A bottle of 2012 schrader cabernet sauvignon beckstoffer to kalon vineyard on a grey background

2012 Beckstoffer To Kalon

Our flagship wine, 2012 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, is a compelling exploration of the trio of Cabernet clones from the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard. This massive and dense wine provides enthralling notes of dark berries, especially blackberry and blackcurrant. With complex structure and concentration, the prodigious weight and character commands attention. Balancing out the ripe fruit characteristics of this wine with firm, grippy tannins, the 2012 Schrader is a tower of Cabernet power that continues to show a profound level of flavor.

  • Vintage 2012
  • Vineyard Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard
  • Appellation Oakville, Napa Valley
  • Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Clone Clone 4, Block C2
  • Cooperage Aged 20 months in rare Darnajou French oak barrels
  • Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown

  • Tasting Notes

    Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon, our flagship wine, is a compelling exploration of the trio of Cabernet clones from the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard. This massive and dense wine provides enthralling notes of dark berries, especially blackberry and blackcurrant. With complex structure and concentration, the prodigious weight and character commands attention. Balancing out the ripe fruit characteristics of this wine with firm, grippy tannins, the 2012 Schrader is a tower of Cabernet power that continues to show a profound level of flavor.

  • Accolades

    98 Pts. "Nearly as prodigious is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard, which is Clone 4 and Clone 6 blended together from the Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard, this is the highest in alcohol of the 2012s at 14.6%. It was aged in a combination of 50% new Darnajou and 50% new Taransaud barrels. This wine is one of the tighter, more backward of the 2012s, with more structure, tannin, muscle, a masculine personality, oodles of black and blue fruits and a massive mouthfeel, but is somehow much more primary and younger tasting than the other wines. Forget it for a few years and drink it over the following 20-25 years." — Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

    95 Pts. "Sleek, refined and elegant, showing rich layers of spicy oak, black- berry and wild berry, with cedar and herb nuances. Ends with a long, full finish that gains depth and detail, firming nicely on the finish." — 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.

All Beckstoffer To Kalon Vintages

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