2021 Realm Cellars, Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, St. Helena, Magnum (1.5L)

JD100 The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard is straight-up awesome, and the talents of winemaker Benoit Touquette cannot be overstated. Incredible blue fruits, dark chocolate, graphite, Haut-Brion-like scorched earth and smoke all soar from this majestic, full-bodied, massively concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon. It reminds me of the 2013 and has that rare mix of power, opulence, and elegance. This utterly classic Dr. Crane deserves 4-5 years of bottle age and will blow you away over the following 20 years. Even after tasting 8 to 12 thousand wines for close to 15 years now, this beauty still stopped me in my tracks.

LP100 The 2021 Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard, with 5% Petit Verdot in the blend, is deep garnet-purple in color. Quite closed to start off, it requires a lot of shaking to wake up notes of blackcurrant pastilles, juicy blackberries, and fresh plums plus suggestions of crushed rocks, candied violets, dark chocolate, and licorice with a touch of iron ore. The full-bodied palate delivers a firm, fine-grained texture and seamless freshness supporting the taut, muscular black fruits, finishing with a firework display of mineral, floral and chocolaty notes.