Wine reviews
On the ripe and showy side, with peacocking flavors of creamed plum, cassis and cherry preserves, while the back end draws in a healthy shot of toasted vanilla and dark licorice. The graphite-edged finish pulls all the elements together, adding cut and detail to the fruit. Best from 2021 through 2035. 234 cases made. – J.M
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon T6 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is more structured and savory, with an incredibly bloody, iron-like character that gives way to awesome notes of incense, spice, tobacco leaf, and black cherry and cassis fruits. Aged 20 months in 95% new oak, this dense, meaty, blockbuster effort needs to be forgotten for at least 5-6 years, at which point it should cruise for 25-30 years. It’s a killer bottle of wine. – JD
Very deep purple-black colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard T6 has a gregarious nose of Chinese five spice, cardamom, menthol and cigar box over a core of crème de cassis, Black Forest cake and blueberry compote with a waft of potpourri. Full-bodied, rich, spicy and oh-so-decadent in the mouth, it has a firm yet plush frame and an epically long, spicy finish. – LPB
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard T6 comes from a specific parcel in the To Kalon Vineyard, which is a valley floor site located in Oakville. It just pops on the nose and has a sweet tobacco, brambly spice, cassis, and mulled fruit character as well as rich, full-bodied, layered style on the palate. It’s unquestionably the most perfumed and complex of the 2016s from Schrader. – JD