What is your opinion of Bethel Heights, folks?

Their special cuvee is really pricy, but it was very light and elegant and beautiful.

[Jenise]

I've had a few BH bottles over the years (it's common enough on supermarket shelves in these parts), and several leaned toward over-extraction. But, confoundingly, not all, so I don't know if that's their house style or what. It's enough to make me stay away, especially when old houses I really love, like Eyrie, are available.

I have been a fan of Bethel Heights for quite a while (in the manner of TomHill, I have followed them from the very start. Until they put out the restraining order.)

They have gone through some stylistic variations over the years, which is I think due more to changes in the fruit as their vineyard sourcing matured, along with their somewhat curious internal structure---BH is actually a four-way partnership of university professors who are inter-related: two sibling married two partners and they loosely conjoined in a familial business relationship with BH. That means roles change over the years.

Some BH are indeed light and elegant; some are rich and glossy. I think the BH folks would credit that more to the terroir and the grapes than the winemaking. At their best they can be stunning, and often are.

The "regular" Bethel Heights is good stuff. But I have always been a sucker for their Single Vineyard releases, specifically Southeast Block and Flat Block. Or I was, until the prices became staggering for my budget and I had to seek less costly lifestyle enhancement options.