Reviews

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Previous notes apply. Three hours of air in the decanter helped immensely. Excellent bottle of juice. Ideally, worth waiting a year or two. 95-96+ points

Bevan Cellars EE Cuvée

It's been over a year since my last bottle. Same as all of my previous notes on this wine except it really showed well from start to finish, with no tannic or heat issues at all. Performed good as a…

Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Lore Vineyard

Looks like I'm the outlier this time around, as this wine didn't deliver the way I had hoped it would, even in its youth. At best for me, it was in that 90-92 point bracket, and honestly that's being…

Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Lore Vineyard

Same as previous notes, except that this never fully came around to anything that provided any real pleasure for me. I get the potential, but it is something that I cannot foresee delivering in a way…

Bacio Divino Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard

Revisited this after a Coravin pour the previous week. PnP with about an hour of air did this wine some good. Favored by most over a 2015 Bevan Ontogeny served alongside it. Decent depth and some…

Bacio Divino Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard

All other previous notes apply. 93-94 points given the service (Coravin), with very little time to get some much needed air; swirling wasn't really enough to coax it out of submission. With some air,…

Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon Connoissuer's Series Jupille Sylvain French Oak NO

PnP with notes of ripe black and red currant, subtle black raspberry, cedar, wet earth/mulch, and some black tanbark. Medium-bodied and a fairly smooth delivery for the 2013 vintage. A good wine and…

Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium

All of my previous notes apply. Still awesome, if you like your Cabernets on the riper side of things (which I typically do as long as the grip is fully intact - which it absolutely is in the case of…

Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cour de Vallée

This wine was decanted for a number of hours and still struggled to exhibit much more than some tight, compacted red, black, and purple berry notes. Some faint earth and minerality, with…

Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

I had the opportunity to try this wine again. I honestly just don't get it. I have no idea what direction these guys were going in this expression of To Kalon. My previous note applies.…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The O.G. Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

This was from a Coravin bottle that had been tapped multiple times over the course of three months. Thanks to Dan and Mark for trying to add this wine to our lineup and seeing if it would still…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Kings Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

This was really showing its capacity to deliver an amazing array of complex flavors. Last time I had the Three Kings, I favored the Grand Daddy served alongside it. This time, the Three Kings came…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Wine is fun... unpredictable, but fun...

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Fortuna Vineyard

Same as my previous notes on this wine. Drinking even better than a few months ago. A beautiful profile of red, black, and some purple core fruit. Complex and tiered in its delivery, with a…

Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

PnP and this was one of the most giving and accessible of the wines served at the table. As noted by Cristal2000 and #1Winelover, this was indeed a young wine, but ironically delivering a medley of…

Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon CCS Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

This Schrader started off much in the same way a 2013 Carter OG began its display of flavors on PnP the night before: overt red (and some black) fruit (bordering on "fruity") and little in its…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The O.G. Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Previous notes apply, except that this was fairly tight and restrained throughout the course of consumption. It was not decanted (and definitely needed it), but over the course of a couple of hours…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Black, earthy core fruit surrounded by black currant, dark spice box, coffee grounds, and some faint truffle and earthy cedar on the tail end. Massive and finessed at the same time; as with the 2014…

Vice Versa Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

A wonderfully balanced version of To Kalon. Not overtly flavor-blasted or extracted the way some versions of BTK can end up. Haunting and dark with still a finessed lift that elevates the core fruit,…

Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Earthy, ominous, and a bit gritty, the 2006 BTK was exhibiting a "Fistful of Dollars" profile of weathered, black soil, grating earth, and antique wood notes encompassing the mature, dark core fruit…

Bevan Cellars Merlot Alexis' Cuvée Showket Vineyards

A truly captivating bottle of Merlot; drinking exquisitely smooth and voluptuous on the initial delivery. Notes of wonderfully nuanced purple and black core fruit, plum, black cherry, dark red…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Nine months since my last bottle. I think this needs even more time in bottle (2020). PnP has a decent amount of alcohol to blow off; it took about 3+ hours before it settled down and unveiled some…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper

PnP, with somewhat reticent notes of red and black fruit, cassis, and some earth and spice notes. I was missing some of the superlative intonations that would have otherwise driven me to express…

Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

Very much in my lane in terms of the superior level of overall delivery that comes from the BTK site. Oakville fruit shown with a concentration and depth one would expect from a top tier wine, but…

Bevan Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Tin Box Vineyard

Similar to last year, this version of Tin Box displayed its signature red, black, and some purple fruit flavors, plum, black and red currant, black cherry, and the slightest hints of spice. This was…