Weekly Tasting Report (Dec 7-13, 2020): Napa's top vineyard steps up
James tastes with Paul Hobbs on Zoom for his Napa tastings covering hundreds of wines.
I am wrapping up a comprehensive New Zealand tasting report and tasting bottles from Australia, Burgundy and Champagne while James has been focused on tasting hundreds of wines from Napa Valley with some very strong scores coming out of the 2018 vintage. We tasted more than 320 wines last week, and while Napa has been in the news for tragic wildfires this year again, it is good to be reminded of the stellar wine quality we see from this popular region.
The 2018 is being touted by wine producers in Napa as a great year, and James has found many outstanding wines. But the vintage for the moment also seems slightly less consistent in quality because of near record grape crops. If winemakers didn’t take precautions in reducing yields in their vineyards, they may have made less structured wines than normal. More on that in coming weeks.
However, the To Kalon Vineyard, a substantial parcel that sits right in the heart of the Oakville AVA of Napa Valley, has deeply stamped an aura of vineyard-driven pedigree in the 2018 vintage tastings so far. “To Kolan has been crushing it,” says James of the way this vineyard has performed via labels like Realm, Paul Hobbs and Schrader in the tastings so far. “I like the balance and harmony of many of the wines this year.”
To Kalon was established over 150 year ago by H.W. Crabb and it occupies a special section of the Napa Valley. It sits on a complex suite of alluvial gravel and silt soils that underpin vines running from the base of the Mayacamus Mountains down to the edge of Highway 29.
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- Schrader’s 99-point Old Sparky 2018 from the To Kalon vineyard was one of several Napa highlights tasted by James in Hong Kong.
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- Nick Stock tastes some Te Mata from New Zealand for an upcoming report.
To Kalon sits at the confluence of cooler southerly influences and warmer northerly influences that run up and down the Napa Valley and the site delivers cabernet sauvignon wines with superior depth and an X-factor of textural richness as a result. It is also almost certainly the most famous vineyard in North America and, like any vineyard of substantial history and pedigree, it has a complex back story.
Today the To Kolan Vineyard is predominantly owned by global winemaking company Constellation Brands through their ownership of the Robert Mondavi Winery. They control the lion’s share of around 450 acres. The other significant owner is acclaimed winemaker and consultant winemaker Andy Beckstoffer who purchased around 90 acres from his former employer Beaulieu Vineyard in 1993. There are a handful of smaller ownerships beyond these.
News broke back in July 2017 that global winemaking giant Constellation had bought Schrader Cellars for a reported US$60 million which was big money and even bigger news at the time. Although Schrader owned no vineyards nor a winery, they sourced a significant parcel of To Kalon grapes from Andy Beckstoffer and maintained a very tightly held, high-margin direct-to-consumer customer business that wielded the To Kalon name among other vineyard-designate bottlings.
It was the Schrader customer base that Constellation identified as a leverage point for their wider business with significant potential for growth in the high-margin, super-premium end of the market. With hundreds of acres of To Kalon under their ownership, the opportunity to grow sales of bottles fetching US$200, US$300 and US$500 would easily service the US$60 million purchase price of Schrader.
Constellation then announced a new partnership with Andy Erickson in mid-2019 as they launched the To Kalon Vineyard Company with Erickson at the helm of the new project. This has been pitched as a project that seeks to further unpack the terroir-driven potential of the literally hundreds of acres owned by Accolade and there could be no better candidate than Erickson to realize that goal.
The lineup of Realm Cellars wines that included the 100-point Moonracer 2018, the second 100-point American wine this year.
It is an astonishing turn of events that sees the great and historic To Kalon Vineyard at the centre of such high-stakes in today’s wine business. It speaks volumes about both the quality and consistency of the site that it retains such a rich aura of quality and has such strong brand recognition across a range of labels and projects. And our recent tastings paint a clear picture of exactly why.
A number of exceptional To Kalon Vineyard 2018s are clustered at the top of this week’s highlights with the Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky 2018 rated 99 points. The Realm Cellars Napa Valley Oakville Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2018 and Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2018 both rated 98. This trio really captures the rich, full-bodied yet polished character of To Kalon cabernet sauvignon in convincing style.
Then the Realm Cellars Cabernet Franc Napa Valley Oakville Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2018 (97 points) is a rarity only sold in magnum and represents an extraordinary expression of cabernet franc in the wider context. The Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard T6 2018 (97 points) is a dense and creamily-textured cabernet redolent with layers of ripe fruit and the axr Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 2018 (96 points) sits in a polished, long and intense essay in ripe blackberry fruit.
Another region to watch for its 2018 wines, as suggested by James’ tastings of Napa, is Stags Leap District. Realm Cellars’ perfect 100-point Moonracer 2018 was an absolutely breathtaking red and the second 100-point American wine this year. Stay tuned for more results.
Enjoy these reviews and stay safe.
– Nick Stock, executive editor