Wine reviews
This is a big wine from a stellar vineyard in the heart of Oakville, sizable on the palate in billowy tannin, tobacco, black plum and milk chocolate. Full bodied in every way, it has a smooth, velvety nature that should soften further in time, allowing for a finish of compost and tea. Drink now through 2023. Cellar Selection. - VB
The 2013 Janzen Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon easily lives up to the first-growth reputation of this great terroir in Oakville. Produced from clone 337, this is truly profound stuff. It has an inky purple color with notes of charcoal embers interwoven with blueberry and blackberry liqueur, forest floor and white flowers. This wine was aged 27 months in 100% new Taransaud cooperage and has fabulous texture, richness and well-integrated oak tannin, alcohol and acidity. Drink it now as well as over the next 30+ years. - RP
All three 2013s ratchet up the level of extract and seem even more focused and precise than the 2012s, and are rich, layered, full-bodied and super well-endowed. It’s hard to have a favorite right now, although my early inclination is to go with the Beckstoffer To Kalon, since it’s such a fabulous site. But the Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper is similar and the Cloudy’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dutch Henry Canyon area of Napa is also impressive. More on these when they are in bottle. - RP