Tasting Notes
Vinous 94+
Saturated medium ruby. Extremely primary, youthfully medicinal scents of crushed blueberry, blackberry, cassis and violet. Seriously chewy and tactile but nowhere near ready to drink, offering extremely backward–even youthfully clenched–flavors of blackberry, graphite and slate. This tastes like a barrel sample, but even today there’s nothing hard about this potentially exciting wine, which offers an exhilarating sweet/savory balance and excellent inner-mouth tension. Incidentally, this was the fourth consecutive harvest that took place well into October–in this instance, October 21–and a generous year, with a yield of 4.1 tons per acre. But the wine offers terrific concentration. (14.8% alcohol; 3.7 pH; 5.9 g/l acidity)
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2042
Robert Parker 97
Of the three Beckstoffer Vineyards, it’s pretty much a joyride as to which one readers may prefer. The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard (readers may remember the 2002 merited a 100-point score) has a beautiful blueberry and blackberry fruit note, a hint of incense, charcoal, an opaque purple color, full-bodied opulence and again that first-growth quality, richness, complexity and intensity. I’m not sure this is as compelling as the 2002, but it’s not far away. This is a magnificent, multi-dimensional, skyscraper-like Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 15-20 years.
Anticipated maturity: 2014-2034
