Carter Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras Cabernet Sauvignon 'La BAM' 2021
Tasting Notes
Along the banks of Sulphur Springs Creek in St Helena lies the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard - a 22 acre site renowned for its naturally low yields and well-draining gravelly loam soil. These slightly less stressed vines are closer to the riverbed and sit on slightly more rocky and well-draining soil than the ‘La Verdad’ highlighting the vineyard’s unique topography and minerality. Like a smack in the face, 'La BAM', boasts a full rich bold palate of ripe blue fruits infused with minerals, coffee and tobacco undertones. When matched with sweet firm tannins from the best French barrels, this wine ends with a velvety finish that only gets better with age.
"The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard La BAM is the largest production cuvée from this site, although there are still just a miniscule 154 cases produced. Coming from a parcel of slightly deeper soils, its saturated purple hue is followed by a brilliant perfume of crème de cassis, smoked tobacco, dark chocolate, crushed stone, and new leather. It's pure, focused, and precise aromatically and hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a terrific sense of minerality, ripe yet building tannins, and a great finish. It shows the vintage’s tighter, more focused, straighter profile (this cuvée is usually one of the most approachable of the three Las Piedras releases) and deserves 4-5 years of bottle age. It's going to have 20-25 years of overall longevity. It's another stunning wine from this vineyard."
100 Points ~ Jeb Dunnuck
Map of the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard
The History of the Las Piedras Vineyard
Dating back to the Mexican land grants, the Las Piedras vineyard is considered to be the first vineyard planted in what is now the St. Helena AVA. In 1983 Beckstoffer Vineyards purchased the property and planted it to two clones of Cabernet Sauvignon with modern trellising. Impressed with the quality of the gravelly soil, the farm workers named the vineyard Las Piedras, which means the stones or little pebbles. The vineyard sits at the base of Sulfur Creek on the southwest outskirts of St. Helena. With a gentle slope, the site belongs to the fan-shaped flood plain created by run-off from Sulfur creek and the hillsides above. Riddled with rocks, the soil is porous and provides ideal support for the vines and when matched with excellent farming techniques, the result is remarkable dense and concentrated fruit.
