Trevor Durling

Beaulieu Vineyard, Napa Valley

I was born and raised in wine country, in Sonoma County, but I was originally intending to go into the US Air Force. I was very close to my grandfather, who was in the US Air Force for nearly 38 years, which gave me an affinity with that from a young age.

During my first year at college, I took an introduction to winemaking course. I did it out of personal interest – I’d grown up around wine, with wine at the dinner table. But until I took that course, I never considered it an option as a career. I like to build and cook, and I liked the way wine seemed to mix craft, art, science, and agriculture. That was the angle that interested me, and the following summer I took a job as a winemaking intern. I switched major to winemaking and, after graduation, I took a full-time job at a Cabernet producer in Sonoma.

I am one of those winemakers who never tries to copy what other people make. I love Bordeaux and I love Burgundy, even if my wallet doesn’t. But, even if I am very inspired by the First Growth houses, I’m not trying to copy Bordeaux. We have to embrace our own terroir. We have a warmer climate than they do in Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style producing regions in Europe, and because of that we’ll have a different take on Cabernet.

At Beaulieu I am lucky enough to work with some of the greatest vineyards in

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

RRP £40-£45

A blend of fruit from BV’s three vineyard sites in Napa, it always has a little Petite Sirah in the blend. A soft, approachable, but deeply flavoured wine offering rich black cherry, blackcurrant and chocolate, fine suave tannins and a fresh, bright finish.

California. We have 1,000 acres, across the Napa Valley, with half in the Rutherford district, and some in Carneros near San Francisco Bay and some in the warmest part in the far north, in Calistoga. The Rutherford vineyards are on the western bench. It’s an alluvial fan, with clay loam, sand and gravel, well-draining. It gently slopes to the east, to the Napa River, which gives us what I think of as vertically challenged hillside vineyards, with a nice diurnal shift. The cool night-time temperature really helps keep acidity.

In the 1960s, André Tchelistcheff said it takes a lot of Rutherford Dust to grow great Cabernet. Rutherford Dust is special because it’s a soil but also a sensory description: the cocoa-powder texture and flavour on the mid-palate. The texture is not aggressive, and it creates a unique scenario where you can enjoy the wines for years.

California has started to gravitate away from those big extracted wines of the late 90s and early 2000s. The profile of people interested in wine in the USA has changed – they’re looking more for

Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

RRP £75

A “baby Georges de Latour” – a slightly different block selection, a slightly softer version of the grand vin. 85% to 90% Cabernet, with a little Petit Verdot and Malbec. With that pleasing ruffle of dusty but not drying tannin, it’s unforced and intensely pleasurable.

Beaulieu is one the oldest and most revered wine producers in California, credited with creating the region’s first cult Cabernet. Its wines remain among the most collectible and highest-scoring in the state.

Imported by Treasury Wine Estates freshness – and that is an international change. We’re one of those producers leading the charge to dial things back. That’s really important for me. Part of my duty is to explore different regions, to see what’s going on, and there was a point of time when California was out of step. I’m pleased that’s no longer the case so much.

Cabernet is going to be king for a long time in Napa Valley. But I believe that farming practices are adapting and that’s how we’re going to combat climate change. Going in to replant the right rootstocks, the right clones, the right varieties – embracing that and putting the best thing on each particular parcel to get the best quality. We are one of the few producers with varieties such as Touriga Nacional (we even bottle a small 100% version), Tempranillo and Charbono in our vineyard in Calistoga. We call it the fruit salad vineyard, and we’re very protective over it: it’s a winemaker’s playground.

I really recognise the importance of history at Beaulieu Vineyards. It was founded in 1900 by Georges de Latour, a Frenchman, who came from a family with a background in viticulture. That may not be that old by the standards of some European estates, but in California it’s very unusual to have that much history behind us.

Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet 2018

RRP £125-£135

Made since 1936, this is really the first California wine to be widely accepted as a First Growth level of quality. It has a luxuriously deep cassis nose and gorgeous tannins. Suave and seamless and a subtle bloody streak – perfectly ripe fruit and incredible length.