Wine reviews
Deep and layered in the glass, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Lithology Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard possesses off the charts textural intensity and remarkably silky tannins for this site, where the wines tend to be bruising. Today, the Piedras is full of character as wells as potential. It is another magnificent, classy wine from Alejandro Bulgheroni and his team. – Antonio Galloni
A barrel sample, the 2016 Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras sports a very deep, inky black color and slightly closed, youthfully mute nose of blackberries, black currants and black cherries with wild blueberry, black olives and tobacco hints, plus a touch of iron ore. Full-bodied and firmly structured in the mouth, it has incredible finesse and depth with the gorgeous texture giving way to elegant, nuanced fruit on the very long finish. – LPB
From a site just outside of St. Helena, the mammoth-sized 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Lithology Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard (barrel fermented and aged in 80% new French oak) offers up a smorgasbord of dark, meaty fruits, chocolate, damp earth, and tobacco, with more minerality and violet characteristics developing with time in the glass. Deep, full-bodied, and incredibly layered, it’s one of the richer, more powerful wines in the lineup. Drink it over the coming 2 decades. – JD
Aged for 22 months in 80% new French oak, the 2016 Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras is very deep garnet-purple in color with a nose of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries and warm plums with nuances of beautiful exotic spices accents and a perfume of potpourri, tobacco leaf and Sichuan pepper plus a hint of cedar chest. Full-bodied with a firm backbone of fine-grained tannins and a lively line, it has a stunning core of bright, crunchy black fruits, finishing with a wonderfully persistent perfume. 90 cases produced. – LPB