100pts James Suckling
Haunting aromas of terracotta, blackberries, plums and sweet tobacco. Very complex nose. Full body, super silky tannins, spices and ripe fruit. Ripe and compressed tannins. A reserved finish. More precise. A sensational wine. Cooler and more defined than the 2013. Try in 2021.
99pts Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard has a very deep garnet-purple color and opens with a wonderfully gregarious, outspoken blackcurrant, black cherries and red rose-laced core with underlying suggestions of Indian spices, mocha and cedar. Big, full-bodied and voluptuous in the mouth, the rich fruit is seductively draped in velvety tannins, texturing the long, spicy finish. 325 cases were made.
Appellation
Oakville
Vineyard/Blocks
A1, A2, B1, C1, C2, E2
Dominant Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Sense of Place
Western benchland of Oakville; the most historic and storied vineyard in Napa Valley going back to the 1860's
Distinguishing Characteristics
Red and black fruits; an extra dimension in the midpalate that we call baby fat; powerful tannins; overall opulence but with such class and pedigree
Production Volume
8,000 bottles
First Vintage
2002
From a Legendary Vineyard
To Kalon: \TO ka∙lon\ noun: the ideal of physical and moral beauty especially as conceived by the philosophers of classical Greece.
It was also the ancient Greeks who first said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If that is true, then To Kalon Vineyard is aptly named and considered by countless people over many decades as the preeminent vineyard of Napa Valley. Realm has been fortunate to work with exceptional fruit from Beckstoffer To Kalon since we began making wine in 2002. Comprised of a portion of the historical To Kalon vineyard first planted to grapes in 1868, the 89-acre parcel was acquired by Andy Beckstoffer in 1993 and replanted using close spacing and modern trellising. Bordering Highway 29 and stretching west nearly to the Mayacamas Mountain range in the Oakville AVA, Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard sits on a vast alluvial plain formed millions of years ago during a period of immense geologic activity. The site is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with several rows of Cabernet Franc at its westernmost edge. In 2007 the property was placed under a land conservation easement that forever prohibits non-agricultural development.
Beckstoffer To Kalon grapes are made available to a small number of boutique wine producers who fashion them into some of the highest quality wines Napa Valley has to offer. “The wines from To Kalon are so dense, so opulent,” says Winemaker Benoit Touquette. “When you look at it, it’s hard to put a finger on what makes this vineyard so special. But in the wine, its beauty is unmistakable.” Realm’s Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from several blocks planted to Clones 4 and 337. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
