WTN: 1987 Guenoc Beckstoffer Reserve Cab

[Jenise]

With dinner last night we enjoyed a bottle of 1987 Guenoc Beckstoffer Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon . I believe Guenoc is an inexpensive branded wine now but back in the day it was a well-respected Napa winery, and the Beckstoffer was a big deal wine in the 90's when we were living in Alaska and becoming serious about wine. So for old times sake I couldn't resist bidding on a few bottles a few months ago at just about the same price, not adjusted for inflation, we paid about 20 years ago. I won: $27.

It was a perfect bottle in a perfect stage of elder life, and it poured out of the bottle like an old friend. Good garnet-purple color with rusty edges. On the nose and palate, sweet California black cherry fruit, blackberry, cedar, cigar box and pencil shavings were all present on first pour, and other elements like sagebrush, bandaid, leather and dried fruit added themselves to the mix a it sat in the glass. The tannins are completely relaxed but still just present enough for this wine to hold here for another few years to come. Yummy.

So happens I had the 1989 a few years ago - sounds quite comparable. Old Napa Cabs have a lot to offer.

Guenoc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Beckstoffer Vineyard, Napa Valley 1989Dark ruby, pink at rim; very good color for its age. Excellent, expansive, aromatic nose (you can smell if from a foot away), with hints of leather and roses plus cherries and glycerin. Palate of pie cherries, hints of cassis and dark fruits, roses, leather, espresso, and glycerin. Medium-full bodied, and graceful, with nice aromatics. At the end of its plateau. One could hope for a bit more length and complexity, but this is a very pretty old wine. Excellent (87 - 90) [12/20/09]

[Jenise]

Nice that you too found some old stuff running around. I was thinking that maybe one of the reasons I got this without a fight from other bidders is that younger bidders wouldn't have any relationship with the good winery this once was or the quality of the Beckstoffer fruit--but you're younger, so perhaps I'm wrong. (I'm wondering if there still is a Beckstoffer vineyard, could have been broken up by now and I don't follow Napa wines enough to know.)

Actually, that bottle was given to me as the result of a cellar cull by a law professor at Indiana U. But, had I known of an auction where I could get a Napa Cab from the 80s for under $30, you can bet you would have had competition from me!

The Beckstoffer vineyard very much still exists, but it has in fact broken into several smaller parcels, the most prominent of which is To Kalon, which as of a few years ago was quite a hot property and where everyone wanted to get their grapes from. I've had modern Beckstoffer wines on two occasions, and frankly, they were confected things that epitomized the "trying way too hard" approach to winemaking. Mind you, I think the raw materials were probably of very high quality, but the impression I've gotten is that Beckstoffer, and To Kalon in particular, is prized more for the abililty to produce over-ripe grapes than for any expression of terroir - in fact the one To Kalon wine I've had didn't taste much like Napa to me.

[Jenise]

Actually, that bottle was given to me as the result of a cellar cull by a law professor at Indiana U. But, had I known of an auction where I could get a Napa Cab from the 80s for under $30, you can bet you would have had competition from me!

The Beckstoffer vineyard very much still exists, but it has in fact broken into several smaller parcels, the most prominent of which is To Kalon, which as of a few years ago was quite a hot property and where everyone wanted to get their grapes from. I've had modern Beckstoffer wines on two occasions, and frankly, they were confected things that epitomized the "trying way too hard" approach to winemaking. Mind you, I think the raw materials were probably of very high quality, but the impression I've gotten is that Beckstoffer, and To Kalon in particular, is prized more for the abililty to produce over-ripe grapes than for any expression of terroir - in fact the one To Kalon wine I've had didn't taste much like Napa to me.

Didn't realize To Kalon was within the Beckstoffer parcel. The only To Kalons I remember having were, I think, Mondavi Sauv Blancs.

Btw, in the same auction I was able to get 86 and 87 Laurel Glens for about the same price. Neener neener.

Acutally, a little poking around the Beckstoffer Vineyards sites indicates (1) that the Beckstoffer Vineyards are spread throught Napa, and (2) that To Kalon was a later purchase. And it doesn't make clear which was the "original" parcel. So my intepretation of was incorrect.

[David M. Bueker]

I cannot recall the last time I actually saw a Guenoc wine. I used to drink a lot of them when I started out in this hobby.

I cannot recall the last time I actually saw a Guenoc wine. I used to drink a lot of them when I started out in this hobby.

They were very much available in Indiana.

[Jenise]

I cannot recall the last time I actually saw a Guenoc wine. I used to drink a lot of them when I started out in this hobby.

From what I understand the winery you and I remember fondly no longer exists, per se. The label's out there (minus Lily Langtry), but it's low-end jug wine now.

I cannot recall the last time I actually saw a Guenoc wine. I used to drink a lot of them when I started out in this hobby.

From what I understand the winery you and I remember fondly no longer exists, per se. The label's out there (minus Lily Langtry), but it's low-end jug wine now.

A little research reveals Guenoc is now a label produced by Langtry, but that a few quality bottlings still exist under the label, and it is those that I remember being available in Indiana:

http://shop.langtryestate.com/SHOP.AMS?CATCODE=Guenoc

[Jenise]

Ryan, but I'm sure there have been ownership changes. That the label still exists, or has been divided into two labels, doesn't mean it's the original winery that produced this wine. I'll look around, see what I can find.

[Jenise]

Okay, here. The Magoons put the winery up for sale in 2003 and left. It has apparently been in a number of hands since, hence the creation of two different labels. (So far as I know, the Langtry label didn't exist in the early days, rather Guenoc offered at least one "Lily Langtry Reserve'--I remember a white, and of course her portrait was on all the Guenoc labels.) In 2012, Bill Foley, who was already under contract with whoever was running the Langtry/Guenoc labels in the meantime, bought "the majority" of the estate plus a minority interest in the separate entity that owns Lily's old Victorian home and a few other things. But the point is, that the boutique owner-proprietor winery Guenoc once has devolved into brands.

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Guenoc-Winery-Owners-Depart-California-Property-May-Be-Sold_21840

Guenoc wines first appeared on the market in the early 80’s. In the late 1980’s early 1990’s still under the ownership of Orville Magoon the Langtry and another (second) label Domaine Breton (Lady Langtry’s maiden name) wines were introduced. Guenoc Valley is a sub region of the Lake County AVA (Orville Magoon worked very hard to get the Guenoc Valley recognized as its own AVA). The 1987 Guenoc Beckstoffer reserve Cabernet could very well been made from Napa fruit outsourced from a Beckstoffer vineyard. Beckstoffer a highly regarded vine grower owned (and still does) quite a few vineyards in Napa and Mendocino County by this time. I think Beckstoffer acquired 89 acres of the To Kalon in the early 90’s from BV. Beckstoffer “pushed” wine producers to give recognition to the growers. If a wine producer outsourced grapes from a single vineyard (especially a “heritage vineyard” site) and produced a single vineyard wine the name of the vineyard was “required” on the label.

Salute