great name of the near-dead Beringer Vineyards.  That success saga continues today and is being enlarged upon in ways that even the winery's original founders could not have imagined.  After Repeal, the big four - Beaulieu, Inglenook, Krug, and Martini - made the wines that the local Cabernet cognoscenti stashed in their cellars.  Although little has been written about Beringer during that same period, noted Napa Valley wine scribe, Bob Thompson, reports that the winery did indeed produce some outstanding wines in the late 30's and the 1940's.  One such wine - a 1937 Cabernet - was uncorked for the staff of The Wine News in 1988.  At 51, it was a revelation; we still consider it the greatest oldtimer from California that we have ever been privileged to taste.  In the 1950's Beringer lost its way; and by 1971 when the Nestlé Chocolate firm purchased the winery, Beringer was so far gone that most observers were predicting its demise.  Wine World, a subsidiary of Nestlé, was charged with the task of bringing the winery back to life.  The talented Wine World team knew that there was hope.  Although Beringer's reputation and physical plant was in shambles, the potential of its 800 acres of vineyards was an undeniable fact.  Although the corporate takeover of a winery that had been in family hands for a century was initially viewed with suspicion, Wine World soon put fears to rest. They axed all the jug wines and generic brands and began ambitious vineyard acquisitions (Beringer Wine Estates now owns or controls over 9000 acres).  Nestlé poured untold millions into an earnest rebuilding of the once-revered Beringer name.  Myron Nightingale, one of California's winemaking legends, was to be the architect of the reconstruction.

Nightingale moved quickly to get Beringer back into the fray with a line of good medium-priced varietals, but the battle for consumer acceptance was a long and hard road. The wine press in those days was small, and word did not get around quite so fast.  Undaunted and irrevocably committed to long range success, Wine World continued to make all the right moves.  One of them was Ed Sbragia.  Ed is a big Teddy Bear of a man who cuts an imposing figure - a gentleman whose talent is a match for his size.  The young Sbragia came to work for Beringer in 1976 to apprentice under Nightingale.  He wanted to make wine with the best - it was in his blood.  His grandfather and his father made Zinfandel from grapes grown on the old homestead near Healdsburg.  Ed’s training with Nightingale and his performance through three decades at Beringer has made him one of the most respected winemakers in the Napa Valley.  He has been with Beringer for almost three decades, and he has been in full charge since Nightingale retired in 1984.  In 1994 we asked Ed why a young winemaker would choose to go to work for what was then a truly moribund winery.  "Because I wanted to work under Myron", he replied.  Sbragia knew there was much to learn and that it was a golden opportunity to work side by side with one of the great masters.  Although Nightingale was in the twilight of his career, he was still experimenting and still breaking new ground.

Together, Nightingale & Sbragia put Beringer on the map with Cabernet.  The break-through came with the 1978 Private Reserve-Lemmon Ranch Cabernet - that vintage allowed Beringer to turn the corner and shoot to the forefront of Napa producers.  Beginning in 1981, Nightingale and Sbragia began to blend from several of their best ranches to make the Private Reserve, and the folks at Wine World will tell you that this has been the secret to Beringer's consistency over the past decade.  The winemaker's blending skills are of prime importance at Beringer, and Sbragia has an unblemished record.  He has crafted an unbroken string of outstanding Cabernets that have been absolutely superb in years such as 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996.  Beringer's Private Reserve Cabernets have been among the very few California Cabernets worthy of a collector's cellar in vintages such as 1983 (the best in the Valley that year), 1988, 1989, and 1993.  This 1996 Private Reserve Cabernet is another classic from a very good to excellent vintage, another example of how Beringer continues to shine unfaltering.

Beringer entered the Merlot arena in a grand way in the 1987 vintage - from the outset the rugged, massively-structured, Cabernet-like Merlots from the Bancroft Ranch on Howell Mountain have made Beringer a powerhouse in the Merlot business.  Because Beringer's Merlot speaks more of its appellation than its varietal make-up, it will not please the masses.  This is a Merlot with the stuffing to outlast many Cabernets; it is one of the few made in California that we would trust to age well for ten to fifteen years in a cool cellar.  Beringer's accomplishment with Cabernet is well documented, but what is new is the sudden ascendancy of Beringer as a powerhouse Chardonnay producer.  For some time the winery's Proprietor Grown Napa Chardonnay has been quite good, but the Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnays are another matter altogether.  At the turn of the last decade, Beringer made several superb Chardonnays - the 1980 Reserve was one of the top wines of that vintage.  Later renditions, however, never seemed to have enough fruit to support the oak.  Finally Sbragia decided to make some important changes.  The result has been seven consecutive Reserve Chardonnays (beginning with the 1990) that have been among the best of each vintage. The 1994 Reserve Chardonnay was the first white wine ever to hold the prestigious title of “Wine of the Year” in The Wine Spectator.   Ed's prowess with Chardonnay has found its ultimate expression with one very special bottling known as "Sbragia-Limited Release".  All five we have tasted to date (1991 was the first vintage) have been spectacular wines which compete with the top Chardonnays made anywhere in the world.  Be on the look out for other exciting wines such as the consistently excellent Knight's Valley Cabernet and the winery's best-kept secret - the Meritage White from Knight's Valley fruit that is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.  Although Beringer ranks as one of the Napa Valley's largest producers, it is also one of Napa's best and just seems to be getting better and better.  There are a lot more pages in the Beringer saga, in August of 1997 the winery went public offering 25% of its shares for sale.  In the summer of 2000, the winery was sold to Fosters Brewing Company of Australia.  With all of the change at Beringer, one of the things that remain invariable is its winemaker, Ed Sbragia.  He is at the top of his game with a long, even brighter future ahead of him.  When Myron Nightingale passed away, he left a legacy of accomplishments.  Perhaps his greatest was his young apprentice, Ed Sbragia.

Today, Beringer is owned by an Australian firm Treasury Wine Estates and is still considered to be among one of the best wineries of the Napa Valley.

Other wines available from Beringer:

Beringer Luminus Chardonnay 2013
Price: $22.50       Sale $19.80          Case $230

(91 Points) "The outstanding 2013 Chardonnay Luminus comes from the Oak Knoll sector of southern Napa Valley. About 25% new oak is used in this cuvée, and it is made from the newer Burgundian clones of Chardonnay as opposed to the Old Wente selection (which actually came from Burgundy many decades ago). This wine exhibits pineapple, poached pear, honeysuckle and buttery melon notes in addition to a subtle use of wood, and a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel. Consume this beauty over the next 4-5 years. " The Wine Advocate

Beringer Cabernet Sauvingon Napa Valley 2012
Price: $33.75       Sale $29.70          Case $345

(91 Points) "The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a blend from a handful of sites, is outstanding. Racy and pliant, with tons of vintage 2012 resonance, the Cabernet Sauvignon impresses for its overall balance. The flavors are bright, floral and energetic throughout, with lovely palate presence and tons of near-term appeal." Vinous / Antonio Galloni

Beringer Chardonnay Napa Valley 2013
Price: $17.50       Sale $15.40          Case $179

Bright tropical aromas and flavors are layered with hints of citrus and green apple. A medium, rounded mouthfeel is accented by a refreshing acidity and clean finish.

Beringer Sauvignon Blanc Napa 2013
Price: $13.75       Sale $12.10          Case $141

The 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is an enticing wine with aromas of bright citrus zest, gooseberry and notes of white flowers. Flavors of lemon and tangerine zest are complemented by a bright acidity and round mouthfeel.

Beringer Merlot Napa 2012
Price: $21.50       Sale $18.92          Case $220