October 25, 2023 - Fantastic. Smooth tannins. Rich and plush. Classic red Napa fruit. Cedar, cassis
..yum...
September 10, 2023 - Good wine, not great. Seemed in line with the vintage, ultimately to its detriment. Drank alongside about 10 other 2012 Napa Cabs, this was a touch sweet in comparison, a bit too soft and one-note. Enjoyable for sure, but did nothing to distinguish itself.
June 25, 2023 - beautiful, big, polished.
decanted for one hour; lots of bright red fruit, good acidity and pleasant tannins that paired perfectly with a grilled rib eye.
very CA and enjoyable
November 9, 2022 - I bought this as part of a library multi-wine purchase to get onto Schrader's mailing list. Maybe the hype was too built up in my mind, as this is the first Schrader I tasted, but I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong - it's a fine wine and complex - but for $350 I expected more. After 10 years of aging its overly acidic - disjointed in fact. Would need another 5 - 10 years minimum for it to calm down, if it ever really does. I only decanted for 1 hour, so maybe that was my problem. Still, I have tasted cabs from top producers in Happy Canyon and Paso that approach this, for 20 cents on the dollar. So I don't know, did I make a mistake getting onto this wine list? I hope this was an aberration. Maybe I just don't like cab anymore, and even a top Napa producer doesn't do it for me. Sorry for the long note.
February 24, 2022 - Stunning. Rich. Elegant. Opulent. I could thesaurus on, but you get the idea...
Drink it now, drink it in 5-10 years, just drink it.
November 7, 2021 - Decanted for an hour. Beautiful aromas of blackberry, cassis, blue fruits, cherry, anise, cedar and a hint of herbs. Very dark in color, rich and dense. layers of flavor with the blackberry up front, followed by cassis, anise, spice, and cedar. Showing really well, has improved with a few years.
October 22, 2021 - This is a classic Schrader style wine! Dark almost pitch black look to it. Lots of red ripe raspberries, strawberries with a finish of blackberries, cassis and cedar hints at the end. Finish was impressively long-45 seconds to a minute. Tannins are still very present and the acidity is still there for long term cellaring. Drank with dinner. Beckstoffer To Kalon is one of the original vineyards of Schrader and it always shows lots of depth and consistency in the fruit for their wines. Year in and year out, this vineyard is always a delightful experience to enjoy!
September 6, 2020 - Crazy amounts of cherry and currants (raisin juice), graphite, iron, cinnamon, clove, vanilla, showing some small amount of age, but should last another decade. This has insane concentration, silky mouthfeel and perfect balance. Drinks beautifully as a PnP, but got better with 2 hours of air in a wide base decanter. Great juice.
July 8, 2020 - Bold oak, vanilla and black fruit aromas. Decanted for 4 hours, and it still could use another 2. Flavors of black cherry, vanilla, crushed rocks and raspberry. Long finish. Must drink with food.
December 20, 2019 - Drank side by side with a bottle of Cardinale from the same vintage, and this wine was the choice of the majority of my friends (not to knock Cardinale, which was also a great wine). Dominated by flavors of black fruit, the wine just kept getting better with every taste. Must be decanted for no less than an hour. James Laube calls it refined and elegant, and I must agree. The bold yet smooth finish is what separates this wine from its peers.