2018 Carter Wines

To me, Carter is the quintessential opulent Napa Cabernet. Mike Smith does an amazing job with layering gorgeous fruit and coupling it with a crazy great mouthfeel. These are not for those trying to avoid alcohol or looking for more terroir driven wines. They are in your face, extracted and a meal unto themselves. That said, when you are in the mood, these are as good as they get. The fruit is just amazing.

• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Weitz Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This is the most overtly fruity of the 18 Carter offerings I have tasted. It is missing the complexity, depth of flavor and overall fruit quality of its Beckstoffer siblings.
  
  Like all these Carter wines, it will need some time to calm down and blow off some of the alcohol. Blackberries, redcurrant, spice box and some nice floral aromas on the nose. A bit redder fruit than the others, this shows the exceptional mouthfeel of all the Carter offerings. Full bodied with great layering, this is a big wine with tons of fruit. Finishes well, but not on the level of the others.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Carter 96 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Black cherries, cassis, hints of dark chocolate, scorched earth and violets. Full bodied, but not quite as massive as the BTK or LPV offerings, this has a nice array of flavors, giving it good complexity - at least for a wine this extracted and opulent. Black and blue fruit give way to mineral driven flavors laced with fragrant earth. A great mouthfeel and ripe tannins, this has a full mid palate and a nicely long finish. I think this will age pretty well. Like all of these wines, I'd give it some time.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Three Kings Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  This wine suffers from being in the same lineup as the OG. It shows that same massive depth of flavor and purity, but doesn't quite get the same interesting level of overall complexity. Big time creme de cassis, violets, spice box and forest floor on the nose. Massively full bodied, it hits you immediately with waves of blueberry and cherry liqueur driven opulent fruit, styled inside fine grained tannins. Mouthfeel is excellent, the power is significant and the finish is long if a bit hot. Should be obvious not to go near these wines if you are an old school Frenchie-style wine lover. You will not enjoy.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The Grand Daddy Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Relative to the other 2018 Carter BTK offerings, this tasted the youngest, had excellent energy and perhaps the most freshness, but lacked the depth and potential complexity. Showing creme de cassis, cherry liqueur, violets and hints of fragrant earth. It's full bodied, but perhaps not quite as massive as its siblings, and shows relatively good acidity for a wine that must be 16%+ alcohol. Extracted, opulent and pure TK fruit is wrapped in fine grained tannins with excellent layers of flavor. A little mineral streak shows in the mid palate and leads to a big, slightly hot finish. Now that I am having these 18's without any bottle shock, I am realizing they will be quite a bit of time to calm down.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The O.G. Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Well, well. I had this wine right after it was shipped to me before the release, and it was a bit coiled up and reticent. That is not the case here. As a matter of fact, all these wine are pure rocket fuel right now, showing immense flavor and also immense alcohol. They need to be laid down for a while.
  
  Clearly the class of the regular BTK offerings, this is the wine with the most depth, complexity, layers of flavor and overall structure. Starts like most all of them with huge creme de cassis, tons of floral, baking spices, plus some mineral driven and earthy flavors if you really swirl it around. Another massively full bodied wine, this is hedonism on steroids with pure black and blue fruit packed and stacked into layers of opulence. The core of this thing never really seems to end, and it picks up some earth driven flavors as it chugs like a locomotive to a ridiculously long finish. As with most of the 18 Carter's, there is heat.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon La Bam Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard 97 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  This tasted right in line with my previous note. Other than Compadres (which I didn't have on this trip), this is the most rustic and savory of all the Carter wines. Starts with scorched earth, blackberries, coffee grounds and herbal notes. Full bodied and ultra seamless, this has liquid silk for texture. Lots of complexity with gravelly and stone flavors complemented by dark fruit. Like all the Carter's, wonderfully layered and opulent. Seems perhaps like the most sophisticated offering. Long finish. I think this wine comes down to whether you enjoy the more savory elements, or prefer the fruit and floral displayed by most of the others.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon La Verdad Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard 98 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I think I'll have to take this opportunity to take down my last CT note, because clearly there was bottle shock. The Verdad didn't taste anything like my previous experience. Instead of being muted and a bit hollow, this is easily the very biggest Verdad I've ever had.
  
  Still shows the most fruit and floral of the LPV wines, however this time around I am getting hints of the scorched earth and mineral driven notes that were missing in the last bottle. Gorgeous aromas. This wine must be well over 16% alcohol (they all just put 14.9%), because it is an absolute monster, but a beauty. Full bodied and more, I opened one when I got home and I'm on day three and it is STILL huge. And it hasn't lost a step. Pretty amazing. Richly layered blue fruit nicely complemented by gravelly stone, spices and fragrant earth. More going on here than in most if not all the BTK offerings. Mouthfeel is perfection as is the purity and layers. It's got everything at like 120 octane. Powerful and long finish, laced with alcohol. Lay this baby down or maybe open it 4 days before you want to drink it.

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• 2018 Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon The G.T.O Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 98 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  This is a fabulous wine, I guess my only issue with it is that is doesn't separate itself from the much less expensive OG. I wish they made this in 750ml's and weren't stuck on the Schrader model, because then I'd have much more occasion to try it as it evolves.
  
  Broken record on the nose. It falls along the lines of all the other BTK's, with creme de cassis and violets dominating, complemented by black cherries, licorice and hints of forest floor. This is the winner in the "how insanely opulent is it possible to make a wine" category. It's absolutely massively packed with fruit, even more so than the OG, and layered to perfection. Terrific silky mouthfeel and incredible depth of flavor. It is hard to find a lot of anything else going on but the fruit at the moment, but the incredibly fine tannins and crazy long finish make this something to behold. Just don't expect it not to overwhelm whatever else you are eating or drinking at the time.

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Thanks to Dan and Mark for a great tasting!