2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras
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Tasting notes
Aged in 85% new oak for 20 months, Paul Hobbs’ 2021 Beckstoffer Las Piedras is a gorgeous wine. The nose is intoxicating with evocative florals that dance across a backdrop of sweet, ripe, plump cassis and dark plum fruit. It’s spicier and darker versus the To Kalon, tighter in style, with incredible tension, with a satisfying leanness to the palate, chiselled with chalky minerality and bright, mouth-watering acidity. A very serious and impressive wine, with incredible balance this vintage.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Plenty of pretty fruit, with blackberries, blackcurrants and hints of flint. Full-bodied with lots of fruit, but the polished tannins hem this in so beautifully. Graphite shines through. Polished tannins for La Piedras. Needs four to six years of bottle age. Drink after 2030.
There's a bit more oak influence evident in the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard than in Hobbs's other Cabernets, but it works, those vanillin and almost buttery characters adding complexity and depth to the ripe black cherries and earth aromas. Full-bodied and plush, almost accessible despite the masses of soft tannins, the wine finishes long and velvety. Sexy stuff.
Another release from St. Helena, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard comes from a rockier site not far from Dr. Crane (and Spottswoode), on the west side of the valley. Its saturated purple hue is followed by a slightly more floral/violet-tinged profile including black and blue fruits, notes of spring flowers, graphite, and earthy minerality, full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, and a gorgeous texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. It too will evolve for three decades.
About the producer
Paul Hobbs is one of California wine’s biggest names. Twice named Wine Personality of the Year by Robert Parker, he joined Robert Mondavi in 1977, worked at Opus One and Simi before setting up his eponymous winery in 1991.