February 7, 2023 - To Kalon and Dr. Crane Night (Charlie Palmer Steak NYC): Big full bodied fruit driven wine. A hedonistic pleasure. It was the most flamboyant wine of the night. Had I just drank this, I probably would have given it a higher score. But alongside some other Dr. Crane and Tokalon wines, it just seemed to be missing the extra complexity for a higher score.
August 21, 2022 - Drank with ribeye. Super dense, dark fruit and friendly tannins, everything you could want if you’re looking for a luxuriant Napa cab.
March 19, 2022 - Not sure the deal here. No fruit or freshness, just cassis and anise. Opened in the bottle for half the day and got worse with time. Borderline disgusting. Overdone with no fruit or purity. Texturally it’s thick and murky with loads of suspended sediment. Purchased direct May from Realm.
September 15, 2021 - As advertised. Solid.
April 30, 2021 - 3 days in Napa: Arkenstone, Memento Mori, Maxem, The French Laundry, Christopher Tynan, Kinsman, Harlan, Vice Versa, Accendo, Fairchild, Macdonald, and a truckload of others (Napa): At the French Laundry. A mouthful of ripe fruit illustrative of what one might expect from this house and this site. A whopping wine from a big vintage from a vineyard that often produces succulent fruit-driven wines.
So then, this is one of those moments when I have to augment my notes with, “Hey I’m just keeping it real here folks,” which undoubtedly means I have some feedback I want to impart that I’m not necessarily super stoked to be sharing at this time about this wine. Ok, to the point… The showing on this wine highlighted a ton of sweet vanilla bean and alcohol that made it hard to tear into the fruit behind the curtain of heat and booze. Tannic is ok with me, but a straight cocktail lounge act performance isn’t what I signed up for with this wine. I know… “Just give it time,” and all that. Well…
The fruit seems pure and fashioned with skill and talent, but it was especially difficult to get into a groove here. The fruit is certainly ripe, like, really ripe. It has a yum-yum, color bounty anime flavor thing that any ground-pounder would slather over. If you are a Crane fan, you’ll get your dose of ripe black cherry fruit, and then some. But for the coveted nature to which I often attribute to these wines, I want more focus; I want more sophistication; I want less alcohol (which unfortunately isn’t something that necessarily “integrates” with time in bottle). I want to like this more, but I struggle here. And to be clear, this was not a bad wine. It just didn’t meet expectations for me based on the aforementioned. Good, bad, or indifferent, this was just my experience. It was decanted for a total of a few hours. As it came to room temperature, its grip collapsed quite a bit under the weight of the fruit.
For those holding bottles, I do suggest waiting for a few years. If attempting to open now, I recommend keeping/serving it at a much cooler cellar temperature and giving it a significant decant. Try again after 2025.
April 16, 2021 - What am I doing drinking this?
Don’t ask
N- oaky
M - big fruit. I am told this is something special. High alcohol, I can see the allure, barely, but this is someone else’s cup of tea, not mine.
April 5, 2020 - Spectacular,decanted 2 hours,that great Realm Beckstoffer enjoyed for my 59th
April 2, 2020 - Spectacular as always
Beckstoffer Dr. Crane is my Favorite not matter who uses the grapes it just works on my palate
March 27, 2020 - I thought that if I’m stuck at home in COVID-19 lockdown, I might as well celebrate with some special occasion wine. Opaque and dark, with loads of blueberry and other black and red fruits, along with complexities of other flavors. Smooth and lush, with a long finish.
May 10, 2019 - Out or this world. Dark fruits - blackberry and blueberry abound. 90 second finish with layered depth. Great deep red hue, graphite and Cassis notes. Crazy good