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

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

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. — 7 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

Adam Greenberg

10

PNV are you kidding me?
Honored to taste this bottle which blew me away. #showstopper — 9 years ago

with Tim and Matt

S.R.Alexander

8.9

Take some awesome pedigree fruit, over oak the crap out of it and then add some oak chips and shavings for good measure. Round vanilla, dark berry and you guessed it, wood grain. Disappointing for the price point, no debate here. — 9 years ago

Jocelyn Mortero

10

August 1, 2015, no vintage on the Fish Hopper, Monterey, CA menu, but the waiter described the 3 Monterey Sauvignon Blancs and Bernardus sounded perfect for my palate. I loved the minerality and it was not sweet, perfect for me! — 10 years ago

Jon Miller

10

Fantastic. We had the 2005 before we realized it was sold out. Ugh!!! — 10 years ago

Christine McIntyre

9.1

Nice taste. Has bite but not too strong . Acidic and minerals. Light color. What you want in a Sauvignon Blanc. — 11 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

Paul T HB

9.0

Holding the Booker & drinking this, made by Luc Morlet
Not seeing Parkers 96, or maybe Im just not a Missouri Hopper vineyard fan. Average retail $150.00? — 8 years ago

Karla Loeb

9.5

So yummy! Celebrating Ric Hopper with one of his all time favorites! — 9 years ago

David L

9.4

07' Tuck Beckstoffer Cabernet. You guessed it...Comes from 3 of their iconic vineyards. The Beckstoffer DR. Crane/ Missouri Hopper/Las Piedras (what a combo)100% new oak. Little more then 4 barrels made. 07' was the inaugural release.

The color is purpleish/black. Decanted for 1 hour... needs more. Full-bodied & elegant. I think most people would smell this & guess "Napa cab". Black cherry, raspberry, cigar-box, oak. Pleasing, with an extended & inviting finish. It's got another a good decade in front of it. Crowd pleaser... — 9 years ago

Danny Buie

9.4

Simply amazing — 9 years ago

Bradley Douglas Rogers

10

Not a huge Chardonnay fan, but loved this one. Pours a beautiful gold. Perfect amount of caramel and just smidge of toast. Will pour and repeat. — 10 years ago

Erik Nilsson

9.0

To Kalon is my favorite of the 3 “The Debate” wines. It is less hot than Missouri Hopper and Dr. Crane and showing more subtility and complexity as well. Great midpalate. — 10 years ago

Paul G

8.9

Gift from the Bubbas. Liked age on the 2007. — 12 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

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 — 7 years ago

Dana East

9.1

Uma casa with hopper. — 8 years ago

Karla Loeb

9.4

Delicious! Thank you, Monsieur Hopper! — 8 years ago

Debby Policicchio

9.1

Missouri hopper. Would love to try all three side by side — 9 years ago

Dave Persaud

9.1

Strawberry, light cherry and a little bit of vanilla. For a rosé, this has a flavor profile more in line with a Pinot Noir. Definitely a darker hued rosé with more red fruit character extracted from the skins. Purchased in 2010 at the winery... Y'know before everyone and their grandmother jumped on the rosé bandwagon. 😛 — 9 years ago

PABA

9.2

French Broad Brewery
American Rye Ale
Nice head, well balanced — 9 years ago

Dhiren Soni

9.3

Just the way I like a cab. Add Beckstoffer's grapes to any wine & it becomes phenomenal — 9 years ago

with Erin

Brad Wilson

9.0

Cab 10 rows — 10 years ago

Blaine Brown

9.0

Friendly and spicy Chenin, she's a party hopper. — 10 years ago

Melanie Davis

9.6

Big into wine with mounds if fruit flavor. Very good! — 12 years ago