Wine reviews
The 2015 barrel samples show the wonderful, pure, deep, fleshy and succulent fruit that this vintage showcases in abundance. The tiny yields and great ripeness have combine to portend a great, great vintage for Bordeaux varieties, as well as others in Northern California. The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard looks to be the superstar of 2015, but it’s still early in the game, so it’s hard for me not to put my money on the Dr. Crane Vineyard. This wine offers notes of cedar wood, fruitcake, spice box, blackcurrants, forest floor, licorice and flowers. It is ripe, dense, voluptuously textured – even unctuous – with gorgeous purity and depth. It should drink well for 15-20 years.- RP Mike Smith has done a fabulous job at Myriad Cellars in Calistoga working with some fabulous vineyards and creating sumptuous, sexy and consumer-friendly, relatively big and exuberant wines. His 2012s and 2013s were top flight, and he has followed that up with strong successes in 2014 and 2015.
Smooth, rich and creamy, featuring a dense core of dark berry, graphite, mineral, crushed rock and black licorice flavors, with a finish that sails on gracefully. Drink now through 2032. 350 cases made. – J.L.
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard opens with a deep purple-black color and nose of black cherry compote, plum preserves and dried herbs with an earthy, savory undercurrent of yeast extract and meat. Big, full-bodied, concentrated and voluptuous in the mouth, it has chewy tannins and a long, savory finish. – LPB
Coming from 5 separate blocks in the vineyard, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III has a Bordeaux-like (Saint-Julien?) bouquet of black currants, graphite, lead pencil and leafy herbs. It's ripe, full-bodied, and structured on the palate, with fine tannin, beautiful purity of fruit, a solid mid-palate, and a great finish. Like all these 2015s from Mike it will have two decades of longevity. – JD