Tasting from 17.03.2023
The cult winery from Oakville/Napa Valley has vineyards in the To Kalon Vineyard – and produces Cabernet Sauvignon vintages from different clones there.
When a vineyard is called »To Kalon Vineyard«, ancient linguists have an image in mind – after all, »το καλόν« comes from ancient Greek and means »the beautiful«. But the vineyard of the same name in Oakville in the Napa Valley is also famous for its wines. The name goes back to a winery that operated here in the 19th century. When this disappeared from the scene at the beginning of the 20th century, its vineyards were sold parcel by parcel to different owners. It was not until several generations later that the vineyard name came into vogue in the sense of a designation of origin, and in the early 2000s two wineries even went to court, arguing about the »true« To Kalon vineyard and the correct extension of the designation of origin. So it is not only because of the predominant Cabernet Sauvignon and not only because of the gravelly alluvial soils that similarities to Bordeaux are obvious. Wine connoisseurs from Bordeaux are also very familiar with jealousy between neighbours: in Pomerol, for example, there are two neighbouring wineries, one of which bears the name »Croix du Gay« and the other the name »Vrai Croix du Gay«.
The irony of history is that the opponents at the time, Robert Mondavi and Schrader Cellars, are now both owned by the Constellation Brands wine group. Its General Manager for Ultra-Luxury & Icon Wines, Master Sommelier Jason Smith, has just been on tour in Germany to present the wines of Schrader Cellars. A special feature of Schrader is that different Cabernet clones are pressed and bottled separately. As the tasting showed, the differences in taste are no less impressive than those seen at tastings with different Pinot noir clones. For the writer, the historical Californian Cabernet clone »6« proved to be an excellent carrier of the terroir in the tasting: With its profound minerality and emphatically vertical construction, this is, however, also the wine most in need of maturation of the tasted wines. Clon 337 was somewhat more accessible, with powerful fruit. Perhaps the most complete wines tasted were from Clon 4. With bottle prices between 430 and 450 euros (bacchus-vinothek.de) – only the second wine »Double Diamond« remains under 100 euros – these bottlings are no economic lightweights, but compared to the prices of other Californian cult Cabernets, they undoubtedly hold their own.
