2012 Bernard Magrez Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard 750 ml

Château Pape Clément’s “Bad Boy” at Beckstoffer Dr. Crane

Even by Silicon Valley standards, Bordeaux-born Bernard Magrez is very rich. But unlike most of his well-heeled neighbors on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, Bernard is known as something of a “bad boy,” an entrepreneur who dives into winery projects with what the conservative Bordelais view as reckless abandon.

M. Magrez’s crown jewel is Château Pape Clément, which in recent vintages is all but the qualitative equivalent of the First Growths. How to explain Pape Clément’s 100-point ascent? First, Magrez has poured a fortune into Pape Clément’s gravelly soils. Second, when Magrez calls Michel Rolland, the most sought-after Flying Winemaker in the world is quick to return the call.

In 2005, Magrez flew to Northern California and, on a whim, decided to conduct a very expensive Napa Valley experiment. With no thought whatsoever of the cost of their consultancy services, Magrez called Rolland and then vineyard manager David Abreu. The first release of Bernard Magrez Cabernet Sauvignon, drawn off Abreu’s Thorevilos Vineyard above St. Helena, was one of the richest, most extraordinarily structured wines of that vintage.

Seven years later, in a 2012 growing season that may never be forgotten in Napa Valley, Magrez upped the ante. This time, he contracted for Cabernet Sauvignon off of Andy Beckstoffer’s famed Dr. Crane Vineyard in St. Helena, first planted by Dr. George Belden Crane in 1858. Then he did one better and brought in Benoit Touquette — Napa Valley’s latest 100-point superstar — who cut his winemaker teeth under the watchful eyes of Michel Rolland.

Magrez is somewhat legendary for spending frivolously in the vines and in the cellar, often leaving 30 percent of the recolte on the sorting table. While yields at Dr. Crane were quite high in 2012, dozens of workers were contracted at harvest to de-stem every cluster by HAND, plucking imperfect berries one at a time and discarding them. A long, cool maceration followed. When alcoholic fermentation was complete, the wine was run off into new French-oak barrels, and aged on the fine lees for 18-24 months in 100% new fine-grain French-oak barrels.

The 2012 Bernard Magrez Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard is purple-black in color. Knockout nose of ultra-ripe blackberry, black chocolate, and black currant, buttressed by plenty of toasty new wood. Ultra-concentrated and absolutely MASSIVE on the attack, packed with a thick, dense, chewy core of blackberry and black raspberry preserves, splashed with sweet crème de cassis, tinged with graphite and bitter chocolate. While delicious right out of the gate, if you spend two hours with this fabulous 2012 in oversized Riedel, the wine begins to shut down, beginning to show the sturdy tannic backbone that argues for a 15- to 20-year slumber in the coolest of cellars.

93 points from Antonio Galloni (rave review below). Total production: 200 cases. $175/bottle from the winery. $125 this afternoon ONLY on WineAccess. Shipping included on 2.