Vice Versa Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, USA 2023

They strive to craft world-class wines that are distinctive expressions of the Napa Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Paso Robles. Each of these wines is made to allow the essence of its vineyard to shine through. They are hedonistic and seductive, but so authentic they speak of their cultivars, terroirs, and the people who help create them.

Power. Structure with grace. There is a self-possession to wines that hail from To Kalon, and this is the ideal we aspire to every year. The wines can be mesmerizing. Humbling. Transporting. When we have this hair-raising encounter with the sublime while tasting the new wine out of barrel, we know we’re close to the mark.

To Kalon means “the place of highest beauty.” Paris-based artists Dana and Stéphane Maitec designed the label around a close-up of the front of a vintage camera, subtly reflecting a woman’s silhouette, representing that the beauty is in fact in the eye of the beholder.

The aromas of To Kalon bottling are consistent: An opaque ruby color in the glass greets the eye, while the olfactories are treated to notes of blackberry and blueberry pie, creme de cassis, red roses, cocoa, violets, rose petals, and occasionally an exotic spice element. The trick here is to walk the tightrope between tannin and acid structure—which gives longevity—and the opulence that the sunny site gives freely.

Only 25 barrels made