Winemaker Notes
Our Schrader Colesworthy, named in honor of Carol Colesworthy Schrader, represents the highest expression of the remarkable Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard. Like our Schrader Old Sparky program, each vintage the wine is crafted from a handful of outstanding barrel lots from this acclaimed estate. Presented in magnum format, this inky dark wine is fabulously aromatic with oodles of ripe blackberries and a unique minerality accented by notes of vanilla, pencil shavings, and forest floor. This magnificently pure Cabernet Sauvignon shows stunning intensity and finesse with seamless texture and perfect balance across the palate.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A barrel selection released only in magnum, similar to the Old Sparky release, yet only from the Las Piedras Vineyard, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Colesworthy Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard is another perfect wine from this team, and it’s one of those wine where I wish I could pour ever reader a taste. Offering up thrillingly pure notes of crème de cassis, perfectly ripe blueberries, chocolate, and a crazy, liquid rock-like minerality, it hits the palate with a full-bodied, powerful style that carries tons of richness and depth, yet still just glides over the palate with no sensation of weight or heaviness. It’s certainly one of the greatest Napa Cabernet Sauvignons I’ve ever tasted. As with the base Las Piedras Vineyard, do your best to hold off for a few years.
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James Suckling
Crazy aromas of black truffles and black fruit. Extremely aromatic and powerful on the nose. Full-bodied, yet the tannins are so fine and polished. Fascinating length and focus. Muscular but toned. Try after 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Colesworthy opens with ripe, rich, bold crème de cassis, preserved plums and baked blueberries scents with hints of cumin seeds, star anise, mincemeat pie, mocha and new leather with wafts of tobacco, cedar and black tea. The full-bodied palate is very firm and muscular with bags of black fruits and spices, finishing very long.
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Wine Spectator
A ripe, showy style, with warm waves of cassis, plum sauce and raspberry pâte de fruit taking center stage, laced with singed apple wood, sweet tobacco and anise notes. The finish delivers a bold kick of energetic fruit and a creamy dollop of toast. Best from 2020 through 2034. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
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.