2011 LPV Cabernet Sauvignon

Schrader’s newest offering is the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard LPV, which comes from clone 337 of the Las Piedras site. This is a west side valley floor vineyard with a foundation of alluvial river pebbles and rocks as well as gravelly loam. The Schraders have a long-term lease on 5 acres, which, added to their 16 acres of Beckstoffer To Kalon and 5 acres of Beckstoffer George III, gives them some pretty serious leases on some of the finest terroirs in Napa Valley. The softest wine of this portfolio, there are 350 cases of the 2011 LPV, far less than the 600 cases produced in 2012. Given its warm micro-climated, these grapes were picked before the rains descended. The wine exhibits a dark ruby/purple color, supple tannins, and sweet red and black currants, licorice, Christmas fruitcake, incense and forest floor. This beautiful, medium-bodied 2011 is already complex and evolved. Drink it over the next 10-15 years. Oct 2013, www.robertparker.com