Beaulieu Vineyard
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Beaulieu Vineyard was established in 1900 by Georges de Latour. Located in Rutherford, California in the Napa Valley. When Prohibition began in 1920, most wineries were forced out of operation. However, Beaulieu obtained a contract to supply sacramental wine to churches across the country. The demand for such wine increased dramatically during Prohibition and the winery repeatedly expanded. By the end of Prohibition in 1933, production had grown to over one million gallons per year.
Following Repeal, Beaulieu hired Andre Tchelistcheff from France as winemaker and the quality of its wines increased significantly. Tchelistcheff also became a mentor to other important winemakers such as Mike Grgich, Joe Heitz of Heitz Wine Cellars, and Robert Mondavi. By the 1940s, Beaulieu wines were served at all major White House functions.
Beaulieu Vineyard claims a number of firsts:
- First to gain international reputation as a world-class California winery.
- First to develop a Private Reserve wine.
- First to provide educational label on the back of a bottle.
- First to age wines in imported French oak barrels.
A major blind tasting of wines was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Canadian capital of Ottawa on January 18, 1981 (the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981). It was on "neutral territory" and pitted wines from California against those from France.
The 1970 vintage of Beaulieu Vineyard George de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon received second place. The New York Times wine critic reported that "Thirteen wines were involved, and California swept the first five places, defeating Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Haut-Brion, all from the excellent Bordeaux vintage of 1970." These are all First Growths (Premiers Crus) as established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 and are France's finest.
