Another one of my favorites is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon CCS, which is clone 4 from the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. This is aged in 100% new Darnajou and is one of the larger cuvées at 510 cases. Wonderfully sweet, velvety tannins, a big sweet nose of white flowers, blackberry and cassis along with cedar wood, charcoal and graphite are all present in this full-bodied opulent wine that also retains wonderful elegance. It finished at 14.6% alcohol and will drink beautifully now as well as over the next 15-20 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.

Score: 98 Robert Parker (RP), The Wine Advocate (WA), October 2016

Complex aromas of crushed blueberries, flowers and cold crushed stones follow through to a full body, soft and silky tannins and a flavorful finish. Shows a fine line of tannins and acidity though the rich yet fresh fruit. Drink in 2021.

Score: 96 James Suckling (JS), JamesSuckling.com, December 2016