Anatomy of a One Hundred Point Wine
Wine scores, published in a number of national and international publications dedicated to reporting the ins and outs of the wide world of wine are, love it or leave it, an established part of the modern wine lovers’ idiom. While we can debate the importance, or relevance, of a given wine score, there is no debating that scores get talked about…a lot!
Part of what makes a score so interesting is the immense, incredibly deep and immense, experience of the top professional wine writers, the sheer volume of wines from a world-encompassing breadth of regions that these passionate women and men have tasted in the course of their careers. How do they place and categorize so many diverse wines against each other? And how do they parse the myriad subtleties that make every fine wine a unique experience? And how do they wrangle the language to express the nuance and the very personal interaction that they had, as a professional taster, in such a way that it makes sense to the rest of us?
When Jonathan Cristaldi of Decanter Magazine bestowed a rare and enviable score of 100 points upon our 2021 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, we were, of course, over the moon with excitement and delight. But we also paused to ask, “What is it that really made this wine stand out to Mr. Cristaldi?” After all, we carefully and meticulously craft every vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon from this hallowed piece of vineyard land. So what made this one stand out to a guy who has, let’s face it, tasted it all?
So many things come to mind, and many of them are out of our control. Keeping it short, the list looks like this:
Vineyard Terroir – the layers of soils and the climate unique to each vineyard
Vineyard Management – how the vines are tended and farmed over time and during a given vintage. Tilling, trellising, pruning, canopy growth, and watering, to name a few
Vintage – how the weather patterns of a specific vintage (and also the previous year) affected the grapes and, ultimately, the flavor of the wines.
Harvest Date – a crucial decision for the Winemaker: when exactly to harvest to reach the perfect balance of Brix and ph
Winemaking – Fermentation, extraction, and cap management, choice of barrels, time in barrel
Blending – putting the pieces together in just the right ratio to produce wines with balance and nuance and beauty
But finally, there is an unpredictable and very personal element: an individual professional on a certain day tastes the wine, and it simply knocks them over. We can’t possibly understand exactly how this happens, but it sure is exciting when it does! In the end, it’s even more exciting to us to hear from you when one of our wines simply knocks you over. Maybe one of these will make it onto your “top wines of the year” list!
2021 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 100pts
Sourced from A, B, and D blocks of the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard in Oakville. Two blocks ferment in stainless steel tanks and one block in barrels. Winemaker Kirk Venge has fashioned a super-perfumed, positively beautiful wine bursting with bright red fruit aromatics, liquorice, cedarwood, and sagebrush. Profound, grippy tannins deeply impact the medium- to full-bodied palate, imbued with fragrant, perfumed florals, lavender, and hints of peach pit. Saline minerals fuel the finish, along with zesty crushed cocoa nib notes. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
2021 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 99pts
Aged in Tranasaud and Darnajou barrels, it shows super fragrant dusty mineral notes, dried sagebrush, and blackberry fruits with a full-bodied richness divined by expressive minerality, fragrant dried florals, and sweet cedar on an everlasting finish. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
2021 Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 98pts
Super vibrant and tense with velvety tannins nuanced by aromatic sagebrush, thyme, and fennel notes wrapped in fragrant cedarwood with graham cracker crust. Candied red cherry fruit with Kirsch in a full-bodied expression with elegant ironstone mineral, length, intensity, and a firm spine of lacy acidity. This will be a long-lived. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
*only magnums available
2021 Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 97pts
From Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper from the C Block. With the 2021 vintage, the vines are nine years old. At the pull of the cork, the C Block Cabernet checks all the boxes. Floral-driven, with dried lavender, cherry blossoms, sweet toffee spices, and impressive power and richness on top of all the fine Oakville tannin structure. Candied fruit, cherry cola, blood orange citrus, and crushed cocoa nibs are framed by the seamless integration of focused, elongated tannins. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
2021 Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 97pts
From Beckstoffer Georges III, across the Silverado Trail from Upper Range, adjacent to Caymus, in Rutherford, with volcanic soils that have fallen from Pritchard Hill over the millennia, along with sedimentary river soils from the Napa River. These are similar to what makes the Left Bank of Bordeaux so unique. There is loads of tension in this wine. Medium-bodied with terrific layers of Morrocan spiced olives, fragrant wild herbs, cedar-spiced tannins, dried wildflowers, and impeccable length and freshness. These are west-facing blocks. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
*only magnums available
2021 Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 97pts
From Beckstoffer Bourn Vineyard. From the B block with vines roughly 25 years of age. In 2021, with a low crop load, this turned out to be just 125 cases. Open-top barrel-fermented, aged 28 months in 100% new French oak, and bottled unfiltered and unfined. Incredibly floral-driven in 2021, with currants and savory herbs. Medium to full-bodied with perfectly integrated velvety tannins, perfumed black cherry, and fruit nuanced by cardamom and star anise. The finish brings out sweetly spiced cedarwood, hints of white pepper and dried lavender. -Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine
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