RP
99
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Coming from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, block C1 planted to clone 4, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon CCS has a very pretty nose of ripe plums, black cherries and mulberries with an undercurrent of violets, licorice, marmite toast and cigar box plus a touch of aged beef. Medium to full-bodied, the palate struts great finesse, with very fine, silt-like tannins supporting the nuanced black fruit layers, finishing very long and with great purity. 683 cases produced. Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. Issue date: December 18, 2017. Drinking window: 2020-2050.
"All of the 2015s will be reviewed from bottle next year, but basically the yields were not off as much at Schrader as some other estates, the alcohol levels were relatively modest ranging between 14.3% and 14.5%. Characteristic of this vintage, there is magnificent fat, sucrosity and thickness on display in all of these wines. They are inky black/purple and seemingly low in acidity, but according to Thomas Rivers Brown the acids were quite sound and healthy. The tannins are present, but so well-disguised by the high levels of glycerin and sucrosity that they are not that noticeable. Several of these wines, including the Schrader, CCS, T6 and LPV have the potential for perfect scores. These will be thrilling to taste next year and will continue the incredible legacy that Schrader Cellars has developed over the years.
As I have written in the past, the Schrader project with Thomas Rivers Brown as their winemaker started as a look at one of Napa Valley’s historic and first-growth vineyard sites – the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. It has expanded now to include Beckstoffer’s Las Piedras Vineyard in St. Helena and the Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard in Rutherford. It is basically a study of clonal selections by keeping these wines separate and apart, but enjoying the identical winemaking, upbringing in the cellars and bottling. The bottom line is that these are just hands-down fabulous Cabernet Sauvignons and have been since the project debuted more than ten years ago. The difference between each of them is generally minor and I will probably end up giving sightly different reviews when the wines are in bottle – because they are all at the top of the pyramid of quality. Any one of them is essentially a world-class Cabernet Sauvignon that could compete with the finest made anywhere in the world. So, I will try and articulate the differences of the bottled 2014s and then summarize the 2015s." Reviewed by Robert M. Parker, Jr. Issue date: October 28, 2016.