A six-bottle Schrader Cellars assortment from the 2019 vintage, packed in the winery's original wooden case. The Classic Pack brings together several of Schrader's single-vineyard Napa Cabernets, so you can compare vineyards and clones side by side from one year.
About This Wine
Schrader builds its range around individual vineyards and, at To Kalon, individual clones: CCS comes from a Clone 4 block, RBS from Clone 337 and T6 from Clone 6, while other bottlings draw on Beckstoffer's Las Piedras and Georges III vineyards. The make-up of the Classic Pack changes from year to year, so the exact bottles depend on the release. Across the 2019 range, every wine was aged in new French oak from the Darnajou and Taransaud cooperages.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Crème de cassis, blackberry and black cherry, with violets, graphite, liquorice and sweet oak spice.
- Palate: Full-bodied and opulent, with dense dark fruit, silky tannins and good freshness through the middle.
- Finish: Layered, with cocoa, cedar and dark fruit that carry on.
Serving & Food
Decant each bottle for an hour or so and serve at 16 to 18°C in large Bordeaux glasses. Opening two side by side is a good way to see the clonal differences. These will drink from now and keep for 15 years or more. Pair with bone-in rib-eye, lamb rack or hard cheeses such as aged Comté.
How to Enjoy
A tasting flight of Schrader's single-vineyard Cabernets from one vintage.
Product Details
Producer: Schrader Cellars
Country: USA
Region: Napa Valley, California
Vintage: 2019
Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker: Thomas Rivers Brown
Format: 6 x 750mL assortment
Packaging: Original wooden case
About the Winery
Fred Schrader, a former antiques dealer, came into wine in 1992 when he co-founded Colgin Schrader Cellars with his then wife Ann Colgin. In 1998 he left to set up his own label, signing a fruit contract with grower Andy Beckstoffer and bringing in Thomas Rivers Brown as winemaker, who still makes the wines.
Beckstoffer's To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville became the heart of the programme. Its gravelly, well-drained soils, full sun and cooling breezes suit Cabernet, and Schrader bottles separate blocks and clones rather than blending them away. The CCS bottling carries the initials of Carol Colesworthy Schrader, Fred's partner in the business.