Wine reviews
This features lush, velvety waves of plum sauce, blackberry puree and warmed fig confiture rolling through, laced liberally with melted black licorice and Black Forest cake notes. The toast is equally lavish on the finish. Integrated and balanced, but be prepared for the ostentatious style. Best from 2020 through 2032. 311 cases made.
There are two wines from this rocky site located on the western edge of St. Helena, which was purchased by the Beckstoffer family in 1983. Looking first at the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon LPV Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, which is 100% clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon aged in new oak, it has a dense, backward style as well as insane minerality in its full-bodied aromas and flavors of black fruits, dark chocolate, violets, and earth. Locked and loaded on the palate, it has a layered, multi-dimensional texture, yet is certainly one of the more backward releases. Don’t think about opening bottles for at least 3-5 years.
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Lpv is very deep purple-black in color with an incredibly perfumed nose of potpourri, lavender and red roses with hints of oolong tea, cigar boxes and fragrant earth over a black cherry, blackberry and warm plums core. Full-bodied, firm and with wonderfully ripe, grainy tannins, it delivers mouth-filling black fruits and an epically long, wonderfully fragrant finish.
A wine that got a few expletives in my notes, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard LPV was one of the more tight and closed 2016 but is just stacked with potential. A huge wine, with loads of darker fruits and scorched earth aromatics, full-bodied richness, a thick, viscous texture, and building tannin, this inky black, backward, powerful 2016 needs to be forgotten for 4-6 years but will keep for decades.