Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.2

Lovely blend from Charlie Hopper. Has a nice spiciness to it just like I’m sure his dear grandma was (who the wine was named after). A very nice tribute wine. Good the second day too. Fine on its own, better with food. — 4 years ago

Russ Flynn

9.5

Love it. I wouldn’t go any heavier with the hops here; it’s juuuust right. 🤤 — 5 years ago

Jason and Jennie

9.5

Fantastic qpr. Prefer this over the 2 janzen to kalons i have had. 95-96ish — 6 years ago

Marc L.

9.0

C’est bon!.. right out of the hopper. Don’t know the price, but know it’s very reasonable. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Think my rating here is slightly below others, but the only reason that is is due to its current stage. I believe this will jump 2 points or so in the next few years. Right now though, it’s a bit disjointed. I don’t have much experience with this vineyard so I’m not sure of its normal profile. Very dark red and black fruit dominant. Pipe tobacco, charcoal and blackberries. A bit hot on both the nose and palate. Boysenberry, tar, licorice, cassis, black cherry with a tannic-grip finish. Needs a few years to strut what it can be. — 7 years ago

with Dan, Mark and 1 other

Isaac Pirolo

9.2

Under their Janzen label, Bacio Divino produces three vineyard-designate Cabernet Sauvignons from the Cloudy’s Vineyard, Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper, and Beckstoffer To Kalon. They also produce this Napa Cab which blends fruit from these vineyards with other select Napa vineyards. Kirk Venge is the consulting winemaker and viticulturist. Parker nails it with “intense notes of crushed plums, black cherries and mulberries plus notions of cedar chest, dried Provence herbs, underbrush and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, the palate gives a very refreshing acid line, lifting the youthful black fruit, finishing long and chewy.” While the fruit is immediately evident and approachable, there’s still a fair amount of tannin. The acid provides an impression of citrus brightness atypical of many of its peers. And while I prefer Venge’s Silencieux, I’m not sure a comparison is relevant as this is completely different stylistically, and quite enjoyable because of that. — 8 years ago

Dana East

9.1

Uma casa with hopper. — 8 years ago

Al Shikoh

9.7

dark ruby violet; blackberry, black cherry, plum, cocoa, red pepper, graphite; ripe, concentrated, sweet red and black fruits, excellent persistence; full bodied, medium+ acidity, prominent fine grained tannin, 14.9% ABV; made from blend of 59.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petite Verdot, 0.5% Malbec sourced from vineyards including Beckstoffer’s Orchard and Missouri Hopper as well as Sage Ridge aged in French oak; p$150 — 4 years ago

Errol Mclaughlin

10

Most amazing wine I’ve ever had. Classic Napa on the front blended with a bell pepper ending. Can’t explain — 6 years ago

Paul T HB

9.8

Another Jeb 💯,
Great with Protein chips at the warehouse.
Primarily Missouri Hopper with a little Los Pasadas — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

On the nose; very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet.

The body is full and lush. Fine meaty, tarry, tannins. Very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, suede leather, dry clay, dry top soil, dry underbrush, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet. The acidity is very nice. There is good structure, tension, length and balance that needs 10 years plus to flush out. The finish is good, well balanced with fine powdery sticky tannins.

Photos of, Cliff Lede tasting facility, wire woven sculptures that decorate the grounds, Owner David Lede and the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

Producer history and notes...Cliff Lede Vineyards (pronounced LayDee) was founded in 2002 on what used to be S. Anderson Vineyard, a winery that was founded in 1971 by Stanley and Carol Anderson primarily known for their sparkling wines.

Cliff Lede is from Leduc, Alberta a small town just south of Edmonton. The reason you see a Canadian flag in front of the parking next to the US Flag. David and Cliff helped run their father’s construction company he founded in 1947, Leduc Construction. Later the company was renamed to Ledcor Construction in 1982. They ultimately built the business into one of the world’s largest construction companies. Through Cliff, the company established business in the Napa Valley focusing on wineries, restaurants, premium resorts and private residences. Some of their more notable works include; Morimoto Restaurant, Davis Estate Winery, Lokoya Winery, Marciano Estate and the Riverfront Residences in downtown Napa.

After several decades at Ledcor, Cliff decided to pursue his passion for wine. His first introduction to wine was helping his mother make wine at home. Later he began collecting wines from Bordeaux, and even considered purchasing property there. However, he fell in love with Napa after business took him to Northern California.

Cliff Lede owns 60 acres of vineyards in the Stags Leap District. This includes the Twin Peaks Vineyard surrounding the winery and tasting room. The Poetry Vineyard was acquired a year after Cliff established Cliff Lede Vineyards. It is planted on steep hillsides down to the Silverado Trail. It’s planted with red Bordeaux varietals, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. The soils there are extremely rocky. Despite being so close to the Poetry Vineyard, the soils in the Twin Peaks Vineyard are dramatically different. They are gravelly loam.

From a viticulture aspect, this diversity of terroir is a good representation of what the Stags Leap District has to offer, ranging from its upper most reaches of 400 feet to the valley floor. Even among their two Stags Leap properties, there are micro-climates. The west facing vineyard hillsides become quite warm during the day in the summer but cool off significantly in the evenings. This diurnal temperature swing is important for growing premium grapes including maintaining acidity.

The winery also owns a 20 acre vineyard in Calistoga at the base of Diamond Mountain planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a small block of Sauvignon Blanc.

Further to the north in Mendocino County is their Savoy Vineyard, which is a 42 acre site in Anderson Valley. It is planted mainly to Pinot Noir along with Chardonnay. It provides fruit for their FEL Wines (a name that Cliff chose to pay homage to his mother, using the first three initials of her full name Florence Elsie Lede.

Cliff’s love for all things “Rock and Roll”, he named all their blocks in their Stags Leap District Vineyards after famous rock and roll songs or albums such as “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Walk on the Wildside”, “Light my Fire” and “American Girl. ”Collectively these are referred to as the “Rock Blocks.”

David Abreu quickly realized the exceptional terroir of the Poetry Vineyard as did Cliff when they initially tried some of the S. Anderson wines from this site. Abreu oversaw its replanting and clonal material sourced from a number of premiere Napa vineyards. While Abreu was the original vineyard architect, he is no longer involved in the management of the their vineyards. They are now controlled by their in-house vineyard team.

The winery, tasting room and the nearby luxury Poetry Inn all opened around 2005. Architect Howard Gillam was hired to design the winery. Cliff’s background in construction and architectural preferences certainly influenced its design. The tasting room has a more contemporary feel rather then some of his more rustic looking designs. It features beautiful views of the Napa Valley. Inspired by the shape of tanks during a visit to Château Latour in Bordeaux, Cliff commissioned Missouri based Paul Mueller Company to create special truncated tanks for fermentation to help submerse more of the cap. Each tank corresponds to a specific vineyard block. During harvest, a specially designed crane gently moves and lowers a hopper full of whole berries into each tank.

Sorting is a big part of their attention to detail before fermentation. After the grapes come into the winery, they are sorted by hand, then run through an optical sorter and then finally put through an additional final hand sorting. Nearby is a 20,000 square foot cave that connects directly to the winery. World famous Michel Rolland was brought on in the early years as a consultant. Philipe Melka also made Cliff Lede wines for several years and today Christopher Tynan is the Winemaker. He was formerly Assistant Winemaker at Colgin.

Total annual production is between 18,000 and 20,000 cases depending on what Mother Nature gives them. The majority of this is comprised of their Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and their Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. — 7 years ago

Jason and Jennie

9.6

Fantastic wine for the vintage — 4 years ago

A B

9.4

Josh after golf — 5 years ago

Tom Garland

9.5

Master class.....Napa grand cru terroir- Beckstoffer Vineyards. Lisa Perrotti Brown (editor, Wine Advocate). Andy Beckstoffer (owner of some of Napa's most historic vineyards)..from the Matter of Taste by Wine Adocate in Napa. Wines:
2013 Myraid Beckstoffer Dr Crsne
2023 Realm Beckstoffer Dr Crane
2013 Kata Beckstoffer Bourn
2013 Fait-Main Becstoffer las piers
2013 Paul Hobbs Becstoffer kas piers
2013 Alpha Omega Beckstoffer George's 111
2013 Sojourn Beckstoffer George's 111
2013 Cliff Lede Beckstoffer To Kalon
2013 Schrader Old Sparky Beckstofer To Kalon
2013 Bacio Divino Beckstoffer Missouri hopper
2013 The Debate Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper — 6 years ago

with Brenda

Steve Mann

9.5

A baby, but really fantastic and balanced already. — 6 years ago

Ryan Vento

9.4

An evening spent with John Harris of Amici Cellars. Passed Hors d'ouevres, a 4-course dinner, and some delicious wines.

Third Course (Two wines devoted to this course): Short rib, corned brisket, various allium & ash, tobacco and turnip. Paired with the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and also the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Missouri Hopper vineyard. — 7 years ago

with Krystal

Joe Lucca

9.3

PNV Lot. Missouri Hopper. — 7 years ago

with Kevin, ADAM and 1 other

Chris Loretta

9.6

First Becklyn ever and wow this drinks well above it’s price point. I have a reserve and a Missouri hopper that I’m now dying to try. Will be a buyer for life @Mike Smith — 8 years ago

Symko

9.0

A merlot /Rose' - surprisingly good — 8 years ago

David L

9.1

09' Morlet Passionnement It's a blend from To Kalon, Missouri Hopper & Knights valley.

Don't know what to think about my 09's from Napa Valley. Love them! Not in love with them. Awkward drinking stage?

Nose- Blackberry, cassis. Palate-Black cherry, tobacco, mint & bitter chocolate on the mid palate. This 100% cab is slightly hollow. Drinking with nice length and complexity. I'm guessing the front of the palate should catch up to the back? Hold.

Good bottle of wine. If you can find the 2008... recommend highly.
— 8 years ago