“Hurry here, hustling there, no one’s got the time to spare. Money’s tight, nothing’s free. Won’t somebody come rescue me?” Stevie Ray Vaughan, ‘In Step’

CROSSFIRE shows earlier than its fellow Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer stable mate from To-Kalon –coming out of the traps blazing! Andy Beckstoffer purchased Missouri Hopper from the Kelham family in 1996. Owing to phylloxera, the vineyard was replanted to multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and other mainly Bordeaux-style varieties. The Missouri Hopper Vineyard origin lies in it being a part of the historic Vine Hill Ranch located north of the town of Yountville in the Oakville AVA. The vineyard is divided into two areas with the wine emanating from both the northerly, younger Block C and the westerly Block D.

Purchased by Beckstoffer Vineyards in 1988, the vineyard has since been replanted using new Cabernet Sauvignon clones with tighter spacing and advanced trellising systems, enhancing both quality and grape tonnage. The cropping level is held to the same low yield as is true for the To-Kalon Vineyard – under three tons to the acre.

Vinification is pretty similar to those wines that we make in France. After running through two sets of sorting tables – firstly by bunch and then, after the destemmer, grape by grape, we’re looking for a long cold soak before fermentation occurs. The wines undergo malolactic fermentation in new French oak, and are aged in the same oak for up to two years.