2017 Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 95.1 points

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  9/16/2023 - jcampano Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Vivacious aromas of black fruit, crushed rocks, graphite and lavender. Decanted for 2 hours, and it was a delightful wine. Perfectly balanced with silky tannins and an array of Las Piedras flavors including blackberry, licorice and plum.

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  8/28/2021 - msuwine wrote: 89 Points

  This sweet and extracted wine is hard to enjoy at the moment, though perhaps a few more years will do it some good. As with so many 2017s at the top end, this has plenty of sweet fruit, but it seems to be lacking in almost everything else, whether defined in the objective elements of the wine (e.g., aromas, mid-palate, acidity) or the adjectives used to describe it (e.g., balance, nuance, freshness). Great winemaker, great vineyard... but not a great vintage - and not a great wine.
  
  Cherry red in color; full in body; nose of boysenberry, cough syrup, and licorice. Flavors of blueberry pie, cherry tart, and Hershey Bar, with a sweet, almost saccharine finish that shows flashes of alcohol (14.8%). Maybe this is at an odd stage, since I enjoyed the 2017 MM VHR and Crane when I opened them last year, but this is the most disappointing MM I've ever tasted. Wait until 2023 or later, and hope for the best.
  
  P.S. I tasted this on the same night as a Fait-Main LPV, since I was curious how two modern-ish winemakers dealt with this vineyard in this vintage. Although I expected the opposite result, Benoit's version was more light in body and color, while tasting more fresh and nuanced - making Sam's version seem almost Caymus-like in comparison. The Fait-Main wasn't quite what it was 18 months ago (3/20 - 93 points), but it was clearly better than the MM tonight.

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  6/14/2021 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 96 Points

  2021 Napa - June 9-12: A surprise pop for us was the 2017 Las Piedras. I am not a LPV fan in the base case, but props here on a great wine even if not my thing. Wine of the MM visit! On PnP, this was crazy good, blueberry forefront on the palate with blackberries joining the dance with a wet rock mineral streak carrying a long finish on a nice tannic backbone.

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  5/15/2020 - ageverett Likes this wine: 98 Points

  2017 LPV taste off. Memento Mori, Carter "La Verdad," Fait Main and Vice Versa.
  
  This Memento Mori was the WOTN. Most expressive nose, best depth on the palate, smoothest finish. Fabulous wine that was in a great spot. Surely can cellar for a while if desired but really drank well on this night.

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