Guarachi Family Wines Beckstoffer Las Piedras Heritage Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Single Vineyard is delicious wine with beautiful cedar wood, crème de cassis, blackberry, licorice, and a touch of camphor and incense. The wine is full-bodied, powerful (15% natural alcohol), with a multilayered mouthfeel and skyscraper-like structure and intensity. This is a beauty, and a top, top wine of the vintage. Drink it over the next 25 to 30 years.
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James Suckling
This has aromas of figs with prunes and tar. Full-bodied with lots of ripe fruit character, verging on jammy but enjoyable.
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When Alex Guarachi came to the United States in the 1970s, he noticed that Chilean wine was not available. He vowed to change this and was one of the first importers to introduce South American wine to the American public. Twenty-five years of serving as the founder and president of TGIC Importers–the leading American importer of South American wine –Alex Guarachi decided bring the passion and spirit of his own cultural experience to your dinner table. Today, the Guarachi Family introduces you to the finest from their hearts and their homeland in California.
After a quarter century of tasting, judging and assisting in the production of wines for other wineries, Alex finally realized a lifelong dream of producing his own wines with the inaugural bottling of three Guarachi Family Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These bold, rich and stylish bottles come from prominent vineyards and appellations in Sonoma and Napa counties. The wines were created with the help of one of Alex's close friends: internationally-renowned winemaker, Paul Hobbs. After many years marketing and assisting in the production of fine wine from all over the world, Alex Guarachi created a brand to carry his own family name and reflect only the highest quality Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon in California. Guarachi Family Wines is sourced from micro-lots within California’s most premier appellations – Sonoma Coast and Napa Valley.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.