2012 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky 1.5L


Our 2012 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky 1.5L will be shipped in a Schrader Cellars wooden box.

1x 1500ml bottle

Vineyard: Beckstoffer To Kalon
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Clone: 4, 6, and 337

Critical Scores: 100 WA, 96 WS

Old Sparky, the highest marque of the Schrader portfolio utilizes the best barrel lots from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard and is only sold in magnum format. The epitome of Winemaker Thomas Brown’s exceptional ability to create a master blend Cabernet, the 2012 Schrader Old Sparky follows a strict mantra, reveal everything in abundance while remaining in perfect balance. The Schrader Old Sparky is a powerhouse of delicious Cabernet flavor offering intense notes of crème de cassis and blackberry wrapped with toasted oak. This monumental wine represents the ultimate expression of such a magnificent vintage.

  • Vintage 2012
  • Alcohol 14.5%
  • Vineyard Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard
  • Appellation Oakville, Napa Valley
  • Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Clone Clones 4, 6, and 337
  • Cooperage Aged 20 months in rare Darnajou French oak barrels
  • Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown
  • Tasting Notes

    Old Sparky, the highest marque of the Schrader portfolio utilizes the best barrel lots from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard and is only sold in magnum format. The epitome of Winemaker Thomas Brown’s exceptional ability to create a master blend Cabernet, the 2012 Schrader Old Sparky follows a strict mantra, reveal everything in abundance while remaining in perfect balance. The Schrader Old Sparky is a powerhouse of delicious Cabernet flavor offering intense notes of crème de cassis and blackberry wrapped with toasted oak. This monumental wine represents the ultimate expression of such a magnificent vintage.

  • Accolades

    100 Pts. “Another compelling, nearly perfect wine is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky. This is Clone 4 and Clone 6, as well as Clone 337, blended together from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, aged in 100% new Darnajou barrels. For whatever reason, this wine seems to show more chocolate, espresso roast, barbecue smoke, dense blackberry and blueberry fruit and enormous body with not a touch of heaviness or astringency. This is a fabulous offering. It should drink well for 20-25 years.”
    — Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

    96 Pts. “Very tight, featuring a beam of spice-laced blackberry, currant, dried herb and jazzy oak. The laser focus is most evident on the finish, which slowly unravels to highlight this wine’s density, elegance and grace. The flavors reverberate in the end.”
    — James Laube, Wine Spectator

  • Vineyard

    First planted in 1868 by viticultural and winemaking icon Hamilton Crabb, To Kalon Vineyard® has long been regarded as the source of Napa Valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Within the prime vineyard blocks, an alluvial fan provides excellent and varied mineral deposits, and the rich soils are filled with marine sediment that gives our wines their distinctive profiles. The vines receive full sun and optimal heat during the day and are cooled by marine fog at night. These conditions allow the Cabernet Sauvignon planted in the vineyard to display its own unique character, and this celebration of individuality is the essence of Schrader ®.

  • Vintage

    In the words of Henry Hartman, “success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.” With more than a decade of experience in the vineyard we definitely had the preparation part down, however we were happily surprised by the unlimited opportunity given to us by Mother Nature in 2012. The growing conditions were beyond fabulous, provding the double benefit of phenomenal quality as well as grand abundance, a winemaker’s dream. Serendipitous and trouble-free, the pristine conditions of the season delivered a harvest with both marvelous quality and ample quantity, an ideal combination.