Reviews & Awards

Brilliant ruby. Intense red and blue fruit, floral and spice qualities on the highly perfumed nose, along with hints of cola and licorice. Juicy and precise, offering concentrated raspberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that take on a five-spice-powder nuance with air. Plays power off delicacy with a sure hand and finishes extremely long and silky, with polished tannins framing lingering red fruit and candied rose notes.

From its origin as a Shea Vineyard bottling, Belle Soeur has transitioned to a blend fruit from the Beaux Freres, Upper Terrace, and Sequitur, all farmed by Mike Etzel. Today the grapes are picked earlier, and the extraction managed more gently to give a classic red fruit nose with spice on the attack and plenty of freshness and grippy tannins on the palate. There is still plenty of extract, though, and this lingers persistently on the finish.

Medium ruby in color, the 2018 Pinot Noir The Belles Soeurs has pure scents of cranberry, dusty earth and charcuterie with top notes of citrus peel and iodine. The medium-bodied palate is pure and expressive, lifted and fresh, with a silky texture and long, ethereal finish.

Impeccably polished and structured with gracefully expressive cherry and blueberry flavors, laced with black tea, spice and orange peel notes, taking on richness toward refined tannins.

Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Pinot Noir The Belles Soeurs has alluring wild red and black berry fruits with wafts of garrigue, Earl Grey tea leaves and angostura bitters. The palate is silky and intense with layered, graphite-tinged fruit and a very long finish that's notable for its purity and persistent perfume.

Harmonious yet dynamic, with fervent violet and raspberry notes that pick up orange peel and black tea accents along the way to a polished, structured finish.

This deliberately, elegantly tuned blend of three parcels (Beaux Frères, Upper Terrace and Sequitur vineyards) delivers a redder-cherry focus of fruit on the nose with roses and some gently fragrant notes of leaves and sour cherries. There’s a lighter feel to the palate, yet it has great volume of red fruit and vibrant freshness. The tannins glide in silky, caressing and balanced mode. Drink or hold.

The has an attractively smooth and supple style to it with bright strawberries and fresh red cherries, framed in flowers and fresh leaves. The palate is very smoothly delivered, amid silky, plush and attractively fine-cut tannins that carry freshness and depth into an elegant yet long finish. A triumphant return after a 12 year hiatus, this is sourced from Beaux Frères, Upper Terrace and Sequitur vineyards. Drink across the next decade.

Aromas of dark cherry, plum, violet, smoke and cigar box. Medium-bodied with finely grained tannins and bright acidity. Balanced and refined. Harmonious, savory and silky with a succulent, long finish. A little tight now. Unfiltered. Try after 2023.

A finely integrated Champagne, with flavors of ripe apricot and yellow pear fruit enriched by subtle notes of toasted brioche and lemon-infused pastry cream set on a cashmerelike mousse. Reveals hints of oyster shell, spices and white blossoms on the mouthwatering finish.