Bernardus house spotlight
Bernardus Lodge's own film on Bernardus Winery: founder Ben Pon, vineyard manager Matthew Shay in the Marinus vineyard, and the Carmel Valley house that bottles this blend.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2019 Bernardus 'Marinus Vineyard' Marinus Red Carmel Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $52.96 and the average is $64.88. Our slash is $45.00.
2019 Bernardus 'Marinus Vineyard' Marinus Red Carmel Valley, USA
Jim McCabe's cellar-selected Marinus, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc in the lead, Carmel Valley structure at forty-five dollars.
Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc lead a structured Carmel Valley red filled with black cherry, boysenberry, currant, cedar, and spice, now $45.
The Marinus lots they actually kept
Bernardus does not bottle Signature Marinus from leftover Cabernet. Jim McCabe ages each variety on its own, then tastes until the vintage's strongest lots and barrels remain. Petit Verdot at 40 percent and Cabernet Franc at 27 percent give this 2019 a different architecture from Cabernet-first California reds. Wine Enthusiast went 91 and called it a Cellar Selection.
The house
Dutch founder Ben Pon chose Carmel Valley in 1989 for warm days, chilly nights, and marine air thirteen miles from the Pacific. Marinus carries his middle name.
The wine
40% Petit Verdot, 27% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec. Each variety aged in French oak at least eighteen months before the blend.
The scores
Wine Enthusiast 91, Cellar Selection. Dry, concentrated, a long structured finish.
The drinker
Serve 60 to 65 F. Decant about an hour. Short ribs or mushroom ragout on polenta.
Black cherry, cedar, and a long structured line
The official cellar note moves from black cherry and boysenberry into currant, blueberry, blackberry, and spice, with enough structure to reward air or time.
A Signature year assembled only after exhaustive tasting of the vineyard's strongest lots and barrels.
Black cherry, boysenberry, cedar, and a light licorice note.
Dry, concentrated, and highly structured. 14.1% ABV, 18-plus months French oak.
Very long. Serve 60 to 65 F. Decant about one hour.
Each variety first, then the tasting trials
On the Bernardus side, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec mature on their own in French oak for at least eighteen months. Only then do blending trials name the Signature Marinus. Jim McCabe is looking for the vintage's strongest expression of one Carmel Valley vineyard, not a formula.
Separate elevage keeps each variety's character intact before the blend. The entire cellar program uses French barrels, building cedar and spice around a dense dark-fruit core.
Bernardus describes exhaustive trials across its finest lots and barrels. The finished 2019 is 40 percent Petit Verdot and 27 percent Cabernet Franc, an uncommon lead for a California Bordeaux-style red.
Ben Pon's Carmel Valley Bordeaux idea
Founder Ben Pon saw in Carmel Valley the sun, cool nights, and beauty needed for a serious Bordeaux-style red. Marinus became the flagship of that conviction.
Bernardus Winery began in 1989 after Dutch founder Ben Pon chose Carmel Valley for its west-facing landscape, warm inland days, chilly nights, and marine influence. Marinus carries his middle name.
The Marinus Vineyard was planted in 1990 on rolling hills in upper Carmel Valley, about thirteen miles from the Pacific, at roughly 1,200 feet. Close spacing, vertical trellising, and low yields focus each block.
Bernardus opened Carmel Valley Village's first tasting room in 1996, converting a former bank into a place for wine and hospitality. The Signature bottling is still the house's most selective red.
Meet the structure with a slow braise or earthy mushrooms
Short ribs answer the tannin and dark fruit. Mushroom ragout draws out cedar, fennel, and savory depth.
Two plates. One slow-braised short rib. One mushroom ragout on polenta.
Serve near 60 to 65 F and decant for about one hour. That air time helps the structured finish relax without flattening the fruit.
Slow-Braised Beef Short Ribs
Tatyana's red-wine braise layers beef, mushrooms, tomato, rosemary, and thyme into a deeply savory sauce.
Why it works: Beef fat softens the tannin, while the reduced sauce mirrors black fruit, cedar, and the long finish.
View Recipe for Slow-Braised Beef Short Ribs (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom Ragout with Soft Polenta
Chef Hugh Acheson's mixed mushrooms bring rosemary, thyme, sherry vinegar, and Parmigiano to a creamy polenta base.
Why it works: Mushroom umami echoes cedar and earth, while polenta and cheese cushion the dry structure.
View Recipe for Mushroom Ragout with Soft Polenta (opens in a new tab)Open the Marinus they selected
Jim McCabe's Signature blend, Petit Verdot in the lead, Carmel Valley structure. Forty-five dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Marinus bottling that turns Bernardus's best 2019 lots into a dark, structured Carmel Valley red.
