2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon

Another 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard, coming from clones 4 and 337 from that famous first-growth Oakville vineyard of 90 acres. Remarkably, the Robert Mondavi winery still owns even larger portion of the To Kalon Vineyard, but certainly doesn’t exploit it to the extent that most purchasers of Beckstoffer To Kalon fruit do. This cuvee of 450 cases is closer to a Chateau Latour in a great vintage than you might believe, since it’s from Napa Valley. Notes of graphite, charcoal, blackcurrant liqueur and cedar wood are followed by a muscular, full-bodied wine with fabulous purity, a skyscraper-like texture and a long, long finish, with moderately sweet, ripe tannin. Give it several years of cellaring and drink it over the following three decades, as it is a fabulous effort. Dec 2016, www.robertparker.com