Napa Valley December 2025 Dave Del Dotto, Mark Carter, and Russell Bevan

In what may be Clark and my last annual adventure to Napa Valley we returned again in December 2025 to spend the weekend at Del Dotto Vineyards spending a day with the master himself Dave Del Dotto and attending the annual white truffle dinner and tasting way too many Del Dotto wines.  Over the years I have tasted almost every wine Dave makes and he continues on with his long history of experimentation with various geometric interior barrel carvings to alter the wood to wine ratio and bottling and selling fire exposed wines(which I found to be quite good) but when it is all said and done I recommend one wine you should mortgage the house to buy, that being the Villa Del Lago.  It is located in an area well known as Pritchard Hill which is one of my all time favorite areas. This 20 acre vineyard is one of Dave's top flagship Cabernet Sauvignons in his portfolio of wines.

If you are familiar with The Beast Cabernet Sauvignon the Villa Del Lago Cabernet Sauvignon is its rival. It is slightly softer than The Beast which is why it is called “The Beauty”. This wine is incredibly concentrated but compared to the Beast would be described as more feminine and fruit forward. This vineyard produces wines that are elegant but have a massive mouth feel and show the concentration of a true pedigreed, world class Cabernet. The fact that the wine can be drank now or for the next 20+ years is truly the “Del Dotto” style created by the philosophies of the family. I highly recommend it.

Mark Carter Wines

Returning for our annual pilgrimage my friend Tom Weldon and I had an incredible tasting session up in Calistoga. Mark Carter is legendary for a reason, and getting to taste through his 2023 lineup—especially a vertical of those iconic Beckstoffer To Kalon and Las Piedras vineyards—is a world-class experience.

I hope to give you a fantastic, vivid picture of how these young 2023 cabernets are developing. At this stage, they are clearly tightly wound and packed with structure, but the signature Carter fruit and complexity are already shining through.

Here is a clean, organized digest of notes for your records, preserving all your specific observations from the flight.

Carter Cellars 2023 Tasting Digest

Tasters: Ross & Tom

Winemaker: Mark Carter

Location: Calistoga, Napa Valley

1. 2023 Carter Cellars "The Hayes" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Multi-vineyard Napa Valley blend (including the heart of Oakville).

• Profile: Very dark color. The nose and palate feature abundant fruit with a distinct overlay of licorice and notes of coffee.

• Structure: Tart, tight, and very young, but highly balanced. Features a full-bodied finish with firm, rounded tannins and a sweet, lingering aftertaste.

• Verdict: Excellent balance; will benefit beautifully from some cellaring.

2. 2023 Carter Cellars "Carter" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Low-production, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from hand-selected fruit.

• Profile: Bursting purple color. Pronounced nose. Offers a dense flavor profile of cherries and a fair amount of chocolate.

• Structure: Super tart and tight initially, but opens up with a beautiful, smooth mouthfeel. Highly fruit-forward with an excellent balance of acidity and tannins.

• Verdict: Highly recommended. The high acid-to-tannin balance makes this a fantastic food wine.

3. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras "La BAM" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard.

• Profile: Deep cherry, sweet, and highly complex nose. The palate carries over that fruitiness alongside notes of coffee and tobacco.

• Structure: Super tight, tart, and young. While tight on the fruit presentation on the palate, it maintains a highly balanced structure.

• Verdict: A very nice, highly complex young wine.

4. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard.

• Profile: Displays the typical, reliable nose and flavor profile expected from Carter's wines, though it lacks the high complexity of the others in the lineup.

• Structure: Less bold than its peers; approachable.

• Verdict: A great, high-quality choice for everyday drinking.

5. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon "The Grand Daddy" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

• Profile: Outstanding complexity. The nose and palate deliver sophisticated layers of smoky cigar wrapper paired with adequate, supporting fruit.

• Structure: Boasts a luxurious, velvety mouthfeel and a beautifully long, pleasant finish.

• Verdict: An absolute standout wine; one of the clear highlights of the entire tasting.

6. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon "The Fred" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

• Profile: Pretty, dark black color with a lovely fruity nose. The palate features a highly complex fruit profile.

• Structure: Noted for a unique hint of effervescence/bubbles at this young stage. Shows excellent, seamless integration of acidity and tannins.

• Verdict: A fascinating, complex, and beautifully integrated expression.

7. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon "The OG" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

• Profile: Super black appearance. The nose and palate are dominated by rich espresso coffee and hints of licorice, backed by good fresh fruit.

• Structure: Soft, velvety, and full mouthfeel. It is somewhat tart and stands out as a "pucker up" wine in this flight, concluding with a nice long finish.

• Verdict: Very tasty and vibrant with great fresh fruit.

8. 2023 Carter Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon "The GTO" Cabernet Sauvignon

• Source: Mark Carter’s Premier Marquee Cabernet (Served exclusively from Magnums).

• Profile: Not quite as dark in color as some of the other pours. The nose and palate feature distinct notes of licorice. Highly fruit-forward.

• Structure: Very tight, tart, and young (bringing out a notable "pucker" factor), yet remarkably smooth on the palate.

• Verdict: A beautiful, fruit-forward premier bottling that was highly enjoyable even in its youth.

It is always fascinating to see how the different blocks of To Kalon ("The Grand Daddy" vs. "The OG" vs. "The Fred") express themselves so differently under Mark's hands, even in the exact same vintage. Cheers to a great tasting!

Russell Bevan Tasting

I am pleased to present my raw tasting notes with my friend Tom capturing the signature style of Russell Bevan—the unapologetic, high-octane(consistent with Russell’s personality) fruit, the massive texture, and yes, that notorious California "heat" (high alcohol) that his wines often carry, especially when tasted young.

Tasting 2023s in late 2025 caught those wines right on the edge of release or as early barrel/bottle samples. The 2023 vintage in Napa was famously long and cool, which explains why you noticed bright, backbone-providing acidity across multiple bottles, even amidst Bevan's massive fruit style.

To make these notes clean, scannable, and easy to look back on, I’ve organized and synthesized my raw impressions into a structured tasting journal.

The Tasting Journal: Russell Bevan Lineup

The 2023 Vintage (Young Releases & Samples)

Wine	Nose Profile	Palate & Flavor	Structure & Finish	Overall Takeaway
2023 Ontogeny Cabernet Sauvignon	Licorice, floral accents, clear honeysuckle.	Fruit-forward, tart, but lacking a bit of core flavor.	Very balanced, not overly hot, but had some harsh edges. Average, less complex finish.	A very nice, balanced, standard California Cab, though nothing extraordinary for his lineup.
2023 Sugar Loaf Proprietary Red	Weak intensity; subtle chocolate notes.	Rich chocolate, deep cassis. Slightly hot.	Great acid backbone underneath the rich fruit, making it incredibly food-friendly.	Well-balanced sweetness and structure; the chocolate elements carry it beautifully.
2023 Curmudgeon Cabernet Sauvignon	Weak intensity; primarily chocolate.	Massive fruit, intense chocolate profile with a touch of expected sweetness.	Balanced overall, but simple. Lacked a deeper layer of complexity.	A fruit and chocolate showcase that is balanced but straightforward.
2023 Wildfoot Stags Leap Cabernet	Deep, highly intense; clear evidence of heavy extraction.	An absolute "fruit bomb" backed by distinct tobacco and cigar notes.	Wonderfully balanced despite the massive weight, making it incredibly pleasant to drink.	Visually and texturally striking; a powerhouse execution of Stags Leap terroir.

The 2018 Vintage (Aged Perspective)

2018 Sugarloaf Proprietary Red

• Visuals: Showing its age with distinct browning on the edges.

• The Nose: Intense and highly complex; layered with licorice, cedar, and classic cigar box aromas.

• The Palate: Deep licorice and wood notes carried over seamlessly from the nose, wrapped in a beautiful, velvety mouthfeel.

• The Caveat: The wine ran quite "hot" with noticeable alcohol. Even though it was a brisk 42°F morning and the wine was served chilly, the high ABV heat cut right through the cool serving temperature.

2018 Wildfoot Cabernet Sauvignon (Stags Leap District)

• Visuals: Incredibly youthful; did not show its age or much clearing on the rim at all compared to the Sugarloaf.

• The Nose & Palate: A massive, firing-on-all-cylinders "2+ fruit bomb." Deep, rich layers of fresh coffee bean and dark chocolate with excellent structural complexity.

• The Finish: Remarkably long and persistent.

• The Winner: The #1 preferred wine of the entire tasting. An absolute standout Cabernet that shows exactly why Bevan gets the "genius" label.

Three Fascinating Takeaways:

1. The Evolution of the Wildfoot vineyard. I tried to highlight the magic of the Wildfoot vineyard in Stags Leap. Even with 5+ years of age, the 2018 remained vibrant, young, and structurally superior to the Sugarloaf, outliving its vintage profile and proving to be a spectacular cellar performer.

2. The Cold-Weather Alcohol Test: My observation about the 2018 Sugarloaf is a great piece of wine wisdom. When a wine has a massive alcohol footprint, serving it cold can sometimes over-accentuate the burn rather than hide it, because the fruit mask shrinks while the structural alcohol remains sharp.

3. The Chocolate Thread: It's clear Russell loves a specific type of oak integration or fruit ripeness that coaxes out those deep cocoa and chocolate undertones—it showed up as a backbone in almost every single bottle you tasted

Shout out to Brasswood Restaurant

3111 St. Helena Hwy North, St Helena, CA 94574

Phone 707-302-5101

Menu:  brasswood.com

Every year we have gone to Napa we have had at least one lunch at Brasswood.  For the most part the food has always been good to exceptional.  In the past they have sometimes had an elitist attitude but with our December visit the food and service was beyond exceptional.  Frankly it was hands down the best meal we have had in Napa in years.  We were pleasantly surprised as to how great the food was.  I still remember the meat balls, best ever.  Very tasty food along with of course great wine.  If you are downtown Napa it is a bit of a drive but well worth it.  I highly recommend Brasswood as a bucket list kind of place.

We had a nice group dinner at Bistro Jeanty and the food was excellent and service was improved.

We did not go this year but we still recommend Mustard's highly

We had a fun shopping trip at the Oxbow Market and a great lunch at Gott's new place and Gott's on Hwy 29 in St. Helena is still legendary but it is much easier and quicker to go Gott's at Oxbow.

The Wine Soapbox

We decided not to return to Napa this year and it is doubtfull we will return in the future.  It is not because Napa is not wonderful because it is.  It has it's con's.  Dependent on time of year you go it can be horribly crowded, hot, and uncomfortable, with traffic on Hwy 29 being at total standstill.  It is always expensive and is getting more expensive year to year.  You have to pay fairly high tasting fee's to even taste wine and if you buy wine the shipping costs are high also.  One way to mitigate the wine costs is to join the vineyards wine clubs where you agree to purchase a specific number of wines in a given year.  For that the vineyards have discounted tasting fee's and shipping costs.  The problem with that is if you are my older age you end up buying a lot of wine you may never drink and you quickly run out of wine storage space.  So it's the devil if you do and the devil if you don't.  Our other reason and the reason this report is late is my health and disabilities continue to evolve.  I have nothing serious or terminal but I asked one of my physicians could they explain the why I had what I have and they were at least honest, worn out from aging, old age.  Thanks, who knew?  So for the near future we are staying close to home and trying desperately to drink at least some of the many bottles of wine we have currently and if you are near Amelia Island please come by and help us drink a couple of bottles.  But if you have the chance, and especially if you have never been, take a trip to Napa.  The restaurants for the most part are legendary with some of the best food on the planet.  There are thousands of wines to try.  The vibe is both relaxing and energetic at the same time.  There are great winemakers like Mark Carter and Dave Del Dotto who will welcome you with open arms and proudly showcase their wines and tell you wonderful stories.  You will go home exhausted but also refreshed and you will have memories that like a wines finish, live long past the last sip you take there.

For your reading pleasure I ran the above paragraph through AI Gemini and this is what it came up with:

That is an incredibly beautiful, bittersweet reflection. You perfectly captured the "Napa tightrope"—the legendary food, the unforgettable hospitality of people like Mark Carter and Dave Del Dotto, and that lingering "finish" of great memories, contrasted against the realities of brutal Highway 29 traffic, soaring tasting fees, and wine clubs that slowly take over your storage space. It really is a "devil if you do, devil if you don't" situation when those shipments just keep rolling in.

First off, I love your physician's candid diagnosis. "Worn out from aging" is delightfully blunt, but navigating evolving health and disabilities is no joke. It makes total sense that you're choosing comfort and staying close to home. There is a profound, cozy joy in pausing the acquisition phase of life and entering the enjoyment phase—tasting your way through your own cellar without having to worry about packing a suitcase or fighting crowds.

If I could pull up a chair on Amelia Island, I would gladly help you put a dent in those bottles! Sitting back, letting the wine age exactly where it is, and matching it with good food at home sounds like a perfect next chapter.

What regions or specific bottles are you planning to open first from your collection?  TBD