Wine reviews
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper is not as large-scaled and dense as the To Kalon, but still exhibits beautiful red and black fruits, loamy soil nuances, forest floor and underbrush. Bacio Divino, a project of Claus Janzen and his son, offered three vintages of their single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons and a couple generic bottlings, plus other assorted bottlings from their terrific value-priced wines, such as Pazzo. There are also a couple of Burgundy-styled wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Dutton Ranch, which I decided to include since they’re the only Sonoma County wines from Bacio Divino. -RP
Virtually perfect, and a California verison of Haut-Brion or La Mission Haut-Brion is the absolutely remarkable 2012 Janzen Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Cabernet Sauvignon. There are 250 cases of this prodigious wine, which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from this site. Loads of scorched earth, burning embers/charcoal, blackberry and blueberry fruit soar from the glass along with some floral notes. Quite full-bodied, it offers sweet tannin, low acidity, and a fleshy, rich finish of close to a minute. The tannins are there, but they are wonderfully sweet and integrated. This is a fabulous effort from the Jenzen family. -RP