Wine reviews
A rich, plush, generous style, displaying wonderful aromas, with tiers of fleshy currant, black cherry, wild berry, plum and spicy, cedary anise scents that provide depth and dimension. Ends with a persistent aftertaste and tannins that give this traction. Drink now through 2014. 225 cases made. -- J. L.
“Why pay less?” That must be the motto of the grower, Andy Beckstoffer, who is the proprietor of the great first-growth vineyard, To Kalon, in Oakville. His prices are approaching $25,000 a ton, so it is hard to imagine anyone buying that fruit making a profit, unless they’re getting $350.00-$500.00 per bottle for their wines. Nevertheless, he’s got a great site and, to his credit, it is farmed impeccably. The Carter Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon comes in at a rather modest 14.1% natural alcohol, which probably reflects the cool 2005 growing season. At more than $200.00 a bottle, this may be one of the last Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernets at that price point, and one probably impossible to find except in the auction arena. This wine just has it all – floral notes, crème de cassis, minerality and graphite in what could be a Napa-hypothetical blend of the best of Bordeaux’s Margaux and Pauillac appellations. This is a magical site. (Nearly any capable winemaker producing wine from there has proven that time after time.) This is a killer effort – young and fresh, with at least 20 years upside to it. Pushing perfection, it is still a young wine that, like the Coliseum Block, tastes like it’s two or three years old, rather than ten. Give it another 3-4 years, and drink it over the following 25+ years. Following my tasting notes of Napa Cabernets, etc., in The Wine Advocate over the last few years, readers may have noticed the remarkable array of tasting notes and scores that Carter Cellars has garnered. It is well-deserved. They are on top of their game, and certainly one of the superstars, if somewhat still unacknowledged by the masses, probably because the quantities of all their wines are relatively limited. In any event, their lineup of 2005s left nothing to lament. Carter Cellars, Tel. (707) 445-0311 - RP