Wine Spectator Highlights 2019 Schrader Cellars Release
A Cabernet Legacy Continues
When Constellation Brands, the major drinks industry company, bought Schrader Cellars in 2017, the market murmured over another small, elite Napa Cabernet brand gobbled up by a corporate portfolio. But the wines, made by acclaimed winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, haven’t missed a beat. The winery's portfolio has also expanded over recent vintages, and now includes a red from the Monastery Block of the famed To Kalon Vineyard (which has some of the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines in Napa Valley), as well as a Stags Leap AVA bottling. There’s even a value play here, amid the triple-digit price tags. Schrader's Double Diamond bottling is made predominantly from To Kalon fruit, but checks in at just $80, well below the standard entry point of $100 for Napa Cabernet. And with 10,000 cases made, it shouldn't be too hard to find.—James Molesworth
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley CCS Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2019
Throws off a range of sassafras, chaparral and anise aromas before yielding up a prodigious core of açaí berry, plum and blackberry compote. Offers a great power/purity interplay throughout, with tarry violet and loamy incense accents. While tannic through the finish, this also reveals a subtle ripple of acidity and a hint of iron. Terrific. Best from 2024 through 2040. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2019
This has all the dense cassis, butter plum and blackberry fruit you'd expect from an Oakville Cabernet, but these elements are married to a more overt energy than most of its peers, as bramble, anise and licorice root provide a bristling accent. Offers a great graphite underpinning through the finish, and has fruit to burn. One for the cellar. Best from 2024 through 2040. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard MMXIX 2019
Pure, unadulterated cassis and plum puree notes pour through this large-scale but beautifully focused wine, with a twinge of singed apple wood and light anise, loam and sweet bay leaf flirtations through the very lengthy finish. Gorgeous. Best from 2024 through 2040. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley T6 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2019
This pulls in the full Oakville spectrum nicely, with a polished, loamy structure carrying a large-scaled core of steeped plum, boysenberry compote and cassis flavors, while a backdrop of violet, sweet bay leaf and sassafras add range and contrast. The finish has power but maintains purity, with the fruit ringing out the longest in the end. Best from 2024 through 2040. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Heritage Clone To Kalon Vineyard 2019
Delivers seriously gorgeous fruit, with plum puree, cassis and black cherry pâte de fruit notes that are compressed together without losing their clarity and definition, while licorice snap, violet and apple wood notes form the frame. Reveals an iron note that drives underneath on the finish, imbuing everything with latent energy and drive. Big, but in an elephant-balancing-on-a-ball manner; gotta tip the cap. Best from 2023 through 2038. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley LPV Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard 2019
Delivers warm steeped black currant and blackberry compote flavors that are broad and deep as they roll through, laced with licorice root, singed alder and warm paving stone notes. A subtle cast iron accent peeks in at the very end, adding a lingering echo of terroir without obstructing the fruit. Gorgeous. Best from 2023 through 2040. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley RBS Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2019
Gushes with pure violet, plum and cassis notes, all flecked with hints of black tea, anise and sassafras. Driven, with a graphite underpinning providing a spine that stays in the background as the fruit stretches out. Approachable already but no rush at all. Drink now through 2038. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Monastery Block To Kalon Vineyard 2019
A dark and winey style, with loads of plum, blackberry and black currant preserves tumbling through, enlivened with apple wood, anise and bramble along the way. The finish is underscored by a swath of loam and tar but the fruit keeps the upper hand, ending with a flourish of additional spice, incense and iron. A wine that flaunts it—because it can. Best from 2024 through 2038. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Colesworthy Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard 2019
Delivers inviting warm cassis and crushed plum notes, while subtle lilac and violet accents flitter in the background. Shows subtle alder smoke, savory and mineral accents that enhance the fruit through the lengthy finish. A confidently suave Cabernet. Best from 2023 through 2037. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District WH Wappo Hill Vineyard 2019
Showy, with waves of cassis, plum pâte de fruit and blackberry preserves backed by licorice snap, roasted apple wood and cocoa. A nice, racy graphite spine provides necessary support. A hedonist's delight. Drink now through 2035.
Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford GIII Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard 2019
A rock-solid Cabernet, with cassis and dark plum stitched together with dusty earth and iron notes, all set into an alder and savory frame. Grippy back end, but the fruit keeps pace and there's a buried violet note for purity. Best from 2023 through 2036. —J.M.
Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Double Diamond 2019
Packs in generous steeped plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors backed by a broad swath of roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa. Brimming with dense fruit, and is squarely in the not-shy style. The long finish has a serious loamy tug, too. Best from 2023 through 2035.