Wine reviews
A barrel sample, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Las Piedras Vineyard gives a very deep purple-black color and amazingly intense nose of blackcurrants, blackberry pie and blueberry compote with hints of star anise, Sichuan pepper and charcuterie with touches of pencil shavings and tobacco. Full-bodied, very firm and taut in the mouth, the muscular fruit offers glimpses at wonderful earth, black fruit and savory layers with a long, mineral-laced finish.
From another site in St. Helena, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras (100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in new oak) is more tight, backward, and dense, yet still loaded with potential. Massively concentrated, with a liquid rock-like minerality in its full-bodied profile, it offers an array of black fruits, camphor, and scorched earth. It’s a brilliant wine, but the cellar is going to be your friend on this one. Hide bottles for 4-5 years and it should keep for two decades or more. 190 cases.
The very deep purple-black colored 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Las Piedras Vineyard (aged for 20 months in 100% new French oak) has quite a meaty nose of Bovril and charcuterie over a core of baked blackberries, cassis and chargrill plus wafts of yeast extract, tapenade and black soil. The palate is full-bodied, concentrated and built like a brick house with a firm structure of grainy tannins and a seamless backbone supporting the muscular fruit, finishing long and savory. 190 cases produced.