Carter Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras 'La Bam' Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Tasting Notes
At the foot of Spring Mountain in the St. Helena AVA lies the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard - a site renowned for its naturally low yields and well draining soil. These slightly younger vines are closer to Sulphur Springs and sit on slightly more rocky and well draining soil. Like a smack in the face, 'La BAM', boasts a full rich bold palate of crushed rock, wet gravel, red and blackberry fruits matched with chocolate and cedar undertones. With a slightly more fruit forward profile, the wine is balanced with rounded yet intense tannins that brilliantly frame this phenomenal wine.
"The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras La Bam boasts a saturated purple hue as well as a feral, wild bouquet of earthy tobacco, bouquet garni, dark chocolate, and assorted cassis and currant-like fruits. With a terrific sense of minerality, full-bodied richness and depth, and a balanced, focused, ageworthy style on the palate, it’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and evolve gracefully for 20 years."
96 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.
