Wine reviews
This has power but is reserved in style, with dark currant preserves, plum puree and black cherry reduction notes laced with singed alder and sweet tobacco. A subtle iron note chimes gently through the long finish, which fleshes out steadily as this airs. Best from 2023 through 2038. 392 cases made.
Coming from a rockier site no more than a stone’s throw from Dr. Crane Vineyard, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras is more meaty and savory, with lots of red and black fruits as well as loads of rocky, earthy minerality, spring flower, tobacco, and lead pencil-like nuances. Just beautifully balanced on the palate, it's full-bodied and elegant, with silky tannins, no hard edges, and one incredible finish. It's more red fruited than the Dr. Crane, yet it has a similar ethereal, weightless style that makes it such a joy to drink, even today. Given its balance, purity, and freshness, I have no doubt it will evolve for 25+ years, and I'm probably underrating it by a point. – JD
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard charges out of the gate with bold notions of redcurrant jelly, black raspberries, blackcurrant pastilles and wild roses with touches of tilled soil, tree bark and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, concentrated and built like a brick house, the big change with Las Piedras this vintage is the amount of FRUIT it has in the mid-palate, beautifully matching the firm, ripe grainy tannins and lively backbone, finishing with epic length. A head-turning step up on previous vintages—wow! – LPB