Wine reviews
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard The Three Kings shows gorgeous blackberry and blueberry fruit, some white floral notes, a full-bodied, multilayered mouthfeel, fabulous precision, purity and balance, an inky mouthfeel, but nothing heavy or out of balance. This is profound Cabernet Sauvignon from a great, great vintage. Drink it over the next 25-30 years. Carter Cellars has been on a qualitative tear in tastings I’ve done over the last 4-5 years, so it was with great anticipation and high expectations I sat down to taste the 2013s and barrel samples of the 2014s given what Mark Carter had achieved not only in 2012, but even in more challenging vintages such as 2011. Fasten your seatbelts! - RP
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard The Three Kings is borderline perfection. Massive but well-balanced floral notes intermixed with crème de cassis and blackberry characteristics are offered in an unctuously textured, almost beyond belief Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the probably the way incredibly low-yielding Bordeaux from 1949, 1945 and 1929 tasted when young. However, this is Napa, and the ripeness and purity of fruit is remarkable. Drink 2018-2040 One of my favorite tiny boutique wineries in Napa Valley is Carter Cellars. They have been on a fabulous qualitative roll lately, and there are high expectations for the 2012s and 2013s. I tasted six barrel samples from the 2013 vintage, which all achieved basically the same alcohol levels as the 2012s, 14.8%-14.9%. By and large, the berries were smaller in 2013, and yields were good, but not as abundant as in 2012. That fact is often seen in the wines which are even more concentrated (as hard as that is to believe) than the 2012s. The 2013 vintage looks like a replay of 2001, and 2012 looks like a repeat of 2002, at least for Bordeaux varietals in Napa Valley. I can’t say enough about these offerings from Carter Cellars. If the rumor around the wine world is true that, because of their name, this estate was being harassed, possibly sued by the huge international French firm of Cartier, shame on Cartier. - RP