For this edition’s taste, I want to highlight one of our new offerings at the Club. We visited Macauley on our Napa trip and just wanted to keep our relationship fresh. Mac was out of town but was gracious enough to open up his home for us. We sat under the giant trees overlooking the flower-framed pool looking up at Howell Mountain and the scorched earth and trees left from the fires of 2020.

This Macauley ‘Beckstoffer To Kalon’ Cabernet Sauvignon is not your everyday wine but a sample of just how good Cabernet Sauvignon can be from Napa Valley. The source of the grapes come from the crowned jewel vineyard known as The Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. Not many will dispute that this is the absolute best vineyard in all of Napa. 

To get into the wine: This silky wine is exactly what one expects from the legendary vineyard and terroir. It’s a quintessential Oakville expression that shows a nose bright of cherry, subtle highlights of currants, touches of leather and hints of tobacco, which come together as a Napa classic. The palate affords you a note of fresh blackberry and the sort of robust and chewy swirl of herbal, oak-laced vanilla on the finish. This begs you to prepare it with a chargrilled steak on a summer day. The tannins are youthful and absolutely gorgeous. The acidity is timed just right to carry out these flavors for a long, long finish. This 100% Cabernet is drinking beautifully right out of the bottle although a 30-minute decanting is probably best. 

The wine is aged for 28 months in 100% New French Oak Barrels, bottled unfiltered and unfined and only 225 cases were produced. The wine maker is Kirk Venge. 

As stated before, to pair this gem of a wine, a steak is in order. Last week, as I watched Chef Isaac cut from a rack of Wagyu Tomahawk Ribeyes, which would put any carnivore on high alert, this is the type of pairing that I would be looking for. A true gluttonous meal, nevertheless, but the best with the best! Now all you need are your dearest friends, family or business associates to make it a day or night to remember!

See you at the Club…

Jeff

Jeffrey Cohen is the Wine Specialist at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at jcohen@cordilleraranch.com.