Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Made entirely from clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine bursts from the glass with lavish aromas of ripe cherry, graphite, espresso coffee and liquorice. Ample and expansive on the palate, this wine’s core of fine tannins and vivid acidity will carry it along in the cellar.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a rich, potent mix of layered flavors that are deep and pure, brimming with black licorice, dark berry, mocha, tea and floral notes that are tight, focused and persistent, with gutsy tannins. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is the most tannic of these cuvees. It exhibits an opaque purple color along with a big, intense perfume, but the wine is closed, structured, muscular and masculine in the mouth. There are only 52 cases, compared to 370 cases in 2012, so good luck finding any. This offering was made from clone 4, 6 and 337, making it one of the few multiple clone wines in the Schrader portfolio. Give this 2010 4-5 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 25-30 years.
Rating: 94+
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.