2013 LPV


In its third vintage, the 2013 Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard LPV is truly coming into its own. A combination of incredible weather mixed with a deeper knowledge of the Beckstoffer Las Piedras vineyard has lead to this remarkable vintage of Schrader LPV. The entry of this wine offers a luxurious wave of deep, dark black and blue fruit aromas and flavors woven with layers of stunning crushed rock minerality and elegant notes of lead pencil shavings, loamy soil, sweet tobacco, incense, and forest floor. The wine is tremendously complex, beautifully balanced, and offers an expansive Cabernet profile.

  • Vintage 2013
  • Vineyard Beckstoffer Las Piedras
  • Appellation St. Helena, Napa Valley
  • Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Clone Clones 4 and 337
  • Cooperage Aged 20 months in rare Darnajou French oak barrels
  • Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown
  • Tasting Notes

    In its third vintage, the Schrader LPV is truly coming into its own. A combination of incredible weather mixed with a deeper knowledge of the Beckstoffer Las Piedras vineyard has lead to this remarkable vintage of Schrader LPV. The entry of this wine offers a luxurious wave of deep, dark black and blue fruit aromas and flavors woven with layers of stunning crushed rock minerality and elegant notes of lead pencil shavings, loamy soil, sweet tobacco, incense, and forest floor. The wine is tremendously complex, beautifully balanced, and offers an expansive Cabernet profile.

  • Accolades

    94 Pts. “The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Lpv comes from clone 337. This is a rather earthy style for a Schrader wine, with less drama and flamboyance, but great fruit, a more meaty, dusty style with underbrush as well as blackcurrants, with spicy oak. It’s dense, full-bodied and promises to age nicely for 20 more years.”
    — Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

    94 Pts. “Offers a powerful, extracted, high-torque core of zesty blackberry, wild berry, anise, licorice and crushed rock flavors. Sails a steady course once underway, ending where it starts, with a dense mix of complex earth and berry notes. Best from 2020 through 2033.”
    — James Laube, Wine Spectator

    97 Pts. “Amazing aromas of hot stone, iodine, black currants and blackberries. Full body, super polished tannins that highlight the dark fruits, plus white pepper, salt and fruit character. Precise and focused. Better in 2020.”
    — James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com

  • Vineyard

    The Las Piedras Vineyard, a name that translates to “the stones” in Spanish, is an exceptional rolling estate in North East St. Helena district that carries a rich viticultural history dating back to its founding by Edward Bale in the 1840s. An exceptional terroir makes this vineyard unique, where the vines contour to the gentle slope and live in rocky soil that creates a perfectly stressed environment ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon. The result is fruit that is remarkably dense and wonderfully concentrated, abundant with a provocative and elegant minerality, and bursting with deep, lush black and blue fruit flavors complemented by magnificent structure.

  • Vintage

    In 2013 the grapes enjoyed month upon glorious month of effortless sunny days followed by clear, cool nights. Warm spring temperatures gave way to an early budbreak and the consistent, dry weather afforded an optimal fruit set. The favorable conditions seamlessly continued through the summer and we faced none of the rogue heat spikes or rain threats that might otherwise challenge a strong vintage. Once in barrel, the wine continued to develop and gain profound flavors that led to winemaker Thomas Brown stating “These are the finest wines I have ever made.”