Wine reviews
From a rocky site outside of St. Helena, just next to Las Piedras, the stunning 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) boasts a deep, gravelly, intellectual profile that’s reminiscent of the 2015 Haut Brion on steroids. Blackcurrants, chocolate, cold fireplace, and smoke tobacco all flow to a full-bodied, deep, layered, lengthy Cabernet Sauvignon that takes plenty of time to unwind in the glass. This is structured, backward, and deep, with serious power, yet it excels in its complex and layered style just as much. I suspect it will warrant a triple-digit score in 3-5 years and keep for 3-4 decades. – JD
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr Crane Vineyard (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) is very deep garnet black in color and gives a truly profound nose of char grill, pencil lead, crushed rocks and tar with a core of crème de cassis, licorice, dark chocolate and mincemeat pie with wafts of cardamom and cumin seed. The powerful, full-bodied palate gives a firm, ripe structure to match the incredible concentration of fruit, finishing long and earthy. – LPB