Carter Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Tasting Notes
From the small stressed berries on our original block on the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, the 2016 'La Verdad' is bold wine that remains balanced and graceful. Showing a strikingly dark hue, the nose emits a show stopping rush of youthful blueberry and black fruits. The first taste is an pleasurable attack on the senses, bursting with concentrated blue and black fruits mixed with crushed rock, while the underlying minerality and structure result in a muscular but well-balanced Cabernet. A full-bodied mid-palate reveals finely integrated tannins that lift the overall back bone of the wine and ends with a decadent fruit driven finish that remains both layered and textured.
"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard La Verdad has a very deep purple-black color and reveals slightly subdued, youthful notes of crushed blueberries, warm black cherries and mulberries with hints of blackcurrant cordial, stewed black tea, wilted roses and fragrant soil. Wow—the palate explodes with very primary yet incredibly exciting, densely packed muscular black fruits, framed with a brick house of super ripe tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and incredibly cerebral. Yes, yes, yes!"
100 Points ~ Robert Parker
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.
