BRIGHT & BALANCED
2022 B Cellars Beckstoffer Heritage Wines
B Cellars is especially proud of its long-term partnership with legendary and pioneering grower, Andy Beckstoffer. With a portfolio of seven single-vineyard heritage wines, the B Cellars – Beckstoffer partnership offers some of the region’s best wines, produced from the most sought-after vineyards in Napa Valley. We have nurtured our partnership with Beckstoffer Vineyards since our founding in 2003 and continue to be the first of only two wineries in the Napa Valley that produce a wine from each of these historic Napa Valley Vineyards.
The 2022 vintage produced wines with bright red fruit flavors but generally less depth, power, and softer tannins than usual in Napa Valley. This was due to an intense heat wave in the first week of September, which stressed some vines. Despite the challenges, excellence emerged in specific vineyards. We collaborate with over 40 vineyards, including the Heritage sites owned by Beckstoffer Vineyards, which consistently yield healthy, intensely flavored fruit. Their well-drained, gravelly soils and innovative farming practices, such as no-till farming, promote deep root development and resilience against stress.
In 2022, these vineyards produced richer flavors, bolder tannins, and a fuller mouthfeel compared to others in Napa Valley. After 22 months of barrel aging, we decided that their tannic structure was ready for bottling. We chose this earlier timeline instead of the typical 28 months to preserve the balance of freshness, power, and tannic structure.
2022 Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Missouri Hopper Vineyard has become synonymous with world-class wine. This historic vineyard is located on the western alluvial fan just north of the town of Yountville–at the southern edge of the Oakville wine-growing region. Oakville has a long-standing reputation for producing cellar-worthy wines of incredible depth, gravitas, and character. We pick several rows from the “C” and “D” blocks, located a short distance west from the highway as the ground slowly rises toward the Mayacamas. Of the Heritage vineyards, this Cabernet Sauvignon is the showiest in the glass, known for show-stopping aromatics of perfumed fruit, and the 2022 vintage is no exception.
2022 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
To Kalon, the granddaddy of them all. Heralded far and wide since the middle-1800’s for producing wines of distinction, this may be the most storied vineyard in the Valley–and it’s worthy of the hype. We pick from 2 rows in each blocks “A1,” “B1,” and “D1,” giving us an array of flavors from diverse clonal stock and vine age. The soils on this famed alluvial fan run from cobble-pitted loams at the base of the Mayacamas to finer-grained silt toward the highway where the bench levels out towards the Napa River. The flavors are quintessentially Oakville and tell the story of the Napa Valley.
2022 Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
When Andy purchased this vineyard from Beaulieu, it was named simply “Beaulieu No. 3.” Andy rechristened it after the legendary vintner and founder of BV, Georges de la Tour. Sitting atop a sprawling array of different soils, bounded by the Silverado Trail and bisected by Conn Creek, this vineyard is a winemaker’s dreamland of terroir. We pick from several blocks (“A1a,” “B1b,” “B2c,” and “E”) with soils ranging from clays to cobbles. Savory on the nose and bright and lively on the palate. The flavors dance harmoniously with the quintessential dusty tannins that are synonymous with Rutherford.
2022 Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
William Bowers Bourn II, considered the last Bonanza King of the California Gold Rush, purchased his vineyard in St. Helena in 1872 as a family home, and much of the original vineyard land remains in the care of his descendants to this day. A portion of the original vineyard was purchased by Beckstoffer Vineyards in 2010, making this the most recent addition to the collection of Beckstoffer Heritage vineyards–however, it possesses the oldest vines in this collection, a plot of gnarly old head-trained Petite Sirah! (Stay tuned because B Cellars is collaborating with Beckstoffer Vineyards to keep these vines in the ground for as long as possible–starting with the 2023 Harvest, we will be picking what little fruit these vines produce, bottle, and share a living piece of Napa Valley history!) The vineyard is located in the narrow middle point of the hourglass-shaped Napa Valley. The 2022 vintage produced an incredibly complex wine with a broad palate and mouth-watering tannins. Truly Bourn at its finest.
2022 Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Planted to vineyards for over 150 years, Beckstoffer Las Piedras traces its history back to the original Mexican land grants. In the 1840’s European settler Edward Bale planted the property, a wedding gift from General Vallejo, to Mission grapes. It became the first vineyard planted in what is now the St. Helena appellation and saw the first wine varietals planted in 1860. In 1983 Beckstoffer Vineyards purchased the property and planted it to two clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. Impressed with the intensely gravely quality of the soils, farmworkers named the vineyard Las Piedras. Our share of this historic piece of terroir is small and dear, yielding a mere two or three barrels of wine each vintage. The palate is balanced with enticing flavors of strawberry tart and savory notes of forest floor. Lingering tannins show the expanse of this vineyard.
2022 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa pioneer Dr. George Belden Crane originally planted Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard in 1858. Eventually, the vineyard site became surrounded by the town of St Helena. Beckstoffer Vineyards acquired the historic vineyard site in 1997. In 1998, the vineyard replant was overseen by Dave Michul, who was at the time the new head of vineyard operations for Beckstoffer Vineyards. Today, Dave is the CEO of Beckstoffer Vineyards, and these vines remain healthy and strong, producing some of the most coveted fruit in the entire Napa Valley. It is difficult to describe with words the balance of pure power and finesse in the wines of Dr. Crane Vineyard. The aromas are expressive of dark fruit; blackberry, huckleberry, blueberry pie, and wet slate. The mouthfeel is heavy, full, and covers the entirety of the palate.
2022 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is an enigma in the Napa Valley. While the varietal is by point of family history one of the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon (itself a relatively young addition to the pantheon of the noble grapes and the result of crossing the elder varietals of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc), it tends to play second fiddle as a blending grape, added in small amounts to Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa and across the wine-growing world, and known for its floral aromatics. However, in certain, very particular, and rare terroirs, like Dr. Crane Vineyard, this varietal ripens fully and deeply into one of the more memorable and compelling combinations of flavors and aromas known to enophiles ever. Bursting with a bouquet of roses and blood orange zest. The palate is balanced and smooth, with rounded tannins and flavors of blueberry pie and raspberry with cocoa nibs, cedar, and white tea.
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