Community Tasting Notes 6

• mvande21 Likes this wine: 97 points

  September 4, 2023 - Three hour decant. Fragrant violets. Deep purple. Blackberries, cassis, plum and chocolate notes. Plush, full bodied and layered. Perfect balance with grippy tannins and a long, long finish. Great wine.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• gteran76 Likes this wine: 96 points

  August 22, 2021 - Opened for 3 hours and double decanted for 30 min, then start consuming one hour later.
  
  This is a big and massive classic Napa Cabernet with finesse. It’s very dark, dry yet with lots of fruit. High content of tannins and acidity. Very long finish….!!!!
  
  This wine is starting to drink, if consumed now give it a longer decant. Better from 2025-2040.
  
  96++

  6 people found this helpful Comments (3)

• City Squirrel Likes this wine: 97 points

  July 1, 2021 - 97+. Blind tasted against a '17 MacDonald, '16 Vine Hill Ranch (VHR), '16 Cliff Lede Poetry, '14 Abreu Las Posadas, '13 Abreu Madrona Ranch. This and the Poetry had the best bouquet, ironically similar, but the Top 3 were for the majority of 6 drinkers was the VHR, Cliff Lede BTK and the Abreu Madrona. Hard to call a WOTN, but the VHR and Cliff Lede were both top contenders.

  7 people found this helpful Comments (3)

• Coachron13 Likes this wine: 95 points

  June 15, 2021 - One hour decant, was enough to open it up nicely. Typical big To Kalon fruit, but it’s already pretty balanced. Full disclosure, we love our cabs big and burly, so if you prefer a softer cab I suggest you decant much longer or wait a few years.

  4 people found this helpful Comments (3)

• GQG Likes this wine: 98 points

  January 2, 2020 - Opened a 2016 Quivet Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras and a 2016 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon to kick off the New Year with a bang. These are two of the most well-regarded vineyards in Napa lined up in a head to head matchup. Pricewise, the Quivet is the underdog, although the Cliff Lede is itself a value leader from To-Kalon.
  
  On the nose, the Quivet was earthy, steeled, and alcohol-soaked. The attack was encouraging and had authority. The mid-palate delivered power and depth with weight. This is a concentrated, full wine, representing well the winemaker Mike Smith and the fruit from this fabled terroir. There's plenty of earth and minerality in the Quivet though the oak-filled notes I got a year ago have subsided. That's diminished the complexity somewhat at this point because the fruit is currently dominating, but there's enough structure here to sustain development over the next several years at least. Try now with a two hour decant. 96+
  
  The Cliff Lede nose really soared with dark berries, tobacco, and cedar. The attack was completely satisfying because it effortlessly introduced its power and purity, then magnificently framed and reinforced that power and purity though the mid-palate. Effortless and To-Kalon are almost never synonymous early-on but here it is. I'm not actually looping a synth track right now but the finish ended with power and purity. Complex, pure; an exceptional performance. This is a special wine that has a wonderful future, and is great now with a decant of an hour or so. 98+

  6 people found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 3

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2016
• Type Red
• Producer Cliff Lede
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Oakville

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 12 (1%)
• In Cellars 1,161 (79%)
• Consumed 291 (20%)

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