Andy Beckstoffer has amassed an amazing collection of historic vineyards in Napa Valley under the name Beckstoffer Vineyards.
A grower exclusively, Beckstoffer specializes in farming older / historic Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, selling fruit to a handful of wineries and working closely with the winemakers to achieve the best of Napa Valley. The Beckstoffer name is shared on these wines from Schrader to Paul Hobbs and Realm for instance.
Andy Beckstoffer is a visionary, who saw the potential in some of Napa's older vineyards breaking out from the larger Heublein Corporation that brought him to Napa Valley, with the intention to focus solely on vineyard management. It was his tenure with Heublein however that introduced him to some of Napa's greatest vineyards and icons as Heublein purchased the vast Beaulieu Vineyards, whose vineyard holdings were simply magnificent and overseen at the time by the legendary Andre Tchelitscheff.
By setting up the vineyard management arm for Heublein and subsequently taking that company private, Beckstoffer slowly began acquiring proven vineyards personally as well as farming them for Heublein. When Heublein looked to sell land some twenty years later, it was Beckstoffer who stepped in acquiring two of Napa Valley's oldest, important and historic vineyards: Beaulieu Vineyard #3 and To-Kalon.
To-Kalon is a name that by now, is synonymous with Beckstoffer and the best of the best of Napa Valley. However, what about that Beaulieu Vineyard #3?
Beaulieu Vineyard #3 was renamed by Andy to Georges III in homage to BV founder Georges de Latour and the vineyard’s named under Beaulieu.
This is a magnificent vineyard and one of Napa's oldest. Records date back to 1895 showing that the vineyard was planted by Mrs. Thomas Rutherford just a few years after To-Kalon. Then in 1928 Georges de Latour acquired the 300 acre vineyard as the anchor for the BV Rutherford Cabernets and subsequently became a large component of the blend for Tchelistcheff's iconic Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1988, Beckstoffer acquired the vineyards and set in motion years of restoration, replanting and conservation efforts. Today, Georges III is one of the finest vineyards in the Beckstoffer collection, rivaling To-Kalon for supremacy and home to Beckstoffer Vineyards headquarters.
What does this all mean? Wineries across the valley lineup to work with Beckstoffer to acquire fruit from his vineyards and the two most in demand and sought after are of course To-Kalon and Georges III. This demand and structure means that a Beckstoffer grown single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon runs on average over $200 per bottle these days.
Enter, what is possibly the steal of Napa Valley at the moment: Taub Family Heritance Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon.
A relatively new brand to many, the Taub Family is most known for their importing of fine wine over the years and the production of spirits dating back to the 1930s. Their acquisition and subsequent investment into the Heritance winery in 2012 has laid the foundation for what is one of the most promising and obtainable Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the market today. The family's dedication to high quality led them to work with Beckstoffer and to request the E Block at Georges III in their aspiration to produce exceptional Napa Valley Cabernet with a touch more reserved and "old-world" charm. While the wine is distinctly Rutherford, the E Block has a soil combination of marine sediment, volcanic deposits and alluvium from the ancient Napa River. This yields a powerful and structured Cabernet Sauvignon that has a good firm grip and freshness at its core, allowing the Taub team to blend the components of the 4 acre E Block into what is perhaps the best value Beckstoffer Vineyard Cabernet on the market today, and easily what could be one of the most age worthy and graceful wines of the valley.
Cheers,
Jeremy |
