Bella Oaks 2021: “one of the hottest estates in Napa Valley right now”

We are delighted to release the hotly anticipated 100-point scoring Bella Oaks 2021, and its ‘companion’ wine from the same vintage, La Genie. Representing the finest releases to date from this iconic Rutherford vineyard, these are must-have wines for followers of the estate, and the Napa Valley in general.

Moreover, these two releases are rare birds, with the Grand Vin an edition of just 646 cases, and younger vine La Genie just 354 cases. Both major in Cabernet Sauvignon, with small amount of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot making up the blend.

Bella Oaks 2021 is a wine of tremendous proportion and poise, a controlled explosion of sophisticated and flowing dark fruit and minerality that manages to be both profound and propelled in a flow state– its deep core of fruit borne across the palate on a wave of sweet minerals and lifted by a towering vertical line. It’s a sensational new release and one to return to in about a decade: it will undoubtedly turn heads.

Alongside the Grand Vin, La Genie sees it debut; a release named after a Max Ernst sculpture that sits in the garden of the property. Produced from the younger vines on the property, designed to be approached a little earlier, it loses none of the high-quality feel that defines the output of this estate. Suffused with wonderful cool minerals and graphite-tinged dark berry fruit, it is hugely moreish in youth, offering a dance (a waltz?) between density and freshness that speaks to the quality of the year.

The Bella Oaks story begins with Barney and Belle Rhodes, who purchased the property in 1968, having been early investors in Oakville’s first lady, Martha’s Vineyard. On the advice of close friend Joe Heitz, they planted the entire site to Cabernet Sauvignon, and for the next 34 years, they sold the fruit exclusively to Heitz Cellars. The Rhodes were legendary entertainers and gastronomes, and throughout the 1970s and 80s, their home at Bella Oaks was an epicentre for fine dining and entertaining. Many credit them with creating the culture of hospitality that the valley is known for today.

When art philanthropist Suzanne Deal Booth purchased the property just over a decade ago, she was initially drawn to Bella Oaks’ unique place in the history of the valley. Hiring the valley’s foremost viticulturalist David Abreu she set about replanting and optimising this great terroir armed with Abreu’s encyclopaedic understanding of growing grapes in the Napa Valley. The wine was sold to Staglin for a number of years, but in 2017, Deal Booth decided that such an iconic site needed its own voice. Alongside David Abreu she hired star wine maker Nigel Kinsman as well as uber-consultant and blending expert Michel Rolland – a veritable dream team to restore this site to the glory days of old.

“The 2021 Proprietary Red Wine is exquisite. A wine of exceptional balance and class, it hits all the right notes. Specifically, the 2021 shows the finesse of the year, but it also possesses an extra kick of mid-palate resonance that sets it apart from so many other wines in this vintage and places it among the most elite wines of the year. A dollop (5%) of fruit from Ecotone rounds out the blend. Tasted two times.” **100 Points, Antonio Galloni, vinous.com ** Both Bella Oaks 2021s are currently lying abroad and will be landing in the UK late summer 2025. Pricing below is listed under bond, excluding UK Duty and VAT.