2005 Carter Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

“Why pay less?” That must be the motto of the grower, Andy Beckstoffer, who is the proprietor of the great first-growth vineyard, To Kalon, in Oakville. His prices are approaching $25,000 a ton, so it is hard to imagine anyone buying that fruit making a profit, unless they’re getting $350.00-$500.00 per bottle for their wines. Nevertheless, he’s got a great site and, to his credit, it is farmed impeccably. The Carter Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon comes in at a rather modest 14.1% natural alcohol, which probably reflects the cool 2005 growing season. At more than $200.00 a bottle, this may be one of the last Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernets at that price point, and one probably impossible to find except in the auction arena. This wine just has it all – floral notes, crème de cassis, minerality and graphite in what could be a Napa-hypothetical blend of the best of Bordeaux’s Margaux and Pauillac appellations. This is a magical site. (Nearly any capable winemaker producing wine from there has proven that time after time.) This is a killer effort – young and fresh, with at least 20 years upside to it. Pushing perfection, it is still a young wine that, like the Coliseum Block, tastes like it’s two or three years old, rather than ten. Give it another 3-4 years, and drink it over the following 25+ years.