So I read that a little differently. It says 100% of the to kalon fruit will come from Mondavi. What about G3, LPV etc?
Right you are! I had a brain freeze. I blame it on the lateness of the hour (or the earliness of the hour) when I wrote my response.
IMO the older ones are not holding up very well. TRB told me, “8-10 years.” I agree with him; I’m drinking up!
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Last time I was at MacDonald, Constellation/Mondavi had ripped up a lot of old vine material on their property just next to MacDonald. I wonder what the vine age is for what remains, that is what will make their way into the Schrader.
They have something like 600 acres total to choose from. I’m sure they have nooks and crannies that will come out that we didn’t know about.
Yeah they ripped out a bunch of old sauv blanc vines that were in some of the most prime spots in To Kalon 
Yep. And Salty Goats got some of the fruit in 2020 (had to open one the other day and was pretty damn impressed!)
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Great question on the LPV and G3. At the time of the acquisition in 2017 the plan to move away from BTK was already in the works - they a had a 20 year lease on BTK fruit so certainly that was part of the big plan. LPV and G3 are part of their portfolio for many years but both are part of Beckstoffer portfolio - could they have separate leases? Don’t know - my guess is they slowly change their sub brands which they have already done MB in 2017 and Heritage Clone in 2018. Kind of funny they called it Heritage - like they have been making it forever - but that is marketing for you.
I had quite a bit from the early 2000’s before I dropped off the list. Drank them within 10 years, but held a 2004 BTK until 2022. It was holding just fine, quite stunning actually.
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Interesting that Graeme didn’t keep the fruit to increase his own production which would probably still sell out given the wait list at MacDonald. Since he sells his wine well below market value I’d imagine there is more money to be made selling off the fruit?
When we were last in Napa a couple of years ago, there were rumors the Sauvignon Blanc in I-Block was going to be replaced by Cabernet Sauvignon …
I’m not certain, but I believe some of them were
Ugh. That should be criminal.
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Big change. So much of their lineup is made up of Beckstoffer wines. Just for interest I’m wondering if they increased their roster with other vineyards.
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Just got email on 2022 Schrader that suggest Beckstoffer is done. No Old Sparky being bottled.
This year, our offer will be limited to our Heritage Clone, Monastery Block, Wappo Hill Vineyard, and To Kalon Vineyard bottlings and will be available in limited quantities.