Wine reviews
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is the most tannic of these cuvees. It exhibits an opaque purple color along with a big, intense perfume, but the wine is closed, structured, muscular and masculine in the mouth. There are only 52 cases, compared to 370 cases in 2012, so good luck finding any. This offering was made from clone 4, 6 and 337, making it one of the few multiple clone wines in the Schrader portfolio. Give this 2010 4-5 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 25-30 years. Year-in and year-out this is one of the most interesting as well as fascinating group of wines and projects in Napa Valley. First, Schrader has two committed owners, secondly a brilliant winemaker in Thomas Brown, and thirdly, one of the true first-growth vineyard sites in all of Napa Valley, the famed Beckstoffer-owned To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. There is also a new Beckstoffer vineyard in Oakville called Las Piedras. Additionally, they source grapes from the Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard in Rutherford, several miles north of Oakville. In top vintages, Schrader’s Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines can be as good as money can buy ... anywhere in the world. The Schraders are essentially giving consumers a microscopic, intense study of the differences between clones from one particular vineyard. Production levels range from 100-200 cases to as high as 400 cases. The total production is well under 1,800 cases of wine, even in such generous vintages as 2012. These offerings, which are aged 18-20 months in a majority of Darnajou French barrels with some Taransaud, are much more similar than dissimilar, but I think long-term aging will begin to reveal differences, and that’s the objective with these separate cuvees. All of these wines will keep for a minimum of 25-40 years. This is probably an overload of information for the casual drinker who just wants a great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, but for the wine geeks, this kind of clonal study is fascinating. The cooler than normal 2010 vintage produced a group of wines with small production levels. The 2011s came from a small yielding vintage as well. Winemaker Thomas Brown and the Schraders had to deal with two large rainy scenarios that were followed by foggy conditions in early to mid-October that resulted in the formation of botrytis in the grape bunches. They seem to have come through this with flying colors in several of their cuvees, which are candidates for the wines of the vintage. The 2012s enjoyed an incredibly long hang time, and although the year was warm, there was only one serious heat spike that came at a time (in July where the temperature hit 105 degrees) that was not threatening to the vineyards. Thomas Brown thought the number of days between flowering and the veraison (when the color of the grapes changes from green to dark purple) was around 65-70 days, an unusually long time that bodes well for flavor and tannin development in the grape bunches. The 2012s are all huge, richly fruity wines that were primary when I tasted them. For that reason, I will keep my notes short, but there appears to be at least three candidates for perfect scores after another 8-9 months in new oak. -RP
Delivers a rich, potent mix of layered flavors that are deep and pure, brimming with black licorice, dark berry, mocha, tea and floral notes that are tight, focused and persistent, with gutsy tannins. Drink now through 2030. 52 cases made. –JL
One of the flagships, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Schrader Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is endowed with serious minerality and tension. Violets, pencil shavings, blackberries and cinnamon burst from this deep, resonant, implosive Cabernet. I very much like the intensity and power here. This is another huge, towering wine that will require considerable patience, but it is dazzling, even today. The Schrader is mostly clone 4 from block C2, with a dollop of clone 6 from D2 and 337 from B2. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. This is a fabulous set of wines from Fred Schrader, his wife Carol and their long-time winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown. The 2010 Cabernets are big, huge wines that capture the essence of this great Napa Valley vintage. As always, the wines are made with no SO2 at the crusher, natural yeasts and minimal rackings. The four single-clone bottlings from the To-Kalon vineyard are essentially essays that provide notable insight into the clonal differences within the various parcels in this famous site. I also tasted all of the 2011s, but those wines are still embryonic stages rather than final blends, so it is hard to provide meaningful commentary at this stage. Thus far, I have tasted the 2011s twice, and both times I have been struck by the new Las Piedras bottling, which personally I am very much looking forward to following. Sadly, there will be no GIII in 2011, as conditions were just too difficult. - AG