2008 Marks First Vintage Produced at the Dedicated Winery
NAPA, Calif., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Months of preparation are about to be fulfilled as Beaulieu Vineyard's Georges de Latour Reserve Winery takes in the first grapes of the 2008 harvest. This momentous event marks the first vintage to be produced at a facility dedicated to one of Napa Valley's iconic, benchmark wines.
In September 2007, BV announced a $7 million investment into the creation of a self-contained, state-of-the-art winemaking facility dedicated solely to the production of its flagship wine, Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The new winery will allow even greater focus and attention on quality for a wine that has long set the standard for Napa Valley.
"After years of experimenting with different winemaking techniques, months of ordering the finest equipment and weeks of seeing the winery take shape, I'm thrilled to see the first grapes for the 2008 vintage of Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon enter this amazing new winery," said Joel Aiken, Beaulieu Vineyard Vice President of Winemaking. "It's a dream come true for all of us at BV to see this Reserve Winery come to life."
The Georges de Latour Reserve Winery, developed within an existing building at the BV winery, comes as a direct result of success with small lot experiments over the past few vintages and consultations with winemakers from throughout California and France to discuss best practice ideas. The team designed the facility with the sole purpose of focusing on the quality of the flagship wine.
The new Georges de Latour winery includes:
-- Twenty-three state-of-the-art oak and stainless steel fermenters (5-7
tons each) set up in a symmetrical formation and equipped with cooling
and heating capability.
-- A special area created for barrel fermentation, where up to 40 percent
of the production can be fermented in 59-gallon barrels. This aspect of
the winery design includes unique barrel racks with rollers, allowing
the barrels to spin in place fostering gentle cap management during
fermentation.
-- Temperature control throughout the entire facility, which allows for
extended maceration and consistent temperatures for the barrel
fermentations to produce wines of gentle extraction and finesse, with a
focus on tannin management.
A private trade tasting room will follow in spring 2009.
About Beaulieu Vineyard
Beaulieu Vineyard wine is produced by Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E), part of Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O); the world's leading premium drinks business. DC&E produces and markets premium wines from around the globe including Napa Valley, Sonoma, the California Central Coast, Washington, France, New Zealand and Australia. Brands include: Sterling Vineyards, Sterling Vintner's Collection, Chalone Vineyard, Acacia Vineyard, Edna Valley Vineyard and Provenance Vineyards as well as the French wines of Barton & Guestier. DC&E is also a leading importer of classified Bordeaux and Burgundy estate-bottled wines and F.E. Trimbach.
Diageo's broader business includes an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wine and beer including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan and Crown Royal. Diageo is a global company, listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com.
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SOURCE Beaulieu Vineyard
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