Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper - 2021 (750ml)

Winery Notes:

From a great valley floor site in Oakville that lies just south of Beckstoffer To Kalon, this wine shows a deep and profound purple color. Notes of lively blue fruits, allspice, graphite and toasty oak all leap from the glass. An opulent and full-bodied wine, it shows ideal balance on the palate - a mixture of great fruit, rounded tannins and natural acidity that results in a lengthy finish with a savory quality. This wine is pure pleasure and will surely be a favorite in your cellar over time.

97+ points Jeb Dunnuck

From a valley floor site that never seems to get the recognition it deserves, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard is all varietal and reveals a dense purple hue to go with awesome aromatics of ripe black and blue fruits, smoke tobacco, graphite, darker chocolate, and damp earth. These carry to a full-bodied, deep, concentrated 2021 delivering remarkable purity, a layered, rich, mouth-filling texture, ample tannins, and a great finish. It shows the structured, powerful style of the vintage and actually reminds me a great vintage of La Mission Haut-Brion. It needs to be forgotten for 4-5 years and is going to push the upper limits of the scale at maturity. - June 5, 2023

95 points Robert Parker

Sourced from one of the western blocks at this large vineyard, one that boasts more gravelly, better-drained soils on a slight rise, Carter's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard features faintly herbal (thyme and sage) notes accenting ripe black cherries. It's full-bodied and rich, with a long, velvety finish that hints of mocha and dark chocolate but also includes some brighter, fresher notes. - Joe Czerwinski

Consultant Russell Bevan presented the Carter Cellars wines at his private residence, alongside a bevy of other wines he works on. There are a couple of additions to the lineup at Carter. For collectors, there is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Bourne Vineyard (between Dr. Crane and Las Piedras in Saint Helena), while for folks who want to try a Carter red for under a C-note, there is a new red blend called The Haze. As I noted last time I reported on Carter Cellars, proprietor Mark Carter has always managed to find top talent to help fashion the wines (Nils Venge, Jeff Fontella, Mike Smith), and this continues under Bevan.