February 7, 2023 - To Kalon and Dr. Crane Night (Charlie Palmer Steak NYC): 4 1/2 years since my previous bottle and I'm bumping my score up a point. Decanted for over 45 minutes before pouring. Full bodied, with a long finish. Floral notes mixed with Blueberry fruit.
August 8, 2022 - Another virtuoso performance for this wine. Very similar performance to my last bottle 2 years ago. Lots of life left. Wonderful upon opening and started to show hints of shutting down early in the decanter, so I put it back in the bottle and slow-oxed it which worked perfectly. Excellent cab with great mouthfeel, layers of flavor and nice finish. Lots of dark chocolate covered black cherries (also blackberry) with some mocha and subtle graphite. A pleasant chalkiness to this velvety wine. Impressive
June 14, 2020 - Opened at 9am to be consumed at dinner around 7pm. This was my selection for my GF's B-day. We had the 2014 vintage a few months ago and it was amazing, this one no so great, despite I like '13s more than other vintages. Maybe the way I treated the bottle wasn't the proper way and a short decanter closer to the time of consumption was the way to go. I won't ever know because I have no more bottles. Talking a bit about the wine it was medium+ body, to dry and to acid, it fell like never really opened up. We follow it during the 2 hours dinner and didn't improved much. The steak help it a bit.
February 2, 2020 - Right up there with WOTN.......takes an hour or two of air to reach its potential..... but man, it's quite a potential. Great dark red fruit, weight, tannins and rigid acidity making this good for another 5-10 years. You wouldn't have guessed it at first opening. Felt a bit weak on opening. Nice end point after watching Andy Reid finally win a Super Bowl.
October 2, 2019 - Excellent cab with great mouthfeel, layers of flavor and nice finish. Lots of dark chocolate covered black cherries with some mocha. A pleasant chalkiness to this velvety wine. Got better with air as it all integrated - peaked at about 3 hours after opening. Impressive
June 5, 2019 - Classic cab nose, florals, briar, great red/black fruit. This is classic Cali cab! Powerful yet silky dark red fruit, great mouthfeel, aged to a nice drinking window, yet plenty of tannins/acidity to go many years more. Nice oak treatment wraps it all up into a neat little package. Almost a little BDX'ish in it's fruit, lead pencil and astringency. Nice.
January 27, 2019 - In a real good spot right now. Decanted 1 hour, great cab nose. Nice combo of red/black fruit, smooth tannins and perfect acidity with plenty of Rutherford dust on the end. Very good wine for the price! About $125 at the local Costco.
August 7, 2018 - My first bottle from this producer, although I have had Beckstoffer Tokalon wines from other producers. Popped 'n Poured, but not decanted, at a NYC restaurant. Big, bold wine, with a long finish. A decant may have prompted a higher score, but it was still special.
July 18, 2018 - Another great tasting with HowellMountainCru, this time with a lineup of the 3 biggies from BacioD all on the same table......'14 Missouri Hopper, '13 To Kalon and '14 Cloudys. Cannot stress enough that each of these wines alone in their own right, are fantastic and well worth the money but side by side by side, significant differences are noted. The final decision for 2 out of 3 was the TK as the sure winner. Just more depth, more layers, more weight.
July 10, 2018 - Enjoyed last night with HowellMountainCru (thanks! Jim).....unmistakable Janzen texture which carries across their entire line of cabs apparently....a feathery, velvety mouth feel. Dark in the glass with an inviting dark fruit/floral nose. Excellent weight on entry and all the way through. More complex layers and darker black/red fruit than say, the Cloudys and takes on added intensity with time in the glass. This is a pretty prodigious wine! Def in the 96-97 pt category. Drinking very well right now!