**Note: There is some ambiguity in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate reviews of the 2007 vintage.Our Cabernet Sauvignon wines are branded under our family name 'Janzen'- Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, Janzen Cloudy's Vineyard, and Janzen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Praise for Janzen Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard
2008
Wine Enthusiast October 2011 Rating:93
A wine to cellar. With powerful tannins and near perfect balance, it’s extraordinarily ripe and rich in blackberries and currants, with hints of minerals and spices. Very dry, it feels vital from the first taste to the long finish. The vineyard is north of Yountville, which puts it in a cooler area. Should develop bottle complexity over the next decade. Cellar Selection
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine August 2011 Rating:89 One Puff
The ripest of the Janzen trio and the most direct, this wine takes its concentrated fruit right to the limits of excess but stops short before going over the brink. It is, nonetheless, rather more brash and less polished than its mates, and the hints of desiccated fruit that show up on the palate are saved from distress by decent curranty notes and complexing bits of green olive and briar. Time will smooth its not unexpected latter palate tightness.
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2011 Rating:92
Saturated ruby-red. Complex, deep aromas of cassis, espresso, graphite and violet. Suave and savory, with enticing floral lift to the cassis and black cherry flavors. There's a chocolate richness here like the other 2008 Janzen cabernets display but this wine is finer-grained and more perfumed. The energetic, mouthcoating, long finish features smooth tannins and a light touch for a wine with 15+% alcohol.
James Suckling Tasting Report June 15, 2011 Rating:91
This is a little jammy and slightly hot, but it turns bright and fruity at the end. It's full and rich with lots of ripe fruit and spices. Best after 2013.$$
Praise for Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon
2008
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine August 2011 Rating:91 Two Puffs
The depth and richness that makes wines from the To Kalon Vineyard so very special are very much on display here, and only an extra bit of ripeness holds the wine back from being even more impressive than it already is. Its curranty first notes are joined by hints of sweet smoke, cola, raspberry and creamy oak, and its supple entry and tannin-firmed progression are fully supported by ripe, fairly juicy, still evolving fruit that has years to go before showing its best. Do not be in a rush here as time is clearly on this wine's side.
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2011 Rating:91
Good ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of cassis, black cherry and lead pencil. Silky and seamless but with good spicy, peppery lift to the flavors of blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate and licorice. As suave in the mid-palate as the Missouri Hopper Vineyard example but this wine's more muscular tannins will require greater patience. Finishes with torrefaction notes of espresso, dark chocolate and licorice.
2007
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Dec 2009 Rating:94-96
Janzen’s other 2007s were still in barrel, but readers should keep an eye out for the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. Offering abundant aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, and smoked herbs as well as admirable density, opulence, and richness, it has 20 years of drinkability ahead of it.
2006
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Dec 2009 Rating:93
The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, more apparent tannin than the 2007, lots of cedarwood, smoke, earth, and licorice notes, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a structured finish. It will benefit from several years of bottle age, and should keep for 15 years.
Wine Spectator June 15, 2009 Rating:92
Very ripe and fleshy, with full-bodied plum and black cherry fruit that's complex and elegant, ending with supple, fine-grain tannins and cedary oak. Best from 2010-2016
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine April 2009 Rating:94 TWO PUFFS
Classic Napa Valley cassis, cherry and rooty, loamy notes are joined by sweet, hardwood smoke smells in this wine's outgoing yet still developing aromas. Full in palate feel without pushing into heaviness, the wine is inviting and promising at the same time, boasts concentrated cassis, cola and creamy oak flavors of impressive depth. It will certainly live for years to come, and its keen focus on varietal character and its good balance indicate that real complexity will develop with six to ten years in the cellar.
2005
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Dec 2006 Rating:92
A slightly lighter version of the 2004, the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen To Kalon Vineyard displays meaty black cherry and currant characteristics interwoven with dusty herb and earth notes. Medium-bodied, with an elegant, streamlined style, it should drink well for 10-12 years.
2004
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Dec 2005 Rating:92-94 Drink 2005-2020
This innovative effort from Claus Janzen is made with the assistance of Nils Venge's winemaker son, Kirk Venge. A new offering is the limited production 2004 Janzen Cabernet Sauvignon from the famed To Kalon Vineyard. It boasts superb creme de cassis notes intermixed with notions of acacia flowers, new oak, and spice. Low in acidity, but ripe, rich, and concentrated, this looks to be an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink well young yet age for 10-15 years.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Dec 2006 Rating:93 Drink 2006-2021
A sleeper selection from Claus Janzen is his 300-case cuvee of 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen To Kalon Vineyard, a beautifully opulent wine displaying the wonderful cedar, spice box, black currant, and earthy personality of an Oakville Cabernet. Flashy, rich, full-bodied, pure, and deep, it should drink well for 10-15 years.
Praise for Janzen Cloudy's Vineyard
2008
Wine Enthusiast October 2011 Rating: 91
A shade off the great 2007, but still a very good Cabernet that’s capable of aging. It’s super sweet in blackberries, cherries and chocolate, but dry and balanced with herbs and minerals and firm tannins that provide a skeletal backbone. Will be interesting to watch over the next 6-8 years.
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine August 2011 Rating: 93 Two Puffs
Rich in oak and rich in cassis and black cherry fruit with touches of milk chocolate and root beer adding further interest, this wine is keenly on point from first to last, and its hints of green olives reiterate its varietal credentials. Full on the palate yet not the least bit outsized, and nicely supple at entry before firming up across the palate, it is constant in its fruit and convincing in its length. We would set it aside for a half dozen years before looking at it again.
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar May/June 2011 Rating: 90
Medium ruby-red. Black fruits, licorice, menthol and chocolate mint on the nose. Fat, sweet and creamy but still a bit monolithic in the mid-palate. Finishes with building chewy tannins and lingering sweetness. This will need time to lose some of its baby fat and take on its adult shape.
2007
Wine Enthusiast Sept 1, 2010 Rating: 95
A beautiful, classy Cab, marked by smoky new oak and very ripe blackberry and cassis flavors, with a streak of minerals. The vineyard is in the Vaca Mountains, in the valley’s far east. You can taste the sunshine in the wonderful fruitiness, and the tannins are extraordinarily refined, but they’re also aggressive. Fine now, with a long decant, but should develop bottle complexity over many years. Cellar Selection.
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Dec 2009 Rating:90-93
Almost as strong is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Cloudy’s Vineyard. Displaying plenty of black and blue fruits along with subtle hints of flowers, licorice, graphite, and spice box, this dense 2007 seems as strong as the To-Kalon.
2006
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Dec 2008 Rating:90-92+
The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Cloudy’s Vineyard reveals the vintage’s abundant tannin as well as enough concentration and fruit depth to balance out the wine’s structure. This 2006 will undoubtedly be closed for 3-4 years, so the 2005 Cloudy’s Vineyard is a safer bet at this time. However, the 2006 will age well.
2005
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Dec 2008 Rating:91
Sadly, there are only 100 cases of this cuvee, which tastes like a Napa Version of a Bordeaux Pauillac. Tobacco leaf, cassis, licorice, and spice box aromas are followed by a wine with medium to full-bodied flavors, silky tannins, and significant concentration. Enjoy this beauty over the next 10-15 years.
2004
Somm Selections Summer 2007 Rating: 94 Drink 2010-2020
AROMA 14/15 - bright red cherry, raspberry jam, anise: FLAVOR 15/15 red jam, pretty herb quality, soft oak; STRUCTURE 14/15 lush palate/not unctuous, soft fine tannin; LENGTH 14/15 decent length of red berry, flowers; BALANCE 37/40 harmonious, floats across the palate; TOTAL RATING 94."This is a new offering from Claus Janzen, proprietor of Bacio Divino. Comprised of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a well-made, well-balanced, almost seamless wine. The fruit is from a vineyard on Silverado Trail. Only 600 six packs produced.
Praise for Janzen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvingon
2008
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine August 2011Rating:90 One Puff
Solidly and convincingly Cabernet with its black cherry, lightly herbal, black soils, curranty aromas, this big, nicely filled effort has a bit of a fleshy feel at entry and rushes from its supple beginnings on the palate to somewhat chewy tannins as it finishes. It will make fine drinking now with sturdy roasts and is expected to find greater refinement with bottle age of some four to six years.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate December 2010 Rating:90-92
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa is cut from the same mold, perhaps slightly less complex aromatically, but then, it is a year younger. It exhibits similarly sweet black currant fruit intermixed with licorice, camphor, roasted herbs, and underbrush. Also full-bodied, round and generous, it should drink well for 10-12 years.
2007
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate December 2010 Rating:92
An excellent value in high-class Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is the 2007. It’s hard to find Napa Cabernets of this quality for under $100, much less under $50. This beauty exhibits an opaque purple color and sweet black currant notes as well as loamy soil, cedar, and spice. It is full-bodied, exuberant, opulent and delicious already. It should continue to drink well for at least 10-12 years where well-stored.
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine April 2010 Rating:91 TWO PUFFS
So rich and luscious in its aromas as to suggest far more Merlot in its cepage than actually exists, this outgoing, full-bodied effort comes with an invitingly supple texture at entry and flavors that do not stop. Late-arriving tannins provide a fair bit of grip and also insure that this likeable bottling will have plenty of growth ahead of it with four to five years of quiet cellaring.
2006
Wine Spectator June 15,2009 Rating:90
Complex earth, currant, sage and anise flavors have a chewy, pencil-lead shavings and cheese-rind edge. Full-bodied, tight and Bordeaux-like in its austerity. Firmly tannic. Best from 2010-2017.
2005
Wine Enthusiast May 31, 2008 Rating:92
This comes from Bacio Divino, which has been crafting wines under that label for some years. The consulting winemaker was the veteran Nils Venge. The wine is dry, full- bodied and very ripe, showing classic Napa cassis flavors wrapped into superfine tannins.
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