2010 Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Old Sparky Oakville Napa Magnum

(98 Points)  "The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky, made from clone 4, 6 and 337, displays a dense opaque purple color as well as an incredible nose of graphite, cedarwood, incense, licorice, Christmas fruitcake, vanillin and abundant blackberry and black currant liqueur. Gorgeously rich and textured with a nearly endless finish, this super intense, full throttle wine needs 5-7 years of bottle age and should drink well over the following 25-30 years. It was aged 20 months in 100% new oak barrels." RP Oct 2013

"Year-in and year-out this is one of the most interesting as well as fascinating group of wines and projects in Napa Valley. First, Schrader has two committed owners, secondly a brilliant winemaker in Thomas Brown, and thirdly, one of the true first-growth vineyard sites in all of Napa Valley, the famed Beckstoffer-owned To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. There is also a new Beckstoffer vineyard in Oakville called Las Piedras. Additionally, they source grapes from the Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard in Rutherford, several miles north of Oakville. In top vintages, Schrader’s Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines can be as good as money can buy ... anywhere in the world." Wine Advocate