2011 Stonestreet Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard

Equally powerful is the broodingly backward, foreboding, opaque purple-colored 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s, which comes from the highest elevation vineyard at 2,400 feet. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon spent 19 months in 70% new French oak. Another behemoth with a blue/black color, it possesses lots of creme de cassis, graphite, spring flower and new oak characteristics. This rich, full-bodied, muscular, powerful wine is oh, so backward, even in the forward, precocious 2011 vintage. Forget it for 5 years and drink it over the following 20 years. Stonestreet’s wines continue to go from strength to strength under the direction of South African winemaker Graham Weerts. The Chardonnays are spectacular, and the estate has added cuvees of Sauvignon and Semillon as well as a Riesling that are also noteworthy. The red wines are meant for those with cold storage facilities since they tend to be huge, tannic behemoths that need time in the bottle, even in a precocious, difficult vintage such as 2011. All five Chardonnays are brilliant, 100% Chardonnays fermented with indigenous yeasts in the barrel and aged ten months in anywhere from 45% to 100% new French oak. The results are stunning. The wines are all more similar than dissimilar, but I will try to articulate their minor differences. Tel. (800) 355-8008