Winemaker Notes
The 2014 Mockingbird Red is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance made up of Merlot and a small amount of Cabernet Franc. It’s a rich and vibrant wine with a powerful yet elegant finish. The wine is made from nearly equal parts of three well-known and highly regarded vineyards in St Helena, Calistoga and Oakville.
Blend: 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blueberries, blackcurrants and wet earth. Some fresh mushrooms. Full body, medium velvety tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Tight and structured. Needs two to three years to open. Impressive.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Just a mere mention of the Beckstoffer name and one knows that one is talking about serious Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux blends. The 2014 Tuck Beckstoffer Estate Mockingbird Red is indeed a wine that needs no introduction. TASTING NOTES: Drawn from three vineyards—in the famed AVAs of St. Helena, Calistoga, and Oakville—this wine exhibits expressive ripe fruit, high-class oak, and impressive persistence. Time will be required to tame its tannins. (Tasted: June 22, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Proprietary Red Mockingbird Red comes from three vineyards, including Dancing Hares, and exhibits loads of fruit, maybe not the depth of the Mockingbird Blue, but blue and black fruits, an opaque, dark-ruby color, notes of spice box, fruitcake, cedar wood and tobacco leaf, as well as red and blackcurrants. It is a more elegant and cooler-climate style of wine.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.