Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage production: n/a
There are few names as evocative as Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. It is considered by many as the ultimate expression of Napa Valley, and one of the very best vineyards in the world. This site has produced some of the most revered wines in Napa’s history at the hands of the few elite winemakers granted access to these most precious of vines.
The secret to the Beckstoffer To Kalon magic lies in its location in western Oakville on an ancient alluvial fan. It was described by Robert Parker as “A true Napa Valley first growth”, yet with 33 hectares under vine it’s significantly smaller than any of the five illustrious First Growths (Château Haut-Brion is the smallest with 55ha under vine). It has more in common with the regal Grand Crus of Burgundy, with less than 20 winemakers granted access. This allows for a beautiful spectrum of vineyard expression – each encapsulating the soul of the terroir while exuding the signature style of each winery.
The site’s history can be traced back to 1868, when Hamilton Crabb planted the first vines. Legendary grower Andy Beckstoffer purchased his 89 acres in 1993, beginning an intensive period of renovation, modernisation and replanting. In 2007 the property was placed under a land conservation easement that forever prohibits non-agricultural development. The thin topsoil of clay loam sits on riverbed gravels and volcanic rocks – a combination that results in classic minerality and a graphite streak found in the best Cabernets.
The vineyard is at the perfect sweet-spot around halfway up the Valley, where it receives the ideal sunshine for ripening the fruit, giving the wines an unmistakable depth and density of dark fruit aromatics and flavours. It is also tempered by the cooling winds from the San Pablo Bay and a natural circulation from cool air cascading down the Mayacamas Mountains. This is key to the wine’s unmistakable energy and elegance.
