Winemaker Notes
Sourced from the Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard in Rutherford, this wine is produced from 100% Clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes originated from a specific section of the vineyard that was formerly part of the Napa River riverbed. This section benefits from an abundance of minerals and rocks left behind that makes it distinct from the surrounding terroir. Medium- to full-bodied and approachable in its youth, this wine features notes of sweet tobacco, spearmint, and ripe red fruit with opulent and soft, rounded tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Reminding me of a great vintage of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard boasts a dense purple hue as well as a gorgeous array of ripe black fruits, olive, smoke tobacco, chocolate, and lead pencil shavings. As with all these latest Schrader releases, it's concentrated and impeccably balanced on the palate, with a layered opulence as well as velvety tannins. The purity of fruit here is off the charts. I wouldn't turn down a glass now, but this will benefit from 4-5 years in the cellar and cruise over the following two decades or more. It's an incredibly complete, balanced, seamless wine from winemaker Thomas Brown.
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Decanter
From the Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard, located in Rutherford in the heart of Napa Valley, a site renowned for its deep, gravelly loam soils, which contribute to the vineyard's signature rich, complex Cabernet Sauvignon wines characterised by their exceptional balance and depth, all of which is on display in the Schrader Cellars' 2021 GIII. This wonderfully expressive wine boasts a nose of black currants, fragrant spearmint, and toasty oak with cigar box nuances. It has a medium-bodied palate feel and delivers an elegant profile of black cherry, plum, and black currant fruits interlaced with tobacco spices and supported by intricate, finely-hewed tannins. Blood orange acidity and an extended finish frame this energetic Cabernet.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourcing for the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard GIII continues to be from clone 337 in the vineyard's F block, with maturation in 100% new French oak. Ripe cherries are joined by herbal shadings and a mélange of dried spices on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is plush and creamy, with a tremendously long finish. Really seductive stuff, this is already approachable yet seems to have the balance and concentration to drink well for up to 20 years.
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Wine Spectator
A dense and winey style, with cassis, blackberry and plum preserve notes backed by good energy in the form of a touch of bramble, sparkles of licorice snap and a whiff of violet. Stays vivid and engaging from start to finish. This is rock solid. Best from 2025 through 2042.
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.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.