Recent Reviews

December 2024

2017 00 Wines, Chardonnay “VGW” Willamette Valley, Oregon.
Tasted recently, this 00 Wines VGW Willamette Valley, really put on a nice performance on the night with fine Burgundy like details and beautiful layering, including lime, green apple, pear and quince fruits leading the way, along with clove, hazelnut, citrus blossom, steely mineral tones, wet rock, brioche, vanilla and lemon preserves. This was a tough blind, and I sure it was a Burgundy and I was leaning towards a warm vintage Grand Cru Chablis or Chassagne, so I was rightly impressed by this poised effort. Chris and Kathryn Hermann founded 00 (Double Zero) Wines in 2015 and have taken the Oregon wine world by storm with an amazing set of Pinot and Chard offerings, with this very Burgundy like Willamette Valley VGW (Very Good White) Chardonnay being an excellent example of why this winery is turning heads. A big thank you to my friend and Oregon native Josh Rose, who brought out this personal bottle of Double Zero and shared with a group of wine industry professionals that were all thrilled by this one.

The dominant soil series in the Willamette Valley include Jory, Willakenzie, and Nekia, with 00 Wines adding that, Jory soils are well-drained, fine-textured Haplohumults with a dark reddish brown silty clay loam, which give the wines their mineral driven character. The vineyards of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, where 00 procure much of the Chardonnay fruit for the VGW blend see a cool breeze most of the day and a good exposures to the sun, for ripe, but well balanced wines. 00 Wines says they work with small, independent barrel makers, “coopers”, who understand the balance and craft of creating barrels that frame their wines rather than overpower them, with Damy being one of their favorites. This pale straw/gold hued 2017 is hitting a good window and the toasty oak has integrated very well and the long finish and yeasty notes are perfectly opulent at this stage. I had been hearing lots of praise of 00 Wines, but I had not sampled any of the wines until I got to try this one and I look forward to digging into more of their portfolio of wines, including their EGW Chardonnay and their Pinot Noir offerings.
($89 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2021 Adega Cachin, Mencia, Peza do Rei Tinto, Ribeira Sacra DO, Galicia, Spain.
This beautifully balanced, floral, mineral toned, dark fruited and racy Mencia is grown in an eight-acre high altitude steeply terraced vineyard, made by the Adega Cachin, the Peza do Rei Ribeira Sacra Tinto is a near perfect example of varietal and place. The aromatic and spicy purple/garnet 2021 Peza do Rei has medium bodied palate of wild blueberry, tart plum, lingonberry and black cherry fruits along with briar notes, crushed violets, minty fennel and flinty/smoky stones. The tannins are supple and the wine, with its vibrant acidity, low alcohol and delicious rustic chard make for a quaffer and still serious in detail and length. I’m a big fan of the Ribeira Sacra region and especially the wines of my friend Pedro Rodriguez at Guimaro as well as Laura Lorenzo at Daterra Viticultures, but I had not tried Adega Cachin’s Mencia before. The Peza do Rei is actually a field blend with Mencía 90%, Merenzao 2%, Tempranillo 3%, Sousón 2% and Garnacha 3%, and is raised without wood in temperature controlled stainless steel and sees just a few months in tank before a quick bottling. This vintage is drinking fabulously well right now, no patience required, it reminds me a lot of a Croze-Hermitage meats Cru Beaujolais, which is a fine compliment in my book, I could could drink a lot of this stuff!

The beautiful and mysterious Ribeira Sacra, which was almost forgotten in the last century was highly coveted by the Romans, but only became an official D.O. in 1996, and now is seeing a huge up turn in fortunes. The Mencia grape, the main red varietal in the Ribeira Sacra, as well in the famous Beirzo region where it can be more rich and powerful, is a varietal that has elements that will remind you of Syrah, Pinot and Gamay, especially here in this cooler terroir that influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. The granite, schist and slate based soils and the elevation, helps it retains loads of zesty natural acidity and delivers that mineral intensity, famous in the Ribeira Sacra wines. Historically, since those Roman times, the most famous Galician wines come from the steep south facing hillsides above the Sil River. When you see the difficulty of hand tending these steep sites, you’d not believe you were looking at vineyards in Spain, as the Ribeira Sacra “the sacred blanks” looks more like the steepest sections of the Mosel River in Germany! There are many places, still today, without any roads, some only accessed by either small boats and or by narrow foot trails, it is not easy and historically none to profitable to farm these incredible vineyards, but the wines are incredible and remain a great value. The Adega Cachin does a Rosado, a Godello based Bianco and another Mencia, Barrica (wood aged) to fill out their collection, all of which are on my follow list now, I suggest keeping on eye out for them.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2020 Turley Wine Cellars, Zinfandel, Kirschenmann Vineyard, Mokelumne River AVA, Lodi.
The dark opaque purple garnet 2020 Turley Kirschenmann Zinfandel is loaded with concentration showing off thick layers of blackberries, raspberries, sweet plums, Mission figs and smoky currant fruits, along with sandalwood, minty herbs, violet florals, camphor, vanilla and liqueur notes. This warm vintage full bodied effort will please the big Zin fans and it has opulent tannins and a dry Port like character with hints of chocolate cherry and prune notes. The Kirschenmann, as Turley notes, is particularly close to their heart as head winemaker, Tegan Passalacqua, owns and farms this renowned vineyard. The un-grafted Hundred year old plus ancient vines here at Kirschenmann are set on the silica-rich sandy soils of the east side of the Mokelumne River AVA. Passalacqua, as noted here in prior reviews, takes full advantage of he river’s cool waters and the delta breezes that keeps this arid and warm terroir in balance, allowing these head-trained, dry-farmed vines some protection from the Summer heat. Turley Wine Cellars makes forty-seven wines from over fifty vineyards, and as they add, the vast majority of which are single vineyard designate Zinfandel(s) and Petite Syrah(s) coming from all organic sites, most of which are certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers. Turley’s Zins are 100% natural or indigenous yeast fermented, see loads of extraction and are aged in a combination of about 80% French and 20% American oak barrels with close to 20% new wood in each vintage, all of which gives these wine’s their signature balancing act between luxurious richness and authentic transparency. The Kirschenmann, which also has small amounts of Mondeuse, Cinsault, and Carignane, is always wonderfully rounded, polished and pure with a surprising degree of crisp detailing, impressive for a bigger wine that clocks in at around 15% alcohol, and while I personally like 2018s and 2021s a bit more, this 2020 is good stuff and goes great with food, especially BBQ and other meaty dishes and or hard cheeses.

Kirschenmann Vineyard Zinfandel comes from a hundred and eight year old vines on the East Side of Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA, which was was originally planted back in 1915 and is set on silica rich, white sandy soils. Kirschenmann Vineyard is owned by Tegan Passalacqua’s family, and Passalacqua is head winemaker and vineyard manager for the famed Larry Turley, so he has incredible insight into these vines and knows how to get the best out of them. Passalacqua one of California’s great minds, who got his start by working in the lab in Napa Valley, has many talents, both in the cellar and in vines, and he has an impressive CV, having done stints in the cellars of Craggy Range in New Zealand, with Eben Sadie in South Africa and with the late great Alain Graillot in the Northern Rhone Valley. Turley, as I’ve mentioned before, along with Ridge Vineyards, Bedrock Wine Co., Carlisle, Martinelli and Biale are keepers of the faith in the modern Zinfandel, highlighting individual vineyard sites and making wines with bold full bodied character, with many of these from vines that were planted in the late 1800s. These producers, especially Turley, are making Zinfandels that are mouth filling, lush and dense with impressive palate impact, giving loads of hedonistic pleasure in their youth, but are serious wine that can age easily 10 to 15 years. The 2020 vintage was incredibly difficult and heartbreaking for many regions in California with many raging wild fires causing havoc for grape growers, with 80% of the state affected, but Passalacqua with Larry Turley’s blessing, didn’t take any chances with smoke taint and culled production to almost ridiculous levels to make wines they could 100% stand behind. Lucky for Zin fans, lots of vineyards with the heat of the year were picked before the smoke became an issue, as seen here, and so far all the Turley wines I’ve had were delicious and no issues. There will be some good wines from 2020, but you’ll need to be careful, so I recommend producers with high ethically standards like Turley, or else stock up on 2021, 2022 and 2023s all of which are outstanding years in California.
($49 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2019 Hundred Suns, Pinot Noir, Bednarik Vineyard, Tualatin Hills AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
The dark, sultry and earthy 2019 Bednarik Vineyard Pinot Noir from Grant Coulter and Renée Saint-Amour at Hundred Suns is a very old school Oregon Pinot, but uniquely crafted in parts with whole cluster carbonic lots in amphora to lots of 100% de-stemmed grapes in small open top fermenters. The results, after maturing in neutral French oak barrels for just under a year, are impressive and Burgundy like with layers of dark berry, wild plum, a core of black cherry and a lingering mix of orange marmalade and cranberry fruits, along with graphite, leather, briar spice, a hint of cedar and Earl Grey tea and subtle florals and mineral notes all come into play here. The tannins turn supple with air and the fruit becomes deep with the feral meatiness finding a good spot in the background, with a touch of chalky stones, somewhere between a Nuits-Saint-Georges ad a Gevrey-Chambertin in style. This may not appeal to the modern California Pinot drinker, but there’s no doubting the quality here and I was very much entertained over the course of a few nights with this wine. This intriguing 2019 is a bit less flamboyant than some of the other bottlings here, but that isn’t a fault and makes this Bednarvik very distinctive in its own right and showcases the year and terroir beautifully.

The block of old vines that Hundred Suns has at Bednarik Vineyard, originally own rooted back in 1988, near Cherry Grove in the lesser known Tualatin Hills AVA, is located at about 350 feet above sea level and set on classic marine sedimentary soils with an inter-planting of Pommard and Wadenswil clones and sees a cooler climate influence. This, from nice long hang times, gives the wines their concentration, complexity and low alcohol freshness, with the old clones adding structural tannins and earthiness, especially evident here in this 2019, a very traditional Willamette Valley vintage. The talented, ex Beaux Frères winemaker, Grant Coulter, originally from Monterey, near my own hood, says the 2019 vintage was more in line with his ideal Oregon growing season and that the cool hillside vines at Bednarik gave great intensity of color and flavor with moderate sugars with the grapes all being hand picked on October 1st of that harvest. Coulter, who continues to be an innovator, does a combination of winemaker techniques like the mentioned amphora fermentations, along with carbonic maceration in stainless steel, maybe some concrete, and traditional foot trodded open top fermentations, as seen here. Sometimes the early opened Hundred Suns Pinots come across like my favorite Cru Beaujolais, but this one is more transparently Pinot in in the glass and these wines age beautifully, don’t miss a chance to try them.
($60 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2014 Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Les Saint-Georges, Premier Cru, Côte de Nuits, Red Burgundy, France.
The dark fruited 2014 Thibault Liger-Belair Les Saint-Georges Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges Red Burgundy is showing beautifully with just a hint of this lighter vintage’s touch of green spice and actually feels rich and serious on the palate with excellent density and fruit layering. Coming from some of the most coveted vines in this part of the Côte de Nuits, Liger-Belair’s Les Saint-Georges is sourced from a tiny 2.05 hectares of vines that planted in 1944. Set on very pebbly brown limestone soils and located in the southern part of the appellation, Les Saint-Georges is considered to be, an undeclared Grand Cru, and one of the most ancient climats in Burgundy, according to legend having been planted with vines as far back as the year1000. The winery itself notes that at the end of the 19th century, the town of Nuits was allowed to officially add the Saint-Georges appendage after its name, that of its most famous cru, like many of the villages do with their Grand Crus, like Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chombolle-Musigny. Like most of the top estates, Thibault Liger-Belair has employed all organic farming and is now certified and he even is label vegan too. The wines here typically show excellent transparency and reductive notes with minimal intervention winemaking in the cellar and modest use of new wood, though serious stuff like this one probably saw good dose to tame the powerful structure found in Les Saint-Georges. So this wine was crafted with carefully hand harvested grapes and with 40% of whole clusters. The Les Saint-Georges had three weeks of fermentation with very gentile maceration and was then pressed to barrel with about 50% of new oak this time and was aged for a total of 22 months.

For those that haven’t had Thibault Liger-Belair’s wines, I highly recommend doing so when given any chance, especially the signature Nuits-St.-Georges bottlings, like this one. Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair is a highly-regarded and well respected Pinot Noir producer based in Nuits-Saint-Georges, in the Côte de Nuits and has been in the family since 1720, when C.Marey and Comte Liger-Belair created the original estate. It is noted that the Liger-Belair family has passed down the tradition of winemaking from generation to generation for the past 250 years, and in 2001, the youthful Thibault Liger-Belair took over the vines as the winemaker and created his Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair. Interestingly, according to his importer Vineyard Brands, prior to joining the family domaine, Thibault who had studied viticulture and oenology for six years, worked for a communications firm in Paris where he was able to present and taste wines internationally, as well as being an early, for the French, adopter of internet wine marketing. Thibault, they add, also started an internet company with the idea of discovering and selling high quality wines, but he caught the winemaking bug and decided to concentrate on the vines first and foremost. Thibault started with his 2002s, which were his first harvests of the Nuits-Saint-Georges, Nuits-Saint-Georges Charmottes, as well as Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas, all of which were well received. In 2003, the domaine added some incredible parcels, including the famed Richebourg Grand Cru and Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, as well as Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Petits Monts, and an entry level Bourgogne Rouge, helping fill out the collection. Since then, Liger-Belair has added some fine white wines, including a super Aligoté and even got into Gamay, with some top notch Moulin-à-Vent Cru Beaujolais, which I’ve really enjoyed.
($124 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2012 Chalone Vineyard, Chenin Blanc, Estate Grown Heritage Vines, Chalone, Monterey County.
Like the 2014 I reviewed not too long ago the 2012 Chalone Old Vine Chenin is a gorgeous bottle and drinking wonderfully right now, showing of classic stony/chalky notes with lemon, peach, earthy melon and honey leading the way on the medium bodied, but beautifully textural palate. As I’ve mentioned before, the 1970’s Chalone wines, were the ones that really put Monterey on the wine world map, this place oozes history and it has a real sense of terroir. This Chalone Chenin was crafted from old vines, originally planted back in 1919, on ancient seabed soils by then Chalone winemaker Robert Cook, it’s again masterpiece of elegance and vivid detail, in his era (Mid 2000s) drier Loire Valley inspired style. The unique limestone, granite and clay soils, cool nights, elevation in the Gavilan Mountain range, right near the Pinnacles National Monument and shear remoteness really show up in the details. Somewhat shy at first these Chalone Chenin’s come alive with air, it takes a bit of time to flesh out on the palate, but the are serious stuff with preserved citrus, wet river stones, a hint of rosewater, tart quince and touches of herb, truffle and bees wax all coming through.

Chalone Estate, most known for Pinot Nor and Chardonnay, is in the middle of a serious re-birth and I am excited for the newest collection of wines, but the early years in the 1970s were blessed with some classic Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Chenin. There’s been a few owners here, especially after the death of Richard Graff, who along with Phil Woodward, made this label one of California’s best, rivaling the likes of contemporaries like Mount Eden, Hanzell and Joseph Swan to name a few. That said, Cook, somewhat under the radar made some excellent stuff here at Chalone and wines like this cement his own legacy here. Chalone’s Chenin Blanc, as noted above, comes from a plot originally planted in 1919, just after WW1, it is old school head trained and are small yielding vines, which adds dimension and intensity here. Cook typically fermented the 100% whole cluster pressed Chenin Blanc in 60% neutral French barrels and 40% in stainless tank, then aged them about 6 months in cask before bottling, all to capture depth, but allow the natural mineral tones and acidity to shine through, as seen here. At twelve, the 2012 Chalone Chenin Blanc still has a few good years left, though there’s no real reason to wait at this point and it would be lovely with a selection of creamy soft farm chèvre cheeses and or roast poultry dishes.
($28 to $38 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2023 NoneSuch Wines, Mencia, Silvaspoons Vineyard, Alta Mesa AVA, Sacramento County.
The dark purple/ruby 2023 NoneSuch wines Mencia is very Cru Beaujolais (Gamay) like in style with its whole cluster, semi carbonic, fermentation showing through and its silky medium bodied mouth feel, showing off expressive plum and berry fruits, making for a fun and highly quaffable wine. The nose is floral and candied, but with a subtle rustic earthy note as well, very fun and compelling stuff on the palate with dark berries, Italian cherry, black plum and preserved orange fruits, a touch of bumble gum, minty herb, chalky stones, anise, earthy walnut woodiness and violette liqueur. There’s silken tannins and a touch of vintage zing, a hint of Umami with some vibrant acidity lifting the wine and providing a fine balance, Ireally enjoyed this with some lighter food and a selection of cheeses. NoneSuch wines sources the grapes from a vineyard that is located North of Lodi and South of Sacramento in the Alta Mesa AVA, which they says sports the name “high table” because its hills rise higher than the flat areas around Lodi. Soils, as noted by the winery, here are alluvial clay and gravel deposits left by the Consumnes and the American Rivers, adding that It is one of the warmest appellations in Lodi making for more robust color, ripe flavors and structure in the wine. This terroir allowed for early picks and a nice fresh wine with a low 12.3% natural alcohol and the wine saw just old wood, neutral French oak aging, adding to the purity and freshness here, it is a fine effort from a new label to me.

I love finding under the radar wineries and rising star winemakers, so thanks to Ian Brand of the I. Brand & Family Winery for introducing me to these NoneSuch wines by Caitlin Quinn, who formed this label in 2017. Quinn, who was born near wine country, was raised in San Luis Obispo and has made wine for over a decade, both domestically in California and abroad in other countries. Still largely unknown Quinn is just getting started and I was very impressed with her expression of Mencia, a Spanish grape most commonly found n the Ribeira Sacra and Bierzo regions, and she says she’s finding her inspiration from her family, friends, and some incredible mentors in Santa Cruz Mountains and Sonoma County wine regions. Quinn says also that she is wholeheartedly embracing minimalist winemaking techniques in order to express (the) vineyard terroir fully, and transparently. All the grapes she uses are all hand-harvested and were foot trodden, fermented whole-cluster naturally, exclusively with native yeasts, and the wines are aged in entirely neutral oak barrels. Quinn says that Ron Silva of the Silvaspoons Vineyard has been championing Iberian varieties for decades, with 21 varieties planted, including the first known planting of Mencía in California. Just one acre was planted in 2014 with clones originating from Bierzo, Spain, and her wine only saw 5 barrels made. I loved this Mencia from NoneSuch wines, but I am really excited to try Caitlin’s Mediterranean inspired Sonoma County sourced Rhyolite white wines, which is an exciting blend of 16% Assyrtiko, 42% Falanghina and 42% Ribolla Gialla, so I am keeping an eye out for more of these wines and I recommend getting on her mailing list.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2018 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Corton “Prince Florent de Merode” Grand Cru, Red Burgundy, France.
Some days are better than others, and when you are blind tasted on a bottle from Domaine de la Romanée, well then you’ve won the lottery, for sure an amazing experience for which I am incredibly grateful to DRC enthusiast David Fink of Hotel L Auberge in Carmel by the Sea. The 2018 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton “Prince Florent de Merode” is deeply hued, floral, savory and powerful in the glass, so it was no wonder I was not even close to guessing it, but after a few moments of swirling the tannins tamed significantly to make it clear it was in fact a Burgundy and the layers began to unfold. The medium bodied palate of this dark garnet/ruby colored Corton opened up to black cherry, dark berry, plum and strawberry fruits, along with what most people call sauvage, or Umami, a feral stem note, mineral tones, seeped roses, espresso grinds, sweet toasty wood, minty herbs, fennel, baking spices and orange tea. After the reveal, you got the family resemblance and the finish was lingering, luxurious and beautiful, pretty well coming together for a young DRC. First produced in 2009, the Corton “Prince Florent de Merode” by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is sourced from their leased three Corton parcels, which are in Clos du Roi, Bressandes and Renardes. As per DRC tradition, the Corton was fermented using almost all whole-cluster, with stems and matured in all new oak, of course these are custom spec barrels that are old forest oak with tight grain and extended air drying with medium plus toast. So, my own limited experience with DRC wines, I find they really need a decade or more to truly reveal themselves in any sort of pleasurable way, but that was not the case here, with the 2018 Corton being already a gorgeous wine. I had sampled a couple of the earlier vintages of the Corton and while good, they were not capturing the mystic and magic of the Monopole name sake DRC and or the La Tâche, though this 2018 is getting much closer and I was thrilled how it performed on the night.

The original Prince Florent de Merode was a 15-acre domaine in Aloxe-Corton, Ladoix-Serrigny, the home village, and Pommard. It had been owned by the same family since 1700, but in 2008 the prince died, and so did his wife – a member of the Lur-Saluces family of the famed Sauternes Château d’Yquem and it’s noted the family chose to sell of most of their vines. I learned some were sold (reported by Clive Coates, the legendary Burgundy expert) to Vincent Sauvestre of Maison Béjot, though three important remaining plots of Grand Cru Corton, a tiny 2.27 hectares were leased by the family to the famed Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Wanting to keep a connection to someone who knew the vines, the talented Didier Dubois, who managed the the vines for de Mérode since 2000 retained his position, only now with a reporting line to Vosne-Romanée and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s vineyard manager, Nicolas Jacob. It’s a rare thing that such vineyards and especially in one of the most famous Grand Crus come available, so Domaine de la Romanée did not miss this chance. When Prince and Princess de Mérode, whom DRC co director Aubert de Villaine knew, died six months apart, their children contacted de Villaine and offered to lease the three Grands Cru parcels they own in Corton, which was sad, but an incredible chance to add to the DRC lineup. These vineyards, according to de Villaine, are situated in the heart of the historic part of the Corton appellation with a good proportion of old vines. These two factors, he says, gave them a high potential to produce great wines, as seen here in the warm and fruit dense 2018 vintage. Again, I must say a huge thank you to the generosity of David, so share his personal bottle DRC Corton with a small group of wine professionals, who were all very much entranced by it, even before we all knew what it was, even though most of us would have expected nothing less when tasting with Mr. Fink, who has a sublime collection of wines. In this day and age, I doubt I’ll get that many chances to sample such wines and this makes David’s generous gesture even more special.
($2,400 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2022 Berteru – Cantina Gungui, Cannonau di Sardegna DOC “Nuraghe Sas de Melas” Sardinia, Italy.
The deep, exotic and powerful dark ruby/garnet hued 2022 Berteru Nuraghe Sas de Melas signature Cannonau (Grenache) by Luca Gungui is a full bodied and lavish wine, coming in at close to 16% natural alcohol, that rivals the best from old vine Châteauneuf du Pape for concentration, depth of layers and complexity with an amazing sense of wow factor and surprising strikingly fresh details. The nose is exciting with a range of florals, mountain herbs, berry coulis, candied/brandied cherry, grilled orange and seductive earthiness which leads to a full bodied palate of boysenberry, lingonberry jam, plum and fresh picked strawberry fruits, along with amaro, peppery spice, truffle, minty licorice, flinty stones and crushed lilacs. The granite soils and elevation of the terroir here give mineral tones and helps retain bright acidity, even with such ripe fruit density, that tones down the heady nature of this wine, though I love it as is, it does call for a robust meaty meal to get the very best for it. People who are judgy might be frightened off by the ABV, but fortune rewards the brave and this wine is already developing a cult following, those that know new world Grenache stars Saxum or Sine Qua Non (Grenache) bottlings will want this Berteru “Nuraghe Sas de Melas Cannonau di Sardegna in their collection. This is the second wine I’ve tried lately from Luca Gungui, who is imported to the States by Oliver McCrum, under his Berteru label and again I was left thrilled by the experience, especially with this wines hedonist opulence and seductive textural richness, but also the authentic rustic soulfulness. I have say, coming back to this wine multiple times over the course of an evening with many outstanding wines, this wine just got better and better, and I am a truly converted fan of Sardinia’s Cannonau, and I look forward to following these Berteru wines in the future.

I am always grateful to wine professionals that promote other people’s efforts, as with this Berteru – Cantina Gungui Cannonau, so a big thank you to my friend and winemaker Giuseppi Cossu, who while doing his own harvest on Sardinia, managed to grab a few bottles of Luca’s just released wines and brought it back to California to share. Cossu, like Gungui absolutely believe Cannonau or Grenache is actually a native varietal to Sardinia and not, as commonly thought, an import from Spain, where it is known as Garnacha. The Spanish came here in the 14th Century, and Luca says that an ancient settlement that was being excavated in 2015 about 50 kilometers from Mamoiada revealed Cannonau grape pips; this historical settlement dates to about 2,000 years BC, which strongly, as Cossu says, suggests that the grape is almost certainly indigenous to Sardinia. This Nuraghe Sas de Melas comes from Gungui’s oldest hectare of vines that about 60 years old in the Mamoiada area that has similar granite based soils of the highly regarded Gallura region, famous for Vermentino, to the north, which is also great for the Cannonau, as seen here. Importer Oliver McCrum explains that Luca has been farming organically from the beginning and his philosophy, the same as most top growers, is that less is more. As such they try to do as little as possible in the vineyards and the cellar, letting the land speak honestly through the wine, these limited bottlings are very rare and coveted. This edition of Berteru comes from bush-trained Cannonau vines from the vineyard called “Sas de Melas” that sits up at 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) above sea level, near Luca’s home village of Mamoiada. The grapes are 100% de-stemmed and crushed, and the fermentation begins using indigenous yeasts started with a ‘pied de cuve’ (true vineyard yeasts started while the grapes are being picked) on the skins for 10-12 days, then pressed to stainless tanks for aging. The wine doesn’t need any wood to obscure the purity and it benefits from the naked transparency, absolutely fabulous stuff.
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2018 Domaine Weinbach, Riesling Schlossberg “Cuvée Ste. Catherine” Alsace Grand Cru, France.
One of the world’s great wines, Weinbach’s Schlossberg “Cuvée Ste. Catherine Grand Cru Riesling always charms me and this bright gold 2018 is just coming out of its youth and shows of an elegant profile of apricot, green apple, bitter almond, lemony citrus and Asian spices in a steely crisp frame. Delicacy is a hallmark of this wine, light florals and textural excellence, while not leaning too heavily on petrol or tropical notes, this is as pure and pure gets. Coming from the Domaine’s 40-60 year old vines located on the mid-slope of the Grand Cru Schlossberg this wine saw perfectly ripe grapes that were gently pressed in whole clusters in soft pneumatic presses then a fermentation with indigenous yeasts. This Grand Cru, which came in at a tick over 14% was matured in large used casks for close to 10 months, allowing for power, depth and transparency. Weinbach is a celebrated and historic property run by the Faller family best known for Riesling, along the likes of Trimbach and Zindt-Hambrecht, with a top lineup of cru Riesling bottlings, but they are masters of other grapes as well, with sublime examples of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Sylvaner, all of which should not be overlooked as they too are some of the finest in the region. In recent years they have upped their Pinot Noir game and now include a stunning white field blend, which reminds me of the great Marcel Deiss versions, so it’s an awesome time to re-discover Weinbach. Most all of the vines have been converted to all organic and biodynamic farming methods, just like the Weinbach estate vines see and they have employed a short pruning of the vines to keep yields low, to promote concentration, complexity and allow for aromatic intensity. The winemaking here, as noted before in my reviews, is always impeccably clean and non interventionist in technique with this wine seeing a gentle whole cluster pressing in a soft pneumatic press, with indigenous yeasts and fine lees aging exclusively in large neutral oak casks.

The Famille Faller’s Domaine Weinbach, one of Alsace’s great estates, was originally founded by the Order of Capuchin monks back in 1612, property was a walled in and a totally self contained site making some of the best wine in the region for the better part of a hundred years. The Faller brothers, as noted by the winery, bought the Clos des Capucins in 1898 and It has remained in the hands of the family ever since then. The “Clos des Capuchins” is the vineyard that surrounds the domaine, it sits directly below the prestigious Schlossberg Cru (the first terroir in Alsace to receive the status of Grand Cru), along with the Grand Cru Furstentum (known for Gewürztraminer and as well as to the adjacent Altenbourg Cru (known for Pinot Gris) vineyard that rises above the Weinbach clos. The winery says Schlossberg’s name derives from the nearly 900 year old castle situated on the cru’s western edge. Adding that like all other Alsace grand crus, Schlossberg is characterized by its granite dominant soils with a magmatic. bedrock and a sandy and gravelly overlay. Also Schlossberg, it is known, enjoys a rich vein of potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, much more than the majority of other Alsatian grand crus, bringing out that mineral intensity. The domaine is in the heart of Kayserberg’s hills and its valleys are some of the most picturesque places in Europe. Sustainability and organic farming is important to the Fallers and it is also worth noting that Weinbach is all vegan, and wines just see a light filtration for clarity and stabilization. I have a long history with Domain Weinbach, it is one of my favorite wineries, and I’ve tried almost everything they have produced including their very new hipster “Orange Wine” and their awesome sweeter VTs, like the stunning Gewürztraminer Mambourg Vendandges Tardives and the sexy and honeyed botrytis-affected Altenbourg Pinot Gris. This Weinbach Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine Grand Cru Riesling, as the winery suggests, pairs exceptionally well with shellfish dishes such as lobster, crab, and scallops, as well as holiday meals, also going well with poultry and white meat. This vintage has lots of life ahead too, it is a twenty year wine no question.
($75 Est.) 96 points, grapelive

2017 Sadie Family, Columella “Liberatus in Castro Bonae Spei” Proprietary Red, Swartland, South Africa.
The Columella by Eben Sadie, as I’ve said before, is one of the great wines of the world, with this 2017 vintage, joining the 2012, being some of the finest Rhône blends I’ve ever tasted, without a doubt. Eben Sadie, the winemaker, is a legend and no one in the wine industry has anything but admiration for him and his wines, and while largely South African wines remain a mystery to most of the public, Sadie’s wines are nothing short of world class brilliant. This dark purple/garnet 2017 Columella, named after Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella who was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture during the Roman Empire, is deep and chocolatey textural in mouth feel and depth, similar to last experience with it, showing off blueberry compote, boysenberry, earthy mulberry and damson plum fruits, along with black olive, crushed violet, peppercorn, subtle bacon/meaty essence, lavender, melted black licorice, cedary notes cigar box, crushed stone, leather and lingering creme de cassis. Stunning stuff, still firm and youthful, this wine looks set to get even better with more age, but I would have to put the Sadie Family Columella high on my dessert island list. The Columella is sourced from at least 4 vineyard sites with a complex combination of soils, including lots of different granite, slate, schist, gravel and sandstone will all the grapes fermented without any additions in open top concrete vats with some whole cluster and hand punch downs. After primary is complete the wine getting a small basket pressing to French barrels, with just 5% new oak where it ages 12 months, afterwards it is moved to, what the winery says, big oval casks (foudres) for an additional year of maturation on the fine lees.

As I’ve said before, It’s no secret these Sadie Family wines are amazing wines, and the Columella, which has been made since 2000, is their signature wine, though I also love the single varietal offerings here as well, including the 100% Cinsault and Tina Barroca bottlings, as well as the white blend. In the past importer Broadbent Selections was kind enough to sample some of these wines, but they are rare and highly coveted, so I don’t get my hands on them often, so I was with great gratitude I was able to try this 2017 Columella, thanks Eric. To give you an idea how good I mean (this wine is), the Columella reminds me of or compares to Beaucastel’s Reserve Homage Jacques Perrin or a Château (Rayas) Fonsalette, it is monumental red Rhône blend. I once said it also has cult peers in the new world, for those who love Cayuse, Saxum or Sine Qua Non. Eben Sadie is coy about the exact blend and percentage, but it is mostly Syrah with a good dose of Mourvèdre and Grenache, plus Carignan, Cinsault and Tina Barroca, the lesser known Port grape that has found a home here in South Africa. Sadie reveals that the vineyards are as follows in Paardeberg (2 vineyards), Kasteelberg (4 vineyards), Malmesbury (1 vineyard) and Piquetberg (1 vineyard) all with their own micro-climates and elevations, which all give extra dimension to this amazing wine. This wine has helped redefine my opinion of top end South African wines, along with Baadenhorst, Hamilton-Russell and old school Kannonkop, a while certainly this wine is expensive, it proves it’s worth in detail, finesse and style every time I taste it. While the Columella is a wine enthusiast and serious collectors wine, Sadie does a few bottlings that don’t pain the wallet as much, these that I recommend are, the 100% Cinsault Pofadder, the 100% Tinta Barocca Treinspoor, the 100% Chenin Blanc (called Steen locally) Skerpioen, the Palladius white blend, which sees a combination of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Viognier, Verdelho, Roussanne, Marsanne, Semillon Gris, Semillon Blanc, Palomino and Colombard, making it the white version of the Columella and the 100% Grenache Noir Soldaat.
($185 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive

2018 Under the Wire, Pinot Noir, Brut Sparkling Wine, Alder Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County.
The wonderfully yeasty and expressive Under the Wire Sparkling wine, Methode Champenoise, Alder Springs edition is a fine choice for the Holidays and or celebrating with friends with layers of citrus, red apple and hazelnut/brioche, along with hints of mineral, clove spice and golden fig notes. While I loved the Sangiacomo Vineyard version, which I reviewed earlier, this Alder Springs 2018 vintage bubbly is really in a great spot and drinking fantastically well, rivaling the best in California’s artisan sparkling wines. It’s the mission of Under the Wire’s Chris Cottrell, a partner in Bedrock Wine Co, who tasted with this last Summer, to make California sparkling wines based on individual vineyards, like this fabulous grower producer inspired cool climate Alder Springs Sparkling Pinot Noir bottling, that also highlight the influence of an individual year, as this cool vintage shows. The first vintage of Under The Wire sparkling wine was in 2011 and there’s been a wide range vineyards and varietals seen here from Riesling to Zinfandel, but this traditional method 2018 Alder Springs, which saw a few hours of skin contact, but not overtly a Rosé, is very Champagne “Grower Fizz” like in character and quality with low dosage dryness and with a luxurious, almost creamy, but vibrant mousse. The balance here, in this shiny gold/coppery wine is lovely and there’s crowd pleasing pleasure to the body and persistent beading of bubbles, it really makes for a special Holiday sparkler that does everything wonderfully well in the glass.

The Bedrock Wine Co, as noted here in my prior reviews, was started in 2007 by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zinfandel maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines, such as this one. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that his and Chris’ winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine. For this bottling, Cottrell says he’s trying to showcase California terroir with this all structured Pinot Noir, almost Blanc de Noir, and that he wanted to work with some fruit from an archetypal vineyard, like he did with the Sangiacomo Vineyard (Chardonnay) I reviewed earlier, with Alder Springs giving firm structure and zesty acidity with its unique terroir just a dozen miles from the Ocean. There’s a committed group of traditional method Champagne style producers making some incredible small lot and hand crafted yeasty single vineyard sparklers, including Michael Cruse, Samantha Sheehan of Poe Wines and Caraccioli, to name a few, and it is great time to discover them and these Under the Wire wines.
($60 ESt.) 94 Points, grapelive

2023 Famille Savary, Petit Chablis, White Burgundy, France.
I was first introduced to the Francine et Olivier Savary Chablis wines in the mid 2000s and I was immediately a big fan, so it was great to find this new to me bottling of Famille Savary Petit Chablis to try. Set on clay and limestone soils the Savary Petit Chablis, 100% Chardonnay, is from vines planted between 1983 and 2010 and sees a fermentation, both primary and malolactic conversion in exclusively temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks with fine lees aging. This pale straw gold Petit Chablis is vibrant, steely and zesty with a nose of lime blossom, almond and stony/chalky essences which repeat on the medium bodied and crisp palate with a range of citrus, green apple, Bosc pear and tart muskmelon fruits, along with fine herbs, saline, wet rock, hazelnut, a touch of reductive flint and clove.The appellation Petit Chablis represents close to 20% of all Chablis production, not insignificant, these days and the top producers in the region turn out some absolutely delicious examples, and while maybe not on the most coveted of Kimmeridgian plots in Chablis, are wines capable of turning heads. The Savary Old Vine Chablis, is one of my all time favorite wines, has everything you could want in a Chablis and in some years it blows away wines twice and three times the price. I used call this Vieilles Vignes the “Baby Raveneau” and when you taste it you’ll most likely understand why, it is always intense, vigorous and mineral rich, but best of all it is an affordable option! When Kermit Lynch introduced Savary to the States back in 2006 or so, I was in awe of just how good a Chablis in this price class could be and I’ve been a huge fan ever since, and legend has it, that old man Raveneau himself and Kermit Lynch, later, had a hand in getting the Savary’s to bottle their own wine.

Petit Chablis is an appellation created in 1944 for dry white wines made from Chardonnay in Chablis and the surrounding communes. Interestingly the terroirs of the Petit Chablis appellation, on both sides of the Serein valley are located on the higher slopes or the beginnings of the plateau, it forms one of the rings of the Chablis area, with soils dating from the Tithonian age, which is much younger that the more famous Kimmeridgian era in the Premier Cru, Grand Cru and even some of village AC areas.. They are made up of hard, brown limestone, or sometimes silty, sandy soils, in general at an elevation of between 230 and 280 meters, with varied orientation. Famille Savary, based In Maligny, a village well-poised between Paris and Dijon, just north of Chablis, Olivier Savary and his wife, Francine, have been vignerons or growers since 1984, even though as Kermit Lynch notes, many generations of Savary’s family members were vignerons. As Kermit nows tells it, Olivier Savary initially sold off the majority of his production in bulk to a négociant, but was after time emboldened by their years of combined experience and family history of winemaking, Francine and Olivier finally found their wings and began bottling under their own label. In 1990, Olivier’s longtime friend and Chablis legend Jean-Marie Raveneau introduced Olivier to Kermit, who saw the potential and helped push the brand in the United States to great success. Today, Francine and Olivier are joined by their sons, Maxime and Mathieu, in the family business and the future looks bright for this once under the radar producer. Originally they offered only three different cuvées in the States, the Premier Cru Fourchaume, a straight Chablis AC and their mentioned Selection Vieilles Vignes (old vines), but now a Vaillons Premier Cru, this Petit Chablis and a rare Bourgogne Epineuil (Chablis) Rouge.
($30 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2021 Corral Wine, Tres Amigos Red Blend, Central Coast.
The dark opaque purple Tres Amigos Red Blend by Corral Wine Company, made from 66% Syrah from the Highlands Ranch in the Santa Lucia Highlands, 20% Paso Robles Petite Sirah and 14% Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is deeply concentrated and luxurious on the full bodied palate with thick layers of jammy black raspberry, blueberry, currant and black cherry fruits, along with hints of violets, graphite, pipe tobacco, black fig, mocha, a light dusting of peppery spices, sweet cedary toasty oak, shaved vanilla and licorice. Even though much more Syrah in the blend, the lush Cabernet Sauvignon and ripe Petite Sirah shine through and the tannins are opulent and creamy smooth, while the cool climate nature of the SLH Syrah also gives a nice lift of acidity and savory elements, making for nicely balance red wine to enjoy with a hearty meal. This Tres Amigos might be a one off rarity, as this wine was crafted from lots that were originally brought in for the set of single varietal bottlings and put together by winemaker Adrien Valenzuela, who has bended Syrah and Cabernet before here with some excellent results. The grapes all de-stemmed and fermented separately saw more than a year in mainly used French oak, though the Cabernet and Petite Sirah sometimes sees a bit of new wood and a tiny percentage of America oak, with the blend done post fermentation.

The Corral Wine label is a an artisan winery started by Larry Bell of Bell Family Vineyards and based in Monterey County and primarily known for their estate Pinot Noir, which began in 2017, in their barn in Corral de Tierra, in the hills between Carmel Valley and Salinas. That year Corral barreled the first batch of estate Pinot Noir, and while in the same barn, they’ve added an array wines made with even more varietals, all sourced from, as Bell notes, some of the best grapes on the Central Coast including in the Santa Lucia Highlands and westside Paso Robles, as seen here with this unique Tres Amigos red wine. As mentioned before in my prior reviews, Corral’s winemaker Adrien Valenzuela, a Salinas and Monterey County native, is one of a hugely talented new set of home grown local winemakers in the region, who trained with a huge corporate winery is making a name for himself with these small batch offerings. As I’ve said before, young winemakers, have a tough road to success and there are many roadblocks along the way, so it is great to see young people taking their chance and making it in this business, especially here in Monterey, which clearly Adrien is doing here with Corral. The lineup at Corral is well worth checking out, from their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Rosé to their set of Pinots, as well as a deeply colored and full bodied alternative reds, like this one. Most of the wines, all very limited, are available for tasting and purchase at their Carmel Valley Village tasting room, as well as on their website and mailing list.
($64 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Feinherb, Jesuitengarten VDP Grosse Lage, Alte Reben, Rheingau, Germany.
One of my favorites of Spreitzer’s cask samples, I tried with Andreas Spreitzer this last Summer, was his gorgeous slightly off dry Jesuitengarten old vine Feinherb bottling, which will be a steal for the offer price. The Spreitzer’s make a glorious GG from their historic parcels at the Winkeler Jesuitengarten vineyard, and this one drinks well into the same league with loads of mineral intensity, but with a bit more generosity and early drinking pleasure, making it a sleeper the upcoming releases. The 2023 vintage, a difficult year, with loads of rain and humidity, saw lots of extra work in the vineyard to remove rot and the yields were way down, but miraculously the fruit quality looks to be at classic quality levels, and Spreitzer’s hardwork paid off with an amazing set of wines, like this one. Fresh, aromatic and steely on the nose this pale golden Riesling shines in the glass and on the medium bodied palate drinking pretty close to trocken with a Spreitzer signature opulence and refined sense of acidity. The mouth has zesty lime, tangerine and white peach fruits up front, along with a touch of exotic tropical pineapple and mango, as well as some salty notes, crushed stones, sweet and sour herbs, rosewater, tea spice and lemon oil. There is a subtle creaminess to this Jesuitengarten Old Vine Feinherb that is very appealing and the faintest of sweetness here, making for wine that is wonderfully flexible with cuisine and probably awesome with Sushi, but it will also please with more traditional German fare too. The Holidays always make me want Riesling and that certainly helped spark the memories of the Skurnik West Coast Germany and Austria tasting and of Spreitzer’s set of delicious wines.

The famed Jesuitengarten Grosse Lage vineyard is near the middle Rhein village of Oestrich, Spreitzer’s home base with vines here, for this Alte Reben, being well over 40 years old now and set on a complex mix of loam, loess, shell-limestone, gravel and sand, and is a prized site in the family’s portfolio, along with the Rosengarten and Wisselbrunnen Grand Crus. As noted here, and reminded to me by Spreitzer, when I visited the region in 2016 and their importer Skurnik wines, the viticulture practices are as natural and sustainable as possible and include alternating cover crops of herbs, greens, and lentils in the summer with grains in the winter. The Spreitzer brothers Andreas and Bernd strive to maintain fruit purity and finesse by cleaning the must by gravity for 24 hours after whole-cluster pressing the carefully sorted grapes. The wines also rest on their gross lees and only see filtering just once, which all takes away green bitter phenolics in the finished wines. They employ a long fermentation, and extended lees aging to protect the juice from oxidation, but the wines are not overtly reductive or closed up when young. Spreitzer when conditions are good use native yeasts for fermentation, which is done in both temperature controlled stainless steel and old 1200 liter casks of German wood, called stückfass, with this one seeing the oak aging for 9 months. I was happy to see Andreas this Summer in San Francisco and taste through a selection of 2021, 2022 and the samples of 2023, and I found some brilliant stuff again, including the majestic 2021 GGs, which I have reviewed here and wines like this one, an under the radar gem that I can’t wait to get!
($34 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2019 Filaments Wine, Mourvèdre, Adler Springs Vineyard, Mendocino County.
This was my first experience with the Filaments Wine and I was impressed by the delicacy and graceful qualities in their garnet and dark ruby edged 2019 100% Mourvèdre bottling from the wonderful Alder Springs Vineyard, well known for its delicious Rhône grapes, it is a wine that slowly seduces you with an earthy array of red fruits and a slightly lighter frame than you’d expect for this varietal. Mostly known for powerful expressions of Bandol and minor roles in Châteauneuf du Pape, such as Vieux Télégraphe and Beaucastel, Mourvèdre, also known as Mataro in California, can be tannic and meaty, but this Filaments version is silky and elegantly presented in the glass. The palate is medium full and loads with dusty plum, baked cherry, grilled orange and vine picked brambly berry fruits, along with a touch of creme de cassis, lavender, tangy herbs, a touch of pepper, wilted florals, old cedar and a subtle hint of leather. The winemakers say they completely de-stemmed the grapes at crush and it went through a natural fermentation lasting 14-days with twice daily punch downs. After primary the wine was racked to a neutral 400L puncheon and one 228L barrique where it aged 20 months. This delicous Mourvèdre, which is vey much at home with simple robust meat dishes, was bottled all unfined and unfiltered with just 41 cases produced. I am interested in the full collection of offerings here, especially the Sonoma Valley Bedrock Vineyard Merlot and the Alder Springs Grenache. Adler Springs, notable for Syrah as seen in many of Pax’s top notch versions, Bedrock and the Rudius Syrah “Emerald Pool”, one of my favorites in the past, also has supplied Michael Cruse awesome Tannat, the former Dirty & Rowdy label Mourvèdre, just to name a few.

One of California’s most unique terroirs and famous for some special Rhône varietals, the Alder Springs Vineyard, which is located in northern Mendocino County near Laytonville and 150 miles north of San Francisco. This vineyard is part of the 6,000-acre Alder Springs Ranch, a forested property that reaches up to heights of 4,000 feet with a climate that is moderated by the vineyard’s elevation and how close it is to the Pacific Ocean, some 12 miles away. Farmed with passion by Stu Bewley who has made some wineries famous for the quality of the grapes here at Alder springs, and who has given Filaments some tasty Mourvèdre for this wine. He originally planted the first blocks in 1993 after discovering, what Filametns say, is a location with the ideal combination of sun, soil, and drainage to produce outstanding grapes. The whole 140-acre vineyard site is set on decomposed sandstone soils up at elevation, with most blocks around 1,700 and 2,700 feet up. This is a cool climate vineyard, that retains lots of zesty acidity and where yields are pretty small, adding to the depth and concentration in the wines, such as Filaments lovely Mourvèdre. Owner winemakers, Kevin Farrow and Erik Latshaw, who has worked at Patz & Hall and Bedrock, only recently formed Filaments Wine in 2015, met at UCLA, while rooming together senior year and finished their college year enjoying Erik’s employee discount at LA’s Wally’s Wine & Spirits, where they exported old world wines that gave them their future inspiration. A big thank you to Germaine Esquivel, a sommelier at the Post Ranch in Big Sur for introducing me to this wine. These reasonably priced Filaments Wine offerings are pretty rare, but I do recommend keeping an eye out for them and or joining the mailing list.
($34 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2022 Reeve Wines, Chardonnay, Charles Heintz Vineyard, Sonoma Coast.
I couldn’t not mention how good the Reeve Chardonnays I tasted this last Summer were, especially this pedigreed cru version from the Charles Heintz Vineyard in the cool Sonoma Coast, it is very impressive stuff from Noah Dorrance and with some help the talented Katy Wilson. The Charles Heintz site on classic Goldridge soils was planted to clone 4 in 1982 and have long been a coveted vineyard. This 2022 vintage is, though it was a riper year, is finely balanced and has a lovely tension with stony mineral notes and a zesty citrus kick to go with classic apple pear and tropical fruits. The wine is not overtly reductive, but there’s a touch of flint, hazelnut and wet river rock in the background along with some clove spice, lemon curd, creme brulee and honeysuckle. A touch of toasty wood and yeasty depth add just the right amount of luxury to this beautiful effort, I highly recommend not passing this one up if you are on their mailing list. Reeve is pretty new still, started by the Dorrance’s in 2015, but have a deserved reputation for quality and is a label to put on your watch list, if you haven’t yet tried the wines.

Winemaker Noah Dorrance says that even in a warm year like 2022, the Heintz Chardonnay retained its verve and I was surprised by the restraint and finesse found in this vintage, it came in at 13.8% natural alcohol and there’s an elegant cut of acidity to back the concentration up. Dorrance adds that, with its lively nature it even allowed a fulll malolactic fermentation to soften that energy a touch. The wine, he says, was whole cluster pressed and fermented in a mix of stainless steel, new and used French oak barrels with only 20% of which were new in this vintage. The aging on the Charles Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay was an extended 18 months in the wood, but with no lees stirring and only minimal racking before bottling. The Charles Heintz Vineyard is notably farmed all organic and produces small yields of top notch Chardonnay with mature vines dug deep into these sandy loamy well drained soils. As mentioned, I was very excited by the quality found here on the Reeve Chards and would be amiss not to highlight them, while they are still available. The lineup here at Kelly and Noah Dorrance’s Reeve Wines is quite good at the moment, I really enjoyed their Vermentino, the latest Pinots and Sangiovese bottlings, keep an eye out for them.
($74 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2016 Rochioli, Pinot Noir, Estate Grown, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County.
I’m still very much a fan of these Rochioli Pinots, and I always am wonderfully impressed with these wines when they have some age on them, like I was here with this 2016 Estate Grown bottling which is drinking fabulously well, it has evolved nicely and offers up a deep core of fruit, secondary elements and seductive mouth feel. These 2016s, from California’s cooler regions, were a bit chewy and awkward when young, but are now really coming around, with this dark garnet/brick/ruby hued wine showing off classic Russian River flavors, black cherry, dark berry, plum and chocolatey fig fruits, along with wilted roses, smokey vanilla, earthy truffle, cola bean, sassafras and cedary notes. The tannin structure is now very silky and there’s still a good cut of acidity underneath the luxurious medium bodied palate and this Estate Grown Pinot was brilliant with food and was a lovely sipper after dinner as well. I always enjoy a visit to the winery and their beautifully situated tasting room on Westside Road, west of Healdsburg, and look forward to a future visit and trying some of the newer releases. One of California’s top producers and Pinot pioneers in modern times, Rochioli is a rock solid label and a priority for collectors and Pinot enthusiasts, which I most definitely highly recommend.

The Rochioli, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, which started as a estate wine back in 1983, after originally being known as Fenton Acres, when Joe and his son Tom Rochioli, who were second and third generation Italian farmers, became pioneers of Russian River Pinots. Joe, famously, always believed it was the grapes and individual sites that make the best and most intriguing wines here on their historic estate that sits on sloping hillsides on the bench lands above the near by Russian River, which sucks in the cool Pacific Ocean air, and not too far from Healdsburg on the famous Westside Road. Tom Rochioli, at the helm in the cellar here since the later part of the 1980s, and his winemaking team, ferment each block separately in traditional fashion, 100% de-stemmed, using a mainly hands off approach, they, as noted, he firmly believes the wine is made, first and foremost in the vineyard and it should not be messed with in the cellar. They are not afraid or shy to employ some new toasty French oak to their rich, deeply concentrated and expressive Pinots, but this usually integrates very nicely, as seen here with their 2016 vintage wines, and certainly here with this one. Rochioli’s lineup, obviously is focused on Pinot Noir, but they also do a fabulous collection of Chardonnays, which also age well, Sauvignon Blancs and they even do a tasty Valdiguie, once called “Napa” Gamay, a very unique wine I always try get, when I visit the tasting room.
($99 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Bedrock Wine Co, Pato Heritage, Red Wine, Contra Costa County.
I tasted a nice selection of Bedrock releases this Summer with Chris Cottrell, one of Bedrock’s founding partners and the head of their Under the Wire Sparkling Wine label, and enjoyed catching up with him as he showed off a few classics, with this Pato Heritage Red Wine being one of my favorites on the day. This opaque purple/garnet 2022 Pato, mostly Zinfandel obviously, is very rich and concentrated, but still charming and shows a finesse that makes it a standout, with a full bodied palate of black raspberry, plum jam, dark currant , Mission fig, tart blueberry and cherry syrup, along with dark chocolate, a heady mix of spice and sagey Provençal herbs, delicate florals, a faint meatiness and cedary wood. There’s a powerful sense of abundance, opulence and pleasure here, with the ripeness of the vintage showing, though that is not to say this wine is flabby or over the top, but it should be enjoyed with matching cuisine, like a rack of lamb, short ribs and or brisket. The wine’s inner sweetness is kept in check by some Petite Sirah tannin and enough natural acidity to hold things nicely. Bedrock, led by Morgan Twain-Peterson MW, says that they embrace uninoculated fermentations (indigenous yeast), native malolactic and the use of whole clusters in fermentation when they can, not so easy with Zinfandel. They farm to make sure there is minimal handling or intrusive winemaking, as well as rarely or never fining the wines. They do what they can to avoid additions of things common in California like water and tartaric acid, and would rather use no oak than cheap oak. These things are not easy and Bedrock has the deal with a huge collection of vineyards, making what they do all that much more impressive.

Morgan Twain-Peterson MW and Bedrock have farming the historic Pato vineyard, owned interestedly by the Contra Costa Water District, since 2012 and made their first vineyard-designated wine from, what Morgan calls, this beautiful place in 2016. The vines were originally planted here back in 1905 and the site is located on the interior edge of Oakley, which is a pretty remote area of the East Bay. Twain-Peterson explains that this well-known site for top Zin producers, like Ridge, Rosenblum, Neyers and others have all made vineyard-designated wines from here in the past, and yet it still flies under the radar, I would say it is a sleeper in the Bedrock lineup. Pato, with mainly Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Mataro, is all own-rooted and planted on, as Morgan continues, the famous Delhi sands that define the area and gives these old vines a unique terroir dimension. The Pato wines are completely different expression of the area than Evangelho, owned and farmed by Bedrock, as the site tends towards slightly higher pHs and has a riper expression of the area. As Bedrock notes, here, dark fruit dominates, as seen in this 2022, partially they add due in part due to the larger percentage of Petite Sirah in the final blend. They also think that these deep sandy soils provide for a supple texture and polish here, but there is considerable fruit weight, that for me gives a hedonistic density. Those details very much shine through here in this 2022 Pato, which was, as per normal raised almost entirely in puncheon, I believe, with a small amount of new oak, which tames the beast, and allows for complexity, harmony and age-ability here, while also giving the immediate joys it delivers even now. In recent years, old vines in Lodi, Amador County and here in Contra Costa are proving to beat the effects of climate change and preserve California history, and there’s a lot to be grateful for in these Bedrock wines.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Selbach-Oster, Pinot Blanc Trocken, Mosel, Germany.
Again the Pinot Blanc by Selbach-Oster is a smash hit, this is an excellent alternative white wine and great example of the varietal in Germany with vivid flavors, smoky/slatey Mosel character and a nice intensity, not usually found in this grape. The flinty nose, has a honeyed lemon, wet stone and green apple notes, with a steely medium bodied palate showing off white peach, lemon/lime, tart apple and a hint of tropical fruit, along with fresh acidity, a bit of spice, bitter herbs and the mentioned mineral tones. I’ve been following this wine since the 2013 vintage and while I usually focus on the gorgeous and studied collection of Riesling at Selbach-Oster, but I highly recommend checking out this Pinot Blanc, sometimes called Weissburgunder. Johannes Selbach has told me that this German Pinot Blanc comes off three plots in three Cru sites, but almost entirely from Zeltinger Himmelreich, set on classic blue Devonian slate and sees a natural yeast fermentation and is aged exclusively in stainless steel tank. This Summer I was lucky enough to taste through the Selbach-Oster lineup with Johannes Selbach himself, along with his son Sebastian, who’s taken on a much bigger role here in the last few years with some equally big successes, and they’ve produced some fantastic wines, like this Pinot Blanc.

Johannes Selbach, as mentioned here at grapelive.com before, like Dr. Loosen, is one of Germany’s best known winemakers of his generation, and son Sebastian are raising the game here at Selbach-Oster, with an amazing collection of offerings from the 2022 and 2023 vintages. The winery, which dates back here in the Mosel since the 1600s, is looking forward and backwards, paying tribute to generations of Selbachs and their traditions as well as embracing the future with all of its uncertainties with confidence and intensity of their work. A very significant portion of their vines are on their original rootstocks and are ungrafted, including the stunning set of parcels in Zeltinger, their home town, like those that go into this masterpiece. I’m a huge and long time fan of these wines from Himmelreich, Schlossberg and Sonnenuhr, all set on blue Devonian slate, again, where this wine comes from. Selbach’s holdings of Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher and Bernkasteler Graben are ultra steep sites that showcase their slate driven terroirs to perfection and sit on contiguous slope facing south-south west and without question are some of the most prestigious sites in the Mosel. The winery notes that 85% of the Selbach’s vines are on steep slopes, which helps give their collection of Rieslings an extra boost of intensity and distinction. The Selbach wines, which I highly recommend, have always been crafted to be generous and full of pleasure, highlighting the quality of the fruit and the expressive terroirs.
($23 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 Alfaro Family Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Trout Gulch Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains.
The nicely balanced, aromatic and silky ripe Trout Gulch Pinot Noir is beautiful in the glass with a dark vivid ruby hue and a pretty layering of black cherry, juicy raspberry, plum and cranberry fruits, along with a range of spices, florals, subtle earthiness, mineral notes and a light sense of wood framing. The medium bodied effort continues a long run of high quality and distinctive wines from this exceptional vineyard in the hills above Aptos in the Santa Cruz Mountains that is farmed impeccably by Richard Alfaro. The Alfaro Family Vineyards Trout Gulch Pinot Noir, now made by Richard’s son Ryan Alfaro (Farm Cottage) was hand crafted using traditional winemaking methods, with 100% de-stemmed fruit, seeing a gentle handing of the grapes and a cool temperature maceration and primary fermentation in mostly stainless steel and then aged 10 months in mainly used French oak. The Alfaro Family wines always offer up clean, forward and rewarding profiles, with this one highlighting that style and should drink well for 3 to 5 years at least and I highly recommend it and its sister Chardonnay from this vineyard. The Alfaro’s now own the Trout Gulch Vineyard after years of leasing and farming the vines here, it is a very compelling site with these grapes being very coveted, with the Chardonnay grapes finding their way into some of the most sought after wines in state, like the fabulous single vineyard bottlings by Arnot-Roberts, Kutch and Ceritas.

The Trout Gulch Vineyard, as noted in my previous reviews, was planted back in 1980, it is a 16 acre dry-farmed vineyard that is nestled on a coastal hillside and surrounded by redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Aptos only about four miles from the cold Pacific Ocean. The site, as the winery notes, sits at 750 to 800 feet above sea level and has well-draining sandy loam soils with a touch of clay that adds to the fruit density, while the morning fog and cool air makes for a long growing season and allows for racy acidity. Richard Alfaro has twelve acres at the Trout Gulch Vineyard that is planted to the Robert Young clone of Chardonnay and just four acres planted to Pinot Noir with a heritage set of vines, that has a mix of the Mt. Eden, Pommard and Martini clones. These cool climate terroir and Monterey Bay influenced Trout Gulch wines by Alfaro are absolutely delicious, as are Ryan’s personal label Farm Cottage versions. I usually focus on the Chardonnay from Trout Gulch, but the Pinots are getting better and better with each vintage, with both the Alfaro Family and Farm Cottage, which is more edgy and exotic with lots of whole cluster, labels have enjoyed a nice string of recent releases. Ryan Alfaro has received a well deserved series of accolades and great ratings for his wines, has really grown into his role here after he completed internships in New Zealand and most recently with the iconic Adam Tolmach of Ojai Vineyards, before returning to the family winery. Alfaro is focused on mostly estate grown terroir driven Chardonnay and Pinot offerings, but also do a sublime Gruner Veltliner and a new 100% Malbec bottling, all of which I suggest checking out.
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Poderi Luigi Einaudi, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Piemonte, Italy.
The lovely, bright garnet hued and fresh 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo by Luigi Einaudi is positively joyful in the glass with tangy classic Nebbiolo character, it shows off vivid black cherry, bramble berry, damson plum and grilled orange fruits, which are ripe and pleasing, plus a snappy array of herbs, crushed flowers and spicy notes. These Langhe Nebbiolo wines are sometimes called baby Barolo, but are early drinking versions and this one is easy to love with a lighter sense of tannins, pretty lavender and rose petal floral aromatics and juicy acidity, so no patience required, and especially with a good food pairing. This wine saw a temperature controlled fermentation in a mix of stainless steel and concrete tank with between eight and ten days of maceration on the skins, after completing primary and malolactic fermentation the wine then see a few months in wood casks. All of this allows for purity and transparency in the bottled wine, and I highly recommend this Einaudi Langhe Nebbiolo for its quality and value.

The Einaudi Langhe Nebbiolo grapes are sourced exclusively from Nebbiolo vines in the Dogliani zone, most noted for the Dolcetto wines, set on marl and calcareous soils, making for a vividly pure and mineral driven wine, as seen here with this 2022 version. The latest generation of the Einaudi family, who have been making wine in Piemonte for more than 125 years, Matteo Sardagna leads the Poderi now and has continued to produce an excellent collection of wines, obviously with Barolo being the star. The Poderi Luigi Einaudi has a stellar lineup of Cru Barolo vines in star studded sites, including Barolo DOCG Ludo, Barolo DOCG Terlo Vigna Costa Grimaldi, Barolo DOCG Monvigliero, Barolo DOCG Cannubi, Barolo DOCG Bussia and the coveted Barolo DOCG Villero. The family was originally from the mentioned Dogliani and they do a beautiful DOCG Dolcetto, as well as some Piemonte gems, like Barbera, Arneis and Moscato, all that and more, including specialties like Grappa and Chinato. I also with note that the normal basic Barolo, and their under the radar Barbaresco, are well worth searching out too, as they offer very distinctive terroir driven character at a reasonable price too.
($29 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2022 Cattleya, Pinot Noir, The Goddess, West Sonoma Coast.
The Cattleya 2022 Pinots, by Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni are some of the wines of the vintage, and her rare The Goddess Pinot Noir from the West Sonoma Coast might be her best effort with this grape to date, it is a gorgeous and alluring wine of class and elegance with a depth of fruit and a sexy long finish. This single site, 100% de-stemmed, wine really unfolds in the glass wonderfully with aromas of spicy dark berries, intense florals, smoky wood and subtle earth lifting from the glass and seducing the senses before revealing a palate of black cherry, wild raspberry plum and blood orange fruits, along with briar and baking spice, rose petals, sassafras/cols, vanilla, sea spray and bergamot. There’s a Grand Cru Burgundy like presence, detailing and impact, similar to some Méo-Camuzet, Rousseau and or Anne Gros bottlings, but still very California in its nature, luxurious texture and dense fruit. I have always gravitated to Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni’s Syrah wines, first and foremost, which I have been following since her 2012 vintage, but her recent set of Chards and these Pinots are fantastic, do not miss a chance to try them. As mentioned before Bibiana, the hugely talented winemaker from Colombia, has come to California with an incredible array of experiences and degrees from universities in Bordeaux and Cognac. She has, as she remembers, pruned vines during ice-cold winters, trimmed shoots in sweltering summers, and tended to the vines that cling to the sheer slopes of Côte-Rôtie—first at Domaine Stéphane Ogier, then at Domaine Clusel-Roch. Adding that at the famed estates of Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, she completed research for her finals thesis. She also notes that she had the privilege to work among other family-owned wine producers in Burgundy, Alsace, and Cognac, all of which helped her in her transition to California, where she has made a great collection of wines over the last decade.

Winemaker, Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni, says that her “The Goddess” Pinot Noir is the epitome of all that is feminine, and captures the regal character of the grape and a true sense of place, with its cool ultra west Sonoma Coast terror playing a key role. The Goddess, she continues, was crafted from the Gold Rock Vineyard, situated atop an interior ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This wine, she explains, is a beautiful blend of clones 777 and 115 that was fermented with 100% indigenous yeast in open top stainless steel tanks, which look to have in my opinion highlight the purity and aromatic charms here. It also saw twice daily punchdowns that extracted what Bibiana calls a remarkable color, along with structural tannins and a depth of flavor. She employed her signature cold-soak through the end of fermentation in tank which she notes lasted 22 days in this vintage. Then, after primary fermentation was complete, the wine was then transferred to 85% new French oak barrels where in aged and matured for a full 18 months, after which it was settled in tank and bottled. Cattleya wines started back in 2011 and by 2015 Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni was named winemaker of the year the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as being spotted by the top wine critics in the world, scoring high 90s for almost everything she touched. She’s part of a serious power couple with her husband being Jeff Pisoni of the Pisoni Estate and former winemaker at Peter Michael, both driving forces in this new era of California wine. I really enjoyed catching up with Bibiana recently and tasting through her latest wines, all of which showed fantastically well and I highly recommend her newest efforts, including this one, the stellar The Temptress Russian River Chardonnay, the Syrahs (obviously), especially the rare Serine clone Pisoni Estate “The Reward” bottling, as well as her and Jeff’s 2023 Shared Notes Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon white Bordeaux style wine.
($125 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Von Winning, Riesling Trocken, Kirschenstück, VDP Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz, Germany.
While I’ve been privileged enough to have tasted some barrel sample 2023s, which look to be highly coveted wines, I was not able to try Von Winnings, but their 2022 GGs are awesome, and this 2022 KIrschenstück GG was darn close to perfect. Von Winnings set of GGs is almost unmatched, with Leinhohle, Langenmorgen, Grainhubel and this Ungeheuer being exceptional, along with the very famous Kirchenstück, maybe the most expensive vineyard site in Germany, and the exotic Kalkofen, to name a few. For a Riesling, there is an amazing sense of tactile pleasure in this Kirschenstück and while reductive, the greatness cannot be hidden here. There’s delicate florals, hints of hazelnut, flinty mineral and lemon curd to start with an exciting array of stone fruits, apricot, apple, tropical mango flesh and peach pit and wet rock, chalk, orange oil, brioche, a touch of wood and a tangy verbena note. The medium full palate is firm, precise and yet still elegant and full of finesse, truly great stuff here, a wine to cherish and covet. Von Winning as reported far and wide, and of course by me in recent years and prior reviews, is one of Germany’s greatest and most unique wine estates, based in the Pfalz and with a no compromise sense of purpose in everything wine they do, from their basic state Riesling to their Grosses Gewächs, like this gorgeous and textural Ungeheuer GG, and it’s worth noting they also make one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs along with a sublime collection of Pinot Noir and even sparkling Sekt(s)! Vigneron and cellar master Stephan Attmann has put tremendous effort and focus into the vines here with the Von Winning Riesling vines being trained in the same way as you’d find in Meursault or Montrachet and he admits he is heavily influenced by the Côte d’Or and the great wines of Burgundy. As well, the winemaking is also inspired by the fabled French region with barrel fermentation and lees aging with a very dry focus.

This last Summer I was thrilled to meet up with Stephan Attmann, director of winemaking of the famous Pfalz Von Winning estate, and taste through the latest releases, which of course included a world class set of Rieslings, especially GGs, all of which were gorgeous 2022 vintage beauties. It was a great privilege to meet Attmann and sample some of his greatest hits, including the upcoming set of GGs, which are rock star wines, in particular this, near perfection, Kirschenstück and the brilliant Ungeheuer. The highly prized Kirchenstück Grand Cru, in Forst, is set on sandy loam, red sandstone and basalt soils and is an exclusive, unique parcel and a special Plalz terroir. As noted, the historic Von Winning estate, as I’ve mentioned before many times, was founded in 1849, by Leopold Von Winning, but saw its most important evolution under Dr. Andreas Deinhard, with his commitment to excellence and improvements in vineyard management, the Deinhard’s were also a founding members of the VDP. The VDP, which focused on single cru sites, like those in Von Winning’s holdings in Ruppertsberg, Deidesheim, and Forst, has paved the way in promoting truly great dry wines in Germany and wineries like Von Winning and neighbors Mueller-Catoir of the Pfalz region are two of the shinning stars. The Von Winning winery explains that back in the 1800s, basalt from the nearby quarry was brought into the vineyard and then it was ploughed in the soil to improve it, and now it employs all sustainable and organic viticulture. Stephan Attmann’s approach to wine growing and winemaking has helped revolutionize the wines here at Von Winning, taking his inspiration for the Côte d’Or, with Attmann adopting the single cane trellising system, as his importer Skurnik Wines notes, which is quite prevalent in Burgundy, and shown to improve balancing of ripening of the Riesling and other varietals here. The Von Winning Grosses Gewächs Rieslings are fermented and lees aged for close to 24 months in 500L French oak, which leads to the texture and depth in these stunning wines, quite simply you must put these wines on your bucket list!
($149 ESt.) 98 Points, grapelive

2022 Desire Lines Wine Co., Syrah, Shake Ridge Ranch, Amador County – Sierra Foothills.
The exotic and richly layered Desire Lines Shake Ridge Ranch Syrah is again a very serious effort, and as I’ve said before, it is in line with some top notch Northern Rhône bottlings, having real Hermitage and or Côte-Rotie like presence in the glass, but with velvety tannins not unlike the Jim Barry Armah Shiraz, making for a wine to enjoy now, but that has the stuffing to age decades! The 2022 is slightly riper than the last few vintages, but still impeccably balanced with a dense palate that shows off a quiet mineral intensity and plush black and blue fruits. Like the fabulous 2019, this latest release leads with an opaque purple/garnet hue in the glass with a consistent layering of boysenberry, damson plum, Italian cherry, Mission fig and blueberry compote filling the mouth, while hints of pepper, crushed stone, camphor, violets, anise, sandalwood, vanilla and mountain sage, again here, play nice backing roles. Tasting this Syrah, every time, makes me understand why it is one of the jewels in the Desire Lines lineup and one of winemaker Cody Rasmussen’s signature offerings! As I’ve said before, Those that love Chave, Chapoutier, Clape, Jamet and even Guigal will be blown away by the quality you’ll find here with this Shake Ridge bottling by Rasmussen at Desire Lines Wine Co., and the price is more than fair considering the limited nature of wines, especially this one.

Desire Lines Wine Co. makes some of the best California wines for the money I’ve tasted in recent years, with Rasmussen, who is also a winemaker at Morgan Twain-Peterson’s Bedrock Wine Co, being very much inspired by old world wines and techniques, like here he used plenty of whole-cluster, native yeasts and ages in larger used wood, preferring Puncheons of 400L and 500L (sizes) for his Syrahs and his Mourvèdre wines. The maceration, for the Shake Ridge Syrah, included lots of punch downs and full extraction that shows in the depth and intensity of flavors and the umami background with subtle briny/meaty notes adds to the thrills and wow factor here, in this beauty. The hot days and cold nights help ripen the Syrah here perfectly while the schist, Mariposa slate, greenstone, and even marble soils at Shake Ridge, all plays a part, along with sizable chunks of quartz that just litter the ground here adds to the terroir distention in the wine. The vines at Shake Ridge, as I noted in prior reviews, are planted in the once gold-rich soils that birthed the modern state of California, and are cared for by one of the finest farmers in California with the help of her whole family. Ann Kraemer, who is legend in her field, continues a long tradition of pioneering, scientifically-minded viticulturalists in Amador County, and she supplies grapes to some of California’s most exciting winemakers. If you’ve not had these Desire Lines wines yet, you are missing out and I highly recommend getting on their mailing list as soon as possible.
($36 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Carl Loewen, Riesling Trocken, Laurentiuslay VDP Erste Gewächs, Mosel, Germany.
The smoky and intensely steely 2022 Loewen Leiwener Laurentiuslay Old Vine Dry Riesling again shows off a crisp and crystalline palate of zesty citrus and orchard stone fruits along with a hint of tropical essences and flinty/stony spiciness. It’s blessed with vibrant lime, green melon, white peach, tart apricot and tangerine fruits, as well as crystalized ginger, wet shale, salty sea shore, white lavender/rose florals, chamomile and tart apple skin. Mineral driven and mouth watering, this Alte Reben is still concentrated, ripe and textural and has loads of structural extract, making for a complete Riesling that is youthfully zippy and refreshing, but one that can deliver a world class performance with age. This Laurentiuslay Trocken, a Premier Cru bottling is from old ungrafted parcels in Loewen’s collection of steep plots, between 20 and 80 percent slopes, which are on this part of the Mosel’s classic grey slate soils, though Christopher Loewen says there are veins of red volcanic deposits here too. These steep vines, which are quite rocky and get a ton of exposure to the sun, close to 100 years old, are now being worked only using organic methods and harvested by hand. Weingut Loewen farms mostly in three VDP Grosse Lage sites, Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg, Thörnicher Ritsch and Leiwener Laurentiuslay and is now considered one of the region’s superstars, the rise from solid to stellar has come recently with the generational shift from father, Karl-Josef, to son Christopher, has happened smoothly and the praise here is incredibly well deserved, with Christopher’s touch bringing these wines, especially the drier style Rieslings, to the very top echelon of German wine.

The Carl Loewen estate, the winery notes, dates back to 1803 when an agent in Paris purchased a set of vineyards and buildings owned by the Maximin order, and this sale was part of an auction used to generate money for the Napoleonic government after secularization. The purchase originally included the Maximiner Klosterlay, Maximin Grünhaus in the Ruwer, and Maximiner Herrenberg in Longuich. Interestingly Loewen has been buying the hardest and steepest sites in the area that were once not favored, but now fetch top dollar. These days winemaker Christopher Loewen carefully sorts the grapes in the vineyards, only bringing in perfect full bunches, which then are then pressed whole cluster and pomace is never moved as to not break the stems, which Loewen notes, avoids phenolic (green) flavors and bitterness.The juice, he adds, is “browned” or oxidized pre- fermentation, a practice common in Burgundy, and his ferments are completely natural without addition of yeast known here as Sponti, plus absolutely no enzymes or nutrition is used. This wine, 100% stainless steel, is a serious Premier Cru dry Riesling for those that want pure minerallity and racy acidity above all else. This 2022, a hot draught, highly stressed vintage is concentrated, it shows a bit more depth, richness and structure of form, though without losing any energy with exciting flavors that are excellent with food. This 2022 Alte Reben Laurentiuslay is a sleeper in the latest set from the talented Loewen, but it shouldn’t be overlooked and it is worth seeking out! Christopher is at the top of his game and wines like his monumental 1896 Feinherb from the Maximin Herrenberg and the mighty Ritsch Riesling Trocken “GG” are both mind-blowing wines I’ve fallen in love with in recent years and written a lot about.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Leo Steen, Casa Verde, Red Wine, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County.
The 2022 vintage version of Leo Hansen’s Casa Verde is dark garnet in the glass and is ripely quaffable with a plummy medium bodied, showing away a nice mix of red and black fruits, spice and delicate floral notes. The Casa Verde Red Wine, just like the previous vintage is a Redwood Valley sourced blend of mainly Grenache and Carignan, but with some Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon and even some French Colombard white grapes, which is generous and delicious stuff that feels fresh, fruit forward and quaffable. The carbonic like style makes for a smooth medium bodied wine that comes from all organic and dry farmed 70 year old vines with sandy loams and clay based soils, which sees warm days and cool nights that delivers concentration and nice lively acidity. For this wine Hansen used a native yeast fermentation and a short maceration period with a very gentle extraction before racking it to a combination of stainless steel and used French oak barrels where the Casa Verde red wine saw 16 months.

Leo Hansen, of Leo Steen Winery, formerly a sommelier from Copenhagen Denmark, who has a well rounded background, having done stints in Alsace, Loire, Champagne and Burgundy to Spain and Italy. As noted before here at grape live.com Hansen, who moved to California in 1999 to, as he notes, immerse himself in winemaking, finally landing at Alexander Valley’s Stuhlmuller Vineyards, where he became the winemaker. At that time, in 2004, Leo also started his own label, Leo Steen wines, which allowed him to make wines more to his personal tastes, leaning on his old world palate. Hansen, to achieve his goals, uses a variety of fermentation methods and a combination of aging vessels in his wines to showcase each vineyard and terroir with transparency in his wines, this, he has done very successfully in his latest set of wines, especially in his Grenache, Cab Franc and the collection of Chenin Blanc offerings, which are his main focus. After meeting Leo Hansen a few years ago now and being introduced to his wines, I have really become a big fan of his Leo Steen lineup, which all impressed me, and I highly recommend checking them out.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2020 Tenuta Terraviva, Abruzzo Pecorino DOC, White Wine, Italy.
This light gold 100% organically farmed Pecorino, a native grape variety from the Northern part of Abruzzo, is dusty bone dry authentically Italian white with bright layers of lemon/lime, white peach and green apple fruits, along with tangy herbs, wet stones and bitter almonds, in a lighter framed and racy wine. Terraviva fermented and aged this Pecorino exclusively in stainless steel tank with native yeasts employed. This 2020 vintage is still remarkably fresh with very delicate citrusy aromatics and plenty of mouth-watering zingy acidity, making it best with steamed clams and or soft farm cheeses. This is a tartly retrained and salty terroir driven white wine, with subtle fruit, that shows off a very old school personality that gets more vinous with air, but stays vibrant and zippy throughout.

Imported by Lucidity Wine Merchants, Terraviva, a certified organic and biodynamic farm near Teramo, Abruzzo, is a small family run winery that shoots for authentic character in its collection of wines. The Terraviva estate vines, according to the winery and Lucidity, benefit from both the cold winds blowing down from the Gran Sasso mountains and the mitigating effects of the Adriatic Sea, which is not far away. The winemaking is low-intervention and clean in style, and made just with the mentioned estate grown organic & biodynamic grapes and natural yeasts. Only minimal amounts of sulfites are used at bottling, with the winery adding that all of their vineyard plots are harvested separately, by hand, producing wines of a crisp, with pure varietal character, vibrant freshness and balance. The Terraviva wines, both this Pecorino d’Abruzzo and the Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, which sees a bit of concrete, I tried are nicely made and are good values.
($20 Est.) 88 Points, grapelive

2022 Turley Wine Cellars, Zinfandel, Juvenile, California.
The lush, ripe and luxuriously textured 2022 Juvenile Zinfandel by Turley is everything you would expect from this winery and is a great value for the quality, with a dark opaque purple/granet color in the glass this wine delivers a rich array of black raspberry, sweet plum, currant jam and cherry fruits, along with a dusting of spices, pretty florals, minty anise and creamy vanilla. The Turley Cellars Juvenile bottling comes from vines that range in age from about 6-25 years, and, as the winery notes, pulled from a selection of their best vineyards across California, including typically, the famous Hayne, in Napa Valley, their Pesenti estate in Paso, as well as sites like the Salvador Vineyard, Vineyard 101, Fredericks Vineyard, and Kirschenmann Vineyard, in Lodi. These excellent Turley sourced sites from Paso Robles to the Napa Valley, as well as Amador and Lodi, are all sustainable farmed and or organic vineyards. I’ve enjoyed this wine twice lately with similar and rewarding results, so can certainly recommend it all Turley and Zinfandel fans and it was delicious with a hearty meaty meal.

The Turley Juvenile, made by Tegan Passalacqua and his team, as mentioned in my prior reviews, is sourced from close to 27 vineyards, mostly all organic and sustainably farmed and is traditionally fermented using fully de-stemmed Zinfandel grapes and native yeasts. Turley notes that the Juvenile is actually composed of a variety of young vines that have been replanted in several of their old vine sites. They tag the younger vines then pick them, which is done separately and make they make each a distinct wine in separate lots, and blended to taste and style later. Turley has been hand crafting this Juvenile since 1999 and the recipe hasn’t changed too much, though certainly under Passalacqua’s vineyard and cellar guidance Larry Turley’s wines have continued to rise in quality, highlighting the care and extreme effort he has put in here since taking over the winemaker duties. The classic ripe, full-bodied and dark garnet hued Juvenile Zin, follows the winemaking of single vineyard wines, saw about 12 months in 80% French and 20% American oak with 95% being used barrels and just 5% new here and the Zin was bottled unfined. The 2022s are drinking well young and there’s no patience required here, drink up.
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Dönnhoff, Riesling Spätlese, Oberhäuser Brücke, VDP Grosse Lage, Nahe, Germany.
For this beautifully detailed and fresh Spätlese, Dönnhoff uses a selection of vines on grey slate bedrock covered by a layer of loess loam soils, which gives a fabulous minerallity and vitality to this lush sweet wine. These 2023s at Dönnhoff are all stunning and age-worthy wines, not to miss, and this Oberhäuser Brücke, all stainless steel fermented and matured is pristine example of terroir driven Riesling. The steely palate shows off candied citrus, pineapple, green apple, fleshy apricot and quince fruits along with a flinty/smike aromatics, delicate florals as well as clove, saline infused wet stone and ginger spices. All of Cornelius Dönnhoff’s wines are incredible, especially the top line GGs, but you should never overlook the Prädikatwein options here, like this gorgeous 2023 Oberhäuser Brücke Spätlese, which is already drinking fantastically well. This vineyard can produce both outstanding full weighted dry and noble sweet wines in equal measure due to the unique terroir here above the Nahe.The carefully vineyard sorted and hand picked grapes come from the VDP Grosse Lage Oberhäuser Brücke, a highly prized Grand Cru site, set on a complex mix of slate, porphyry, sandstone and loam soils on slopes right on the Nahe River.

The amazing Grand Cru class Brücke vineyard, as mentioned here, is a totally unique Monopole site for Dönnhoff, near the historic Luitpoldbrücke (Luitpold Bridge), which was, as the winery notes, built during the period of Royal Bavarian administration and crosses the Nahe River directly adjacent to the village of Oberhausen. Opposite that bridge lies a small vineyard parcel that benefits greatly from the nearby river’s moderating influence, which creates a distinctive microclimate protecting the vines from frosty late winter spells and promotes an early flowering each year, which translates into a long growing season for the late-ripening Riesling grape, while retaining good acidity. The VDP Brücke Grosse Lage produces stunning and concentrated wines from dry GGs to ultra sweet Eiswein, with certain parcels reserved for each style and this pedigreed site is always a favorite of my, in fact one of the greatest wines I’ve ever had was an Eiswein from here. While I usually drink and review Dönnhoff’s drier wines, lately I’ve enjoy both vintage, like a 2006 Auslese, and current release 2023 Spätlese and Kabinett level Prädikat wines that I’ve tried have been exceptionally awesome and this one and their Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Spätlese are as good as it gets and are rock solid investments. As seen in my prior reviews, I am a huge fan of the Dönnhoff wines and the Nahe region, which I visited briefly in 2016, and though I unfortunately missed out on the Dönnhoff estate that time I certainly won’t next time.
($48 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2016 Drew Family Cellars, Pinot Noir, Fashauer Vineyards, Anderson Valley.
I had tucked this bottle away, knowing Drew’s 2016 vintage Pinots were exceptionally good and well structured for aging, but I couldn’t resist opening this one and I was even more blown away that I thought I would be with this Fashauer Vineyard coming in with a performance worthy of a top Burgundy! This bottling in Drew’s lineup is pretty rare and limited, so I don’t often get it, which is criminal when they are this good with this 2016 showing off a deep ruby/garnet hue and a sultry mix of earth, spice and floral aromatics along with layers of dark berry, black cherry, plum and Moro orange fruits on the nicely structured medium bodied palate. There’s a real Nuits-Saint-Georges savory thing coming through here with touches of truffle, iodine, cedar, forrest floor, bergamot, and subtle dried roses, flint, black tea, sweet baking spices and a bit of meatiness. The 2016 vintage was pretty firm, dense and chewy when young, and while you can still feel that, there’s an elegance emerging now that is wonderfully compelling too, and on the night this Pinot, made from de-stemmed clones 115 and 667, was absolutely brilliant in every way, and great with food.

Winemaker Jason Drews says the Fashauer Vineyard, which is located on the west ridge of Anderson Valley at 1200ft elevation and 8 miles from the ocean, has ancient soils from the Carbonne-Wohly complex. These are deep well drained soils that are made up of gravelly weathered sandstone and shale from marine origins, that allow for some very intriguing Pinot Noir wines, as seen here in the stunning 2016 vintage from Drew. This mid elevation site on a gentle south westerly slope has, interestingly enough as noted above, just two Dijon selections, with a mix of 115 and 667 clones here. This true cool climate site wine is a real sleeper in Drew’s fabulous collection of offerings, flying under the radar, but I would make an extra effort to keep your eyes open for it and or not pass it up on their mailing list release offer. The Fashauer Pinot Noir in 2016, which was aged in exclusively used, well seasoned French oak barrels, came in at a ripe 13.9% alcohol, but shows beautiful balance, it still has plenty of nice acidity and phenolic grip to impress those Burgundy fans. It’s been a fantastic run of form for Jason Drew, with his 2013 to 2023s all being top notch, in fact I can’t think of a better set of Pinot Noirs over the last decade that I’d rather have!
($70 ESt.) 96 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Prieler, Gemischter Satz, Kalkterrassen, Steinweingarten, Burgenland, Austria.
Tasted this Summer, this wine was seriously delicious with loads of crisp mineral tones, lovely jasmine aromatics, ginger spice, spearmint and a bone dry lighter framed palate that shows off bright citrus, like tangerine, along with tart white peach and quince fruits. Prieler’s Kalkterrassen Gemischter Satz (co-fermented white blend), which was all new to me, is a delightful and fresh dry white wine that has Weissburgunder, Welschriesling, Gelber Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc and another Muskat clone in the blend. This pale straw/gold hued wine was made with a temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel, then saw a maturation in a combination of stainless steel, large wooden cask, and a small part in Amphora (clay vessel) which allows for zesty pre scion and transparency, while also give the wine some substance and textural pleasure. There’s plenty of tangy charm, natural acidity and the florals never over do it and this wine, making it great with a range of lighter cuisine, especially shellfish and or shrimp dishes. Prieler is most notable for the world class Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc wines from their Burgenland terroir, this winery is definitely one of Austria’s most accomplished labels. Gemischter Satz is a historic old style wine, found mostly in Austria, which needs to be done as a co-fermented field blend of varietals, that has been re-imagined in modern times and Prieler’s is an exciting effort made from organic vines in the village of Schützen am Gebirge set on classic chalky limestone soils.

The Prieler estate, as mentioned in my prior reviews, was founded in 1972, and is based in Schützen, which sits on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, in Burgenland, it is a historic old farm, that was once dedicated to many types of agriculture, but now specializing almost solely in grape growing. Georg Prieler is a the second generation Prieler to run this iconic winery and the one that has brought world wide acclaim to this property with his fantastic terroir driven Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc wines. Georg’s wife Silvia brings a wealth of experience to the winery with a PhD in biochemistry, international experience including an internship at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and a precise touch, which explains the class and finesse in the wines. The winery notes that all of the grapes are carefully crushed and fermented at closely controlled temperatures in steel tanks or wooden casks. The character of the variety and the vineyard determines how the wine will be matured and what in. For example, the Primer’s add, the Seeberg Pinot Blanc will aged exclusively in stainless steel to maximize freshness and clarity, while the Blaufränkisch from Johanneshöhe will be raised in large oak casks, and Georg’s top crus like Goldberg will mature in small Burgundy barriques. Prieler’s 20 hectares of vines are cultivated in small parcels between the Leithagebirge, which according to the winery, is the last outpost of the eastern Alps that protect the vines from the western winds, and the Lake Neusiedl, which tempers the hot climate of the Pannonian plain, where there is the most sunshine in all of Eastern Europe. I highly recommend digging deep into the Prieler collection, especially the mentioned wines above, their Rosé and this one, they will certainly impress for their outstanding quality and elegance.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

November 2024

1999 Maison Vincent Girardin, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. Grand Cru, Red Burgundy, France.
The powerful, dark garnet hued and very old school 1999 Grand Cru Chambertin-Clos de Bèze by Vincent Girardin is seriously tight and reductive to start, but opens up nicely with time in the glass with a layers of black cherry, briar laced raspberry, Mission fig, red currant and tart blueberry fruits, along with flinty/smokey notes, tea spice, coffee grounds, wilted roses and truffle like earthiness. I’ve been following and a buyer of these Vincent Girardin wines since this Chambertin-Clos de Bèze was originally released, so it was fantastic to taste this after nearly 25 years later and it really showed a huge generational difference in style. I’m grateful to my friend Alex Lallos who found this bottle in his cellar and blind tasted on me and a few other wine professionals, I close, but no cigar, in figuring it out, with me thinking it was a Pommard at first and a Gerry-Chambertin, like Maume, later. This vintage was known for firm structures and that certainly was the case here with this Girardin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze showcasing that gripping nature. This wine, which would have been better with maybe an hour of decanting, really needs food to show off its pedigree and charm, it reminded me of when ages ago I had a 1993 La Tâche that took about three hours to open up. Typically Girardin nowadays, makes the top wines with biodynamic grapes and with respect to the lunar cycles in the vineyard and the cellar, with most Grand Cru wines seeing 18 months in barrel and just about 20% new oak, to promote transparency.

One of the seven elite Crus of the Côte de Nuits’ historic Chambertin, the Grand Cru Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, according to records dates back to around 630 A.D., is a special 37 acre site, one of the greatest Pinot Noir vineyards and Napoleon’s absolutely favorite wine, continues to be one of the world’s most sought after vineyards. Set on a medium slope and with classic clay and limestone soils, Clos de Bèze makes for powerfully structured wines, as seen here. It is also noted that Chambertin and Clos de Beze were officially united in 1702, with the AOC being created in 1937. The Maison Vincent Girardin was founded in 1980, by Vincent Girardin when he was only 19 yes old, he was well connected and was able to build strong relationships with growers in some prime Burgundy terroirs, which led to some remarkable wines over the years. Vincent, the son of a family of winegrowers based in Santenay since the 17th century led his label to a huge success and the wines have been well received by critics, collectors and sommeliers around the world. Girardin sold his shares in the company in 2012 to one of his original partners, Jean-Pierre Nié, who has continued produce a star studded collection of Burgundies. Over the years I’ve bought a bunch of this Vincent Girardin wines, from Rully Blanc to Grand Cru Batard-Montrachet, as well as a range of the reds, all for personal enjoyment. I don’t see the Clos de Bèze in their most recent releases, though they do have an old vines Chames-Chambertin, which I’m sure is an outstanding effort. There’s a ton options here at Girardin, but I usually focus my attention to their lesser known village wines, which are often great bargains in the quality to price ratio, especially the village whites.
($300 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2016 Le Cinciole “Petresco” Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT, Tuscany, Italy.
The incredible powerful pure 2016 Sangiovese Petresco IGT Rosso from Chianti Classico’s famous Le Cinciole is an exceptional single vineyard expression that delivers a seriously dense palate of dark fruits, including blackberry, plum, currant and balsamic strawberry, along with tobacco leaf, all spice, minty herbs, delicate florals, anise and sweet sandalwood notes. This full bodied red perfectly captures the richness and ripe flavors of the 2016 vintage, giving that deep and ripe fruit and structural tannin, making for a big time wine that should aged decades or more. This dark garnet hued wine will be a huge hit with Sangiovese lovers and it was absolutely fabulous with a lamb ragu and homemade pasta that cut into the richness of the fruit and I highly recommend having it with robust cuisine and or aged hard Pecorino cheese. The Petresco cru, the highest vineyard at Le Conciole, has loose topsoils with classic galestro over limestone, which adds to the rewarding nature of this this impressive Tuscan red.

The Petresco is Le Cinciole’s unique, single site, all Sangiovese organic vineyard , that was planted at close to 1,500 feet twenty of elevation some years ago, making for a distinctive terroir driven and deep wine. The winery is located in Panzano in Chianti Classico, is run by Valeria Viganò and Luca Orsini who have elevated Le Cinciole into one of the top Chianti Classico estates, and an elite Italian label with their conversion to Biodynamic farming. As for the winemaking here on their 100% Sangiovese Petresco Rosso, Viganò and Orsini uses all de-stemmed and carefully sorted grapes with fermentation done with a cool maceration in tank, after which the wine is racked to a combination of barrels, seeing about two years in the wood with equal parts in large cask and small toasty barriques followed by a year in cement. The Petresco, I learned, was first made in 1997 when it was a Chianti Classico Riserva bottling, which back then used only the best grapes from across the Le Cinciole vineyards, but Since 2004 the Petresco has been a single Cru wine. Only about 400 cases are made of the Le Cinciole Petresco, and it will be a hard find, but well worth searching out, especially vintages like this gorgeous 2016 version.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2018 Domaine A. Clape, Saint-Péray, Northern Rhône White, France.
The mature golden hued and silky smooth 2018 Clape Saint-Péray, a blend of 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, is drinking perfectly right now with loads of mineral, apple, peach and waxy notes leading the way on the medium bodied palate, along with lightly bitter almond nutty essences, verbena, unsweetened honey and orangey oily notes. This vintage is crisply dry, salty and has an undercurrent of wet stone and fig, a touch of herb and Marsanne’s more muted aromatics, making for a wine that excels with cheese and or poultry dishes. This white from the tiny appellation of Saint-Péray, which has to be Marsanne dominant, comes from 40 year vines set on clay and granite based soils, with the Clape family only having one hectare here. Saint-Péray is not a widely known terroir, it often gets overlooked when compared to Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage, as well as the legendary Hermitage, all made with the same blend of grapes, but it still has its fans, with the Clape version having its own cult like following. The Domaine A. Clape, which dates back to the early 1900s, is led by Pierre-Marie and his son Olivier these days and are very famous for their signature Cornas wines, making some of the most sought after Syrah bottlings in the world. The cement vat native yeast fermented Syrahs see loads of whole cluster and are wildly feral in style, and should not be missed by any Syrah lover.

Auguste Clape (Pierre-Marie’s famous dad) was one of the very first to bottle an estate wines in the Cornas, and helped make this region the world class it is today. Now, as Kermit Lynch, Clape’s long time American importer, notes, Pierre-Marie and his son Olivier, carry on Auguste’s legacy with honor and integrity by continuing to hand craft wines that are some of the world’s most desirable Syrahs. The 2018 Clape Saint-Péray Blanc was all hand tended and harvested with the usual breakdown of 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, as mentioned above, and saw a fermentation, according to the winery, in two-thirds in old foudres, large neutral wood casks and one-third in stainless steel tank. All of which allows for beautiful transparency, purity and the rounded textural quality seen here. The wine does go through full malolactic conversion, adding to the mouth feel and subtle creaminess and the wine was aged for 11 months, with a light fining of the lees, before bottling without filtration. Kermit Lynch says Auguste Clape, who came from generations winemakers, will go down in history as one of the greats here, who was a proud and uncompromising pioneer of fine winemaking in the Northern Rhône. With Lynch adding that the Clape Syrahs from the cru of Cornas have earned their place among the most celebrated wines of France, and I most definitely believe that as well, as I have long been a fan of these wines. My favorites, beyond the iconic Cornas bottlings, include this one, their Côtes du Rhône and the entry level Syrah, Vin des Amis. The Saint-Péray is highly allocated, like the Syrahs, and pretty rare, but findable for those willing to do a bit of searching.
($78-120 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2021 Whitcraft Winery, Chardonnay, Zotovich Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills.
Drake Whitcraft’s Whitcraft Winery, based in the Santa Barbara, is one of California’s top wineries for small hand crafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, and this Zotovich Chardonnay shows why he has a very fanatic following, even with Burgundy purists, with its mineral toned character and notable low alcohol style. The steely fresh 2021 Zotovich Chardonnay thrills the palate with loads of energy and precision, its medium bodied palate showing off crisp apple, Bosc pear, lemon oil, white flowers, a touch of reductive flint, wet stones, clove, subtle cream and hazelnut layers. Whitcraft says the Zotovich Vineyard has sandy soil, like walking on a beach, with some fine dusty clay mixed in, and he notes for this wine it is all clone 76, it is a place of cool Pacific winds and produces exceptional grapes with lots of saline and vibrant acidity, but also wonderful fruit density, as seen here in this fabulous 2021 vintage. Because Whitcraft does such an amazing set of Pinot Noir wines, sometimes the Chardonnays get overlooked, which I maybe have done myself, but this wine definitely caught my attention with its Burgundy like excellence and elegance, and it should age delightfully for another 5 to 10 years. The Whitcraft Chards typically see a gentle pressing to barrel for a natural fermentation and aging in used French oak, with low intervention to allow terroir nuance and transparency to shine through. With this wine coming at under 12.5%, it has verve of a fine Chablis Premier Cru and is brilliant with our coastal inspired cuisine.

Whitcraft Winery has been handcrafting and, as the winery notes, unadulterated wines in Santa Barbara, California since 1985, originally with Chris Whitcraft as the winemaker and now with his son Drake making the wines, after his dad passed unexpectedly in June of 2014, just before the harvest of this wine. Chris himself was influenced by some legends, with the winery explaining that he learned his craft from some of the best winemakers in California, including Joe Heitz (Heitz Cellars), Dick Graff (Founded Chalone Winery and its AVA), and Burt Williams (Williams Selyem & Morning Dew Ranch) to name a few. Since Drake took over he has made a name for himself, being part of awesome generation of winemakers in the state that are doing honest and authentic wines, in much the same mold of Jason Drew, who also cut his teeth in the Santa Barbara area before moving his Drew Family Cellars to the Anderson Valley. Drake who got a great education from his father, as well as some of the big stars of the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez and Sta. Rita Hills regions, like the late Jim Clendenen of ABC, but has adopted his own winemaking style and stamped his name as one of the biggest talents in the area. His winemaking sees a lot of whole cluster, sustainable and organic grapes and mostly neutral wood aging, which is old world influenced, looking to retain energy and allow for purity in the wines. Whitcraft says that his signature varietals are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, as seen here, and Syrah, but he does some good alternative wines as well, like Grenache, Gamay and Trousseau, all of which I highly recommend.
($50 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2016 Agricola Romanelli, Sagrantino Montefalco DOCG, Terra Cupa, Umbria, Italy.
I was thrilled to try this nicely matured dark garnet 2016 Sagrantino Montefalco Terra Cupa by Umbrian natural winemaker Devis Romanelli, it was my first chance to try his red, after tasting some of his brilliant white wine and orang wine offerings previously, and it was showing fabulous with just the right amount of rustic tannins to remind me that it was Sagrantino, but full of poised red fruits, briar, spice, a touch of leather, delicate floral notes and light cedar shadings. The full bodied, but not aggressively firm, palate showed off brambly raspberry, dark cherry, dusty plum and dried red currant fruits, along with chalky stone, tar, anise, sage and lavender. The Romanelli wines estate, as I’ve mentioned before, is part of the family’s Romanelli Nature project, part sustainable farming and part eco-tourism, which the winery says, rejects chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides, striving to maintain a balance of the ecosystem, including the installation of bird boxes to promote natural pest control. The family wishes to share their passion and everyday experiences with the land, the vines, the local people and the microclimates of their property, which they hope will bring a greater understanding of their range of wines, that includes their Sagrantino bottlings, such as this one. This Terra Cupa Sagrantino Montefalco saw care berry selection, all de-stemmed, with nearly two months of skin maceration and fermentation for exceptional extraction and complexity of flavors. After dryness is completed Romanelli matured it for what he calls a long time, maybe 24 to 36 months, in oak barrels of different sizes, to tame the tannins, and it was rested in the bottle for at least a year before release.

Both Gambero Rosso and Slow Wine thave highlighted the rise in quality here and Romanelli’s reds, like this Terra Cupa, are from the Montefalco zone and are made mainly from the legendary Sagrantino grape, which makes for the most powerful wines in Umbria. Like the legendary Paolo Bea winery here in the Montefalco region, Romanelli’s grapes, are all holistically farmed by hand and the wines are done in a modern natural style, taking the best of old school tradition and making sure everything is done clean. The winery is located in the hills of Montefalco, in the heart of Umbria, situated in an area that is surrounded by both vineyards and olive groves, which family has cared for and preserved what nature has generously provided for them for three generations now, with Devis leading the wines to new heights through innovation, natural and ancient traditional methods. There is a holistic and all organic focus at Romanelli, where they believe that true quality is only obtained in nature from a set of healthy and balanced vines, that will provide perfectly ripened grapes. Though ripe, these Romanelli wines have tons of life and energy and retain some nice fresh acidity, again they remind me a little of the Paolo Bea wines, but distinctive in their own right. They use organic fertilizer, grass cover between the rows, careful management of the soils and foliage (canopy), as well as having good exposures of the grapes to the sun and exceptionally low yields for concentration and purity. Devis says the Terra Cupa, the name comes from the name of a road that runs alongside part of his most important vineyard, it’s a stretch of clay and limestone soil whose qualities are reminiscent of those of the plot from which the Sagrantino vineyard originates, is a true manifesto of his territory, a powerful and dynamic red, great with meaty dishes, which I highly recommend looking out for.
($48 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2019 La Mesma, Gavi DOCG del Comune di Gavi Monterotondo, Black Label, Piemonte, Italy.
Just as in previous vintages, I was blown away and thrilled with La Mesma’s 2019 Black Label Gavi DOCG, a 100% Cortese white obviously, and made by La Mesma’s hugely talented winemaker Massimo Azzolini, with incredible mineral intensity, beautiful tension, depth and pleasure in the glass. Gavi, like Soave in the Veneto, has raised the game and is producing some magical wines that rival the best from the Loire and Burgundy at bargain prices comparatively in quality terms, but with their own terroir driven expressions. This lightly golden hued 2019 La Mesma Black Label Gavi shows off loads of steely charm, wet stones, saline, white blossoms, and a medium bodied palate of tart peach, quince, lemon/lime and crisp green apple fruits, as well as delicate florals, orange zest, almond nuttiness and subtle herb notes. As noted here at grape live.com, the Azienda Agricola La Mesma, that was founded in 2003, is an organic certified winery following strict organic and holistic practices, they are faithful stewards of their land and promote biodiversity to grow better grapes, as this lovely wine clearly proves is the right way to farm. A leader in the Slow Wine movement, La Mesma’s Gavi wines have been recognized as some of the top sustainable wines in Italy and they are committed to the best environmental practices, including going as green as possible, even adding solar panels to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as trying to be socially conscious by hiring and training displaced peoples, that had to flee war zones. Grown on complex soils that includes unique chalky white marl and alluvial outcroppings, the all organic grapes saw 100% hand harvesting, immediately followed by a soft pressing and a controlled-temperature vinification and lees aging exclusively in cement tanks with some bâtonnage. This special Gavi Monterotondo terroir with its elevation, limestone and climate makes for an awesome wine and I highly recommend chasing down any and all of these La Mesma offerings.

The La Mesma winery, as mentioned in my prior reviews, is a small family run business being owned and managed by three sisters, Paola, Francesca, and Anna Rosina that have turned a small plot of land into a very noteworthy estate making precise and soulful wines. Their importer Tanaro River were impressed by the quality of the wines here and note Paola and her two sisters were raised in the city of Genoa on the Ligurian coast, without any viticulture background, but that didn’t stop them from making a success of their project. The Rosina sisters’ journey to producing Gavi wines began about 20 years ago when they decided to turn their family country house, which is nestled in the peaceful hills on the border between Piemonte and Liguria into a tiny self contained estate winery. La Mesma, introduced to me by my Italian Sommelier friend Giuseppi Cossu, is located in famous the Piemonte region noted for little and zingy white wines made from the native Cortese grape. It was, as they explain, their mother that suggested to the sisters, that they plant a small vineyard here, thinking they could just make wine for family and friends. So what originally started out as a hobby vineyard would blossom into a viable, successful business with outstanding quality well beyond their imagination! While not born into a family of winegrowers, the Rosina sisters used their individual professional talents to good effect and their passion and hardworking or grit has served them well, creating winery that is now the pride of the region. Gavi sits on the extreme southern edge of Piedmont and as the winery notes is a physical and geological frontier where the great plain and mountains meet, with alluvial soils, the red clay, marls and sandstones, with Monterotondo having limestone and tuffaceous patches at an altitude of about 350 meters above sea level that gives the wines a striking minerality, as seen here. The Rosina’s La Mesma is also the only producer to make the full range of Gavi wines adhering to the DOCG rules, including some sparkling versions, along with a Riserva and this one.
($30 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2021 Domaine Claude Dugat, Bourgogne Rouge, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France.
The bright and herbal scented Claude Dugat Bourgogne Rouge opens up to a very vintage driven wine with a lighter and earthier style, but with its pedigreed Gevrey-Chambertin fruit giving depth and complexity, making for a lovely red fruited and mineral toned Pinot Noir. The medium framed palate delivers fresh and vibrant cherry, cranberry, spiced raspberry and blood orange fruits, along with hints of smoky wood, loamy earth, hints of amaro, rosewater and baking spices. Opens nicely, and almost fills out the gaps left from a less concentrated year, giving a satisfying silken performance and this 2021 is a Burgundy that might best be enjoyed now rather than later. Founded originally in 1955, the domaine does three grand cru reds from Griotte-Chambertin, Chapelle-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin, two highly sought after Premier Cru Gevrey wines, a Gevrey-Chambertin Villages and this Bourgogne Rouge.

Coming from selected parcels within the Gevrey-Chambertin zone, this Domaine Claude Dugat Bourgogne Rouge 2021 is a more serious example of Burgundy’s basic red. The grapes, I’m told, are meticulously sorted, de-stemmed and gently fermented in concrete vats with daily manual punch downs. Similar to what you see at Mèo-Camuzet, another favorite of mine, this method was chosen, as the winery notes, to preserve the purity of the fruit and avoid excessive oxygen exposure during this crucial stage of maceration and fermentation. After the primary fermentation, the wine matures in used wood for 14 months, in this case it was aged exclusively in one time filled medium plus toast Francois Frères barrels, adding to the luxurious nature of the wine. Certainly, if you can find the 2020 and the upcoming 2022, you’ll be better served, but this was still a delicious Burgundy and will entertain best served with simple cuisine. If you get a chance to try these Dugat wines, don’t pass it up, especially the Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Crus and ultra rare Grand Crus.
($60 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2024 Chateau des Pertonnieres – Domaine Dupeuble, Beaujolais Nouveau, France.
The 2024 Dupeble Nouveau is bright ruby and vibrantly fresh with good fruit and loads of spicy character, it is less bubble gum and cotton candy, with more traditional Village like flavors and subtle savory notes, starting with cherry, strawberry and tangy plum fruits, light florals, cinnamon, pepper and rosemary herbs. Light bodied, but texturally pleasing and easy to quaff, this is my kind of vintage, and it won’t be my last bottle of this stuff! I’ve always had good results with these Dupeuble Nouveau wines, with their juicy acidity and subtle concentration, in fact I’ve even lost a few bottles in the cellar that still drank delightfully well with many years of age on them, pretty impressive for a wine that is supposed to be polished off before the new year. As noted before in my prior reviews, Ghislaine and Stéphane Dupeuble manage this old property, which since 1919 has been called Domaine Dupeuble, but its history goes much further back, dating all the way to 1512, that is in the hamlet of Le Breuil, deep in the southern Beaujolais, set on mostly classic granite soils and perched above a narrow creek. Famous Berkeley importer Kermit Lynch first met Ghislaine and Stéphane’s father, Damien, for lunch in Paris in the late 1980s, where he enjoyed the fresh Dupeuble Gamay, and thus began the annual tradition of blending a special Kermit only Beaujolais Nouveau, a celebration (in the bottle) of the new vintage we all get to enjoy.

The Dupeuble Beaujolais Nouveau, as mentioned many times here in my reviews, is consistently one of the best Nouveau bottlings and a bit more serious, coming from hand tended and harvested old vines vines, all well over 50 years old and some closer to 100 years old that see small yields and high quality fruit. The grapes are fermented naturally with native yeasts and no SO2, seeing a full carbonic maceration and a fermentation that lasts just about a week, before a short two month aging period in tank, after which the Nouveau gets bottled unfined and unfiltered. It’s a simple recipe and regime, but the results are because of the commitment to quality here and the extra attention that the grape saw in the vineyard, where the Dupeuble crew uses natural composting, as well as never using synthetic chemicals, and severe cluster selections at picking time to ensure concentration and flavor intensity. The soils are primarily a combination of hardened clay, limestone and granite, adding depth of fruit, a touch of earthiness, floral dimension and mineral tones to the wines, even the Nouveau, as seen here. Not too different from from the prior 2023, this 2024 will be a welcome addition to my Thanksgiving table again. These Dupeuble Nouveau wines, as noted here in the prior reviews, are from vines farmed close as possible to organic, without the use of any chemicals or synthetic fertilizers and the Dupeuble’s don’t use any extra SO2 during fermentation, they are without question some of the best vintage indicators giving insight into the year, Viva la Gamay and happy holiday season!
($21 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Schloss Lieser – Thomas Haag, Riesling Auslese, Juffer Sonnenuhr, Mosel, Germany.
The luscious and opulently sweet, but with tons of energy and mineral expressive, this 2023 Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese is wonderfully balanced and not in the least bit cloying with a sublime palate of apricot, green apple, pineapple and candied citrus, along with classic slate spicy/smoky notes, crystalized ginger, wet flint and an impactful rich mouth feel. This is classic Mosel sweet Riesling that is perfect for hot and spicy Asian cuisine, it is less a dessert wine that might it be perceived, with this level of residual sugar, and its complexity and depth make it more flexible than you’d think. I was thrilled with Schloss Leiser’s current set of wines, and while I loved the dry Rieslings here, their set of Prädikatswein offerings, including the Kabinett, Spatlese and this gorgeous Auslese, are stunning efforts, all of which I highly recommend, especially from the famous Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyard. The Haag family, famous for generations of Mosel wines really got Schloss Leiser on track in 2002 when they purchased the exceptional old parcels at this Brauneburger Juffer Grand Cru site, with Thomas Haag really bringing these wines to the attention of the wine world. In the cellar, the fermentations at Schloss Leiser are always spontaneous, with Thomas saying that is how he likes their Mosel Rieslings and he feels employing native yeast fermentations are an important part of house style. As I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews Schloss Lieser almost always use stainless steel exclusively in their Riesling wines, which shows off the terroir and adds to the crystalline purity you find in these wines, especially true here with this outstanding Auslese. There’s so much to love about this 2023 Schloss Lieser Auslese, it flies in the same league as J. J. Prüm, Willi Schaefer, Selbach-Oster, Egon Müller, Dr. Loosen and others in the Mosel elite, making brilliant sweet age worthy versions of Riesling, all coming from outstanding terroirs.

Fast becoming one of the top go to estates in the Mosel, Schloss Lieser is putting out some fantastic and elegant Rieslings, which I was very excited to taste this Summer in San Francisco with the estate’s newest generation winemaker Lara Haag, who helps her father Thomas Haag, of the famous Fritz Haag family, in the cellar. The historic Schloss Lieser is known locally as one of the most striking buildings in the Middle Mosel and is beautiful Neo-Renaissance castle that was built in 1875, but it was known for its wine until recent times under the leadership of Thomas Haag, who’s father Wilhelm Haag is an important figure in German wine and the owner of Weingut Fritz Haag. Thomas decided to stay and lead Schloss Lieser instead of take our his father’s estate, which is run by the also very talented winemaker Oliver Haag, Thomas’ brother. Thomas became the director of the estate in 1992 and has slowly revamped this special small estate with some prime Grosse Lagen vineyard parcels, including the Lieser Niederberg Helden and the well known Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr (Sundial), as seen here, which provides some elite old vine Riesling grapes. The Haag family, with the new generation of Lara and Niklas, both of which studied at Geisenheim University in the Rheingau, the top wine-making school in Germany, have a hand in making the wines now and they have added other top quality vineyards to the portfolio, such as Graacher Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Bernkastler Doktor and Graacher Domprobst. The Schloss Lieser Rieslings see no skin maceration fermentation(s) that are always spontaneous and the grapes a a cool, gentle pressing as to not allow for bitter phenolics and the must is allowed to take as long as needed to finish, sometimes about 6-10 weeks. Then the wine ages on the lees for 4 or so months, after which it racked to tank to further mature and is only bottled when it tastes ready to do so. The extra care and effort here, as Lara Haag put it to me earlier this Summer, really pays off and these Schloss Lieser wines I tasted are exceptional and very rewarding Rieslings to keep an eye out for!
($60 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2023 Berteru – Cantina Gungui, Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, La Cava di Pulemaria, Sardinia, Italy.
The dark garnet and ruby hued young vine Berteru single vineyard La Cava di Pulemaria Cannonau (Grenache) by Luca Gungui in Mamoiada is joyously pure, mineral toned from the granite soils, red fruited, floral accented and lively in the glass with just a touch wild herbs and delicate spices. This cru bottling saw exclusively stainless steel maceration, fermentation and aging, making for a transparent, clean and exciting example of terroir driven and fresh Cannonau that shows of the high elevation and distinctive qualities in this region. The medium/full bodied palate has a rotation of Bing cherry, tangy plum, strawberry and black raspberry fruits, along with contrasting flowers and alpine herbal essences, a touch of pepper, minty fennel and a light earthiness. There’s ripe tannins, supple rounded texture and youthful acidity, all adding to a subtle structured profile, making this an easy wine to love and to enjoy now, though better with food, which would further enhance to pleasure here. This wine, the Berteru Cannonau, was all hand harvested from vines up close to 2,400 Feet, was fermented using indigenous yeasts only, encouraged by a a ‘pied de cuve’* which according to Luca is the only way to give a wine its true sense of place. Gungui leaves the must, all de-stemmed grapes here, in contact with the skins in tank for just under two weeks, then it is pressed off. After which this wine is aged for just about 6 months in stainless steel tanks, to preserve freshness, only being lightly fined, then bottled without filtration. The older vine Riserva gets an extra year in oak casks per the DOC rules and according to those in the know, it delivers a Châteauneuf du Pape like performance, though this one, only 114 cases made, is no slouch!

I was very impressed by this Berteru – Cantina Gungui Cannonau, so a big thank you to my friend and winemaker Giuseppi Cossu, who while doing his own harvest on Sardinia, managed to grab this just released bottle from Luca and brought it back to California. Cossu, like Luca absolutely believe Cannonau or Grenache is actually native to Sardinia and not as commonly thought an import from Spain, where it is known as Garnacha. The Spanish came here in the 14th Century, and Luca says that an ancient settlement that was being excavated in 2015 about 50 kilometers from Mamoiada revealed Cannonau grape pips; the settlement dates to about 2,000 years BC, which strongly, as Cossu says, suggests that the variety is indigenous to Sardinia. The Cantina Gungui wines are thankfully imported to the States, by Oliver McCrum Imports, and he lists them as Berteru, which means honest or sincere in the local dialect in the Mamoiada area. He says that originally Luca left Mammoiada to become a lawyer, and settled in Cagliari, the Southern ‘big’ city and capital of Sardinia. Gungui quickly became disenchanted with his city work and moved back to the remote countryside of Mamoiada to farm his grandfather’s three hectares of Cannonau. The oldest hectare of vines he has is 60 years old, though those used here are closer to 7 years old now and just beginning to show their potential. Mamoiada has similar granite soils of the highly regarded Gallura region, famous for Vermentino, to the north, which is also great for the Cannonau. McCrum explains Luca has been farming organically from the beginning and his philosophy, same as most top growers, is that less is more. As such they try to do as little as possible in the vineyards and the cellar, letting the land speak honestly through the wine, these limited bottlings are very rare and coveted.
($49 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2023 Shared Notes, Sauvignon Blanc “Les Leçon des Maîtres” Russian River Valley.
The gorgeous and lively 2023 Shares Notes “Les Leçon des Maîtres” is a blend inspired by, as winemakers Bibiana González Rave and Jeff Pisoni. note, the cellar masters of Bordeaux, like those at Château Haut-Brion, and their dedication to Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Coming from unique sites within the Russian River AVA in Sonoma County and mature vines this 2023 is close to 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon which adds up to a zesty, but concentrated wine of incredible pleasure and tension. The palate has tons of impact and personality, certainly raising the game for a Sauvignon Blanc from California, with deep layers of bright lime, kiwi, lemon curd, gooseberry, wet stones, vanilla/ creme brûlée and almond. This stunningly impressive wine is full energy, but is also viscous and hedonistic, with plenty of age worthy structure and elegant richness, perfectly capturing the vintage.

This Shared Notes label and unique series of wines is the winemaking joint-venture between wife and husband, Bibiana González Rave, of Cattleya Wines and Jeff Pisoni, formerly of Peter Michael and head of his Pisoni Family Estate and Lucia Vineyards wines. They are hugely talented to say the least and these lovely Sauvignon Blanc based offerings are some of the very best in California. Bibiana notes that their Shared Notes “Les Leçon des Maîtres” is led by the Sauvignon Blanc, which brings acidity that cuts a razor sharp edge through the soft, textured roundness brought on by the addition of Sémillon here, and is all framed by the influence of 100% new French oak barrel aging. Just under 200 Cases were produced of this exciting vintage of the Pisoni’s Les Leçon des Maîtres and I highly suggest getting a few bottles and get on the direct mailing list for future offerings as well. I’ve been following these winemakers for many years now, and I can say without a doubt they have both reached new heightened levels with their own wines, which are thrilling in their own right, and also should not be missed.
($75 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2021 Desire Lines Wine Co, Syrah “Winds of Change” California.
The purple/garnet full bodied 2021 Desire Lines Winds of Change Syrah is rocking good with loads of ripe and supple dark fruit and northern Rhone character, it shows of boysenberry, blueberry damson plum and huckleberry fruits, as well as hints of game, briar, pepper, tapenade, violet florals, black licorice, cassis, sandalwood and sweet and tangy herbs. Sometimes a Rhône blend, the Winds of Change red as gone almost exclusively Syrah and is now labeled as such, which fine by me as winemaker Cody Rasmussen is very gifted with this varietal as seen here. Like the delicious 2020 version of Winds of Change, the 2021 Syrah includes a good chunk, as Rasmussen says, of Syrah grapes from Santa Barbara County, which he adds, made up 68% and includes some amazing vineyard sites, to be exact, with the remainder of fruit coming more from the North Coast. A couple of lots of those included some Viognier as a co-ferment, for an average, he describes as just about one percent of the blend. All lots were fermented with some whole cluster and partial stem inclusion, and the wines, as Rasmussen likes for Syrah, were raised almost exclusively in 500L barrels without racking. No new oak barrels were used here and that shows in the transparent, raw and pure natural of the Winds of Change Syrah.

Rasmussen, who is an assistant winemaker at Bedrock Wine Company under Morgan Twain-Peterson, and his wife Emily’s Desire Lines Wine Co. label is certainly one of California’s next generation stars, based on what I’ve tasted over their first five years, especially with what they’ve done with Syrah and Dry Riesling! This latest set of wines being an exceptional collection, with his pure Syrah bottlings from Griffin’s Lair in the Petaluma Gap and Shake Ridge Vineyard, being amazing efforts as well as Cody’s fantastic Wily Vineyard and Cole Ranch Dry Rieslings and I love the Carignan based Evangelho Vineyard Red and this Winds of Change Red, they are deftly blended and exciting wines that are tremendous values! Syrah fans should be on the Desire Lines mailing list and for fans of these modern California wines too, especially since Rasmussen has added some exciting other whites and reds to the lineup, including Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier to his whites and he even now has a chewy old school Cabernet Sauvignon that pays tribute to Phillip Togni and Cathy Corison in style, less alcohol and pure Cab punchiness. If you’ve not had bedrock or these Desire Lines wines, now is a great time to do so, and again Rasmussen is a huge talent, especially with his Riesling and the Syrah bottlings, like the single vineyard Shake Ridge and this value priced Winds of Change Syrah.
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2021 I. Brand & Family Winery, Cabernet Franc, Bates Ranch Vineyard, Old Vines, Santa Cruz Mountains.
The 2021 Bates Ranch Cabernet Franc is opaque and a deep garnet in color, lightly perfumed and grippy in just the right way, especially appealing to old school California Cab and or Bordeaux fans that like a bit of tannic structure and less over ripe flavors, and this wine delivers everything extremely well. The medium/full palate has blackberry, tangy currant, dusty plum and black cherry fruits, long with a touch of cigar wrapper, all spice, cedar, wild sage, earthy loam, anise and subtle violets, as well as faint note of herbal essence. Winemaker Ian Brand has been making a fine Bordeaux inspired Cabernet Franc from this Bates Ranch Vineyard for many years and can’t recommend it highly enough, especially in exceptional vintages like this 2021, which gives this wine and extra dimension and Bordeaux like character. Like Ridge’s single varietal Cab Franc, this wine has some of the same pleasure and light loaminess that I get from classic Medoc Bordeaux wines, it is something that this terroir delivers. Located along the historic Redwood Retreat Road close to Gilroy, the Bates Ranch was settled near Mount Madonna in the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, where the Bates Family has been growing top quality grapes for four generations now. The area is sees a generous climate for Bordeaux varietals, especially good for Cab Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, highlighted by warm days and cool nights, resulting in fabulous wines, notably Ian Brand’s outstanding more Bordeaux, rather than Loire style Cab Franc.

The Bates Ranch Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon, was planted back in 1978 and set is on red Franciscan series, iron rich and gravelly volcanic soils that delivers a striking mineral elegance and warm ripeness. It is crazy that Bates Ranch doesn’t get the headlines it deserves, but Brand has certainly made a wine here that makes a case for greatness, especially in this vintage, it is something he relishes, turning little known or under appreciated sites into stars. Ian Brand says he didn’t really set out to make these wines, it was just that he discovered some great vineyards at the very edge of what could be called sensible farming and felt the desire and the need to bring them into the light, the rest they say is history, and over the last 10 or so years he has been responsible for resurrecting some of the most treasured sites in the central coast. As mentioned in prior reviews, like the above info, for his Cabernet wines, Brand, like this old vine site in the southeastern zone of the Santa Cruz Mountains, employed a traditional fermentation and maceration, with careful sorting and de-stemming of the grapes and an elevage in mostly used French barrels, though in recent years he’s also used some larger Austrian oak too, with just enough new wood to do the job. While being known for his Rhône inspired stuff, I am loving what the I. Brand & Family is doing with the Bordeaux varietals and it is a good time to check them out as the last couple of releases have been excellent. Keep an eye out for the Bates Cab Franc, his set of alternative whites, including his Chenin and Arinto, and Brand’s latest Grenache, signature offerings, which are just delicious as well.
($48 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2023 Farm Cottage, Chardonnay, Trout Gulch Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains.
I have long been a fan of this vineyard and enjoyed many different producers offerings from Trout Gulch, so I knew I was going to be in for a treat with the latest Farm Cottage Chardonnay from here, but wow, it was even better than I had imagined with a Chablis like mineral intensity. This 2023 is stunning stuff with a hint of reduction and a fine chalky essence, it starts with a burst of lemon, white peach and crisp apple fruits and has a steely core of mineral, a touch of saline or sea shore, clove spice, verbena and subtle creaminess and vibrant, but balanced acidity. Ryan Alfaro’s Farm Cottage Wines, as mentioned in my prior review, is a great new addition to the local scene in the South Santa Cruz Mountains. Trout Gulch, planted in 1980, gets loads of cool Pacific air and is uniquely set only a few miles from the ocean with an almost Clos effect from the redwood trees lining most of this 16 acre dry-farmed hillside vineyard. Sitting at 750 feet above sea level with well-draining sandy loam soils, the cool climate Trout Gulch Vineyard, with Heritage Wente clone Chardonnay and Mt Eden clone Pinot Noir selections, really is a jewel in hills above Soquel in the Southern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the current lineup, Ryan has this wine, along with a Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot from a combination of sites, a Lester Family Pinot, This Chardonnay, a Trout Gulch Pinot Noir, an Estate Pinot Noir and his Northern Rhône inspired Syrah, all of which are top notch small batch offerings. The Alfaro’s, father and now son, who have been leasing the Trout Gulch site for many years, making small lot bottlings and selling grapes to top producers, and finally purchasing this vineyard outright a few years back and this wine is a fantastic way to celebrate that achievement.

The Farm Cottage Trout Gulch Chardonnay, as winemaker Ryan Alfaro notes, was pressed directly to stainless steel tank to settle for 24 hours before the wine was racked off solids and into stainless steel tank where natural fermentation occurred. The primary fermentation to dryness took 11 days then the wine was racked into neutral French oak for malolactic fermentation and aging, wit the 2023 seeing about 9 months of elevage.The Alfaro Family Vineyards, as noted here, was founded by Ryan’s Dad Richard back in the early 2000s, in Corralitos is a must visit for those seeking out great values in both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as specialties like the winery’s Grüner Veltliner and the new 100% estate Malbec. Ryan worked his dad in the cellar in recent years, after doing a stint with California legend Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards and studying wine in New Zealand. He has brought a lot of new passion to the family business and has, as noted here, put a lot of hard work in to get to this point, with Ryan’s personal project Farm Cottage Wines being a natural extension to these efforts at this small Corralitos estate. Ryan, who has now taken over the winemaking duties at the Alfaro estate, does these small lot offerings under his Farm Cottage label with a distinctive style that employs more whole cluster in the winemaking with the Pinots and the Syrah, with native yeasts and mostly neutral barrels, with the results so far being very well received. The future looks great for Ryan and his own wines, and he looks to surprise us all further with some other rarities coming down the pipe. All of the wines come in at low natural alcohols, due to the close proximity to the Monterey Bay and the cold water influence here, and as good as the Pinots are, the Chardonnay though is a real sleeper and should not be missed!
($42 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2020 Weingut Prieler, Blaufränkisch, Oggau Johanneshöhe, Burgenland, Austria.
The deeply garnet hued and complex 2020 Oggau Johnanneshöle Braufränkisch by Georg Prieler is an exceptional example of the varietal with lovely fruit density, texture and purity of form, showing off dark fruit, spice, mineral and floral highlights. The medium to full bodied palate is perfectly balanced with ripe concentration, subtle earthiness and energy, this Oggau Johanneshöle Blaufränkisch delivers dark currant, plum, blackberry and cherry fruit layers, along with sultry truffle, forrest floor, crushed acacia flowers, a touch of herbal and cedar notes and delicate vanilla. Still youthful overall and yet mildly tannic, there’s lots to be pleased about here and the potential to age looks very good. I recently had one of Georg Primer’s 2016 Blaufränkisch bottlings, as seen in my prior reviews, that was mature and outstanding with aged Bordeaux like finesse and depth, and I saw that Prieler himself says he pulled one of his parents 1995 out of the winery’s cellar and that it terrific, which I believe. The whole current lineup at Prieler was compelling and utterly delicious, again congratulations to Georg for such a fabulous collection, with this one being one of the most desirable, along with the set of sublime Pinot Blancs and the delightful Rosé, which I also reviewed early this Summer. If you are an Austrian wine fan and haven’t had these Prieler wines, now is a great time to explore them, they really capture the terroir and quality of the Burgenland region to stunning effect.

Winemaker Georg Prieler, as mentioned, one of my favorite Austrian producers, has done a masterful job here, with this latest set of Cru Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc offerings, especially his 2020 Oggau Johanneshöhe Blaufränkisch, which looks set for long term rewards to those with the patience to hold a few in the cellar. The Prieler estate, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, founded in 1972, is based in Schützen, which sits on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, in Burgenland, it is a historic old farm, that was once dedicated to many types of agriculture, but now specializing almost solely in grape growing. Georg Prieler is a the second generation Prieler to run this iconic winery and the one that has brought world wide acclaim to this property with his fantastic terroir driven Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc wines. Georg’s wife Silvia brings a wealth of experience to the winery with a PhD in biochemistry, international experience including an internship at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and a precise touch, which explains the class and finesse in the wines. The winery notes that all of the grapes are carefully crushed and fermented at closely controlled temperatures in steel tanks or wooden casks. The character of the variety and the vineyard determines how the wine will be matured and what in. For example, the Prieler’s add, the Seeberg Pinot Blanc will aged exclusively in stainless steel to maximize freshness and clarity, while the Blaufränkisch from Johanneshöhe will be raised in large oak casks, as seen here.
($30 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2021 Morgan Winery, Pinot Noir “Clone P5” Double L Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The stunningly rich and concentrated rare “Clone P5” Pinot Noir by Morgan, made from their estate Pommard selections, is deep and pure Santa Lucia Highlands in style and should age nicely with beautiful structure and a seductive palate of dark fruits. Dan Lee’s famous Morgan Winery has seen a huge revival and the 2021 and 2022 wines have really excelled in all directions and building on that success has seen some changes in the cellar and I look forward to seeing what the future holds here and I am very excited about the upcoming 2023s. This 2021 Pommard Clone Pinot really has a serious palate impact with black cherry, plum, black fig and bramble berry fruits, along with silky tannins, a nice framing of toasty French oak, along with hints of briar, rose petals, mocha, sweet tea spices and lingering vanilla. The winemaking followed the style of of Morgan’s 2018 and 2019 offerings with mostly de-stemmed grapes and full cool extraction and about a year in high end medium plus French oak, which matches up well with the concentration and depth of the small yielding organic grapes. I enjoyed this luxurious and dark garnet Pinot with a full Friendsgiving (Thanksgiving) meal and it impressed with each and every dish and I highly recommend it with cuisine to allow the wine to show off its best side.

The prime Double L Estate Vineyard, which is planted to many clones, including Heritage and Dijon clones, along with some unique Burgundy selections, is one of the most intriguing sites in the region, has, as Lee explains been conscientiously farmed since the original plantings were out in back in 1997, adding that today the Double L Estate Vineyard is the only certified organic vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The estate vines are located at the colder northern end of the AVA, on sandy loamy soils, the vineyard’s north-south row orientation provides optimal wind and sun exposure and sees an interesting selection of varietals and the mentioned clonal material with some proprietary Burgundy clone Pinot selections, some beautiful Chardonnay, with their clone 96 being a personal favorite, and some seriously good Riesling, which is done in dry and off-dry styles and rivals the best in the state. Being a local to the Monterey region and very proud of our local history, it’s great to see Morgan reach new levels of quality and their latest releases are thrilling wines and I’m very excited to see their soon to be bottled 2023 Rieslings, Albariño and Rosé, which I hear are going to be some of the best yet, and later in the year the Chards and Pinots, again which look to be outstanding! The 2024 harvest is all wrapped up and I hear the highland fruit was absolutely gorgeous, so there’s a lot to be excited about at Morgan and I look forward to seeing the results!
($75 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2020 Pax Wines, Syrah, Sonoma Coast.
While I have shied away from the 2020 vintage with the smoke taint, there are some joyful experiences to be had and I was very pleased I opened this 2020 Pax Sonoma Coast Syrah last night and I admired its fresh purity, dark core of fruit and northern Rhône character, in fact it really reminded of René-Jean Dard and François Ribo’s Crozes-Hermitage Rouge. This Syrah was deeply purple in the glass with an earthy nose of forrest floor, black olives, feral game, crushed violet and charred wood, all leading to a classic Syrah palate of boysenberry, blueberry, damson plum and currant fruits, along with peppercorns, minty licorice, orange marmalade, camphor, flinty mineral and roasted herbs. The body is medium to full and has good acidity and there’s a lot of crunchy whole cluster pop here, and this will appeal to natural wine lovers, as well as Pax’s Syrah followers, with its raw intensity and no pretense attitude, and it is best enjoyed with hearty food choices. I remain skeptical of the 2020 vintage for California reds, but again there are some very good ones out there, but I highly recommend grabbing 2021 and 2023, they will not disappoint.

Pax Wines, led by Pax Mahle, who is one of California’s best known, influential and respected winemakers, who has been incredible helpful to a whole new generation of small producers and most noted for his northern Rhône style Syrah. As mentioned here, Pax, is a die hard Rhône specialist, but who also has branched out into making some natural style alternative wines in recent years from unique and rare grapes, like Gamay, Trousseau, Trousseau Gris and Charbono, is mostadmired for his towering and age worthy single vineyard Syrah bottlings, including his Castelli-Knight, Alder Springs and the older Griffin’s Lair bottlings. This naturally styled and made wine, is 100% Syrah, coming from sites less affected by the vintage’s fires, was hand crafted with old world influence using a combination of whole bunches (100% Whole-Cluster), with Pax’s fermentation using only indigenous yeasts. In his Syrah these days there is a variety of vessels for elevage with some getting concrete vat(s) and some getting used French casks including larger barrels or puncheons. I have been going through a bunch of Pax efforts lately, with the Gamays being of particular interest, but it was good to get my Syrah on again.
($36 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2012 Méo-Camuzet Frere et Sœurs, Bourgogne AOC Rouge, Côte Nuits, Burgundy, France.
The Méo-Camuzet Bourgogne Rouge, a favorite of mine over the years, along with the winery’s Marsannay and Fixin are wines that I have long admired and stocked up on when they were available to me and this 2012, opened recently in a tasting of some Burgundies was a bottle that I had tucked away and forgotten, it provided a wonderful surprise and a much better performance than expected. The palate, maybe past its best, was still pretty and delightful, with a color that was garnet and brick in the glass, much like a Nebbiolo at this stage, has mature hints of autumn leaves, Earl Grey, dried roses, coffee grinds and Turkish figs, showing the age, but also gave dark cherry, plum and strawberry fruits in equal measure in the silky frame. Interestingly, I had 3 bottles of this 2012 Bourgogne Rouge, and none that were opened young were as good as this one, and might just be the reason I left this last one untouched for so many years. With extra time in the glass this wine fades a bit, but was good to the last drop with some woodsy truffle, loam and sous bois coming in. The Grand Cru and Premier Cru offerings at Mèo are some of the most sought after and collectable wines in the world, like the Mèo Richebourg Grand Cru and especially the set Vosne-Romanée offerings, such as the unicorn bottling of Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Rouge Au Cros Parantoux, which collectors seriously covet.

Méo-Camuzet is one of the most celebrated domaines of the Côte d’Or, located in the heart of prestigious Vosne-Romanée. Now run by Jean-Nicolas Méo & family, Méo-Camuzet has been a fixture in Burgundy since 1902 with exceptional vineyard holdings and a historic run of great wines. The domaine owned and leased vines are all farmed organically, leading to exceptional concentration, and the wines, mostly Pinot Noirs, are known for richness, depth and power. This Bourgogne Rouge is sourced from estate vineyards in Vosne Romanée and Flagey Echézeaux, and purchased fruit from five villages mainly in the Côte de Nuits, including Marsannay, Fixin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Vosne-Romanée, and Nuits-Saint-Georges! So, even Mèo’s little Bourgogne is full of the right stuff and has always been a bargain hunter’s dream, I have until very recently always tried to get 4 or 6 bottles each vintage, along with the Marsannay and Fixin reds. The Bourgogne Rouge sees, cement vat maceration all de-stemmed and an extended elevage and is in most years aged about 17 months in barrel, mostly used, but still feels nicely luxurious, and some vintages provide mid to long term rewards, as this one proofed. Most of the Méo wines are now fully out of my reach price wise, but I can just about afford this Bourgogne still and I will have to check in with importer Kermit Lynch again and see if any of the current vintages are still available and I highly recommend you do the same, as well as checking out Mèo’s Oregon project Nicolas-Jay, which are brilliant wines too, and of which are still under the radar.
($60 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Hockheimer Stielweg “Old Vines” VDP Erste Lage, Rheingau, Germany.
Grown on clay and loamy loess soils, this beautiful Dry Hockhiemer Stielweg Riesling comes from old vines, planted over 50 years ago, in the Hochheim am Main area, part of the Rheingau. Weingut Künstler’s 2023 Hockheimer Stielweg Alte Reben (Old Vine) Riesling jumps from the glass with preserved lemon, white flowers and apricot with a subtle sense of reduction and a steely mineral intensity, adding green apple and fleshy peach in a fuller bodied wine that is, like the upper end GG Hölle, white Burgundy like in depth, richness and elegance, while still being pure Riesling and retaining vibrant acidity. There’s hazelnut/almond nuttiness, a hint of smoke and clove tea spice along with a touch of bitter extract and verbena, making this a lovely dry expression of terroir and vintage, not far off GG quality levels at a very reasonable price. Gunter Künstler, who works as organic and sustainable as conditions allow, is reaching even new heights of excellence, with his latest set of 2023s being outrageously good and must have for fans of his wines, with this lesser known bottling being a great value and a sleeper in the savvy collection here. As noted in my prior reviews, Gunter ferments with cultured yeast exclusively because it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and he says it is not a good idea to work with native yeasts or sponti, as it would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. Everything is done to bring out the vineyards best characteristics and quality, these wines are built for aging, but have immediate appeal and graceful textures, as this golden/straw hued Hockheimer Stielweg Trocken shows in the glass. At more than half the price of Künstler’s signature Hockheimer Hölle Grosses Gewächs, this wine absolutely rocks and should evolve and get even better over the next 5 to 10 years.

The Rheingau region in Germany stretches the entirety of the river’s east to west spread from Hocheim, where Künstler, founded by Franz, Gunter’s dad, back in 1965, is based all the way past Rüdesheim to Lorch in the far west zone. Hockheim is a very historic wine town on the Main River and is a unique terroir, unlike any other part of the Rheingau region in terms of soils and climate conditions, all of which is reflected in the wines here, especially those made by Gunter Künstler, one of Germany’s biggest stars. I got a chance to taste through a great array of Gunter’s 2021, 2022 and upcoming 2023s last June in San Francisco at Skurnik Wines, Künstler’s importer to the States, west coast tour stop and while I went crazy for the top GG offerings, as seen already in my reviews, this 2023 Hockheimer Stielweg Erste Lage (Premier Cru) old vine Riesling never left my thoughts, and I highly recommend keeping an eye out for it in the coming months when it finally comes in the stock here. This wine is typically fermented in big traditional oak barrels and matured on the lees for 9 months, though it recent years it has seen 80% barrel fermentation and 20% stainless steel, as I believe this one saw. As noted here, and and as well by Künstler’s importer, the grapes are whole cluster pressed and the musts are settled by gravity and then after close to 24 hours are pressed clear. Gunter’s cellar orients toward cask as opposed to steel, though each is used, with the wood giving the ideal low-tech micro-oxygenation and mouth feel, and with mostly neutral oak, these wines are transparent and instantly recognizable for those that know Künslter. I’ve been lucky enough to have tasted with Gunter many times over the last 10 to 15 years and had many older vintages of his wines, they are treasured experiences that I will always admire.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Trocken, Klosterberg, Alte Reben, VDP Erste Lage, Rheingau, Germany.
The racy and flinty 2023 Klosterberg VDP Erste Lage Alte Reben Riesling highlights both the unique terroir and character of this site and the exceptional nature of the vintage, it is a must have sleeper in the savvy collection of Spreitzer’s 2023 offerings. Formerly known as “Buntschiefer” this Klosterberg is set on colored slate (Buntschiefer), quartzite and loess soils, with the slate influence very much in effect here with smoky flinty aromas and crystalline focus, it shows off a crisp array of pure Riesling flavors on the medium bodied palate, led by lime, tangerine, bitter melon and peach notes, along with wet rock, rosewater, snappy herbs, mineral spice and youthful mouth watering acidity. Not as fleshy dense as the GGs at Spreitzer, and not as flashy, but this pale gold/straw hued Klosterberg makes up for with precision and rewarding complexity and it still has the winery’s signature up front pleasure and elegance in the glass. In the cellar, Weingut Spreitzer strives to maintain fruit intensity, vibrancy and freshness, looking for finesse, so they settle the must (juice) by gravity for 24 hours after a whole-cluster pressing, they then allow the wines to rest on their gross lees and only filter the wine once during the fermentation and aging period. They employ a long cool fermentation, and extended lees elevage to protect the juice from oxidation, using mostly ambient (natural) yeasts for fermentation in both temperature controlled stainless steel and their old wood. They use the classic 1,200 liter casks, made of German oak, which are called Stückfass, as well as smaller fuder and stainless tank depending on the wine. It was fun to catch up with Andreas Spreitzer at his importer’s San Francisco tour this last June and taste through his export collection and I highly recommend the current 2021 and 2022 offerings, but do not miss the upcoming 2023s!

The old vine Östricher Klosterberg Premier Cru Vineyard parcel lies up the hill in Hallgarten, where the slatey soils and cooler nights give make for a very different, edgy and distinctive dry Riesling than the richer styles seen from the sites closer to the Rhein here at Spreitzer. Like the GGs here at Spreitzer this wine usually sees a full fermentation and aging in barrel or fuder, but mainly very old cask with about 9 months on the lees, which gives hints of nuttiness and textural depth here, while retaining the zesty intensity of this Riesling. I’m, as noted here many times, a big fan of this winery and visited their cellars and vineyards in 2016, and their set of 2023s, which I tasted many from barrel samples in San Francisco this last Summer at Skurnik’s West Coast tour stop are going to big huge winners for Riesling lovers, across the board the Spreitzer collection is fantastic, especially the dry or Trockens. Again as mentioned before, Weingut Josef Spreitzer, now run by the brothers, Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, was originally founded back in 1641, making it one of the oldest family wineries in the Rheingau, is located not far from the Rhein villages of Hattenheim, Östrich-Winkel and Etville, where the Rhein river is at its widest point, it creates an almost lake effect and the terroir is quite unique here with less slate than just down the river in Rudesheim and the soils here vary with areas of loess, clay, shell limestone, gravel, a bit of slates, quartzite, iron-rich stones and sand, all of which forms the individual characteristics and complexities in Spreitzer’s diverse offerings. my favorites at Spreitzer year in and year out include their Estate Trocken, a bargain bottling, as well as their expressive Lenchen Kabinett, their different Spatlese and special Alte Reben (old vine) Feinherb(s), which are outrageous values too, and of course their majestic Premier Cru, like this one, and powerful Grand Crus, like the GG Rosengarten, all of which are exceptional efforts.
($36 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2016 L’Aventure “Optimus” Estate, Proprietary Red Blend, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles.
This Optimus cuvée is remarkably consistent year after year, with a deep purple/garnet hue in the glass along with pretty dark spring flowers, bold black fruits, charred embers, subtle black olives and vanilla with heaps of creme de cassis. It opens up to display boysenberry and blueberry on the expansive full bodied palate, full of still youthful vigor and grip, though the tannins are lush and sweet. There is as per normal here a touch of sage spice, cedar and blonde tobacco that appear in the background and the finish has black currant and licorice notes that linger on and on. 2016 has turned out to be a great year for Paso Robles and L’Aventure absolutely nailed it, and those that have some in the cellar will be greatly rewarded with them and they look to be good cellar agers as well. The 2016 L’Aventure Optimus cuvée was crafted from all estate grown grapes with a final blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Petit Verdot, which were all de-stemmed and fermented in separate lots before blending and aging. This wine, according to the winery, saw 14 months in barrel with winemaker Stephan Asseo selecting 60% new French Oak and 40% 1-Year Old French Oak for the elevage, with Malolactic Fermentation taking place in Barrel, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

As mentioned here in my prior reviews, Stephan Asseo’s L’Aventure winery is one of the most intriguing estates in California, let alone Paso Robles, and his wines have a noble and hedonistic richness and depth that would make many a Napa winemaker jealous, or and his countrymen back in Bordeaux. I have enjoyed many vintages of Stephan’s remarkable wines, though I admit I have missed the last couple, so again it was wonderful to get a chance to taste this Optimus. L’Aventure’s Asseo is originally from Pomerol and was a Bordeaux winemaker before pursuing the American Dream, moving lock, stock and barrel to the wilds of Paso Robles in the mid 1990s, this transition was a huge culture shock for him and his family, but they have since thrived in their new home and his wines show his happiness and passion in full glory. I remember his very first offerings, which included a beautiful and stunning Zinfandel, before getting his estate up and running. The L’Aventure lineup includes a Rosé, a 100% Roussanne bottling, a wine I always beg for, Côte a Côte (Grenache, Mourvedre & Syrah) Rhône blend, the mighty Estate Cuvee (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot), an Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and this red blend called Optimus, which is also a unique cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot. Plus, L’Aventure does some extremely limited mailing list only offerings, all of which are fantastic and I highly recommend visiting the estate in the Willow Creek district of Paso’s Westside.
($68 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2017 Chesebro, Grenache, CM Ranch – Estate Vineyard, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County.
Chesebro has released a new set of cellar aged wines, including an estate CM Ranch Carmel Valley Syrah and this beautifully pure 2017 CM Ranch Carmel Valley Grenache, which sports a deep garnet/crimson hue in the glass and has loads of personality, varietal character and a surprising amount of grip in a modest alcohol version of this grape. The medium, but plummy rich, bodied palate learns on a core of mountain red berry fruits with boysenberry, huckleberry and marionberry leading the way with some wild plum, currant and strawberry as well, along with hints of peppercorns, morrel mushroom, cedary notes, chalky stones, minty sage, anise and very delicate floral essences. This wine takes its time to unwind in the glass and gets deeper and creamier texturally with air and is much better with food, much in the same way a good Pinot Noir does. This Grenache, grown on crumby rocky ancient sea bed soils, was 100% de-stemmed and crushed with extra care taken, as tannin management is an important issue, given the intensity of this unique site and it saw an extended barrel aging regime. Winemaker Mark Chesebro believes his wines need a good amount of time to show their best and bottle aging is a necessity for this Rhône inspired Grenache, so it got closer to 24 months in bottle, patiently waiting to be enjoyed, and I will not argue that, as the results speak to that very clearly. Only a few barrels were made and the estate CM Ranch Carmel Valley series are limited, many for their mailing list and tasting room.

Mark Chesebro, the ex Bernardus winemaker, who started his own label back in about 2005 around his small Carmel Valley estate, which has a collection of Rhône varietals, including Grenache, as seen here, Syrah, Roussanne and Mourvèdre. He and his son Will, also a fine winemaker, who has joined the family winery full-time also have the Cedar Lane Vineyard in Arroyo Seco, which has an interesting mix of grapes, including Albariño, Vermentino, Pinot Noir and most famously its aromatic Musque clone Sauvignon Blanc. The Chesebro wines have long honest workman like offerings that are authentic, as mentioned, raw and pure to a fault. The whites mostly noted for being clean stainless steel raised and vibrant, except for the Roussanne, which done in barrel and see a long bottle aging in the cellar. As for the reds they are mainly carefully sorted and all de-stemmed to be mindful of the already tannic nature of these hillside and small yielding vines, even the Grenache. After primary fermentations the reds are aged exclusively in well used French barrels, with just a few new Italian made oak Gamba barrels cycled in as Mark finds them wonderfully matched to his wines. Chesebro, along with his sons, does a series of value priced wines under the Cedar Lane Vineyard label including Syrah, Grenache, Vermentino, Gamay, Albariño, Pinot Noir, and the noted Musque clone Sauvignon Blanc, along with this set of CM Ranch Carmel Valley home estate grown white and red Rhône single varietal wines, like this Grenache and unique blends. I again, highly encourage those visiting the region to be sure to check out Chesebro.
($38 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2020 Castello di Perno – Gregorio Gitti, Nascetta, Langhe DOC, Piemonte, Italy.
Nascetta, an extremely rare Langhe white grape, is now made into wine by only a dozen or so producers and is very hard to find in the States, so I was thrilled to try this Castello ddi Perno version by Gregorio Gitti, a respected lawyer and Professor of Civil Law at Milan University, who bought this old property with the eye on making some fine Barolo offerings, as well as some excellent alternative bottlings like this one. In the last decade or so there has been a revival of native white varietals in Piemonte and they’ve become a hit with dry, crisp and mineral driven profiles, and Nascetta and others fill a nice niche. Made to preserve intensity and fresh detail, the 100% Nascetta by Gregorio Gitti is fermented and aged in stainless steel, seeing 6 months in tank and another 6 months in bottle before release. This light bodied and pale straw hued steely and delicately aromatic, with a faint floral note, Langhe Nascetta is brightly lemon zesty with hints of white peach, almond, saline, wet stones and is flinty in character.

Castello di Perno was a lesser known property in Barolo, but after Gregorio Gitti purchased it and the estate in 2012 from the famous Einaudi family, of Barolo fame, things started to get exciting and these wines are great discoveries. As I recently mentioned here, tasting Gigi’s Barbera, I am nuts for a good Barbera, especially those by Luca Curado (formerly of Vietti), Giorgio Rivetti of La Spinetta and Giuseppe Vajra of G.D. Vajra, so when I found Gigi’s Castello di Perno in my glass earlier this year, I instantly became very smitten with it and highly recommend the Gitti and Castello di Perno bottlings, for their Nizza Barbera, and the Nebbiolo bottlings, as well, especially the Perno Cru Barolo, plus their rare Nascetta, seen here, which is an indigenous Piemonte white varietal, like Erbaluce, Arneis and Timorasso that you don’t often here in states. I really enjoyed this Nascetta with food and as an aperitif, it worked as a nice palate cleanse and was delicious with some grilled white asparagus. It would be a very suitable alternative to Chablis or Sancerre, and way better and more interesting than most Pinot Grigio or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that you’d find in this price range and it has a more of a savvy or cool factor about it.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2021 Oliviero Pastoris, Canavese Nebbiolo DOC, La Cucca, Alto Piemonte, Italy.
The Pastoris Canavese Nebbiolo “La Cucca” is a ruby/brick hued old school wine that has all the right stuff for an exceptional price, especially considering the depth and complexity it shows. I had this Nebbiolo, from the Alto Piemonte, after tasting the Pastoris Erbaluce, which was stunning, the Erbaluce grape, indigenous to the Caluso area is a rarity, but has the presence of a elegant white Burgundy, especially when lees aged, that adds texture, is slightly reductive, and usually made without malolactic conversion, as seen by Pastoris. In recent years we’ve seen an exciting revival of Piemonte white grapes, with rare native varietals like Timorasso Derthona, from near Barolo and Erbaluce di Caluso being excellent examples to search out and enjoy, and I recommend checking out these Pastoris wines, with this Nebbiolo being, as mentioned above, a tasty value as well. The palate is is medium bodied with good acidity and tannin, but with enough fruit density to impress, showing classic brandied cherry, damson plum, balsamic dipped strawberry, briar laced raspberry and Moro orange, along with seeped roses, minty herbs, tarry licorice, old cedar, a bit of game, framboise and truffle. This La Cucca bottling is 100% Nebbiolo, harvested from a single terraced parcel of vines that were planted between 1970 and 1980, all above 350 meters with cool exposures on ancient morainic glacier formed soils. This sandy site has a complex combination of clay, quartz and small stones and is picked as late as possible for depth of flavors. Winemaker Eugenio Pastoris de-stemmed the grapes and fermented and macerated them for close to 3 months on the skins before racking the wine to 60% cement vat and 40% old wood, small barriques, where in aged just 6 months, after which it was bottled aged 2 years in the cellar before release.

The all organic Oliviero Pastoris label, is now led by Eugenio Pastoris, who humbly says “Honestly, my style is under construction because I am young.” That may be, but there’s some potential here and I loved his Erbaluce and this beautiful Canavese Nebbiolo bottling and look forward to tasting more of Eugenio’s wines as they become available here in the States. Taking over from his father Massimo, Eugenio Pastoris Eugenio, who studied Latin and engineering, realized his scientific mind wasn’t meant to be working behind a desk, or being a racing engineer for Formula 1, a sport his importer says he’s still obsessed with. So It was to return home to his family’s organically farmed vineyards in the remote town Viverone, northwest of Turino at the edge of the Alto Piemonte. With the rise in popularity to the rare native Erbaluce grape, Eugenio wanted to be a revolutionary figure in in the area and return to the lost local appellations of Collina Morenica Bianco, made in the hills of Viverone with Erbaluce, and Collina Morenica Rosso Rubino, for wines made with Nebbiolo, Freisa, Croatina and/or Barbera. Interestingly, according to The Source Imports, both of these classifications were abandoned when Italy joined the European Union, and are labeled now under the appellation names of Erbaluce di Caluso and Canavese Rosso. For a few years, Eugenio was working with his father, Massimo, and enologist, Cristiano Garella, a northern Piemonte specialist and respected consulting winemaker to get his hand in and now is having more of a influence in the wines to good effect, especially these 2021 and 2022 bottlings. Pastoris got full organic certification back in 2013 and works his vines without tilling the soils and uses very little sulfur in his wines, hoping to show off an authentic sense of place. The Alto Piemonte is one of the hot spots for the wine world these days and producers like this is one of the reasons, and while new to me still, I highly recommend these Pastoris wines.
($32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2020 Bedrock Wine Company, Zinfandel, Teldeschi Ranch, Dry Creek Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
Normally part of Bedrock’s Heritage line the old vine Teldeschi Ranch Zinfandel in 2020 is a gem of a Zin with incredible purity and zesty red raspberries at its core with a dark garnet color, less opaque without the addition of Petite Sarah, and a nicely ripe medium bodied palate. Sometimes less is more and in this case that proves to be true with an array of classic Zin fruits, the mentioned raspberry, red currant, plum and huckleberry, along with briar, brambles, sage, anise, subtle cedary wood, and coffee bean notes. Morgan Twain-Peterson MW says that this is a first, labeling it as a plain Jane Zinfandel, having worked with (the) Teldeschi Ranch since the first vintage of Bedrock back in 2007, but as he notes, it has always gone under the name Lorenzo’s Heritage Wine, named for Lorenzo Teldeschi who planted many of the original vines on the ranch. Twain-Peterson explains that In 2020, the later-picked Carignan and Petite Sirah that normally go into Lorenzo’s Heritage were unusable due to smoke exposure, so he decided to take the opportunity to showcase the exuberant heart of that wine, the Zinfandel, as the main focus. Though predominately Zinfandel, he says there is uniquely a splash of interplanted Trousseau Noir (or Bastardo, as John Teldeschi relishes saying) and a little Carignan. As per normal, the Zin sees pretty much all de-stemming and is fermented with native yeasts and then aged about a year in primarily used French oak barrels, for elegance and transparency, as seen here, with this finely structured, age worthy and pleasing Zin.

The Teldeschi Ranch at more than a hundred and twenty years old now is one of Dry Creek’s most iconic names and places, right up there with Lytton Springs in the area’s most recognized and most treasured spot for Zinfandel. John Teldeschi now farms this old and historic vineyard, first planted in the 1890s, and spread across three ranches on the east bench of Dry Creek Valley, which winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson notes, is on a bench of red, cobbly, porous soil, with lovely old dry-farmed vines. Of all the great old vine vineyards that his father and he have had the opportunity to work with, this is the longest standing and one of the deepest relationships they have formed, which is saying something about how much they relish getting the grapes here, year after year. Twain-Peterson’s famous and or legendary father Joel Peterson, after working with Teldeschi fruit with Joe Swan, of Joseph Swan Winery, back in the 70s, began working with the fruit for his Ravenswood wines in 1984, and those wines, were some of the first single vineyard Zinfandel field blends I had ever drank. Joel has worked with the fruit from Teldeschi every year for over three decades and when Morgan went on to start his Bedrock label it was only natural that he have Teldeschi as one of the foundational wines for the label. This part of Teldeschi in fact was the first block Morgan’s dad, again Joel Peterson, worked with from the ranch back in 1982, and this 2020 pays a nice tribute that long collaboration and is a singular tasty treat not to be missed! While you’ll need to be careful when buying 2020 red wines, you can be sure in confidence, Bedrock didn’t bring in smoke tainted grapes and the quality is there, and this one is proof.
($49 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2020 Casa Castillo, La Tendida, Jumilla D.O., Spain.
The Casa Castillo label, imported by Eric Soloman’s European Cellars, is a well known and admired winery, famous for Monastrell, aka Mourvèdre, and I’ve been enjoying the wines for more than two decades. That said this was the first experience with this new La Tendida bottling, a blend of mostly Monastrell, but with a good dose of Garnacha or Grenache as we call it here in California, and it was a delicious and more subtle wine that the juicier (riper) entry level Casa Castillo crowd pleasers. This La Tendida comes from a special higher elevation vineyard and it is wonderfully aromatic and shows off a delicacy not usually seen here, making for a more stylish effort with dark red berries, strawberries, currants, baked cherries and dusty plums on the medium/full palate along with dried rosemary, lilacs, chalky stones, cedar, wild mint, pepper and a touch of feral earthiness. There’s a Gigondas meets Bandol like character here and this dark garnet wine has a nice smooth tannic structure and enjoys a fine cut of acidity, helping balance it out in impressive fashion. José Maria Vincente is a third generation owner and operator of Casa Castillo a farm that began as a rosemary plantation but one that has evolved into the preeminent estate in the DO of Jumilla. It was José Maria’s grandfather who originally purchased Casa Castillo in 1941, where there was already a winery, cellar and some scattered vineyards on the property that dated to the 1870s. Interestingly, they say, it was established by French refugees that were fleeing the plight of phylloxera in their native land. In 1985 José and his father began to replant the vineyards, later certified organic, and expand them with the goal of making higher quality wine on the property and in 1991 they bottled their first commercial vintage, and the rest they say is history, with the success that followed.

Winemaker Jose Maria Vicente, with this 2020 vintage, for the first time made his La Tendida, which replaces the Vino de Finca, but it is not just a new label, it is a wine from a select parcel with tthis cuvée being from of younger vines, 10 to 20 years old. The fruit comes from a particular terruño (terroir) with sandy clay-limestone soils along with a deep layer of gravel. Despite the younger average age of these vines and no change in the winemaking, Vicente believes, that this La Tendida, with Monastrell and Garnacha, is a more elegant, nuanced, and refined rendition of this parcel’s best soils, making this cuvée great addition and stellar value to the already outstanding lineup of Jumilla offerings here at Casa Castillo. The wines here at Casa Castillo are all fermented in either stainless steel tanks or concrete vats and pigeage is done by foot using an ever increasing amount of whole clusters, with up to 50% in certain wines and vintages. The aging is then done in a combination of cement, old foudres and 500L French oak demi-muids, which the concentrated old vine Mourvèdre (Monastrell) really likes being matured in. Jose Maria Vicente, a pioneer in all organics here, used all hand harvested grapes, 85% Monastell and 15% Garnacha, here, with partially de-stemmed clusters, allowing a natural yeast fermentation in concrete vats to take place. The maceration, 30% whole bunches and steams, is done after foot trodding the must and doing daily punch downs until dry and then the wine is pressed and racked to barrel, in this case, these were a combination of large foudre and 500L demi-muids, which were mainly for the Monastrell. So the La Tendida 2020 then saw a full 12 months in cask before blending and settling in tank, after which it was bottled, with this regime showing off loads of authentic character and transparency, it is a wine that doesn’t require much more cellar time, though I suspect it will continue to evolve well for many years to come.
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Nicolas Pointeau, Chinon Rouge, Les Tonnelieres, Loire Valley, France.
This surprisingly delicious 100% organic and naturally made Cabernet Franc was a real delight, especially with rustic cuisine, and showed of a depth that was impressive at this price point. This Chinon Rouge from gravelly soils and mature vines, averaging 45 years old, was fermented with native yeasts and aged between 6 and 9 months in some ancient Fûts de Chêne, old small barrels, making for a wine of rustic charm, but with friendly tannins and a full mouth feel. The 2020 vintage was small yielding and a touch ripe in style, adding to the enjoyment of this wine that shows classic Franc blackberry, currant, dark cherry, delicate violets, some bell pepper, cedar, cinnamon and earthy notes. Not an easy find, this Pointeau is imported by The Source and is worthy of a bit of chase.

This was my first experience with the Pointeau wines and I found out from their importer The Source Imports that Nicolas Pointeau, along with his wife Marielle have a small selection of Chinon vines on mainly terraces composed of deep river gravel beds, with some further away from the Loire on the famous tuffeau, the chalky limestone soils that would typically be found in Saumur-Champigny region further to the west. With their Tradition and Tonnelieres bottlings coming from the more gravelly soil parcels.The vineyards of Cabernet Franc and a smaller quantity of Chenin Blanc are all sustainably grown and are organically certified, and their cellar practices, like many of my favorites in the Loire, are old school minimal intervention with all natural fermentations, low sulfur, and aging is done in a mix of steel or neutral 228L French oak barrels. I really enjoyed this wine over the course of an evening and with food and look forward to following this label.
($25 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 A. Rafanelli, Zinfandel, Estate Grown, Dry Creek Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
There’s a lot to admire from Shelly Rafanelli’s 2022 Estate Dry Creek Zinfandel, not an easy vintage, and I loved the rich hedonistic textural side, pure ripe fruit and pretty subtle aromatics with slightly retrained alcohol that gives this wine a lovely balanced feel with well judged oak as well. The full bodied palate fills out in the glass and this dark opaque purple Zinfandel, which includes about 11% Petite Sirah, delivers loads of black raspberry, deep plum, Italian cherry and black fig fruits, along with brambly spices, dried herbs, lavender, lilacs, grilled fennel and nicely luxurious French oak smokiness, vanilla and cedary framing. The all hand crafted style winemaking here at Rafanelli includes fermentations in small open top tanks with full extraction and cool maceration, after which the Zinfandel then sees between 18 and 22 months in exclusively French wood with about a third new, and the rest in 1 and 2 times filled barrels. Rafanelli explains that the 2022 growing season with a dry winter with rains decreasing after January. The spring in Dry Creek brought windy conditions which caused shatter in the young clusters, and minimal precipitation produced lower yields, leading to the intense color and flavors in the wine. The above normal temperatures in the late Summer jumpstarted the harvest at Rafanelli and they made all the fruit was picked before the record heat wave settled in and caused pruney or over ripe grapes, which led to a finished alcohol of 14.6%, a bit less than normal and retention an appreciated lifting of acidity, not seen by everyone in the vintage. While ready to love now, these Rafanelli wines come with underlying structures that do age well and this one should be a rewarding wine for well over a decade.

The A. Rafanelli Winery and Vineyards was founded by Alberto and Letizia Rafanelli, both Italian immigrants, back in the early 1900’s when they settled in the Healdsburg area with their family, as the winery notes, and started growing grapes and making wine. Things didn’t really get going until after prohibition, but after which their son Americo Rafanelli took over the family business and then moved the winery to its Dry Creek Valley location in the early 1950s, where he focused on premium grape growing. Most of the grapes and or wines were sold off until the early 1970s when he started his iconic A. Rafanelli label with mainly Zinfandel offerings, along with a very limited bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery became a cult hit with California wine lovers, especially under David A. Rafanelli, who certainly brought this little known winery to the world’s attention with a series of outstanding wines, that rivaled all the top Zin producers, most notability the likes of Ridge, Turley and Biale, putting Dry Creek in the spotlight. David, who got his degree in Viticulture from UC Davis, really brought quality and direction to Rafanelli, with his mid to late 1990s bottlings being absolute stars and that has continued to current releases, with his daughter Shelly making the wines. She came to the winery after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with their excellent enology program, and worked side-by-side with her father until becoming the head winemaker in 2000. She and her husband Craig Fehlman, who manages all of their vineyards, are carrying on the family tradition, and taking the wines to the next level, which is no mean feat. This 2022 Estate Zinfandel is absolutely delicious with velvety tannins and if you can find it you’ll be thrilled and I recommend you do so.
($54 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

October 2024

2021 Weingut Tegernseerhof, Riesling Smaragd, Reid Steinertal, Wachau, Austria.
Tegernseerhof’s Ried Steinertal Smaragd Riesling is an exceptional and impactful dry Riesling with a stylish density and mouth feel, but still holding on to brisk acidity, mineral toned flavors and balance. The higher must weighted palate, per Smaragd rules, shows off a pleasing generosity and highlights the personality of Austria’s Danube terroir with its steep terraces, loess, rocky and in this case gneiss soils, with the regions cool nights and warmer days. There’s bright apricot, lime, quince, tangerine and green apple fruits, along with wet stones, loam, verbena, bitter herbs, lemon oil, rosewater and almond paste. The Wachau village of Durnstein, on the Danube, where the Tegernseerhof estate is located and sites that have a complex mix of soils from loess to alluvial sands with vines in both hillside terraces and some flatland parcels, which gives the wine balance and with a nice tension between ripe and savory elements. In Tegernseerhof’s cellar Martin Mittelbach allows the wines to ferment naturally in stainless tanks and allows the wines to age on the lees for between 6 and 9 months before bottling. Not far from Krems, this winery has deep historical roots going back over 1000 years, when the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II granted, as the winery notes, the Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee two oxgangs of land in Wachau back In 1176 and where vines were planted and wine was made.

As mentioned before here, Tegernseerhof can always be counted on for quality and stylish offerings, as this impressive Riesling shows and I have always enjoy both their Grüners and Rieslings, which are mostly bone dry and energy filled efforts that never fail to deliver the goods. Winegrower Martin Mittelbach, as noted in prior reviews, is the 5th generation vigneron here at the historic Tegernseerhof, which has been an historic estate for close to a thousand years in the Wachau region of Austria. Again the latest wines available here in the States are a stunning set of jewels that highlight Martin’s talents with crystalline clarity and complexity, as witnessed here with Tegernseerhof’s fabulous Ried Steinertal Riesling Smaragd. According to Tegernseerhof the vineyards of Steinertal form a giant amphitheatre cut into the solid rock. The vines have a facing of South East, with great exposure, and are surrounded by massive and picturesque rock formations. In Austrian wines, the classifications for dry wines rely on must weight, like Kabinett and Spatlese in Germany, but again Smaragd is still considered dry style, it’s a ripeness classification of white wines in the Wachau Valley. With the Smaragd-designated wines being made from the ripest grapes and have a mandated minimum alcohol level of 12.5 percent, white the lighter Federspiel wines, made from either Grüner Veltliner or Riesling, are all under that percentage. In many ways, these Tegernseerhof offerings are still under the radar and take looking for, but they are worth chasing down, especially this outstanding GG like offering.
($51 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Leo Steen, Chenin Blanc, Peayberry, Mendocino County.
Looking for great domestic Chenin Blanc? This is the label for you, and especially this gorgeous 2022 Peaberry from Leo Hansen at Leo Steen wines, which was sourced from mature 45 year old Chenin vines in Mendocino County set on Pinole gravelly loam soils that help give this wine depth and an expressively varietal personality. This pale gold and medium/full bodied Chenin shows the vintage’s concentrated density, but with a beautiful steely mineral charm and impeccable balance, it shows off loads of white peach, green apple, lemony citrus and tangy quince fruits, along with dried herbs, crushed stones, dry honeycomb, orange oil, clove spice, white flowers and a delicate earthiness. Natural and Loire like in style, this wine was made in a age worthy and structured style with 75% whole cluster pressed to tank and cold settled for extraction and 25% de-stemmed and crushed, then all racked to a combination of neutral old French oak and acacia barrels where the wine is aged about 5 months. This Peaberry saw no sulphur additions and was allowed to complete full natural malolactic fermentation in the wood, which adds to the transparent profile and gives textural pleasure to this well made gold/straw hued Chenin that really excels with cuisine, with me having it with tuna crudo and trout row, as well as soft cheeses.

These Leo Steen Chenins, by winemaker Leo Hansen, a Dane ex-pat, are some of the most pleasing California versions I’ve ever had, ranking right up there with some old favorites and new top quality efforts from Justin Willett’s Lieu-Dit, Tegan Passalacqua’s Sandlands, Casa Nuestra in Napa Valley, Jaimee Motely, Raj Parr to Chappellet, Chalone, and Ian Brand, who just released his latest old Durney (Massa Estate) old vine version, to name a few. Hansen is very focused on this grape, historically connected to Vouvray, Saumur and Montlouis, as well as being in South Africa, does a full range of dry versions. Leo also does a sweet one and even a fortified Chenin made in the Angelica (California’s first commercial wine made originally from the Mission grape) style with a slightly oxidized element, which Hansen says has a Sherry like quality. Leo, who has a well rounded background, having done stints in Alsace, Loire, Champagne and Burgundy to Spain and Italy moved to California in 1999 to, as he notes, immerse himself in winemaking, finally landing at Alexander Valley’s Stuhlmuller Vineyards, where he became the winemaker. At that time, in 2004, Leo also started his own label, Leo Steen Wines, which allowed him to make wines more to his personal tastes, leaning on his old world palate. To achieve his goals, he uses a variety of fermentation methods and a combination of aging vessels in his wines to showcase each vineyard and terroir with transparency in his wines, as this 2022 Peaberry shows perfectly.
($32 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2021 Cume do Avia, Colleita 9 Tinto, Galicia, Spain.
As I’ve said before, these Cume do Avia wines are serious efforts that deserve your attention, though they have a friendly and easy to drink freshness, especially this Colleita 9 Tinto, which shows off a bright personality in the glass, not unlike a Cru Beaujolais with a dark ruby color, vibrant red fruits, a touch of spice, pretty florals and a nice mineral note in a quaffable medium bodied wine. Grown in Galicia’s Ribeiro region with a cooling Atlantic influence and mountainside vineyards, which their importer says, are composed of granodiorite, schist, slate, and gneiss bedrock, clay and sand topsoil, and they have nearly twenty rare indigenous grape varieties planted with ancient massale selections. The vines of Cume do Avia overlook the Avia and Miño Rivers near the border with Portugal, with this delicious red being made from an organic blend of 40% Caiño Longo, 34% Sousón, and 26% Brancellao. The nose is flinty with red berries, crushed flowers and peppery spice and there’s a juicy array of tangy red currant, wild plum, cherry, blood orange and nectarine fruits, along with loam, thyme, sour cranberry and bergamot in the background. Each grape is typically fermented separately and then blended, with each vintage being a different percentage and using stainless steel and old wood to preserve transparency, with fresh acidity and always low natural alcohols, usually under 12%.

One of Spain’s most interesting newer producers and led by Diego Collarte and his brother Álvaro, who both grew up in Vigo, Cume do Avia makes some beautifully crafted terroir driven Galician wines from very close to the Portuguese border, made all from native varietals grown with organic methods. I have been following the wines of this region for more than 15 years and I’m still discovering so many intriguing new treasures that has been producing wines since pre-Roman times, and Cume do Avia is a great find, mostly known for their collection of reds, like this one, which includes a mix of rare grapes such as Caiño Longo, Souson and Brancellao. They also do a fabulous white, the Cume do Avia “Colleita 9” Ribeiro Branco that comes from organic vines set in local Atlantic influenced parcels that are set on rocky and sandy soils with clay, along with a combination of complex elements that include granodiorite, gneiss and flinty slate with a selection of Treixadura, Albarino, Loureira, Lado and Caiña Branco grapes. As mentioned before, the Cume do Avia’s lineup is filled with low alcohol and rawly transparent offerings that have a natural feel to them, those that like other stars from Galicia, like Laura Lorenzo, Luis Rodriguez, Guimaro and Nanclares will instantly feel comfortable with them, and I highly recommend them. These lighter framed Cume do Avia red wines do show better with food, and are flexible enough to go with sea food and or country style meaty dishes too.
($32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Malat, Grüner Veltliner, Furth, Kremstal DAC, Austria.
The crisply dry 2022 village level Grüner Furth from Malat is a racy and bracing expression of Kremstal Grüner that is everything you and 99% percent of sommeliers in the world would ever want with a steely light framed tangy palate. There’s lemon/lime, white peach and quince fruits, along with bitter almond, verbena, citron, herbs, white pepper and crushed stones details as well as mouth watering acidity, making it great with oysters, soft cheeses and poultry dishes. Exciting for the senses and absolutely pure, this pale greenish gold Grüner is totally bone dry and refreshing without being too austere or serve, thanks to quality fruit and winemaking. The Malat Kremstal Furth Grüner Veltliner comes from terraced gentle slopes set on classic loess, but with an alluvial mix with stones and gravel, that add to the subtle complexity here. I’ve had a few vintages of Malat over the the last 4 to 6 years, but this wine is my favorite so far and I highly recommend it to Grǔner fans.

The ninth-generation winegrower, Michael Malat, who in recent years took the helm here from his father, Gerald, at Malat, originally founded in 1722, in Kremstal and has given this old winery a new vigor and expressive presence in the world of Austrian wine. Just east of the main Wachau, Kremstal is located on the southern banks of the Danube River, and is a top notch terroir for complex Grüner and Riesling wines, home to many of Austria’s great producers. This deep valley is protected by the cold northern winds, though allowing for some of the warm eastern Pannonian winds that makes for a slighter riper and more concentrated wine in general, but still retaining vibrancy at the core. It is notable that as you get closer to Krems the wines really gain aromatic qualities, as Malat showcases that. Grüner is fermented typically in stainless steel, but this one sees close to 4 months in large neutral 10HL oak, and bottled quickly, which all gives the Malat Furth Grüner it’s poise, transparency and grace, very impressive, reasonably priced for the quality and totally enjoyable.
($26 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 Oliviero Pastoris, Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG “La Norezza” Italy.
I’m a huge fan of Erbaluce di Caluso, and love the wines of Favaro and Ferrando, but winemaker Eugenio Pastoris believes his vineyards that are in Viverone and at the eastern end of the Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG zone is more Alto Piemonte than Caluso in geology and gives his wines a certain unique distinction. The beautiful deep straw hued 2022 Pastoris Erbaluce is wonderfully stony and aromatic with a brisk dry medium bodied palate of white peach, quince, lemon/lime, lingering apple and muskmelon fruits, along with flinty mineral, unsweetened honeycomb, bitter almond, white blossoms, thyme and citrus oil. The winery notes that the grape vines are grown on complex, stony, acidic morainic soils made from ancient glaciers, which are more commonly seen in the Alto Piemonte, like in the Ghemme and parts of the Coste della Seisa, which give depth and a striking mineral intensity, that makes sense, when tasting this Pastoris Erbaluce. Indigenous to Caluso, the Erbaluce grape is a rarity, but has the presence of a elegant white Burgundy, especially when lees aged, that adds texture, is slightly reductive, and made without malolactic conversion, as seen here. In recent years we’ve seen an exciting revival of Piemonte white grapes, with rare native varietals like Timorasso Derthona, from near Barolo and Erbaluce di Caluso being excellent examples to search out and enjoy, and I recommend checking out these Pastoris wines, with this one, and the Nebbiolo being tasty values as well.

New to me, the Oliviero Pastoris label, is now led by Eugenio Pastoris, who humbly says “Honestly, my style is under construction because I am young.” That may be, but there’s some potential here and I loved his Erbaluce and even his basic Nebbiolo bottling and look forward to tasting more of Eugenio’s wines as they become available here in the States. Taking over from his father Massimo, Eugenio Pastoris Eugenio, who studied Latin and engineering, realized his scientific mind wasn’t meant to be working behind a desk or being a racing engineer for Formula 1, a sport his importer says he’s still obsessed with. So It was to return home to his family’s organically farmed vineyards in the remote town Viverone, northwest of Turino at the edge of the Alto Piemonte. With the rise in popularity to the rare native Erbaluce grape, Eugenio wanted to be a revolutionary figure in in the area and return to the lost local appellations of Collina Morenica Bianco, made in the hills of Viverone with Erbaluce, and Collina Morenica Rosso Rubino, for wines made with Nebbiolo, Freisa, Croatina and/or Barbera. Interestingly, according to The Source Imports, both of these classifications were abandoned when Italy joined the European Union, and are labeled now under the appellation names of Erbaluce di Caluso and Canavese Rosso. For a few years, Eugenio was working with his father, Massimo, and enologist, Cristiano Garella, a northern Piemonte specialist and respected consulting winemaker to get his hand in and now is having more of a influence in the wines to good effect, especially these 2021 and 2022 bottlings. The Alto Piemonte is one of the hot spots for the wine world these days and producers like this is one of the reasons.
($23 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2022 Whitcraft Winery, Pinot Noir, Radian Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills.
One of California’s top wineries for small hand crafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, Whitcraft, made an outstanding 2022 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir from the ultra extreme cool Western end of the region at the Radian Vineyard, which shows in the intensity and structure here. The Radian Vneyard reaches nearly 700 feet up and the vines are more exposed to the cold wind off the Pacific, giving the wines a Burgundian, almost Côte de Nuits like character and this Whitcraft version is not unlike Grand Crus, Clos St.-Denis and or Clos de la Roche, with power and grace in the glass with a very dark ruby hue in the glass and exceptional depth on the mineral medium bodied palate. This absolutely brilliant Whitcraft Radian delivers a heady perfume of rose petals and violets along with an exciting and sultry earthiness, there’s black cherry, raspberry and currant fruits, along with a touch of mixed spices, wild herbs, orange tea and subtle oak influence. The Whitcraft Winery founded back in 1985 by Chris Whitcraft, who had hosted a local wine radio program in Santa Barbara County for more than a decade helping him get to know the famous local and California winemakers of the time. It is noted, by the winery, that Whitcraft learned his craft from some of the best winemakers in California, including legends like Joe Heitz (Heitz Cellars), Dick Graff (Founder of Chalone Winery and its AVA), and Burt Williams (Williams Selyem & Morning Dew Ranch) to name a few. Sadly and too young Chris passed away in 2014, but his son Drake, a talent in his own right, continues to carry on and is making seriously good and age worthy wines, with a minimalistic and more natural approach, such as this one.

Winemaker Drake Whitcraft says the Radian, owned by the Hilt Estate, the Pinot and Chard label of Jonata, site is very special with steep, southwest and southeast facing hillsides that are loaded with dark rich clay and golf ball sized pieces of chert, making a unique terroir into itself and as I have seen capable of producing world class Pinot Noir. Whitcraft continues, that every day here at Radian, it is windy and cool, that helps make for a long growing season and incredible depth in the wines, as this 2022 shows. Drake says his Radian pours a dense dark red in the glass, showing that the berries are small and concentrated, and these vines are not over watered, again adding to the intensity. The owners of Radian explain that the poor, non fertile soils force the vines to send their roots deep in search of nutrients, resulting in better and more complex fruit and the wines certainly deliver that in spades. Going on, they’d that the plentiful sunlight and maritime climate here in the west side of the Sta. Rita Hills, with its strong winds and cool days and nights, means that grapes ripen slowly while retaining their acidity, which results in moderate alcohols, and this vintage of Whitcraft’s Radian came in at 13.9%. Radian is quite large, at almost 95 acres, but still extremely high quality and has an excellent reputation with winemakers, like Drake Whitcraft, who gets a small tonnage to make his expression. The vineyard, I learned, has unique outcroppings of diatomaceous earth and rocky soils that dominate Radian topography and help define the personality of grapes. The rocky soils at the top of Radian offer good drainage and heat retention, that is critical to getting ripe fruit at these high altitudes and conditions, that limit yields, with that cold, whipping wind, all leading to some very special wines like this one.
($90 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2018 Fattoria Fibbiano, IGT Tuscana Rosso “Le Pianette” Tuscany, Italy.
I hadn’t had Fibbiano in a while, so it was fun to catch up with this winery with old vines near Pisa, and this 2018 Le Pianette IGT Toscana Rosso, made from 70% Sangiovese and 30% Colorino, is a very tasty and authentic wine to enjoy now. In the glass this all organic Tuscan red with its dark garnet color and spicy nose shows off an old school Chianti style palate with subtle florals and smooth layers of blackberry, strawberry, plum and dusty cherry fruits, along with background notes of tobacco leaf, minty herbs, anise, earthy truffle, cedar and dried roses. The grapes, coming from rolling hillsides are all hand harvested and are gentle de-stemmed, crushed and settled inside specialized stainless steel tanks, for 10 days, with a natural yeast fermentation. The wine gets racked and pressed, then it ages for about 4 months in cement tanks where it finishes malolactic fermentation, after which it saw 12 months in old used Slavonian oak barrels and finally 4 months in bottle before release. 2018 was a bit lighter vintage, but is drinking well with good balance and easy to enjoy and I wouldn’t pass on it if you see it around, drink now through 2026.

Fattoria Fibbiano, which dates back to the 1700s, is located in the municipality of Terricciola, in the province of Pisa in the Era valley, west of Florence and above the Chianti Classico zone in Tuscany and has been owned Giuseppe Cantoni, who bought the estate in 1997. The wines, made by Nicola Cantoni, come from vines that are 100% organic, some 100 years old now, and include a range of varietals, such as Sangiovese Forte, Sangiovese Polveroso, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, Colorino for red wines, and Vermentino and Colombana, for the whites here. Most of Fibbiano’s vineyards are south-facing, with ripe exposures, all set on the the hills between Pisa and Volterra with excellent ancient seabed soils and is rich in fossil shells from the Pliocene epoch, as well as medium-textured corals. This area has many old vineyards that lucky for us haven’t been all re-planted to new clones, and the wines here show off classic and rustic charms and go great with the local cuisine, as well as simple dishes you can find closer to home, like I found with this 2018 going nicely with my pasta dish and hard sheep cheeses. Fibbiano has many offerings in the collection, but this Le Pianette IGT Toscana Rosso is a super place to start getting to know this label.
($20 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2020 Maison Les Alexandrins, Crozes-Hermitage Rouge, Northern Rhône, France.
The ripe, deeply purple hued and full-bodied Maison Les Alexandrins Cross-Hermitage Rouge is a pure and almost chocolatey Northern Rhône Syrah with seamless dark blackberry, currant, damson plum, cherry and blueberry fruits along with subtle bacon, camphor, licorice, peppercorns and violet notes. Not as feral or gamey as old school Crozes or Cornas, this Maison Les Alexandrins offers up a lot of pleasure for the buck and is a real crowd pleaser with smooth tannins and lingering flavors, it will good nicely with a range of meat dishes too, giving it some welcome flexibility on a restaurant list. This was the second vintage I tried of this wine and it was very consistent with my first impressions, and my tasting group all loved it with any dissent, which is a rare occurrence!

A partnership between three winegrowers from the Rhône Valley, Nicolas Jaboulet, Guillaume Sorrel and Alexandre Caso, Maison les Alexandrins produces northern wines in a modern clean style, which are also very good values as well. This Crozes-Hermitage, that is of course 100% Syrah, comes from a blend from the villages near Mercurol with a mix of elevation and soils, including schist and gravel along with some clay and mineral matter. The maceration and fermentation are done with all de-stemmed fruit and goes for about 20 days with pumping over for the first few days and then punching down towards the end to achieve complete extraction of color and tannin. The aging is in conical vats and demi-muids or 600L used oak casks for 10 months. I am a big fan of Crozes, especially for the price, as it is hard to afford the Hermitage and Côte-Rotie offerings these days and this one does the job very well.
($30 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2023 Domaine Daniel Chotard, Sancerre Blanc, Loire Valley, France.
In my prior reviews I’ve noted that Daniel Chotard, imported by Kermit Lynch, is a top artisan Loire Valley producer, making fine Sauvignon Blanc wines from Sancerre, as seen here, and he also makes a stunning Pinot Noir too, both of which are great values. This 2023 Sancerre Blanc release is mineral and chalk intense with loads of bright citrus and tangy peach fruits, in an exciting fresh example of terroir driven and racy Sauvignon Blanc with a purity of form, nice texturally and zesty from start to finish. The lighter framed palate grabs your attention with lemon/lime, gooseberry, bitter stone pit, wet stones and crisp acidity, making for a stylish, but very authentic old school Sancerre that goes great with food, especially sea foods and soft cheeses.

The Chotard family has been making wine for well over two hundred years in the Loire Valley and Daniel is a huge star in Sancerre, though still flying under the radar to some extent, which keeps the price of his wine in the reasonable realm. This outstanding Sancerre wine comes from vines set on the regions classic clay, limestone and Kimmeridgian marl soils, which brings out a sense place and complexity. The vinification is done in a combination of temperature-controlled stainless steel tank and used wood foudre, which allows for complete transparency and an extra dimension in terms of mouth feel. Daniel employs all organic methods in the vineyards and in the cellar he goes with natural yeast after a 3 day cold soak settling, the wine sees no malos, but is lees aged until bottling, adding depth, as this 2023 shows.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 David Trousselle, Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AOC Rouge “En Cré” Red Burgundy, France.
I was really excited to open this wine and it did not disappoint with a bright youthful dark ruby color and slightly reductive stat before opening up to classic Burgundy purity and elegance on a medium bodied palate. The fruit is textured with black cherry, wild raspberry, plum and strawberry layers, along with hints of apple skin, orange peel and loamy earthiness. There’s mineral notes, tea spices and very subtle wood notes, making this a finely structured and rewarding Pinot Noir. This beautifully made Red Burgundy comes from a high elevation site within the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AOC, a protected valley between St Aubin and St Romain, that is set on limestone-heavy soils and a cool climate vineyard where full flavor development is balanced by good acidity and retrained natural alcohol, which adds to the sublime elegance here in this latest release. David Trousselle produces tiny quantities of a single-vineyard Chardonnay and this Pinot Noir from the Hautes-Côtes and additionally, I hear he makes a rare Santenay Rouge from a minuscule 0.3 hectare set of vines. Given the location of Trousselle’s vineyards, the Chardonnay does extremely well (think St Aubin and St Romain), and I will be looking for that in the future. Though, as mentioned to me by friends that had been lucky enough to get Trousselle’s wines in the past, the valley where he has his vines is also protected and warm enough that there are certain parts where Pinot Noir can get ripe and does well, as seen here in this 2022 vintage. Trousselle makes his wines with a gentle hand, all indigenous yeast fermented and with elevage in minimal amounts of new oak to promote terroir and transparency. As promised to me, Trousselle does make gracefully textured wines that offer a glimpse into the future of Burgundy where lesser known and appreciated appellations can have their time to shine, that even I can afford.

The up and coming star, David Trousselle, who’s wines are imported to the United States by Beaune Imports, is located in the Hautes Côte de Beaune area of Burgundy. My friend, longtime wine seller Alex Lallos was an early fan of Trousselle, got this bottle, which I was thrilled to open, especially considering the high praise he was giving me. Plus, I am a admirer of Beaune Imports, who represents the likes of Comtes Lafon, Duroché, Clos Rougeard and a personal favorite, Camus-Bruchon, to name a few, and who rarely take on new producers unless they are exceptional. Lallos told me that the impressive quality here from Trousselle, and today’s Hautes-Côtes de Beaune En Cré Rouge in particular, have made these offerings hard to get now, and they have now become highly allocated items. From these vineyards adjacent to the cellar, all in the village of Bobigny, he produces both a single-vineyard Blanc (La Couleuvraire) and Rouge “En Cré” along with two special very limited Cuvées and a Coteaux Bourguignons. He also makes, as mentioned, a tiny bit of Santenay Rouge and he recently purchased a small plot in Auxey-Duresses Rouge, which is very much in keeping with his stated desire for ‘cooler’ terroirs. Beaune Imports says Trousselle’s vineyards are farmed organically and were certified by ECOCERT as of this 2022 vintage. All these sloping hillside Pinot Noir grapes are hand harvested, and brought to the cellar where they are carefully sorted prior to fermentation, which is done with a minimum of intervention. The whites, here, are barrel fermented in the classical Burgundian fashion, and I look forward to trying them too, as this one has convinced me this is an estate to watch. The reds, like this one, are 100% de-stemmed, and then given a very gentle maceration/fermentation with native yeasts and see skins for close to 15-20 days and the wines are raised in barrel. In both cases, minimal new wood is used with10-20% max, which shows in the transparency in this En Cré. Currently there are five reds available and they are going to be gone fast, I would chase any and or all of them that you can find.
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2021 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Erbacher Marcobrunn, Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau, Germany.
The beautifully aromatic, bright gold and mineral intense Künstler Marcobrunn GG comes from a full VDP Grosse Lage vineyard near Hattenheim, most renown for Riesling and with a long history, especially under the famous Kloster Eberbach, making for an intriguing and haunting wine that possesses fine chiseled details, but a full bodied richness. This wine is very much a Gunter Künstler wine with sublime depth and purity, showing off heightened florals, peachy fruit and texture that reminds you of an excellent white Burgundy, but with a steely precision and Riesling acidity. I usually go back and forth between Künstler’s powerful slatey Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg and the luscious and dense Hölle, but this Marcobrunn is a worthy middle ground and fabulous in this vintage, with an array of lime led citrus and the stone fruit core. I must say I was thrilled by the set of 2021 GGs at Künstler that I sampled earlier this Summer and really look forward to dig into the much heralded 2022 in their final versions and upcoming 2023s. That said, don’t overlook these ’21s, with Künstler you really have no reason to pass them up, and this very seductive Marcobrunn, with its background of crystalized ginger, verbena and white flowers is terribly hard to resist, nor would you want to.

Founded in 1965, the Weingut Künstler based in Hochheim Main/Rheingau has become one of the finest estates in Germany with Gunter Künstler at the helm and I’ve long been a fan of these richly concentrated and elegant dry Rieslings. In particular the monumental Kirchenstück and Hölle GGs, but in recent years Gunter has added some new gems, like this VDP Grosse Lage Erbacher Marcobrunn and the GG Kostheimer Weiss Erd, as well as the Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Monopol Grosses Gewächs. The new 2021 Künstler “Marcobrunn” Grosses Gewächs comes from mature vines that I believe were planted in 1935 and 1981, with this vintage being the first GG Gunter has done from this site. Künstler is working towards full organic and usually employs a traditional fermentation and aging in large wooden barrel or füder. Over the years, I’ve learned that Künstler lets his musts settle by gravity and then are gently pressed clear and uses a selected culture (yeast) because, as his importer Skurnik notes, it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and to work sponti would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. The leanings here are to wood cask, especially for the more serious GGs, like this one, as opposed to just steel, though some wines and vintages go exclusively into inbox tank. This perfumed and delicately spiced Marcobrunn has a lot to offer Riesling fans and it should be on your wish list!
($95 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2020 Climat Frais, Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo Coast AVA, Cambria.
This exciting small production Pinot Noir from a new label, Climat Frais, has a subtle richness of textural pleasure and shows off cool climate fruit with layers of dark cherry, wild plum, strawberry and cranberry, along with hints of savory spice, flinty mineral tones, sweet florals, cola bean, as well jas heirloom tomato and a touch of guava, plus well judged wood on the silky medium bodied palate. Nicole Bertotti Pope, of Haliotide Wines, who is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo, is the winemaker on this project, along with some advice from famous sommelier and consultant Raj Parr, of Domaine de la Côte and Sandhi Wines, have added a certain pedigree to this seductive almost Burgundian style effort. Pope having worked with Cambria’s Stolo Vineyards since around 2011 had lots of inside knowledge of the vineyard, and is married to Stolo’s vineyard consultant, Lucas Pope, who looks over the unique plot where this wine was born. Stolo came into being in the early 2000s in an undiscovered wine country set on well draining deep loam and alluvial soils, and (which) helped convince Raj that this area would be a good spot to do his own estate, which he founded, just down the road in 2019 and planted unique clones of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as some fantastic rarities, such as Gringet, Mencia and Chardonnay Rosé, a pink hued mutation found in Jura, but made popular by Sylvain Pataille, in Marsannay.

The 2020 Pinot Noir comes from the Stolo estate, near Raj Parr’s Phelan Farm in Cambria and vines situated just 3 miles from the cool Pacific Ocean in what is called the Creekside Estate Vineyard, a dry farmed 3.3 Acres parcel planted in 2008 to Rochioli clone. This wine was hand crafted for Eric Schafer of Climat Frais by the mentioned Nicole Pope and consulting winemaker Raj Parr who fermented it using fully de-stemmed grapes that were crushed and macerated with gentle punch downs and pump overs in large neutral wooden fermenters for 8 days before press-off. After which the wine was aged for close to 11 months in 70% used and 30% new French barrique barrels, with 205 cases in total produced. Coming at just 12.5% natural alcohol, this wine shows a remarkable freshness even in what was a riper year, thanks to the sustainable farming practices and the proximity to the cold ocean waters. As for Nicole Pope, she’s a rising star, having cut her teeth at Domaine Carneros, helping with their sparkling wines and their Pinot Noirs, before heading back down south with Talley Vineyards just down the coast from San Luis Obispo in Arroyo Grande. Nicole looks for the spicier side of Pint Noir and you can see that here, but this sightly reductive 2020 also is well balanced and has an opulent character that makes this dark ruby wine very seductive in the glass, it won’t be an easy find, so don’t give up the chase!
($50 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2013 Skylark Wine Company, Syrah, Lawer Vineyard “Upper Block Two” Knights Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
This dark purple/garnet hued and chocolatey 2013 Knights Valley 100% Syrah by Skylark is drinking fabulous right now with concentrated layers of boysenberry, blueberry compote, plum and black cherry fruits, and subtle spices, toasted cedar, anise and delicate violet florals. The tannins are still present, but the mouth feel is velvety and opulent, proving the age worthy quality here with this excellent and pure California Syrah. The background elements include hints of sage, pepper and sultry earthiness, along with a long finish that lingers with creme de cassis, making for a very rewarding wine that would be best with hard cheeses and or meaty dishes. The Skylark single vineyard Syrahs, the winery says, are inspired by the Northern Rhône wines of Côte Rotie and Hermitage. I had put this bottle away for personal use and basically forgot about it for close to 6 years and it was a happy discovery recently, it provided a beautiful surprise and was great with and without food, plus it has the potential to go another 5 to 7 years easily.

Robert Perkins, winemaker and John Lancaster (wine director at Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco) are the men behind the Skylark Wine Company label and are two of the nicest people, and talented, that you could ever meet, who make small batch wines with a core focus on Rhône/Languedoc style offerings. The collection includes Skylark’s tasty Pink Belly Rosé of Grenache, the Carignane based Red Belly and a couple single varietal wines, like this one, and an Alsace inspired Mendocino Pinot Blanc. Perkins, with a long history as a sommelier and wine director with top Bay Area restaurants, has also worked, as he puts it, hands-on in production at several small wineries including Nalle, Scherrer and with late great Sean Thackrey. There’s a couple of extra rare bottlings to look for at Skylark, with their Las Aves Red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and a mix of Rhône varietals, that has a Priorat like personality, along with a lush old vine Grenache. In recent years, Skylark’s single varietal Syrah has been sourced from the cooler climate Rodgers Creek Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast, where Dave Ramey had got the grapes for his signature Syrah as well. These Skylark Wines are not always visible in the market place and seem to have many a San Francisco following, but available direct from the winery at very reasonable prices.
($30-50 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Savigny-Les-Beaune Blanc “Clos du Village” White Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
Coming from a small grower and a little walled vineyard, the beautiful pale gold/straw hued Liger-Belair Clos du Village Savigny-les-Beaune Blanc is a special 100% Chardonnay cuvée that shows off a terroir driven limestone influenced palate of stony/mineral intensity and a rewarding fruit density and tension. To be honest with all of the Liger-Belair red treasures, I’ve not often had the chance to try any of Thibault’s whites, so this was quite interesting and a rewarding experience, with this wine’s serious nature and lovely textural presence. The pale straw/gold and steely medium/full bodied Clos du Village shows off lime blossom, green apple, white peach and lemony fruits, along with a touch of matchstick, hazelnut, gingery/clove spice, chalky/stony essences and very subtle creaminess. There was a lot to like here and it certainly has me curious about the rest of the whites here at Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, including the Aligoté, along with the rest of the Chardonnay village and cru offerings.

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair says that this Clos du Village cuvée comes from the west side of Savigny in the tiny walled lieu-dit called “le Village” it’s only about f 0.2 hectares that is south facing, enjoying ripe exposure and marked by its clay and white marl soil that brings out, what they add, a nice maturity of flavors and mineral tones in the grapes. They only use a limited portion of the grapes here at the Clos du Village as it also has some Pinot Blanc planted along side the Chardonnay, used here, with all mature 50 years old vines, allowing for just about 100 cases per vintage, making this a wonderful rarity. In the pursuit of transparency and purity the all hand harvested grapes see a gentle whole cluster pressing, lasting three hours and the fermentation and aging is done in 100% used wood. The 2020 Savigny-les-Beaune Clos du Village, a small and concentrated vintage, saw an elevage of 15 months in the mostly neutral used French oak barrels, which really let the site’s personality shine through without too much oak influence. For those that haven’t had Thibault Liger-Belair’s wines, I highly recommend doing so when given any chance, especially the signature Nuits-St.-Georges bottlings.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2022 Desire Lines Wine Co, Cabernet Sauvignon, Massa Estate Vineyard, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County.
The beautifully opulent and darkly opaque purple/crimson Massa Cabernet Sauvignon from Cody Rasmussenn at Desire Lines Wine Co hits a fine balance between old school California, restrained alcohol and modern lushness, making for a wine of substance and age worthy, but with ripe tannins and rewards even its youth. This Cabernet, from historic vines in the deep end of Carmel Valley, shows of deep blackberry, currant and plum led fruit on the full bodied palate, along with loads of savory elements and pretty florals, adding sweet sandalwood, minty/sage herb, violets, tobacco leaf, loam and kirsch notes. Now known as the Massa Estate, the old Durney vineyards in Cachagua, was originally planted back in the late 1960s has been certified organic since the 1980s, after the sale of the property, which was called the Heller Estate and was a pioneer of organic grape growing in the Carmel Valley Appellation. I’m local to Carmel Valley, and this vineyard, set on California shales, has always been a reference point and the Durney’s made some long lived wines on the Bordeaux like spectrum with firm tannins, loads of acidity, low alcohol, earthiness and bell pepper notes, which are all very faint here in modern times, but hints still come through. Winemaker Cody Rasmussen’s Desire Lines Wine Co is turning out an excellent collection of small lot hand crafted wines, with his Syrahs and Rieslings being his signature standouts, this is definitely a label to keep your eyes pealed for.

Cody Rasmussen says his 2022 Massa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon comes from (the) Block 13, which is one of just a few remaining blocks of the original own-rooted 1971 planting with Mirassou budwood. Going on he reveals that the fermentation was done by native yeasts after a 100% de-stemming and crushing, and maceration lasted for almost four weeks in tank before draining and pressing. The Massa Carmel Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was then raised in three 225-liter barrels for fifteen months with one racking, including 33% new oak from a medium-plus toast Taransaud barrel, adding what I would call just the right amount of soulful luxuriousness to the wine. As mentioned before, Cody and Emily Rasmussen’s Desire Line Wine Co is one of the most exciting new(er) California labels, and their Syrah bottlings are simply outstanding, especially the Griffin’s Lair and the Shake Ridge versions, which I reviewed. Cody, the winemaker, who along with his childhood sweetheart Emily moved from Iowa to Sonoma in 2011 hit the ground running, starting as an harvest intern that fall and by next harvest he was drafted into the assistant winemaker’s position at Morgan Twain-Peterson’s (MW) Bedrock Wine Co., one of the state’s best and most respected producers. After the better part of a decade now at Bedrock and working with great vineyards, Cody started sourcing grapes for his own lineup, all top notch sites for the varietals he loves, which are a savvy Rhône mix with mostly Syrah, but working with Mourvèdre and Carignan, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, as seen here, and, as noted, an exceptional set Dry and Off-Dry Rieslings, some of the best yet from California.
($75 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

1999 Domaine Remoissenet Père et Fils, Beaune-Marconnets, Premier Cru Red Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
This dark garnet/crimson 1999 Remoissenet Beaune-Marconnets 1er Cru Rouge, which was another surprise at a recent blind Burgundy tasting, showed brilliantly and was a big hit with me on the night with nicely evolved and mature flavors and pretty Pinot Noir elegance. This lightly meaty and earthy wine is still plenty fresh showing off a core of dark fruits, including black cherry, strawberry, slightly stewed plums and tangy red currant, along with crushed stones, a touch of leather, autumn leaves, truffle, Earl Grey tea, wilted rose and soft wood notes. There is a bit of chalky dry tannin and a lift of acidity helping preserve the fruit on the long finish, making this wine impressive on the medium bodied palate and it’s still up for a solid meal and meaty cuisine. I can’t remember having a wine from this Cru before, and I learned that this one came from all estate vines, which I believe were replanted in the early 1990s or late 1980s and organic, near Savigny in the northern part of the Beaune appellation on sandy soils. I have always loved the whites at Remoissenet, but in recent years, under the new owners and with Pierre-Antoine Rovani (formerly of the Wine Advocate), the estate is bringing more vineyards and focusing on, it seems, the reds, and raising the game here. That said, this 1999 was a rewarding treat and drinking maybe better than would be expected of the vintage and makes me want to explore more of the Remoissenet Premier Crus, which are fairly reasonable in price these days.

Remoissenet, which is an incredibly old Burgundy estate, dates back to 1877 and until the new owners took over in 2005 had a huge collection of cellar aged wines that were ordered by the importer in unique lots of vintages to the United States, making it interesting and surprisingly affordable to get domaine matured older vintages. The estate farms with biodynamics and has some prime vineyards, plus they buy top notch fruit from old growers, paying for quality rather than by weight, making sure each wine is an excellent example of vintage and place. I have mostly enjoyed the whites at Remoissenet, so it was great to experience this Beaune-Marconnets 1er Cru red, especially with the 25 years of age, which showed very nicely still. Remoissenet’s winemaking is philosophically, as they note, is and has always been non-interventionist, with current winemaker Claudie Jobard preferring to “let the grapes speak” (without manipulation) as clearly as possible. Reds here are traditionally fermented on indigenous yeasts in open-top fermenters with gentle handling of the grapes and with hand punch downs with a good maceration period for structural extraction. The wines are pressed and racked to larger French oak barrels (350L) with the percentage of new French oak barrels depending on the cru and or the vintage, with up to 30 percent new wood for villages wines and from 30 to 70 percent for premier crus, like this ones. Reds, typically aged for 12 to 18 months, again according to the winery, are neither fined nor filtered at bottling. Some tasting events are full of mediocre wines to be honest, but this tasting of industry peeps brought out some gems from unexpected places and this Remoissenet was one of them.
($62-109 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2016 Matthiasson, Chardonnay, Michael Mara Vineyard, Sonoma Coast.
One of rare gems in Steve Matthiasson’s collection is the unique Michael Mara Chardonnay, which comes off a unique and rocky site in Sonoma Mountain area, making for a rich and mineral driven wine that almost has a Hermitage Blanc like profile! Tasted blind, thanks to winemaker Ian Brand, who brought it to a small gathering of wine industry peeps, I thought for sure it was a Roussanne based wine with its toasted marshmallow, apricot and almond paste notes. As it opened it gathered up more Chardonnay like qualities with apple and pear fruits, along with clove spice, wet stones, lemon curd, waxy honeycomb and golden fig notes. The wood is fairly subtle with a touch of smokiness, vanilla and an almost oily mouth feel, making this an opulent and nicely mature wine that would be great with lobster and or soft farm cheeses. Matthiasson, one of the most respected vineyard managers in California and who has a cult like following for his own wines, including some extremely rare varietals, like his Rofosco and Ribolla Gialla. Steve says for this wine, the fruit is picked in two batches, with the first batch, 80% of the wine, being harvested very early, to capture the high natural acidity and maintain wine balance and (at) a moderate alcohol level, always under 14%. The second later pick, which accounts for about 20% of the wine to capture the richness and power of the Michael Mara site. The Chardonnay grapes, the winery notes, were whole-cluster-pressed, settled for 24 hours, then barrel fermented. The fermentation of this wine also goes through a full 100% malolactic conversion in mainly older or neutral barrels and with a small percentage of new French oak each vintage. The Chardonnay was given close to 18 months of elevage in the wood, without topping or any sulfur added until bottling and no battonage was used, with Matthiasson adding that the wine rested on the lees undisturbed.

The Napa Valley based Steve Matthiasson says that his Michael Mara Vineyard Chardonnay is a wine borne from (his) blood, sweat, and tears, such was the struggles to plant this vineyard. He explains, that the dream of planting our own vineyard from scratch verged on nightmare as he and his team desperately tried to work with the rockiest soil he’d ever experienced in his 20 years of working in vineyards. The vineyard itself is located at the base of Sonoma Mountain, not far from Hanzell, in a cooler zone west of the town of Sonoma on a complex combination of soils with some volcanic influence, which adds to the mineral intensity. It almost put him out of business, he laments, though the rocks were finally surmounted and the vineyard produced. In an effort to recoup the heavy costs Matthiasson ended up having to mostly sell the grapes here to other wineries to cover the unanticipated expense of planting in these rocks. Lucky for us, he was able to hold a small amount of fruit back for themselves and he happily believes now this effort of planting a vineyard in such conditions was consummated by making this wine and, as I agree, It was clearly worth it. The rocky soil defines this wine, with Matthiasson stating that there is nothing else like it. The wine is 100 percent Chardonnay, clone 4, which Matthiasson says is the clone highest in natural acidity, at least that he is are aware of, and that shines through here, even though this shows a deep concentration and creamy textural quality. I first became aware of Matthiasson, thanks to writer Jon Bonné, the managing editor of Resy and formerly a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, who highlighted Steve, and made him the cover man of his book the New California Wine. Some of tasty other wines by Matthiasson include their lovely Rosé, an authentically rustic Napa Valley Cab Franc, a set of retrained Cabernet Sauvignons and a Semillon, to name a few that I would recommend checking out.
($58-85 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2006 Weingut Dönnhoff, Riesling Auslese, Oberhäuser Brücke, Gold Capsule, Nahe, Germany.
The gorgeous and luscious 2006 Brücke Auslese Gold Capsule is really entering an amazing zone with rich layers of honeyed apricot, golden delicious apple, creme brûlée, marmalade and candied lemon peel, along with some crystalized ginger, clove, dried pineapple, tea spice, wet flint, bitter almond and rosewater notes. While opulently sweet, this Auslese still has some zingy acidity, sexy tension and a fine mineral toned personality and wonderfully balanced, not a bit flabby or cloying, making it a sublime Riesling that can easily go with a well paired meal. This is a wine that can turn almost anyone into a sweet wine lover, again, for those that love Dönnhoff, this is exciting stuff that brilliantly crafted. The carefully vineyard sorted and hand picked grapes come from the VDP Grosse Lage Oberhäuser Brücke, a highly prized Grand Cru site, set on a complex mix of slate, porphyry, sandstone and loam soils on slopes right on the Nahe River.This wine sees partial botrytized fruit, all pressed in a small basket press, slowly, over hours, drip by drip with exceptional care. The 2006 vintage was quite angler and awkward when the wines were first released, but you could always sense a potential and this lush medium to full bodied wine is proof of that and it is reaching a heightened level of pleasure.

The fabulous Brücke vineyard is a totally unique Monopole site for Dönnhoff, near the historic Luitpoldbrücke (Luitpold Bridge), which was, as the winery notes, built during the period of Royal Bavarian administration and crosses the Nahe River directly adjacent to the village of Oberhausen. Opposite that bridge lies a small vineyard parcel that benefits greatly from the nearby river’s moderating influence, which creates a distinctive microclimate protecting the vines from frosty late winter spells and promotes an early flowering each year, which translates into a long growing season for the late-ripening Riesling grape, while retaining good acidity. The VDP Brücke Grosse Lage produces stunning and concentrated wines from dry GGs to ultra sweet Eiswein, with certain parcels reserved for each style and this pedigreed site is always a favorite of my, in fact one of the greatest wines I’ve ever had was an Eiswein from here. While I usually drink and review Dönnhoff’s drier wines, I would be crazy not to highlight the outstanding fruity and sweet wines made here, and this very special golden hued and nicely mature Brücke Gold Capsule Auslese, which was all stainless steel fermented and aged, to preserve transparency and purity, was an awesome surprise treat, that my friend Alex Lallos graciously opened after a casual meal with wine friends.
($42-189 Est. – 375ml) 96 Points, grapelive

2021 I. Brand & Family Winery, Grenache, Besson Vineyard, Santa Clara Valley AVA, California.
One of my favorite single vineyard wines, year after year, is Ian Brand’s Besson Vineyard Grenache, with vines that are a hundred years old and grown on rocky soils at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains in the Santa Clara AVA, which always is dark, expressive and delicious. This is a Grenache lovers wine with deep fruit, showing off plum, wild berry, pomegranate and red currant on there medium/full palate, along with some stem savory/smoky notes, feral earth, licorice, sandalwood, delicate dark lilac florals and tangy herbs. A bit more gripping than a Pinot, but with similar elements and full of hedonist qualities this 2021, with a good cut of acidity, also has refined tannins and should be paired with hearty cuisine and should drink nicely for many years. Ian Brand, especially when I first met him, was a committed Grenachista and while he still is he has filled out his collection of small batch wines under his personal I. Brand & Family label, adding an incredible array of whites, from Pinot Gris to Arneis, along with some stellar mountain Cabernet Sauvignons and terroir driven Cab Francs. Besson was first introduced to me by Bonny Doon’s Randall Grahm, who used it in his Clos de Gilroy Grenache, but Ian’s version takes it up a few levels, with a transparently rustic edge to it, that appeals to me. Brand does a few other Grenache based wines, but this one definitely is one to grab for immediate use and or putting away for a few years.

Ian has been making one of California’s best solo varietal Grenache wines from these historic ten acres of centenarian vines for quite a while now, noting that they are set on the rocky, granitic soiled alluvial bench over Uvas Creek, not too far from Gilroy. Brand picks from blocks 3 and 5 in the rockiest alluvium closest to the creek, which he feels transmits the best of this terroir and benefits include a stony essence. The Besson family, Brand says, acquired the ranch in the forties and continues to guide it through the ever-changing California cultural and viticultural landscape with back breaking care and holistic methods, helping preserve part of California almost lost history, especially in this lesser known region. This is one of the last vineyards that Ian picks every year due to its proximity to Hecker Pass and the cooling breezes off Monterey Bay, the long growing season adding to the depth, complexity and age-ability. The winemaking perfectly captures the best features of the grape and vintage, it is 100% Grenache fermented with about 50% whole cluster, but all whole berries. The uncrushed fruit was uninoculated and macerated for 20 days before being pressed to barrel. The Besson Grenache was then aged on lees in 225L barriques for 18 months with close to 25% new in this vintage, which is proving to be well judged by just how god this wine is showing already. I’m excited with the latest wines here and look forward to see how they evolve over the next 3 to 5 years.
($48 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2022 Cattleya, Chardonnay, Cuvée Number Five, Sonoma Coast.
The brilliant and engrossing Cuvée Number Five Chardonnay by winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, is as she notes, composed of different vineyards influenced by the cooling effect of the coastal fog off the Pacific Ocean with complex soils and multiple clones. Rich on the palate, but with Burgundy like elegance, mineral tones and purring acidity, this pale star/gold hued 2022 Cuvée Number Five shows off apple, white peach, Bosc pear, lemon curd and kiwi fruit, as well as hints of orange blossoms, clove spice, hazelnut, bitter quince, wet stone and juicy salinity. Not as dense and creamy as the Temptress Russian River bottling, but still concentrated and complex, this will appeal to those that appreciate exceptional California Chardonnays, like Hansel, Mount Eden, Aubert, Ramey, Peay and Peter Michael, to name a few. Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni’s own label Cattleya, which she founded in 2012, is full of outstanding wines, like this one, and really showcases her talents in the form of small lot hand-crafted bottlings that are mainly available direct from her mailing list, which I highly recommend joining as soon as possible. As mentioned before, Bibiana’s resume is impressive, including her stints at Château Haut-Brion in Pessac-Leognan as well as with Domaine Stéphane Ogier in Côte-Rôtie, to name just a few!

The Cuvée Number Five Chardonnay comes from two unique vineyards siting above1,000 feet of elevation: Sun Chase and Nightwing, which provide exceptional fruit for this wine. This wine is a blend of three different clonal selections of Chardonnay including 76 Clone, 95 Clone and Old Wente Clone, all which add to the dimension, balance and elegance found in this Cuvée Number Five bottling. Bibiana says her Chardonnay grapes were delicatley and meticulously hand-sorted before being gently presed. After an overnight cold-setting, the juice was racked clean to 60% new French oak barrels where native fermentation worked slowly top reserve the pronounced fruit notes, followed by malolactic fermentation creating added richness and complexity. This Cattleya Chardonnay was bottled unfined and unfiltered after its 11 months of aging in wood. This Chardoonay came in at 14.1% natural alcohol and feels supple and lively with a nice tension holding everything together to near perfection. Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, the Colombian born winemaker and vineyard consultant, as noted here, is making some stunning not to miss wines, especially those under her signature Cattleya label, which includes an incredible set of Chardonnays, such as this one, Pinot Noirs and her awesome Syrah offerings, which are my absolute favorites, from her husband’s (Jeff Pisoni) family’s vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
($70 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2021 Reeve Wines, Pinot Noir “Special Reserve” Sonoma Coast.
It was nice to catch up briefly with Noah Dorrance, of Reeve Wines, recently as he showed off his latest stuff at a portfolio tasting in San Francisco, where he had his sublime 2021 Special Reserve Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, one of my favorites on the day. This dark ruby Pinot is lush, opulent and still brightly focused showing off black cherry, plum, crushed raspberry and blood orange fruit layers, along with cinnamon, mineral tones, rose petals, cola bean and sassafras notes. There’s lots to enjoy and admire here with subtle earth, a savory under current, and a bit of spice as well as smoothly integrated wood add to the performance that will impress Pinot lovers. Coming from a barrel selection of 32 different lots made with grapes sourced from prime Sonoma Coast AVA vineyards, that could include, depending on vintage, the Charles Heinz Vineyard in Occidental, the Thorn Ridge Vineyard, in the Sebastopol Hills, and the famous Rice-Spivak Vineyard, really close to the Ocean southwest of Sebastopol. These cool hillside sites have a common thread of Goldridge soils, but have some subtle additions of mixed clays and volcanic influences and have a good range of clones from Swan, 115, 667, 777 to Pommard, all of helps with depth, complexity, aromatics and lifting acidity. Dorrence and winemaker Katy Wilson make for a great partnership, making authentic wines that have old world inspiration and a Californian soul.

Reeve Wines, as mentioned in prior reviews, was founded by Noah and Kelly Dorrance, who hit the ground running with an all-star winemaking team that included Ross Cobb, of Cobb Wines and Katy Wilson of LaRue Winery and has kept getting better and better with each new set of releases with this 2023 collection being the best yet, especially Noah’s awesome Heinz Chardonnay, all the Pinots, including this Special Reserve and his brilliantly crisp Vermentino, plus the estate Sangiovese. Noah and Kelly have special love for Tuscany, where they got married, and in particular Cortona, which is home to one of Italy’s most intriguing wineries, d’Alessandro, and it inspired them to try their luck at Italian varietals like Sangiovese and Vermentino. As I’ve said repeatedly, I really enjoyed all of the wines here at Reeve, this was a serious and delicious array of wines, which still has the talented hands of Katy Wilson guiding Noah’s stylish and desirable efforts. The winery based in Healdsburg is mostly focused on cooler hillside fruit, native ferments with some whole cluster, and work with sustainable vineyards that provide grapes that excel in purity and vibrancy, as this 2021 Special Reserve Pinot Noir, which came in at 13.6%, clearly displays. Dorrance, who started in the winery game as a partner in Banshee Wines, now has Reeve, started in 2015, as his signature line, as well as his under the radar label BloodRoot Wines, which includes rarities like an Albariño and a Chenin that are worth chasing down too.
($78 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

1988 Dehlinger, Pinot Noir, Reserve, Estate, Russian River Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
The impressive 1998 Reserve, a two barrel edition, from Tom Dehlinger, was a real surprise in a recent California wines blind tasting, showing off a dark garnet/burgundy color with just a shade of brick around the edges and a meaty intensity on the nose, with a finely structured palate of black cherry, dried plum, fig and a red berry reduction, along with mature notes of sous bois, black tea, porporri, earthy truffle, old cedar and brown spices. The body is silky and richly rounded, very evolved, but still lovely in the glass, this certainly is past its best, though rewarding and pleasing. The bacon, delicate florals, autumn leaves and light smoky aromatics reminds me of old Anne Gros Burgundy bottlings of the 1990s, and while the middle of the palate drops off, maybe because of the not ideal vintage which was marred by El Niña/El Niño effects with un-welcome rainy periods, there’s still a lot to admire in this Pinot. The Dehlinger estate vines at the time were many Pommard and Swan clones set mainly on deep Goldridge soils, along with some red clay in parts, which gives the wines textural depth and the dark hue and very much in line with old school Russian River Pinots. The Dehlinger estate vineyard now has 25 acres of Pinot noir vines that were planted in two main groupings, as the winery notes, the first of which originally was planted between 1975-1989, and the second group came between 2011-2014. The clones of Pinot noir are primarily the mentioned Pommard and Swan, but also with smaller amounts of Martini (like Rochioli), Clone 943, a newer Dijon selection that is getting very popular, Calera, and Mount Eden, all helping the more recent wines in terms of complexity.

The Dehlinger winery, now in its fifth decade, was started by Tom Dehlinger, who originally planted his family’s initial 14 acres back in in 1975, and as the winery notes, he was one of the first winemakers to revive western Sonoma County as a wine-growing region post Prohibition. Dehlinger is set on an old apple ranch on Vine Hill Road, just outside of the little town of Sebastopol, which sees the cooling influence of the Pacific and sucked inland by the Russian River itself, making it a perfect place to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Dehliner’s are now, as they say, blessed with an outstanding 80 acre site planted to classic wine-grapes which they have refined over the years and they refashioned some of the older plantings with new graftings, improved trellising, and eventually updated most all of the plantings. Tom has built the label into an iconic and very Independent winery with his daughters, Carmen and Eva, who was lucky to meet a few years ago when she was starting to make the wines, taking over and running the business day to day now. I’ve long been a fan of the Dehlinger wines, which includes as mentioned Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, as well as estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, one of my favorites, and a rare Rosé of Pinot Noir in certain years, all of which I highly recommend. The classic Dehlinger Pinots were always very special hand-crafted and small lot offerings and the modern versions continue to be outstanding examples of the Russian River Valley terroir and shouldn’t be missed. These days, Tom still keeps his hands in, as winemaker, but Eva, who studied Earth Systems Science with a focus in Land Management at Stanford University and who later studied viticulture and terroir for a year at the masters level at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, has added her own stamp on the wines.
($55 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2002 Domaine Pavelot, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Premier Cru “La Dominode” Red Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
The enticing, dark ruby/brick hued and fully mature 2002 Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune “La Dominode” 1er Cru is a beautiful and delicate Pinot Noir with loads of character, charm and subtle earthiness. Tasted blind with an excellent array of wines, this Pavelot was a widely admired for its depth and balance with only hints of dried fruit and peak evolution, it showed pretty black cherry, cranberry, blood orange and Turkish dried fig fruits, some briar, black tea and bergamot as well as wilted rose, stony/mineral and a light dusting of spice. The palate was heavenly silken and subtle, while still vibrant and nicely structured, impressively clear and absolutely terroir driven. The Premier Cru La Dominode, which is Dominus in Latin, and used to owed by the “Lord” of Savigny. is an eastern facing vineyard with moderately ripe exposures and the Pavelot’s blocks up up to about 5 and half acres, which allows for about 600 to 800 cases depending on the years crop

The Savigny-lès-Beaune may not get the attention of Burgundy collectors, like its neighbors Volnay or Pommard do, but there’s a fabulous collection of Premier Crus here and there’s some incredible wines, that sometimes way over perform for the price, with Pavelot, Guillemot and Camus-Bruchon all doing outstanding stuff from here. This may have been the first time for me having a wine made from this particular site, so it was a thrill to taste this La Dominode 1er Cru from Pavelot, who’s plot is mostly from all organic vines planted pre-war in the 1930s, along with parcels planted in the 1970s, as well as 1990s, all with good maturity on classic chalky limestone and clay underneath a sandy top soil. For this wine, typically the Pavelot’s use 5 to 15% whole cluster and native yeasts in the fermentation with a 2 to 3 week maceration and only a 6 day punch down regiment before pressing to barrel. The Premier Crus normally see about 35% new wood, and the elevage is pretty much about 12 months in the oak, which feels excellent in this aged 2002, and I am excited to try some of the more modern expressions for here!
($60-90 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Von Othegraven, Riesling Kabinett “Bockstein” Kanzem an der Saar, Germany.
What a refreshing, pure and mineral toned wine this 2022 Bockstein Kabinett by Von Othegraven, a winery I fist tried back in the 1990s, it is a drier style Kabinett and comes from a full VDP Grosse Lage in the remote Saar region. The light framed palate has a range of aromatic and steely flavors going from racy citrus to orchard fruits with key lime, green apple, apricot and melon leading the way, along with flinty stones, chamomile, bitter almond and sweet and sour herbs. There’s just the right amount of pleasing residual sugar here, the wine is 8%, to bring about a balance with the natural acidity and makes for a really good companion to slightly spicy cuisine with a touch of heat, like Asian curries, though it can be enjoyed with cured meats and or sipped on its own. The Bockstein VDP Grosse Lage or Grand Cru is mainly slopes of Devonian slate above the Saar River, not far from the confluence of the Mosel, and gives plenty of pedigree to this easy to love wine. It should be noted, that the Scharzhofberg near Wiltingen, the Ayl Kupp, the Ockfener Bockstein, where this wine was born, and the Kanzemer Altenberg are some of the most famous Riesling sites in the world, set on the Saar, formerly known as “Mosel-Saar-Ruwer”, and made famous by the likes of Egon Müller, Paul Lauer, Von Hövel and Von Othegraven.

The Weingut von Othegraven, a classic producer, is a fine wine-growing estate in the Mosel/Saar wine region with a long wine-growing history that dates back hundreds of years, with the actual label established in the 16th century and in modern times was a founding member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, better known as the VDP. Now, Günter Jauch and his family are the seventh generation to manage this Kanzem an der Saar estate. The von Othegraven estate mansion, which is a listed historic monument and the park, has an almost English style garden with century-old exotic trees from around the world, as well as top notch wine cellars. Director of winemaking Andreas Barth has brought back the quality level here and since about 2012 these Von Othegraven offerings have regained their highly sought after reputation and this lovely 2022 Kabinett is certainly evidence in the glass of that continued excellence. Barth, who has plenty of cru vineyards to chose from, ferments with native yeasts and goes after a more dry style in most cases, with this Bockstein Kabinett seeing a spontaneous fermentation and aging in all stainless steel tank to preserve clarity and freshness, and even though off dry and fruit driven, the overall keel is crisp and drier, as noted above. It was nice to de-discover Von Othegraven and I really enjoyed this 2022 Bockstein Kabinett, it definitely has me wanting to explore the full range of wines here, especially the upper end of the collection!
($20 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Rully, Bourgogne Blanc, Côte Chalonnaise France.

The talented Vincent Dureuil is making some fabulous whites these days, even though the reds are very good too, and actually I know this small winery mainly for this Rully Blanc bottling, which is always an outstanding white Burgundy value, with this 2020 vintage being truly outstanding adding an extra level of depth and palate impact. As in previous vintages this gorgeous Dureuil-Janthial Rully Blanc shows off a rich and expressive medium bodied palate with lemon preserves, quince, apple, pear and faint orange fruits, along with a strong mineral intensity, a rich leesy hazelnut note, all in a slightly reductive style and with a subtle oak element that is perfectly judged. This is a brilliant pale gold Chardonnay and clearly terroir driven with mineral tones and touches of clove spice, as well as delicate florals. Up against some serious Chassagne offerings in a blind tasting of Burgundy whites, this Rully, from the Côte Chalonnaise, really held its own impressively and I highly recommend checking out all of the Domaine Dureuil-Janthial collection if given any chance. Again it would be savvy to grab some of the current releases of Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, in particular these exotic and denser 2020s, but the 2022s I hear are exceptional too.

Vincent Dureuil, who took over the Dureuil-Janthial domaine from his father Raymond in 1994, has passionately made it his mission in wine to up the game in this part of the Côte Chalonnaise, which sits just about five miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet, and especially Rully, which is a fine limestone and clay terroir. As mentioned in my prior reviews, I have also enjoyed Domaine Dureuil-Janthial’s regular Bourgogne Blanc in other vintages, and their Rully 1er Cru “Chapitre” as mentioned before, also, very much caught my attention, along with the fabulous Aligoté, which as I said above is very much worth chasing down. The winemaking at Domaine Dureuil-Janthial is pretty much a process of staying out of the way and allowing the vintage, the grapes and the vineyards do the work and the speaking in the bottle, rather than forcing anything in the cellar. Vincent Dureuil gives the grapes a soft and slow whole-cluster pressing and then racks the juice straight into exclusively used barriques where the Chardonnay ferments with only indigenous yeasts. And in most cases, the wine sees about 12 months on the lees in neutral barrel and then another 6 months in stainless steel tank before bottling, to promote transparency and keep loads of verve and tension. Rully, as I’ve said before, makes for some tasty Chardonnays that deliver some of the best bargains in White Burgundy these days, such as this one. 

($48-59 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2021 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Trocken, Oestricher Lenchen “Rosengarten” Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau Germany.
The gorgeous and beautifully aromatic 2021 Spreitzer Rosengarten Grosses Gewachs, coming from their Oestrich Lenchen vineyard in the middle Rheingau, near the estate, is a fantastic and well structured Grand Cru dry Riesling that should impress for decades to come, and while I’m excited for the 2023s, this wine doesn’t disappoint and I high recommend not passing it by if you see it! This Rosengarten GG shows off a heady perfume with layers of sweet pea, white violet, a delicate steely minerallity and a deep palate of orchard stone and citrus fruits, including white peach, apricot, tangerine and lime in a firmly held together medium full bodied wine with great extract and stony elements. Additionally it adds Asian tea and spices, a touch of quince, saline, wet flint and sea shore notes. When full open this Riesling shows its leesy opulence and brings out even more floral detail, just like the 2018 did, with hints of lime flower and jasmine. Oestrich, which has a long wine-producing history, is a town on the banks of the Rhein river and has five VPD Grosse Lage or Grand Cru vineyards, each planted is (obviously) predominantly to Riesling, including Doosberg, Lenchen, Jesuitengarten, St. Nikolaus and Rosengarten, as seen here, and the Sprieitzer’s have significant parcels in each. Notably, Rosengarten, which i visited in 2016, is one of the best parts of the greater Oestricher Lenchen site which faces south and is partially enclosed by a small stone wall that stores heat during the day, warming the vines closest to it. This spectacular VDP Grosse Lage “Rosengarten vineyard is not just a one trick pony either, it can make both exceptional dry and sweet wines, and it has a combination of loam, loess and hard marl, plus an alluvial sandy element to the soils, which adds to the depth flavors as well as a transmission of a lovely mineral tone to the wines.

Weingut Josef Spreitzer, now run by the brothers, Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, was originally founded back in 1641, making it one of the oldest family wineries in the Rheingau, is located not far from the Rhein villages of Hattenheim, Oestrich-Winkel and Etville, where the Rhein river is at its widest point, it creates an almost lake effect and the terroir is quite unique here with less slate than just down the river in Rudesheim and the soils here vary with areas of loess, clay, shell limestone, gravel, a bit of slates, quartzite, iron-rich stones and sand, all of which forms the individual characteristics and complexities in Spreitzer’s diverse offerings. As mentioned in my prior reviews, Weingut Spreitzer strives to maintain fruit intensity, vibrancy and freshness, looking for finesse, so they settle the must (juice) by gravity for 24 hours after a whole-cluster pressing, they then allow the wines to rest on their gross lees and only filter the wine once during the fermentation and aging period. They employ a long cool fermentation, and extended lees elevage to protect the juice from oxidation, using mostly ambient (natural) yeasts for fermentation in both temperature controlled stainless steel and their old wood. They used the classic 1,200 liter casks, made of German oak, which are called Stückfass, in which this Grosses Gewachs was matured for close to 9 months before bottling, after which the wine is held almost a year before release. The whole collection at Spreitzer is full of quality efforts, and my favorites include their Estate Trocken, a bargain bottling, as well as their expressive Kabinett, Spatlese and special Alte Reben (old vine) Feinherb(s), which are outrageous values too, and of course their majestic Premier Cru and powerful Grand Crus, like this GG Rosengarten. I have been to Spreitzer, as mentioned, back in 2016 and always will be grateful of the experiences touring their most prized vineyards and tasting in the ancient cellars, and most recently caught up with Andreas in San Francisco where I tasted through an exciting set of 2021, 2022 and barrel samples of 2023s, all of which were impeccable made and distinctive Rieslings.
($60 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Bedrock Wine Company, Bedrock Vineyard, Heritage Red Wine, Sonoma Valley.
A bit more expressive, riper and concentrated than the 2021, but still showing a heightened level of finesse, which is notable considering the warmer vintage and there’s a lot to admire here in this dark purple and luxuriously layered 2022 Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel Blend, and one of California’s most cherished and historic vines in the Sonoma Valley. This bottling by Bedrock is really a must have for California wine enthusiasts and this year’s release has loads of pleasure and potential, joining wines like Ridge’s Lytton Springs, Turley’s Old Vine Zin and Biale’s Black Chicken, to name a few, that show off Zinfandel’s best qualities. This 2022 is hedonistic and deep with black raspberry, sweet plum, blueberry compote and candied cherry fruits, along with snappy herbs, brambly spices, black licorice and lovely dark florals, plus a subtle toasty oak note, a touch of loamy earth and an underlying velvety tannin structure, making this a joy in the glass, but with a seriousness that ops it up a level. Morgan Twain-Peterson MW, winemaker and owner of Bedrock, uses only grapes that come from the original 1888 plantings at his Bedrock Vineyard, for this spectacular California wine from the heart the heart of the Sonoma Valley. This historic vineyard is set on well drained rocky soils in a climate that sees lots of sunshine and heat in the Summer, but that cools down dramatically at night with the valley pulling in cool air from the west and the Pacific as well as afternoon breezes. The Bedrock Vineyard includes a high percentage of Zinfandel, but there are dozens of other varietals interplanted here, including Mataro, Grenache, Petite Sirah and other rare old grapes, like Alicante Boushet and Carignan, all of which add to the complexity, balance, a touch of savoriness and very age worthy substance here.

Bedrock Wine Co. was started in 2007, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zin maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines, which are well worth searching out too. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that this winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine and Bedrock is one of my favorites, especially these Heritage Reds. The latest releases from Bedrock are exceptional and have a sense of lightness and grace, traits not always found in Zinfandel based wines with this one and the Evangelho Vineyard Hermitage Red, also a site owned and farmed by Twain-Peterson, always being favorites in the collection, The Bedrock reds are produced in most cases with natural un-inoculated fermentation(s), native malo-lactic, and with the use of whole clusters in fermentation, the wine is left to do its thing with gentle attention along the way without additions. They take great care to use the best aging vessels as possible, preferring only to use quality oak in the aging process, using barriques and larger casks when the wine demands it. Really, Bedrock focuses on the individual vineyard and what it needs in each vintage, saying at the core of all of their wines is allowing these sites and grapes a stage to show ideal ripeness and individual personalities, again seen here in the 2022 version, showing just how special this site is! It was great to catch up with Bedrock’s Chris Cottrell recently and taste through the latest releases, all of which are brilliant efforts, especially this one and the under the radar Pato Vineyard Zin, don’t miss them.
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Selbach Oster, Riesling Trocken, Zeltingen “Sonnenuhr” Grosses Gewächs, Mosel, Germany.
As I’ve noted recently in prior reviews, there’s so much to admire in Selbach Oster’s latest set of releases, in is hard to pick favorites, but there are ones that you should really look out for, with their stunning 2022 Sonnenuhr GG being maybe my first choice, along with the single parcel Rotlay Riesling, the brilliant 2023 Schlossberg Spatlese and the 2023 Himmelreich Kabinett. This stunning 2022 Sonnenuhr Grosses Gewächs Riesling is an almost flawless dry Riesling with incredible mineral intensity and Chablis Grand Cru elegance, it shows off a steely core of classic Mosel slatey influenced citrus and apple fruits, smoky spice, a touch of tropical essences, crystalized ginger, clove, quince and bitter almond notes. Stony and crisp, this excellent, slightly floral toned Riesling has plenty of mouth watering acidity, though still very Selbach like in its pleasure on the medium bodied palate, with lovely generosity, concentration and depth. This is definitely one of the wines to watch in the current set of releases, which I was lucky enough to taste through with Johannes Selbach himself, along with his son Sebastian, who’s taken on a much bigger role in the last few years with some equally big success, and they’ve produced some fantastic wines, like this one. I’ve personally collected and enjoyed the Selbach Oster wines since about 2002 and have had great and rewarding experiences with them, especially with some age on them. I will also note, while I am a acid head and love the dry wines here, do not fear the sugar, their off dry and sweet bottlings are absolutely glorious and sublime with hedonism and impeccable balance, so never miss the chance to have their luscious Spatlese and Auslese efforts. The Selbach’s also do a unique, mouth wateringly dry and flinty Pinot Blanc that I also recommend, in case you might need a break from the Rieslings!

Johannes Selbach, as mentioned before, like Dr. Loosen, is one of Germany’s best known winemakers of his generation, and son Sebastian are raising the game here at Selbach-Oster, with an amazing collection of offerings from the 2022 and 2023 vintages. The winery, which dates back here in the Mosel since the 1600s, is looking forward and backwards, paying tribute to generations of Selbachs and their traditions as well as embracing the future with all of its uncertainties with confidence and intensity of their work. A very significant portion of their vines are on their original rootstocks and are ungrafted, including the stunning set of parcels in Zeltinger, their home town, like those that go into this masterpiece. I’m a huge and long time fan of these wines from Himmelreich, Schlossberg and Sonnenuhr, all set on blue Devonian slate, again, where this wine comes from. Selbach’s holdings of Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher and Bernkasteler Graben are ultra steep sites that showcase their slate driven terroirs to perfection and sit on contiguous slope facing south-south west and without question are some of the most prestigious sites in the Mosel. The winery notes that 85% of the Selbach’s vines are on steep slopes, which helps give their collection of Rieslings an extra boost of intensity and distinction. The Selbach wines have always been crafted to be generous and full of pleasure, highlighting the quality of the fruit and the expressive terroirs, with Johannes using traditional 1000L oak fuders on the upper end wines. The vinifications, as the winery notes, are done in a combination of fuder and stainless steel, in a hands-off manner with no fining, and with wild yeasts. The main focus at Selbach-Oster is on meticulous work in the vineyard, which is carried out with organic and sustainable farming, with the aim to produce and bring home perfect fruit, as seen here with this monumental Sonnenuhr GG. It was wonderful to see Johannes Selbach at Skurnik Wines West Coast German and Austrian wine portfolio tasting earlier this Summer and recapture Mosel groove and my Riesling thrill.
($48 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2020 Jean Foillard, Morgon “Côte du Py” Cru Beaujolais, France.
Always a favorite of mine, Jean Foillard’s signature Morgon Côte du Py Cru Beaujolais is a deeply purple/garnet hued beauty with satiny pure Gamay goodness on the medium bodied palate, showing off a violets bouquet, ripe berries and a spicy/savory whole cluster crunch. Reminding me a bit of 2009, but with a little more finesse and inner brightness, this 2020 is as good as it gets and is drinking fabulously well, with a classic Foillard profile of flavors. As always, this wine, comes from vines that range from 10 to 90 years old and set on the granite based soils with schist and veins of manganese this gorgeous Côte du Py shows black raspberry, sweet plum, black currant and strawberry, along with an array of subtle spice, dried herbs, and mineral notes. As it opens in the glass, you are seduced by exotic and heavenly florals, crushed peonies, as well as with hints of anise, walnut, a light and raw earthy element. The acidity is non aggressive, but life giving here, giving lift to the concentrated fruit density, and the textural pleasure of the semi-carbonic whole cluster fermentation adds sex appeal. This year’s version, from organic grapes with ultra low SO2 employed, as per normal, is serious stuff, and while ripe at 14% natural alcohol, the balance is impeccable, making for an exceptional wine to enjoy over the decade to come, though no patience is required here. I highly recommend searching out all of the Foillard offerings, including this Côte du Py, along with the rare black label Fleurie, and Jean’s son Alex’s wines, under his own label, are thrilling too and are excellent values.

Jean Foillard, as mentioned here in prior reviews, was greatly inspired by natural wine guru Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who led the natural wine movement in the Beaujolais and redefined the wines of the region and who wanted to go back to pre-industrial style organic farming and not use chemical additives in the cellar. Jean and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton joined in on this movement, this became the Gang of Four, a nickname coined by the famed importer Kermit Lynch, who brought these masterpieces of Gamay to America, along with Dutraive and others brought critical acclaim to this region that had been badly maligned for generations. Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, with stellar vineyard holdings mainly in the revered Côte du Py, as Kermit Lynch notes, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of the Morgon cru. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity on these wines. Jean Foillard, who hand crafts his wines using native yeasts and using traditional 100% whole cluster with a long gentle maceration that usually lasts just over 3 weeks and raises his wines in older barrels, always well seasoned and sourced from top estates in Burgundy, including the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. This elevage of the Côte du Py in the used French barriques is between 6 to 9 months, depending on the vintage and always to preserve energy, transparency and purity. If you can find this 2020, buy it, but I hear the 2022s are pretty much on the same level and I look forward to getting some myself.
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2020 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Chassagne-Montrachet “Vieilles Vines” White Burgundy, France.
The pale gold/straw hued 2020 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey old vines Chassagne-Montrachet is super concentrated and richly flavored, it highlights the year almost perfectly in the glass, with a lush opulence and a beautifully textural mouth feel. The palate is full and deep with lemon curd, apple, pear and peach fruits, along with classic reductive flint, hazelnut, matchstick, wet stones and toasty oak vanilla and delicate florals, making for a very expressive version of Chassagne that will thrill Colin-Morey’s fans. This PYCM Vieilles Vignes bottling is always a special treat and even though not cheap it offers almost Grand Cru excitement and depth, with this vintage being especially impactful. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, one of Burgundy’s biggest stars, follows a strict protocol and method, using all sustainable and hand tended vineyards, with mostly organic practices in the vineyards, while in the cellar he ferments and ages his wines in barrel, with early picks being the norm, using indigenous yeasts and somewhat notably, he prefers larger format 350L French oak demi-muids instead of the classic 228L barriques, with his Lieu-Dit and Premier Crus seeing close to 30% new if not more, adding just the right amount of toasty accents.

Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, led by Pierre-Yves Colin, who is the eldest son of the famed Marc Colin, is based in Chassagne-Montrachet in their new cellars there that he shaves with his wife’s label Caroline Colin-Morey. Maker of some of Burgundy’s most sought out white wines, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, as mentioned here in prior reviews, has made a brilliant career in Chardonnay. Pierre-Yves worked aside his dad and brothers as the winemaker at his father’s domaine from 1994 to 2005, then stepped out on his own founding his own domaine, starting it from family vineyards he inherited from his family and his wife’s side too, also famous and with good parcels of vines in the region. Since that time, he rapidly rose in the wine world, especially with his Saint-Aubin and Chassagne White Burgundies, he has really is a star in the Cote de Beaune and these wines set the gold standard for quality. He and his wife Caroline, join Jean-Marc Roulot and Alix de Montille as one of Burgundy’s elite power couple, and while his top bottlings are spectacular, I am always thrilled with his less pricey offerings, especially his Saint-Aubin lieu-dit whites. The Colin family has some fabulous plots in some of the Cote de Beaune’s best vineyards, from Chassagne to Batard (Montrachet), and Pierre-Yves added some high quality vineyards to his own portfolio, expanding into the Cote de Nuits and to the Côte Chalonnaise, with great success, with Pierre-Yves doing a lovely set of Rully Blancs.
($150 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

1986 Domaine Joblot, Givry 1er Cru “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” Red Burgundy, France.
Wonderfully pretty, delicate, mature and pure, this 1986 Joblot Premier Cru Givry “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” really shined and was a real surprise in a recent Blind Burgundy tasting showing off a smooth medium bodied palate with seductive earthy red fruits, light sous bois, autumn leafs, tea spices and potpourri. This was an interesting experience, as I’ve never had a seriously aged version of this Givry appellation and I’ve not any of this old school producer, with this Domaine Joblot putting on a fabulous display in the glass, and while getting to its maximum limit or past its best, there was tons of personality and soulful expression here to admire. You’d definitely want to enjoy this one sooner versus later, but I was thrilled by how it did with its silky layers of dried cherry, brambly red berry, strawberry and fig fruits, along with wilted rose petals, leather, pipe tobacco, truffle and beefy notes. This traditionally made fading beauty hung on nicely on an evening of some really impressive terroir driven Burgundies and was a rewarding treat, consider me a fan, and I’m very grateful one of my tasting group friends dug this out of long lost cellar collection. It’s good to know that second generation winemaker, Juliette Joblot is continuing produce high quality efforts and organically tends to her domaine’s 13.5 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay within Givry’s unique natural amphitheater.

The lesser known, Givry AOC appellation which is set in the Côte Chalonnaise, is a subregion of Burgundy, like Mercurey and Marsannay that is planted to about 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. So the small Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) of Givry, like Rully, may be labeled for red or white wine, but as noted, the production of red wine dominates here and there are 27 Premier Cru vineyards, with just 24 acres of Pinot Noir vines within 1er Cru Givry AOC, including this Cellier Aux Moines, and the AOC was granted back in 1946. The greater Côte Chalonnaise, located to the south of the main Côte d’Or and Côte de Beaune part of Burgundy, is named after the historic town of Chalon-sur-Saône, situated on the Saône River. The town was an important trading post or central of the Celts in Gaul that was later used by the Romans, who began expanding the wine trade here, making it an important commodity moving up and down the river. While Pinot is the most common grape here, there is a commune, Bouzeron, that specializes in Aligoté, and Gamay is also found here. As a terroir, the Côte Chalonnaise do not run along the slopes of a single escarpment or range of hills, it has three main isolated areas set on patches of limestone, including Givry, which makes for high quality Pinots, as this Joblot shows even at almost 40 years old! I’m very excited to explore the more recent vintages of Domaine Joblot, one of the top producers in Givry, and the youthful Juliette’s efforts, with an eagerness to see how her latest Givry 1er Cru “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” tastes!
($60 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

September 2024

2016 Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco DOCG, Piedmonte, Italy.
Always a great value for pure Barbraresco, this Produttori del Barbaresco is classy, delicately floral and lingering, with classic lght minty herbs, pipe tobacco, cranberry and racy ripe red fruits leading the way, along with a core of brandied cherry, tangy Damson plum. Additionally there’s some creme de violette, a touch of leather and subtle fig accents, along with tarry licorice, saline infused stones and a touch of alluring earthiness. The palate fills out nicely with this 2016 vintage showing its early potential well with some maturity, but still stays vibrant, fresh and structured throughout. With food and more time, the lingering flinty spices, dried rose petal, and iodine/savory elements given even more Nebbiolo complexity and enhance the experience with a bit more depth and concentration than the 2013, one of my favorites and less heat than the 2017 showed. This Barbaresco is sourced from various parcels and exposures, set on limestone and clay soils, rich in calcium with sandy veins, and was stainless steel vat fermented, per normal, after which it was then aged 24 months in traditional large oak casks. It is quite amazing that this wine, with 22,000 cases made, can be this good, this unique and this consistent, it is a tribute to each and everyone of the collection of individual farmers that go about their work with such pride and passion.

Modern Barbaresco, as noted in prior reviews of Produttori, came into being, or saw a significant re-awakening In 1958, when the priest of the village of Barbaresco, recognizing that the only way the small properties could survive was by joining forces, and he gathered together nineteen small growers and founded the Produttori del Barbaresco. The first three vintages were made in the church basement, then in the winery built across the square where the Produttori is still located. The Produttori as of today has 54 members and controls more than 100 hectares (250 acres) of premium Nebbiolo vineyards in Barbaresco. Before that, back in 1894, Domizio Cavazza, the headmaster of the Royal Enological School of Alba and a proud Barbaresco resident who realized that the area had a distinct terroir and was an equal to the bigger and more famous Barolo, created the first cooperative, the Cantine Sociali to compete with Barolo, he gathered together nine Barbaresco vineyard owners to make wine in the local castle that he owned, and this was how Barbaresco came into being. Sadly the fascist government of Mussolini put the original co-op out of business, but after the war and Italy’s re-birth, things started looking up for (the) Produttori del Barbaresco. These days the Cru bottlings, like their Asili, Montefico, Montestefano, Muncagota, Ovello, Pajè, Pora, Rabajà and Rio Sordo Riservas, are highly sought after, but this basic Barbaresco is a fantastic wine and a great value, especially in vintages like this. This 2016 Barbaresco is a lovely and pure expression of Nebbiolo and it has entered a nice drinking window, and I recommend you start enjoying this vintage.
($40-70 est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2017 Girolamo Russo, Enta Rosso DOC, ‘A Rina, Sicily, Italy.
The lighter framed, smoky, and mineral toned garnet/brickish 2017 ‘A Rina Etna Rosso, made by Giuseppe Russo of Girolamo Russo, comes from various Contradas, or crus, notably including the famous San Lorenzo, Feudo, Calderara Sottana and Feudo di Mezzo with mature vines that range in age from 20 to 100 years old, making a very delicious, slight reduced and savory expression of terroir. Russo’s 2017 ‘A Rina has a medium body and an underlying satiny feel, though is still authentically rustic with balsamic and gun flint notes, with a rounded and maturing palate of brandied cherry, strawberry and plum fruit, along with fennel, rosemary, cinnamon, cigar wrapper, camphor and dried rose petal accents. The final blend is typically 80-90% Nerello Mascalese, with a small dose of Nerello Cappuccio included, and maybe a tiny percentage of other varietals that are rare native grapes that were interplanted in some of the terraces. These sloping vineyard sites, on the cooler exposures of the north side of Europe’s most active Volcano are dominated by the volcanic soils and kept healthy through organic practices, which Giuseppe employed, after the death of his father in 2005, to make the best wine possible. Mount Etna is one of Italy’s most exciting growing regions and in recent years there’s been an amazing array of talent on display here, with these Girolamo Russo wines being certainly a great addition and well worth searching out, I am excited to try their new releases in the near future!

The Girolamo Russo winery, an all organic tiny Etna producer, led by Giuseppe Russo, who was a professionally trained and performing pianist, that started this label in 2005 with his family’s old vines vineyards, some of which are now a 100 years old. He works 15 hectares of vines on the cooler North side of Etna around the town of Passopisciaro, one of the most famous areas on the volcano and uses mostly the Nerello Mascalese grapes, one of the most iconic of Sicilian varietals these days. The signature Etna red grape is a varietal that thrives on the volcanic soils, it makes for a fine tannin structured, silky medium bodied, wine that leads to comparisons with Burgundy (Pinot Noir) with it’s elegance and complexity. Of course though with very different with its exotic lava/ash spiciness and brambly red fruited profile, it has it’s own terroir character that gives a unique appeal and style, as seen here in the Girolamo Russo wines. All of Giuseppe’s cru wines are crafted the same way, with native/natural yeast, without fining or filtration, or temperature control at fermentation and employing a gentile 10-12 day maceration, with hand punch downs, with each of the small lots kept separate until blending into each of the wines. The wines are aged in neutral oak casks, along with some concrete, on the fine lees for close to a year before bottling. Giuseppe Russo was keen to learn his craft and was inspired by the region’s stars, but truly wanted go his own way without being constrained by dogma or modern influences, relying on what he believes is the best way to express his terroir, as seen here.
($40 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2020 Marie-Courtin, Resonance, Pinot Noir, Extra Brut, Blanc de Noirs Champagne, France.
The gorgeous Marie-Courtin Extra Brut “Resonance” is a 100% Pinot Noir Blanc de Noirs from intense chalky soils in the Aube region and a riper terroir that was fermented and lees aged in stainless steel, as well as having no dosage, which gives this beautiful grower Champagne a fresh Extra Brut vitality and a structured mouth feel along with a crisp restrained nature, making it wonderfully pure and deliciously entertaining. I first reviewed the Resonance with the 2014 vintage, and while similar in finesse and style, this recent disgorgement is more elevated and complex, showing off lemony citrus, white cherry red apple skin, white nectarine and quince fruits, as well as leesy/yeasty richness on the luxurious palate, with hazelnut, bread dough, saline, light herbs, delicate florals, wet stone and a faint hint of reduction. Grower Champagne is a very exciting niche market and it seems to be getting better and better with some outstanding hand crafted single site wines, like these Marie-Courtin offerings, which are becoming pretty sought after, but still incredibly reasonable in price for the quality in the glass, as this one displays with panache.

The wonderfully talented Dominique Moreau, winemaker/cellar master at Champagne Marie Courtin, is crafting some serious all biodynamic/organic grower fizz from a single vineyard in the Côte des Bar zone of the southern most part of the region, not too far away Chablis, set on the same Jurassic era Kimmeridgian (limestone) soils. Marie-Courtin is farming a unique massale selection of old vine grapes, including these in an old vine Pinot Noir parcel that were planted in the 1970s. This warmer area allows for ripe fruit, making it possible to use a light or non dosage here, and add to the textural pleasures of these sparkling wines made by Moreau. While, as mentioned, the domaine is rather new to most Champagne lovers, with the first release coming in 2005, this tiny estate is already highly regarded and coveted, with their offerings joining the likes of Mousse, Cedric Bouchard and Jerome Prevost, to name drop a few, as a rising star(s) in the “Grower Fizz” category. Specializing in an extremely dry racy style of mineral and terroir driven bubbly, which I particularly enjoy, and that are just glorious with food, as well as appetizers such as briny oysters, caviar and or creamy cheeses, like Epoisses!
($60-79 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Von Winning, Riesling Trocken, Ungeheuer, Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz Germany.
As per normal with this wine, Von Winning’s 2022 Ungeheuer really takes off when allowed to breathe and I think it has huge potential for even more magic in the coming decade, it is an outstanding GG that delivers Grand Cru White Burgundy class along with its Riesling purity and mineral intensity, I just love what Stephan Attmann has done with these profound dry Rieslings. Still remarkably fresh and tight, but you can feel the underlying concentration and depth here and it unwinds to display this vineyards classic and steely profile of lemon curd, apricot, white peach and mango fruits as well as wet stones, saline, spearmint, leesy hazelnut and lime blossom accents. Von Winning as reported far and wide, and of course by me in recent years, is one of Germany’s greatest and most unique wine estates, based in the Pfalz and with a no compromise sense of purpose in everything wine they do, from their basic state Riesling to their Grosses Gewachs, like this gorgeous and textural Ungeheuer GG, and it’s worth noting they also make one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs along with a sublime collection of Pinot Noir and sparkling Sekt(s)! Vigneron and cellar master Stephan Attmann has put tremendous effort and focus into the vines here with the Von Winning Riesling vines trained in the same way as you’d find in Meursault or Montrachet and he admits he is heavily influenced by the Cote d’Or and the great wines of Burgundy and his winemaking is also inspired by the fabled French region with barrel fermentation and lees aging with a very dry focus. Von Winnings set of GGs is almost unmatched, with Leinhohle, Langenmorgen, Grainhubel and this Ungeheuer being exceptional, along with the very famous Kirchenstück, maybe the most expensive vineyard site in Germany, and the exotic Kalkofen, to name a few.

The Von Winning estate, as reported far and wide, and of course by me in recent years, is one of Germany’s greatest and most unique wine estates, based in the Pfalz and with a no compromise sense of purpose in everything wine they do, from their basic state Riesling to their Grosses Gewachs, like this gorgeous and textural Ungeheuer GG, and it’s worth noting they also make one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs along with a sublime collection of Pinot Noir and sparkling Sekt(s)! Vigneron and cellar master Stephan Attmann has put tremendous effort and focus into the vines here with the Von Winning Riesling vines trained in the same way as you’d find in Meursault or Montrachet and he admits he is heavily influenced by the Cote d’Or and the great wines of Burgundy and his winemaking is also inspired by the fabled French region with barrel fermentation and lees aging with a very dry focus. Attmann, who has said his winemaking technique is not doing the wrong things at the wrong time, uses a gentle touch in the cellar allowing his top dry wines to go through indigenous yeast fermentations in cask and uses no additions with an all gravity flow press room, with his Grosses Gewächs wines ferment and age in 500mL French barrels, though he has refined his usage in recent times preferring less new oak, which is clearly the case here. As i mentioned in my recent reviews, I was thrilled to meet up with Stephan Attmann this Summer and taste through the latest efforts here in the States by Von Winning, which are imported by Skurnik Wines, and I was again blown away by his collection, including the top Kirchenstück GG, this Ungeheuer obviously, and the mentioned Sauvignon Blancs, plus my favorite village and Premier Crus! From Von Winning’s basic estate bottlings to these GGs, there’s a quality wine for everyone and in case you’ve not yet experienced this estate, you are truly missing out!
($79 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2007 Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe, Mondeuse Tradition, Vin de Savoie, France.
Grisard Michel’s wines are now huge cult favorites, especially after he retired, with some of his releases like the 2005 and this fabulous 2007 Mondeuse Vin de Savoie getting some nose bleed prices, making this a rare treat indeed. This nicely matured dark garnet hued Mondeuse shows off smooth layers of dried, spiced and dusty fruit with black raspberry, cherry, cranberry and reduced strawberry, along with hints of not sweet caramelized sugar, leather, briar, light floral notes, earthy loam and cedary accents. This Domaine Prieure Saint-Christophe was sneaky ringer in a blind tasting recently and it showed beautifully along side some finely aged Burgundies. The Mondeuse Noire varietal, which is a dark skinned alpine grape, produces a deeply colored wine with lots of earthy and spicy flavors, as well as having a heady violet and peony bouquet, especially in its youth and has some similarities to Syrah, but a bit lighter and more tangy usually. Mondeuse is grown primarily in the Savoie region of eastern France, high up and close to the Swiss border, though it has found its way to the new world. With this producer being a tough get, I also recommend the Vin de Savoie Chignin (Mondeuse) “Vieilles Vignes” from André et Michel Quenard if you want to explore this region and grape. The grape can now also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland and freakishly as well as on Sicily, which seems odd. Most European plantings of Mondeuse Noire were devastated during the phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s which nearly wiped it out, but the grape has recovered, though not to the percentage of acres it once enjoyed. In California, the grape has been used to good effect by a handful of talented producers, with Jaimee Motely, Pax, Lagier-Merideth, Raj Parr, who has really championed Savoie grapes in the state, and Aaron Pott doing really delicious and well crafted versions from Santa Maria to Mount Veeder.

The Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe which sadly has now has changed hands from the legendary Michel Grisard, who retired ten years ago, to Clément Giachino, who’s family fun another well regarded Savoie winery is trying faithfully to continue here, and I hear that the quality has remained true and up to the authentic and high bar set by Grisard. In recent years the label has been updated by Giachino, so you’ll know right away it is a different era for Prieuré Saint-Christophe. It’s noted that Michel Grisard began work on what would become Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe in 1978, when it was an estate in ruins, and it was no small task to turn it around. He left his father’s vineyard in 1982 to concentrate solely on this property and make it an iconic Savoie estate, declaring that the mission was to “turn Mondeuse into a great wine”, which he did. Mondeuse was not all that popular at the time, but has since become the leading red grape in Savoie, largely thanks to Michel and to a lesser degree the mentioned Quenard family, in fact Grisard is often referred to as the “Pope of Mondeuse”. He owned six hectares of vines, mostly Mondeuse, though Grisard also grew Altesse, the signature white in the area, on the ruggedly mountainous Savoie slopes.The wines were made with the potential for bottle aging and he discovered and employed biodynamic production methods, which enhanced his efforts greatly. The estate which spreads over the towns of Frétérive and Arbin, giving it different options when it comes to terroir, with some calcareous soils, as well as classic ancient clay and limestone. Four of the six hectares are exclusively Mondeuse and the rest is Altesse, again making these wines exceptionally rare. With Michel’s last vintage of Prieuré Saint-Christophe being the 2014 vintage, there’s not much available, and get wild prices, but the Clément Giachino made versions are well worth chasing down and fairly reasonably priced.
($N/A) 94 Points, grapelive

2022 Kermit Lynch, Côtes du Rhône, Rhone Valley, France.
The delicious, deeply colored and ripe Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône again is a wildly good value and a savvy choice for everyday drinking with expressive, authentic flavors and style in the glass that is very hard to beat for the price. As mentioned, this basic Rhône red offering that is usually made up mostly older head trained and dry farmed Grenache, along with some supporting amounts of Syrah, Cinsault, and Carignan, to name a few of the grapes in the cuvée, though the 2022 is much heavier in Syrah than normal, which adds even more complexity and depth. The 2021 and 2022 vintages are some of the best versions I’ve had to date, and again though I’ve mostly ignored this one and talked about other Côtes du Rhônes here, I always knew this wine was a tasty choice, but its been elevated in quality in recent years. The 2022 has a darker fruit character, with with the classic collection of spice, grilled herbs, earth and wild flowers on the satiny full bodied palate. The 2022 is very dark purple/garnet with crushed boysenberry, plum, pomegranate and blueberry fruits, with no wood used here, along with sticky lavender, delicate florals, spicy rosemary, pepper, minty anise and a loamy/stony element. Made with native yeasts, a 25 day maceration, and all fermented and aged in cement vats, the 2022 interestingly was 46% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 9% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan, 3% Marselan,(a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache) and 2% Cinsault. As noted, this wine may have less Grenache than per normal, it still shines through and helps plush out the mouth feel and its unique combination of varietals make it all the more impressive, especially considering the size of production here. What’s not to like? This wine goes beautifully with Fall favorites or more hearty cuisine as well as simple dishes

The Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône red, which as noted before here at grapelive.com, is now sourced from Demazet Vignobles, a cave co-op in Morières-lès-Avignon, with François Pasturel overseeing the winemaking, located just south of Avignon, in a top area for Grenache, with alluvial soils. Working a handful of growers in the nearby town of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, which boasts an excellent terroir of galets roulés, those large round stones, which Kermit says is not unlike the much more famous Châteauneuf (du Pape) which is actually only just a few miles away! Kermit, who loves this region and who has many collaborations with vignerons in the area works closely with winemaker Jean-François Pasturel to develop the blend for this signature value bottling of Côtes du Rhône Rouge each year. Pasturel, himself a purist says he is thrilled to have the chance to produce a Côtes du Rhône he can be proud of, especially one he does not have to filter to death. Kermit can tell there is a true commitment to quality for this one and It is François’ chance to make a tête de cuvée, and you can almost taste his pride and joy in the glass. Some of the other Kermit value Rhônes come from Domaine de Durban in the village of Beaumes-de-Venise, which are a bit riper in style, while Demazet Vignobles, who’s been bringing small independent farmers sustainable income and making wine from interesting outlying areas here since 1929, and it’s a great fit to make this bargain red for Kermit, a wine that sometimes gets overlooked in his great portfolio, but one that never disappoints. I suggest getting to know all of the Kermit Lynch southern Rhône cuvées, including this easy to love Côtes du Rhône bottling, as well as step up Côtes du Rhône Villages and the white and red Vin de Pays de Vaulcluse selections.
($15 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2018 Domaine David Duband, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Premier Cru, Aux Thorey, Côte de Nuits, Red Burgundy, France.
I was excited to taste this vibrant and brambly dark garnet and ruby hued 2018 Duband Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Thorey Premier Cru Burgundy which was sourced from vines that average 60 year old with most planted in the 1950s in this little known cru set on sandy and pebbly limestone and clay soils on a medium slope, of which I found beautifully crafted. The medium/full palate is concentrated with black cherry, briar laced raspberry, earthy currant, strawberry and tangy pomegranate fruits, along with a whole cluster crunchiness, smoky mineral, loads of spice, leather, subtle wood notes and blood orange notes. The Duband family domaine was originally founded in 1963, and David took over in 1991 moving away from conventional farming and converting to organics, which started really changing things for this almost unheard of property and David began his mercurial rise as a vigneron and winemaker. The certification of organics in 2006 and the quality of the wines started turning heads, allowing him to invest in some prime locations, including old-vine parcels in the famous Grand Crus, such as Clos de la Roche and Charmes-Chambertin! It’s noted that in the cellar, David changed course with his 2008s, going for a more modern brighter, less oak driven style with a focus on transparency, which has served him well and the wines all show individual terroir distinction and still have a sense of richness, complexity and heightened aromatics. This all clicked when I had this rare Aux Thorey and I really enjoyed the pop of the whole bunch fermentation and when I first tasted it, blind, I almost thought it was a Pommard, it showed a grip and more red fruit character than the darker more blue fruited and violet laced Les Pruliers by Duband that I tried a few years ago, I only wish I had a few bottles myself.

Now one of Burgundy’s stars, I first tasted with David Duband back in 2016 in San Francisco, and I wrote my first of my reviews of his wines in the Summer of 2017, when I sampled his brilliant set of 2014 wines, writing about the absolutely spectacular Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers. That wine was every bit as good as a Grand Cru, and Burgundies twice, three or almost four times the price, again proving to me once again that some of these Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Crus are stupidly underrated and in most cases under valued, asking the question, will they ever get Grand Cru status? Duband who took over some fantastic plots has crafted a gorgeous collection of reds, with his Les Pruliers leading the way, even over his fine Echezeaux Grand Cru, and this 2018 Aux Thorey 1er Cru, a site which I haven’t had many times if ever, is not far off and a real sleeper in the current lineup. As his importer, the late Becky Wasserman, has noted, Duband’s vineyards are exclusively located in the Côte de Nuits, where Pinot Noir is king. He farms a stellar collection of village vines too, including all the major communes from Gevrey-Chambertin to Nuits-Saint-Georges, and excellent Premier Crus in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Nuits-Saint-Georges, as seen here, plus his Grand Crus, which there are now six different ones in his portfolio. The winemaking is thoughtful here, with the Premier Crus getting close to 80 to 90 percent whole cluster and some 70 percent stems in the fermentation, adding energy and savory complexity. The maceration usually lasts just under three weeks, after which the must is pressed to tank to settle before going to barrel, with Duband using just about 30% new wood on the Premier Crus and the wine matures for close to 14 months in the 225L barriques and then an extra couple of months in stainless steel vat before bottling unfined and unfiltered. These are exceptional wines that I highly recommend for those that have never had Duband before and that love authentically raw, but elegant Burgundies.
($131 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2015 Domaine La Rogerie -Famile Petit – Boxler, Héroïne, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Extra Brut Champagne, Avize, France.
Another beauty from La Rogerie, and the talents of Justine and François Petit-Boxler, also coming from very old vines set in chalky and clay in the Avize Grand Cru area, this Heroine vintage Champagne is very hedonistic, but soulful, as only these top grower producers can seemingly can do with a luxurious elegance and mineral/stony terroir driven character. A bit more distinctive than their non-vintage cuvée, this bubbly has a singular vitality and opulence with a steely start that leads to an impressive concentrated and chalky palate of lemon preserves, white peach, quince and green apple fruits, along with toasty hazelnut, leesy brioche, clove, spicy flint, crystallized ginger, lime flower, oyster shell, a hint of rose, saline infused wet stone and citron oil accents, all seamlessly rounded with a energetic small beading and creamy mousse. The Domaine La Rogerie – Famille Petit Boxler, which was founded in Avize in 2016 by Champagne’s François Petit and Alsace’s Justine Boxler, both from famous wine families, has become a must have with grower producer Champagne enthusiasts and their latest Vieux de Vie Non Vintage Blanc de Blancs is a gorgeous wine of depth, presence and elegance. Made from old organic vines that were planted between 1937 and 1961 with a massale selection of Chardonnay clones, with chalky soils and fossils that adds to the distinction of the wines here.

Justine and François Petit-Boxler’s Domaine La Rogerie Champagne house, as mentioned in my latest review of their Lieux de Vie Brut Nature, is all about terroir driven Grand Cru vineyards, which are in the Avize area and extend to the border of Cramant and Oger, where Chardonnay is magic. These chalky vineyards are famously known for their tuff and ancient limestone soils made up of marine sediments, allowing for deep complexity, mineral toned flavors and purity of fruit. The Boxler’s are famous in Alsace and I’ve loved those wines for years, especially their stunning Rieslings, but I had known much about this project and or Francois Petit, who was born and raised in Avize and seems to have been inspired by the cult favorite Selosse Champagnes. Justine and Francois, who have recently moved into a farmhouse that has been in the family years, have immersed themselves in this project and the nature here, they carefully work the land by plow by horse and lightweight tractors, have eliminated herbicides/pesticides, and are using homemade organic compost. The goal of this pair, they say, is to encourage the natural growth and development of organic biodiversity in the vineyards and showcase the purest form of terroir. This intense Extra Brut Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Héroïne cuvée is, as noted by the winery, 100% Chardonnay from the 2015 vintage, and was small lot disgorged after many years of yeast aging, with a full 90 months on the lees in their cellar. I really love Grower Fizz and especially these racy Extra Brut (drier) Champagne offerings with either no or tiny dosage, so the discovery of La Rogerie has been a huge reward and I highly recommend them!
($85 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive

2018 Mount Eden Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Grown, Santa Cruz Mountains.
The new releases from the legendary Mount Eden and winemaker Jeffery Patterson, his son Reid, are beauties, especially the top Santa Cruz Mountains estate offerings like this 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon that is an incredible Bordeaux like, almost old school, wine with a cooler tone and elegant depth with a structured palate of blackberry, currant, dusty plum and black cherry fruits, along with a Medoc like hint of black olives, loamy earth, pencil lead, cedar and minty licorice. This fine medium to full bodied effort highlights the distinctive terroir here and captures the vintage to perfection, picking up notes of creme de cassis, dried violets, wild sage, cigar box and subtle bell pepper, which makes this classic effort a very rewarding wine, in particular with food, which brings out an extra dimension and pleasure, taking away the grip of the underlying tannin. The soils up at Mountain Eden Vineyards are very thin with a dominant base of Franciscan shales, which are found in these coastal range vineyards, which suits these vines, with Mount Eden and Ridge’s Monte Bello exploiting this to near perfection, and it adds to the complexity and concentration of flavors. The climate is cooler than Napa, with the Pacific Ocean near by, especially for the Cabernet Sauvignon, and influenced by the vineyard’s altitude at over 2,000 feet up, again which gives these wines their Bordeaux character. The vines, as the winery notes, are trellised in a modern fashion, which promotes even ripening, with the long growing season adding refined tannins and depth, along with some nice natural acidity. The classic and coveted Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, with vines that date back to the early 1980s, includes a small doses of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, plus a tiny percentage of Petit Verdot, which all add to the rewarding nature of this wine, as well as giving it that Bordeaux like personality.

The Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon was fermented in small 1,000-gallon stainless steel tanks, with the Patterson’s doing punch downs manually and macerated it, as they note, for about ten days, after fermentation was completed it was then was transferred into new Bordelaise (French oak) barrels where aged twenty-two months in the cellar. Mount Eden’s historic estate as started by Martin Ray and now run by the Patterson family sites on a rugged mountaintop in the Santa Cruz Mountains with 40 acres of low-yielding Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, plus tiny amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines that go into the Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings. Mount Eden Vineyards is one of the longest running family estates in California that is maybe most famously known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but has always done a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon. Interesting, separate from the relationship with Paul Masson, the heritage of Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon dates back to the 1890s, when the famed viticulturist Emmett Rixford of Woodside, California, obtained selected cuttings from Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux and it’s from Rixford’s famous La Questa Vineyard with these selections that were used to plant parcels at Mount Eden. This historic winery is perched up at 2000 feet, with an eastern exposure above Saratoga and overlooking the Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, just about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Mount Eden was founded in 1945 and was one of the original “boutique” California wineries by famed vintner Martin Ray, who as mentioned, focused on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson, the current owner along with his wife Ellie, has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden, taking it to the very top of California wines, making it an iconic winery, with the next generation carrying on this tradition of quality. I highly recommend these fabulous handcrafted and age-worthy small lot Estate Mount Eden Vineyards offerings.
($110 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Cattleya Wines, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
One of the best and most seductive of the 2022 Sonoma Coast Pinots I’ve tried so is this Cattleya Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, who’s Syrahs are some of my all time favorite wines in California, with lovely fruit density, silken texture and beautiful aromatics. The opulent, poised and elegant medium bodied palate shows off ripe black cherry, dark berry, plum and tangy pomegranate fruits, along with wilted roses, delicate brown and red spices, blood orange, smooth vanilla and wood smoke. The long satiny finish is very impressive carrying the fruit into an incredible long after taste and the balance is sublime, adding some subtle savory, lifting acidity and mineral tones as it opens up. I was lucky to taste this one with the winemaker and told me about the extra care that goes into her wines which see a long cold soak, gentle maceration and gravity flow only handling of the wine at her state of the art facility she shares with the Pisoni family winemaker and husband Jeff Pisoni in the Santa Rosa area. This basic appellation cuvée Bibiana says is born from cool climate coastal vineyards resting at over 1,000 feel of elevation, and the Sun Chase and Nightwing vineyards with she calls an incredibly diverse selection of Pinot Noir clones, including 115, 667, 777, Mt Eden and Swan. This Sonoma Coast was made with 100% fully de-stemmed fruit and was fermented with 100% indigenous yeasts in open top stainless steel tanks, with twice daily hand punchdowns, that Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni explains, extracts a remarkable color, tannins, and rich and complex flavors. Upon completion of the primary fermentation, the wine was lightly pressed and transferred to 60% new French oak barrels where it was matured for fifteen months before its bottling without filtration.

As mentioned here many times, Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, the Colombian born winemaker and vineyard consultant, is making some stunning wines, especially those under her signature Cattleya label, which includes an incredible set of Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, as seen here, and her awesome Syrah offerings from her husband’s family’s vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni’s stints in at some of the world’s great estates has helped her develop her love of place and to get the best out of each terroir, it also showed in her work when at Pahlmeyer with her Wayfarer Pinot Noirs from the Seaview/Sonoma Coast. Her talents are really on display here in the wines she does under her own label Cattleya, which she founded in 2012, and tens years on now the wines are getting even better. Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, who’s travelled the world to learn and make wine, is one of California’s hottest talents and part of a serious power couple with husband Jeff Pisoni of the Pisoni Estate and former winemaker at Peter Michael. Again as noted before, Bibiana started her journey in wine at University in Cognac getting her first degree there in 2001, before moving on to Bordeaux and achieving a higher degree with honors in enology, all of which led her to winemaking stints at some famous Chateaux and small domaines including Château Haut-Brion in Pessac-Leognan as well as with Domaine Stéphane Ogier in Côte-Rôtie along with small family estates in Alsace, Burgundy and far away in South Africa. I really enjoyed catching up with Bibiana recently and tasting through her latest wines, all of which showed fantastically well and I highly recommend her newest efforts, including this one, the stellar The Temptress Russian River Chardonnay as well as her and Jeff’s 2023 Shared Notes Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon white Bordeaux style wine.
($65 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, Chassagne-Montrachet, White Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
The Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, led by Alexandre and Marc Bachelet, is a label to search for and this flinty 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet is everything classic and modern white Burgundy lovers want with driving mineral intensity, slightly reductive and electric on the palate with a racy and stony medium bodied mouth feel, even in such a concentrated vintage, it is pure and excellent stuff. Fans of Roulot and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey should take note of these steely/brisk Bachelet-Monnot wines, with this one hitting the sweet spot, it delivers lemon curd, green apple, white peach and quince fruits, along with chalky wet stones, matchstick, hazelnut, citrus blossom and clove spice. The wood is subtle and the underlying richness is quite impressive without taking away from the energy and vivacious nature. The Bachelet’s whites, they say, go through a long or slow pressing before being fermented in barrel with indigenous yeasts in larger 350L casks, which have significant following these days, and are lees aged for 12 months in barrel and an additional 6 months in stainless steel tank before release.

A winery that is getting loads of hype recently, especially for their beautiful whites is Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, with brothers Alexandre and Marc Bachelet working with top notch parcels in the Côte de Beaune, such as Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatières, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Referts, Grand Cru Batard Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet, as seen here, and St. Aubin En Remilly, a real hot spot in recent years, along with quality vineyards within Maranges and in Santenay. I had only had their Pinot Noir before, and I really enjoyed that, but I can see why the whites had been turning heads and I am excited to follow the Bachelet’s in their latest releases. Skurnik Wines, who import Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, reveal that the AC Chassagne-Montrachet comes from 6 unique parcels, all carefully and sustainably farmed in Chassagne, with Lieu-Dits including La Canière, La Chêne, Les Benoîtes, Le Pot Bois, En Journoblot and Les Houlières, set on clay and limestone slopes and are at least 30+ year old vines. The well judge use of oak here promotes transparency and purity of form, even with this dense vintage, the élevage in the 350L barrels was done in just around 20% new wood, which feels just about perfect in this 2020, which I absolutely adore, and I can’t wait to try the 2021 and the upcoming 2022, which is due out soon.
($80 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2020 Weingut Georg Breuer, Riesling Trocken “Rauenthal Estate” Rheingau, Germany.
One of the best values in the Breuer lineup is the Rauenthal Estate Riesling and this pale straw hued 2020 that I tried recently is utterly delicious, mineral toned and pure with some welcome evolution beginning to soften the reductive and dry edginess, it is drinking nicely. The medium bodied zesty palate is very authentically Breuer and naturally slightly earthy, but with hints of exotic tropical elements with tangerine, muskmelon, green apple, yellow peach, tart quince and mango fruits, along with dried ginger, white blossoms, salt lick, wet flint and green tea notes.I am always impressed with the transparency and rustic charms in these Breuer wines and I have really loved my visits to their tasting room in downtown Rudesheim, both times I visited, back in 2009 and more recently in 2016. This vintage is generous at this stage with nice mouth feel and good acidity, making it pleasing with pork and poultry dishes. Theresa Breuer, a widely admired talent, at Weingut Georg Breuer, has taken, as I’ve mentioned here, a more natural approach to her wines and holistic in her farming of her estate vines, looking for physiological and aroma ripeness, which she feels are more important than must weight numbers. The grapes are only picked when Theresa and her team feel the fruit is perfect, giving the wines a sense of delicacy, transparency and elegance, rather than power or fruit density.

The Weingut Georg Breuer, now run by Theresa Breuer, was one of the key members of Charta, an organization formed to promote a drier style of Rheingau wine and the Breuer’s were early proponents and leaders of this style to great effect in the region. Theresa’s late father, Bernard, believed that the Rheingau was perfectly suited to producing very fine, elegant and flavorful dry Rieslings, and he has been proven right, especially in recent years and by his talented daughter. Bernard, as mentioned in my prior reviews, was also a strong advocate for a vineyard classification system based on geology, historical precedent, and the quality of wines, he also is credited with discovering the potential of the Rauenthal zone, which has become one of the most distinct sites in the Rheingau. The Rauenthal is a unique geological area and is a South facing site, allowing for deep concentration, with deep Phyllite soils with a covering of gravel deposits, it always makes for wines with a lovely perfume of white flowers and a parade of citrus and stone fruits that leans to the yellow (fruit) spectrum of flavors, as this 2020 Rauenthal Estate shows. The fermentations are sponti or started with pied de cuve, vineyards yeasts and fermentation and lees élevage is in large used barrels for the top wines and a mix of barrel and steel for the Estate wines, like this one. While I love all the Breuer Rudesheimer Berg Grand Crus, the more slate driven offerings, especially the Roseneck and the mighty Schlossberg, Theresa’s Rauenthaller Nonnenberg Monopol is iconic stuff, which I highly recommend, along with her Estate bottlings, like this one, plus the newer Lorch additions.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

nv Henri Giraud, Solera 90-16, Ratafia Champenois, France.
The fabulous Solera 90-16 Ratafia Champenois, a rare fortified wine made in Champagne shows off roasted hazelnut, candied pecan, honeyed pear, lemon oil, fig and dried apple on the rounded and almost creamy palate, making one of the most rewarding versions I’ve had to date. Ratafia Champenois, for those that have not experienced it before is a unique blend of selected Champagne must (juice) and Champagne-based Marc or Brandy (Spirit) which comes out to be 18% alcohol and must be aged at least 6 years in oak barrels, with this Henri Giraud being a Solera, multi-vintage blend that was started in 1990. Most people will enjoy Ratafia with a cheese plate after a meal as a digestive, the aged complexity here in this Solera is really intriguing and with its almost dry nature, it doesn’t cloy in the mouth, while still having pleasing concentration. That said it could go with some dessert dishes, maybe crème brulée, but best to me with aged farm cheeses. Bottled in a 500ml bottle, and never easy to find, this Ratafia is well worth searching out and is fantastic hand crafted effort, enthusiasts will want to grab a bottle at their first opportunity.

Ratafia de Champagne or Ratafia Champenois is an ultra rare specialty liqueur from the Champagne region, and not bubbly, that is a blend of half brandy made from Champagne and half grape juice from the region, similar to Macvin in the Jura and with a touch of Sherry like nuttiness. This one, from Champagne house Henri Giraud, comes from a Solera, in this case as noted from 1990 to 2016, which adds complexity and dimension. Traditional Ratafia Champenois has a golden lovely tawny color in the and a rich, complex dried fruit, nutty and marzipan layered profile, as this one does. As noted, this stuff is a result of blending the barely fermented grape juice from various vintages with the brandy, all matured in small ex-wine barrels, giving it a range of flavors that maybe remind you of a fine Tawny Port, Madeira or Marsala. This Henri Giraud Ratafia Champanois is made from a 20-year-old Solera, which gives it a slightly oxidizing edge, but perfectly balances it out, with the slight sweet tones, vibrant acidity and the smooth textural nuttiness. I’m also a fan of the bubbly here at Henri Giraud, which dates back to 1625, and who is the president of the association of craft Ratafia in Champagne, so you can be assured that theirs is top quality.
($95 ESt.) 96 Points, grapelive

2022 Pisoni Estate, Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The Santa Lucia Highlands owe much to the pioneering spirit of the Pisoni family and this Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir is maybe the region’s best and most coveted wine, with this latest deep garnet/ruby 2022 vintage showcasing this terroir to near perfection and very much in keeping with the winery’s style, delivering an extra dimension of fruit density and texture, but still being beautifully balanced and wonderfully complex. The rich and luxurious palate revolves around a core of classic black raspberry, dark cherry, plum, blood orange and Mission fig fruits that are nicely accented by smoky oak, wilted roses, a hint of violets sultry earth, briar and brambly spices, as well as sage, cola bean, lavender and vanilla. The vintage provided excellent depth of fruit, silky tannins and great aromatics, all the while retaining acidity that gives an inner brightness and lift here, making this opulent Pinot Noir a standout. Winemaker Jeff Pisoni says the Pisoni Pinot Noir was all hand-picked from various blocks on different soils, including sand, loam, granite, marine sediments and bits of quartz, seeing careful sorting, a cold soak and a native yeast fermentation with partial whole cluster. After which, he adds, this wine is aged in barrel, racked with gravity flow into selected French oak with a high percentage of new wood, without racking or moving for 10 months. Bottling is then carried out carefully after final blending to tank, and as always, the Pisoni Pinot is unfined and unfiltered.

It was great to meet up recently with Jeff Pisoni, one of the most talented winemakers of his generation and taste his signature Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir, originally made famous by his father Gary, one of the greats of California, who created this iconic Pinot Noir, who’s passion for wine and the region led him to start planting grapes here back in 1982. Much has already been written about his achievements, his stories, like his bringing of La Tâche cuttings home in his socks to plant here. The Pisoni label was founded in 1998 and that first release set new standards for Santa Lucia Highlands wines and the latest release continues enjoy its place in the elite league of California Pinots. Gary’s enthusiasm lights up a room, you can’t help but to love the man, for his style and humble grace wrapped up in an extroverted personality, much like the Pisoni Estate wines taste! I will forever be a huge fan of Gary for all he’s done for Monterey wines and the next generation here at Pisoni very much pay tribute to him and are striving to be better and better each year. There’s a deep collection of quality offerings here with the Pisoni family, with these Pisoni Estate offerings being the pinnacle of their efforts, but not far behind are their Lucia Vineyards wines, including the Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir, Soberanes Vineyard Syrah and the Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay, all of which I highly recommend, plus the related, Lucy Wines, with the Rosé and Gamay being fun and delicious. The 2021 and 2022 vintages, currently out there, prove the Pisoni’s can handle very different vintage conditions and produce outstanding wines, don’t miss them.
($85 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive

2018 Under the Wire, Chardonnay, Brut Sparkling Wine, Sangiacomo Vineyard, Carneros AVA, Sonoma County.
It’s the mission of Under the Wire’s Chris Cottrell, a partner in Bedrock Wine Co, to make California sparkling wines based on individual vineyards, like this fabulous grower producer inspired Sangiacomo Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay bottling, that also highlight the influence of an individual year, as this cool vintage shows. The first vintage of Under The Wire sparkling wine was in 2011 and there’s been a wide range vineyards and varietals seen here from Riesling to Zinfandel, but this traditional method 2018 Sangiacomo Vineyard bubbly is by far my favorite by Cottrell, it rivals top notch Champagne, this is right up there, in my opinion, with the best of California sparkling wine. I have been tasting some excellent grower producer Champagne and Sparkling Wines, so I went into tasting this one with a tuned up palate, making this wine even more impressive, it delivers loads of quality and character, being luxurious and deep in flavors, but with a dry steely nature and elegance. This 2018 Sangiacomo Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay starts with crisp apple, pear, white peach, golden fig, lemon preserve and quince like fruits, along with clove spice, bread dough, saline, a touch of earth, white flowers and leesy nuttiness. The vibrant and creamy mousse is perfectly matched to the acidity, richness and complexity here, this is very rewarding stuff that will appeal to a wide audience and can be easily match up to cuisine. The Under the Wire wines are obviously limited in production and have gained a following, so it is best to get on Cottrell’s mailing list, but I do encourage you to look for this one in particular.

The Bedrock Wine Co, as noted here in my prior reviews, was started in 2007 by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zinfandel maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines, such as this one. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that his and Chris’ winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine. For this bottling, Cottrell says he’s trying to showcase California terroir with this all Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs, and that he wanted to work with some fruit from an archetypal vineyard, and though the Sangiacomo Vineyard is actually a lot of different vineyards he decided to work with a unique block that was planted in 1982 known as “Catarina’s.” He adds that not only do the old vines produce dynamic and wonderful fruit, they are also located on the other side of the creek from the original Ravenswood winery, where Morgan’s dad got his start. There’s a committed group of traditional method Champagne style producers making some incredible small lot and hand crafted yeasty single vineyard sparklers, including Michael Cruse, Samantha Sheehan of Poe Wines and Caraccioli, to name a few, and it is great time to discover them and these Under the Wire wines.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2021 Storybook Mountain Vineyards, Zinfandel, Eastern Exposures, Estate Grown, Napa Valley.
The impressive and sensual 2021 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Eastern Exposures Zinfandel, always one of my favorite Napa Valley wines, is beautifully aromatic, complex, deeply fruited and nicely structured with some mountain intensity, making this vintage very compelling stuff. This deep garnet and ruby edged Zinfandel shows off brambly black raspberry, plum, currant and cherry fruits in an elegantly layered wine with a smooth underlying backbone of tannin, plus a core of nice acidity, along with briar spices, a heightened sense of floral aromatics, sage, anise, cedar and a touch of vanilla. Coming in at around 14.5% natural alcohol, the 2021 Eastern Exposures Zin by the Seps family, which saw a small percentage of co-fermented Viognier, feels balanced from start to finish. As per normal here at Storybook, and not unlike Turley, the Zinfandel is organically farmed, hand harvested and native yeast fermented, 100% de-stemmed, and aged in a combination of mostly used American and French oak barrels for about 15 months. I was thrilled to taste through the Storybook Mountain Vineyards wine with owner and winegrower Jerry Seps recently, who I hadn’t seen in a long while, and I was delighted with the few 2019s and 2021s that I tried, I highly recommend these latest releases.

The historic Storybook Mountain Vineyards, which dates back to the late 1800s, was founded in modern times by Jerry Seps and his wife Sigrid in 1976 when they discovered and bought a ghost winery, with true winemaking caves and discarded vineyards, which he worked tirelessly to restore and replant, focusing on Zinfandel and Bordeaux varietals. Located a few miles North of Calistoga at the top of Napa Valley on beautifully positioned eastern facing slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, on ridges that separate the Napa and Sonoma Counties. This site provides their vines a unique terroir and micro climate, with iron rich red clay and loam soils, and are conditions that makes these Storybook Mountain Vineyards wines their distinctive character and structure. Over the years, the Seps have made this one of the most desirable collection of California wines out there, joining the likes of Biale, Turley, Ridge, Bucklin, Lamborn and Bedrock to name a few, that Zinfandel enthusiasts can’t resist. As mentioned, the Storybook Mountain Vineyards has seen a change in generation, with Colleen Seps, Jerry’s daughter taking over the cellar and now leads the winemaking efforts here, which almost seamlessly transitioned with Collen continuing the style here with her wines. The generational change here at Storybook Mountain Vineyards has brought a lot of new excitement to a long time favorite and I look forward to following their efforts well into the future.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Moreau-Naudet, Chablis AC, White Burgundy, France.
A bit more rounded and concentrated that normally the case, this wonderful 2020 Moreau-Naudet Chablis, from a choice selection of limestone parcels, is a beautifully drinking pure Chardonnay with a fine minerality and chalky palate of lemon/lime, green apple sand subtle stone fruit, along with delicate herbs, oyster shell, clove, dry honeycomb, citrus blossoms, golden fig, seashore notes and hazelnut accents. The fermentation(s) at Moreau-Naudet is always natural and spontaneous with indigenous yeasts, followed by a long maceration and elevage on lees, with a fantastic result in the wine’s textural quality and richness. The wine is usually aged for an average of 18 months depending on the vintage in a combination of stainless steel and 600-liter French oak barrels, with a majority of the Chablis AOC cuvee, typically two-thirds, sees just the stainless. There is a lot to admire at Moreau-Naudet and while the Premier Cru and Grand Cru are exceptional offering and highly sought after, I recommend not missing out on the regular Chablis bottling, with this 2020 being a well balanced, but richer wine that definitely makes an impact and should drink nicely for few more years!

The Domaine Moreau-Naudet has an almost cult like follow and Virginie Moreau, who has bravely carried on after the tragic death of her husband Stéphane in 2016, along with her winemaker have, as I have mentioned, continued the excellence found at Moreau-Naudet. The basic village Chablis bottling, in the brilliant Moreau-Naudet lineup, is the only wine in their cellar that sees any new oak, with this cuvée providing the seasoning for those barrels which end up in the Premier Cru program after the first fill. Even so, as Moreau-Naudet’s importer Grand Cru Selections notes, it is always just a few new barrels that are being added to replace far older ones and actually only constitute a tiny, almost un-noticable percentage of the final blend, as seen here. As seen in previous versions this pale straw colored Moreau-Naudet Chablis proved to be excellent as both an aperitif and main event wine with an array of cuisine choices, especially with fresh seafood dishes and soft creamy farm cheeses. This was impressive, and compares well with Moreau-Naudet’s outstanding Vaillons Premier Cru, that comes a tiny block of 35-50 year old vines set on the historic Kimmeridgian limestone and some rocky top soil that gives the terroir influence and class, so look for both.
($49 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Mercurey, Red Burgundy, France.
I just love what is coming out of Domaine Dureuil-Janthial and this small estate is certainly becoming one of my personal go to labels for value Burgundy wines, with this 2020 vintage being stellar for their releases, like this vivid ruby hued Mercurey Rouge beauty that delivers pure Pinot Noir class. Tasted blind in a seriously star studded lineup of Burgundy offerings, the minerally Domaine Dureuil-Janthial Rully Blanc and this almost Volnay like Mercurey Rouge way out performed what their more humble villages would normally do, and I loved the aromatics and depth found here, definitely a killer bottle of Burgundy for the price. The palate is still wonderfully fresh and vibrant with black cherry, red currant, blood orange and strawberry fruits leading the way in this medium bodied wine, along with a hint of flinty reduction, rose petals, red apple skin, a touch of chalky earth and delicate herbal tones. For his Pinots, Vincent Dureuil employs mainly de-stemmed grapes with a very small percentage of whole clusters used for the single-site wines and a cold maceration of 8-10 days in old wooden upright vats. The cool fermentation with indigenous yeasts is allowed to go slowly before the wine is racked into small barriques, with usually about 20 to 25% new with an elevage of 12 months. Dureuil lets the final blend rest another 4-6 months in tank before they are bottled unfined and unfiltered, which results in, as he suggests, very elegant and authentic terroir driven wines, like this delicious example.

Vincent Dureuil, who took over the Dureuil-Janthial domaine from his father Raymond in 1994, is an establish star now and has passionately made it his mission in life to up the game in this part of the Côte Chalonnaise, which sits just about five miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet, and especially with his Rully, which is a fine limestone and clays terroir, as well as his Mercurey. The Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Domaine A et P de Villaine and Domaine Sylvain Pataille are some of the most exciting producers here in the Côte Chalonnaise and I suggest chasing down all of their efforts, in particular these 2020 wines, which are very elevated examples that rival much more expensive Burgundies, Though lesser known than some other places here in the Côte d’Or, like St. Aubin, Santenay or Saint Romain, Rully makes for some tasty Chardonnays that deliver some of the best bargains in White Burgundy, such as this Vincent makes. For Vincent, as he explains, the magic starts in the vineyards and every since he took over the estate, he has worked with organic principles, with each site treated as one would treat their own personal garden. His approach in the cellar is said to be classic and minimalist with low sulfur additions and a focus on transparency. For his whites, the whole bunches are pressed slowly and racked straight into barriques for fermentation and aging, and again they are classically reductive and crisply detailed. There’s a lot to admire here, with Dureuil’s collection of Rully Blancs and Rouge, as well as a selection of rare Puligny-Montrachet bottlings, a tasty Aligoté, and even this Mercurey Rouge, especially from this vintage, are all exceptional wines to look out for.
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Melville, Chardonnay, Estate, Sta. Rita Hills.
The 2023 Melville Estate Chardonnay is crystalline and electric in the glass with a cool toned character, vivid fruit density and a lovely mineral intensity that reminds me of Chablis in vitality, though pure California in expression and profile, this light gold/straw colored wine is an absolute thrill. The zesty palate gains depth and complexity as it opens up, it shows off crisp/steely details and reveals green apple, tart peach, lemon/lime and just a hint of tropical fruit, along with clove spice, an almond note, saline infused wet rock and white flowers. The Estate Chardonnay, as the winery notes, is a mix of of clones 4, 76, 95 and 96, along with Mount Eden, Hanzell, Hudson, Wente and a special Melville selection, was gently whole-cluster pressed, cold settled overnight and transferred by gravity to barrel for fermentation in neutral French oak barrels (15+ years old), with zero malolactic and sur lie aging without any lees stirring. Set in the rolling hills of Western Santa Ynez Valley, the Melville Winery, which was established in the mid nineties was founded by Ron Melville, who had previously grown high end grapes in Knights Valley, is dedicated to producing exceptional cold-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah grown exclusively on estate vines in the famed Sta. Rita Hills region, which Ron helped pioneer. Ron and his son, Chad Melville, now the director of the estate, are continuing their tradition of excellence and being one of the most critically acclaimed estates in California. As I’ve stated in prior reviews, Melville widely admired for their Pinot, rightly so, also do great stuff with their Syrah, which is my favorite, and in this vintage especially, I recommend grabbing their Chardonnay.

I’ve long been a fan of Chad Melville as a winemaker and of these Melville wines and again it is good to see these latest releases live up to and or exceed my expectations, with the regular estate Syrah being a huge favorite, along with their Block M Pinot, Terraces and the regular Estate Pinot, which I recently got a chance to try. All made an outstanding impact on the palate, impressing me greatly, as does this latest 2023 Estate Chardonnay. This latest selection of Melville’s collection are some of their best efforts to date and I highly recommend not missing them. As mentioned before, since Chad Melville took the reins here the Melville wines have gone 100% estate grown and the farming has moved in a more sustainable direction, which shows in the intensity and his light touch with wood adds to the wines transparency, though it must be said the grapes here have always been remarkable and the wines too. After making edgy and raw wines under the Samsara label, Chad has found his sweet spot at Melville and it’s been driven by a real sense of place focus, which is the best news I can give you, with these new releases having incredible purity. Chard says his chardonnay vines, which were planted in 1997, are predominantly on the west side of the Melville estate where we have varying degrees of sand density in the soil. This west side of the property also receives the brunt of brutally cold Pacific ocean-winds and these vines are grown in nutrient deficient, well-drained soils, resulting in a Chardonnay that captures the vibrancy of the cold Pacific Ocean, minerality, and really concentrated flavors that, as he continues,t are hallmarks of the SRH appellation, and can be seen here in this 2023 version.
($44 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2019 Clos Canarelli, Corse Figari Rouge, Corsica, France.
Clos Canarelli is one of my favorite producers and it was a pleasure again to sit back and enjoy their beautiful 2019 Corse Figari Rouge, a wine that is really coming into its own with graceful tannins and rewarding depth, showing off a rich array of dark fruits, delicate florals, subtle earthiness and savory tones. This bottling comes from all biodynamic vines planted in 1997 and set on pure granite soils which provides a mineral essence here and allows for spice and fruit intensity, that comes through perfectly in this vintage. The palate is full, but elegant, delivering blackberry, plum, cherry and huckleberry fruit in a seamless fashion, along with minty mountain herbs, tobacco leaf, cedar, graphite, grilled fennel, bitter coca and acacia flower. The powerful and sophisticated Corse Figari Rouge is passionately crafted by the talented Yves Canarelli from a unique blend of 80% Niellucciu, 15% Syrah and 5% Sciaccarellu, with Niellucciu being an ancient Etruscan clone of Sangiovese and Sciaccarellu being also an Etruscan grape brought to the Island ages ago and is the same varietal as Mammolo, a lesser known Chianti red grape. The Tuscan grapes are now indigenous here on Corsica and form the base for some the island’s most prized wines and make for truly distinctive efforts that don’t resemble their mainland cousins.

Clos Canarelli, originally founded in 1968, is an all organic and certified biodynamic estate in the remote village of Tarabucetta, on the outskirts of Figari on the southern tip of Corsica, is one of the Island’s most iconic wineries, crafting white, pink and red wines. According to Canarelli’s importer, the famous Kermit Lynch, who was one of the first to recognize the greatness on Corsica, Yves’s choice to convert the domaine to biodynamic viticulture has has given his wines an unusual freshness, complexity, and aromatic intensity that others in Figari have been unable to achieve. Kermit adds, In the cellar, Yves only uses indigenous yeasts, and prefers slow, deliberate, precise fermentation(s), and leaves his reds unfiltered. With this Corse Figari Rouge being 100% de-stemmed and fermented using large foudreswith gentle hand punchdowns daily then aged up to 18 months. This wine is a great alternative to Tuscan reds, Bordeaux and or Rioja, it certainly out performs many such wines in its price class if not much higher! In modern times, this Mediterranean island has gained attention for the fabulous Rosé and Vermentino or Vermentinu, as it is known locally. Corsica is riding high these days, once thought of as a rustic and remote wine producing region, the wines now are cherished for their excellence and uniqueness, with wineries like Abbatucci, Leccia and Clos Canarelli being highly coveted.
($51 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2021 Hundred Suns, Gamay Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
The lighter, wetter and brighter acid vintage of 2021 gave winemaker Grant Coulter of Hundred Suns some concerns I’m sure, but his Gamay Noir, as well as his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay all turned out very nice indeed, very much in an old world style, with this Gamay reminding me of Côte de Brouilly or Moulin à Vent in style. The cool and tangy toned 2021 Gamay Noir shows off a vivid ruby color and a mix of floral and herbal notes on the nose with the zesty medium bodied palate giving plenty of crunchy and juicy red berry, cherry, cranberry and tart plum fruits, along with bitter/minty herbs, racy orange peel, delicate mineral notes and a touch of fennel. The acidity is still plenty firm here, but everything comes together nicely with air and especially with food, and the low natural alcohol makes it wonderfully quaffable, plus it is delightful with a slight chill too. If you’ve not had Hundred Suns before, I suggest you make that a priority, as Grant Coulter and Renée Saint-Amour’s wines are some of the most exciting in Oregon and they are still fantastic values, especially their Willamette Valley series of offerings, but then again you don’t want to miss their outstanding single vineyard wines either.

As per normal in recent vintages, Grant sourced the Gamay from vines growing in the high hills of the Chehalem Mountain AVA on rocky basalt soils that helps keep the acid intact while these grapes hung out a long time, to ensure depth and ripeness. After harvest Coulter sorted the fruit into three separate lots, each seeing individual winemaking and aging vessels. One lot of 100% whole bunch was tightly sealed for a slow carbonic fermentation, while the second portion was half de-stemmed/half whole bunch, and a third that was fully de-stemmed and crushed traditionally. These three pieces of the Hundred Suns Gamay Noir puzzle were aged in a variety of barrels small and large, and with 25% of it uniquely aged in clay amphora. I’ve loved these Hundred Suns wines for the better part of a decade now and really admire what Renée and Grant have accomplished under this label, in particular the single vineyard Willamette Valley Pinots obviously, but also with this Gamay and the Chardonnay, which is a steely gem of a wine that is Chablis like and distinctive than many Oregon versions. as mentioned, you really don’t want to miss these Hundred Suns wines, the latest set now include some new vineyards, like Carson-Phillips and Lone Feather, which look like intriguing sites, joining the established stars, including Breaker, Badnarik and Mike Etzel’s (Beaux Freres) Sequitur Vineyard.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 Comando G Viticultores, La Bruja Tinto, Valle del Tietar, Sierra de Gredos, Vinos de Madrid D.O., Spain.
The beautifully chiseled, limpid ruby/garnet hued and ripely layered 2022 La Bruja Garnacha by Dani Land and Freddy Garcia of Comando G is a class act, again, in the glass with pretty florals, sultry earth and sexy fruit concentration. This is pure and riveting Garnacha from old vines up at around 900 meters above sea level in the Sierra de Gredos region in the mountains that overlook Madrid. The medium bodied palate has youthful freshness, but is very serious stuff with raspberry, plum, strawberry and brandied cherry fruits, along with some whole cluster pop, bramble and pomegranate undercurrents, along with snappy herbs, anise, subtle sandalwood, cinnamon, rose petals, grilled orange and peppery accents. There’s some grip and tannin that carry the flavors, but also a long silky mouthfeel that really makes this a hugely rewarding wine. Using organic grapes, grown on vines that range from 50 to 80 years old and are planted on sandy soils, with weathered from granite, slate, and quartz, farmed with biodynamic methods, Comando G’s La Bruja, 100% Grenache, was all hand harvested, with winemakers Landi and Garcia employing a natural yeast fermentation with the noted partial whole cluster (depending on vintage) and a long 40-60 day maceration. After which, the wine is racked to wood, that as they note, then saw an elevage of nine months in mainly large neutral French 500L and 700L oak vats, or a little old foudre, and sometimes even some clay amphorae to mature, which all adds up to transparency, terroir influence and authentic character.

As I’ve said before, every year these Comando G wines seem to get better and better, these are stunning wines that are almost Burgundy like class, in fact with its slight reduction, mineral tones and light graphite notes at the start they can remind me of a Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges, but with dark Grenache purity. Comando G Viticultores is a small winery in the Sierra de Gredos, this special terroir in the mountains above Madrid in Castilla y Leon, central Spain, making hand crafted wines, it is led by the talented duo of Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, who have been friends since their school days and they formed Camando G in 2008, after always wanting to work together, even though they had successful careers with their own wine concerns, Bodegas Jimenez-Landi and Fernando at Bodega Marañones. As widely noted, and reported here, the Sierra de Gredos is a Garnacha region that rivals the world’s great sites for this grape, these wines show high elevation elegance and detail, but with old vine concentration and amazing aromatics as well as length, as this one shows to near perfection. The Sierra de Gredos is blessed with its combination of high altitude, freely draining soils, a mild climate, cool nights and long growing season which adds to the elegant moderate alcohol style, sensual lifted aromatics and complex nature of these wines. I’ve been a fan of this region for a while now, following producers like 4 Monos and Comando G for the better part of of a dozen years now. This region has some stars, with Landi really leading the way with his own label and these incredible Comando G efforts, which I really highly recommend, they do take Grenache or Garnacha to another level.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

1990 Château Sociando-Mallet, Haut-Medoc, Red Bordeaux, France.
I’ve always loved Château Sociando-Mallet and it was a thrill to enjoy this 1990, even though it is a bit past its peak, it was wonderful, deeply layered and even held up nicely with sunny an outdoor meal, which included lamb, grilled asparagus, Greek pastry with feta cheese and some garden vegetables. The still full bodied palate has plenty of richness, but with loads of earth and leathery notes with dried cherry, reduced raspberry, stewed plum, fig and mulberry fruits, bramble, incense, wilted roses, bell pepper, loam, old cedar, minty anise, faint creme de cassis, pencil shavings, meaty sous bois, cigar wrapper and sticky lavender. With air you gets decayed forest leafs and tilled soil notes, but the color and fruit holds on with a sense of faded beauty, I can appreciate it for its former glory and the wine’s almost will to hold on and be rewarding, even as it clearly doesn’t have many more days of pleasure ahead. This was a delicious surprise and I am grateful to my friend Alex Lallos, who has stashed some lesser known and some very famous Bordeaux bottles in his cellar, and for which I’m thankful of his generosity in opening a few for me and a small group of enthusiasts that meet up once and a while. Sociando-Mallet, as I said, is a favorite, along with the likes of Château Haut-Bailly, Château Calon Ségur, Château Leoville-Poyferre, Château Lynch-Bages, Château Beychevelle, Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Château Cantemerle and Château Cantenac Brown, all of which are or used be exceptionally affordable “Left Bank” Bordeaux options. It’s wine like this that remind me to drink more Bordeaux and put away a few bottles again, even though the world has moved towards more immediate pleasures, because they are experiences that still very much excite me. The Château Sociando-Mallet, set on a beautiful gravel terroir overlooking the Gironde Estuary, is good Cabernet Sauvignon country and the wines are led by it, with most vintages seeing 50 to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a good dose of Merlot, typically in the 40% range and with either some Petit Verdot, as seen here and or Cab Franc, though not a big factor in the final blends.

Château Sociando-Mallet is an unclassified growth Bordeaux producer within the appellation Haut-Médoc, which is pretty up there on the “Left Bank” of the river in the Cabernet zone of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, just to the north of Saint-Estèphe. This has always been in my lifetime in wine a real place to get value, some of my earliest Bordeaux experiences were with Sociando-Mallet and when I recently had this wine, which was brought out blind, I was immediately on the right track, with my palate memory seemingly on point here picking up the region’s loamy and minty nature. The dark hued1990 Sociando-Mallet was made from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, though many people swear they get some Cab Franc notes here, it really is the Haut-Medoc’s terroir that picks up that Chinon or Anjou like bell pepper note, even in ripe years like this one. The history here is interesting, with the current Château being situated on what was in 1633 the residence of a Basque nobleman named Sièvre Sociando, and that was the first documentation of the estate and any mention of its importance. After its acquisition in around 1850 by Madame Mallet, it became more known as a wine growing property and took on its current name. It saw a brief bit of notoriety in the late 1800s when it was recorded in the1883 Cocks & Féret directory, which later become an influential Bordeaux guide, but after that things went down hill with wars and tough times. In fact Château Sociando-Mallet was simply forgotten and was a derelict property of vastly reduced land by the time it was bought in 1969 by Jean Gautreau, who’s family still runs it, he was a négociant from Lesparre and is credited to bringing true respect to this widely known estate. Nowadays, there’s about 20,000 cases produced of the Grand Vin here and they are well priced, usually in the $40 range and especially in good years, which have firm tannic structure and can and do age well, are very good values. I must say, I didn’t expect the depth and robust nature in this 1990 Sociando-Mallet, but I was, again very impressed and look forward to searching out some modern versions with maybe 10 to 15 years of age, and I see many in the 40 to 50 dollar range, with 2014, 2015 and 2016s looking like good bets.
($135 Est.) 93 points, grapelive

2020 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, White Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
I had not had the Bernard Moreau wines in quite sometime and was incredibly impressed by Alex Moreaus’s 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc with its dense and luxurious concentration and underlying vitality and verve, this vintage has it all with deep fruit and mineral intensity, making it a serious white Burgundy. Grown on a small plot, the Chassagne vines are mature and set on classic clay and limestone and farmed sustainable with mainly organic methods with the winery focused on maintaining healthy and balanced soils, saying that they use only organic fertilizers and no pesticides. added to that, to ensure greater flavor intensity they farm for lower yields through pruning, de-budding to get later, but better fruit sets, and green harvesting in August to maximize ripening, both with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Alex is pragmatic and flexible in the cellar, with a deft use of new wood and long elevage(s) striving to show off terroir and vintage, which is clearly the case with his 2020, delivering a beautifully rounded wine with lemon curd, apple, Bosc pear and peach layering, along with chalky wet stone, clove spice, leesy brioche, dry honeycomb, white flowers, vanilla and subtle creaminess. In a week of tasting lots of white Burgundy, this one is noticeably less reductive, but still with an underpinning of vibrant acidity, it truly is an excellent Chardonnay that is best with food, from soft farm cheeses to lobster tail.

The Domaine Bernard Moreau’s roots go back to about 1809, as I learned recently, to when Auguste Moreau built a cellar across from the famous Champs Gain vineyard and farmed some Chardonnay and Pinot along that most coveted of hillsides in the Côte de Beaune. In the 1930s the Moreau project saw an expansion of the family’s vineyards under the guidance of Marcel Moreau, in fact close to 80% of the domaine’s current vineyard holdings were acquired by Marcel during his time in charge, which seems significant in terms of vision and providing for future generations here. According to the winery, at the remarkably young age of 14, Bernard Moreau took over the vineyards and cellar in the early 1960’s, something that would almost be impossible today. It was at this point In seventies that the reputation of this historic estate was fully established, again under the leadership of Bernard and Françoise Moreau, and it was in 1977 the winery was named Domaine Bernard Moreau. There was innovation in the farming and wine making too and they also purchased additional prime plots, with some St. Aubin and Volnay vines included, bringing the domaine close total to 14 hectares. Bernard’s sons Alex and Benoît joined the Domaine in the 1990s after having worked in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, and Alex is now, as mentioned, responsible for the overall operations of the winery including cellar, winemaking and the vineyards, which looks to have enhanced the wines and secured the future here. While the whites have always stood out, as seen here, the reds, especially the Chassagne Rouge and Volnay bottlings have started to create a buzz and I am look forward to trying them soon as well!
($90 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2015 Domaine Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vieilles Vignes, Red Burgundy, France.
Vigneron Alexandrine Roy, who leads the highly regarded Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin, is one of my favorite winemakers in Burgundy and it was a nice treat to have her fabulous 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. This deep and pure Pinot was tasted recently at a special blind tasting of Burgundy wines, where it showed extremely well and was one of the wines of the night. The deep garnet/ruby old vines Gevrey-Chambertin, from a concentrated and complex vintage, shows off loads of depth, warm ripeness and personality with dark berry, black cherry and reduced plum fruits leading the way on a rich medium bodied palate, along with mineral tones, crushed flowers, a touch of smoke, subtle wood, earthy truffle, orange tea, and fig. Alexandrine used all de-stemmed grapes here with native yeast, employing a very gentile winemaking style and it’s raised in traditional small barrique, about 30% new in this and most vintages, then bottled unfined and unfiltered that all showcases her desire for graceful textural wines and with transparent elegance, which is readily apparent in this beauty. Roy does a very limited selection of bottlings that includes her gorgeous Gevrey-Chambertin Pinot Noirs from mostly special Lieu-Dits, like her La Justice and Clos Prieur efforts, as well as this Vieilles Vignes (Old Vine), which as I’m sure you can tell is one of my favorites, along with a delicious Marsannay Blanc.

In October of 2015 Alexandrine Roy of Domaine Marc visited San Francisco and showed off her beautiful 2014 Gevrey’s, these were preview barrel samples that gave great insight into the vintage and showcased Roy’s gifts as a winemaker, and again I met up with her in the City in 2018 and tasted through her 2018s, in was a great pleasure to meet her and taste through her outstanding wines. So it was a thrill to get a chance, as mentioned, to blind taste this gorgeous and perfectly maturing 2015 old vine Gevrey-Chambertin, which absolutely impressed all that tasted it and (it) looks to have another 15 to 20 years left. As mentioned before, Alexandrine Roy is a 4th generation vigneron, and the current matriarch of the Roy family, she farms old vine parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin and the Marsannay parcel, where she does an excellent steely Chardonnay from, employing organic practices and is ever searching for perfection. This is a tiny domaine, according to her importer Skurnik, that includes just four hectares that are meticulously cared for as if it was Alexandrine’s personal garden. Alexandrine knows her vineyards (many of which are more than 100 years old) very well, as she’s basically grew up in them, and they are a reflection of her soul and they have roots that are dug deep into the classic shallow limestone soils. Roy’s mission is to show off the terroir through in her wines, something I can say she does exceptionally well, and I highly recommend chasing down her wines. While this 2015 vintage might be hard to find, I suggest looking for the current releases.
($100 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2020 Clos Sainte Magdeleine, Cassis AOC Blanc, Provence, France.
France’s historic and ancient Mediterranean fishing village Cassis in Provence is well known for its natural beauty, but maybe lesser known is that it is home to one of the world’s most iconic white wines and Clos Sainte Magdeleine makes one of the best, as seen here. Even with a few extra years of age now, this steely 2020 vintage, gives an exciting spark of freshness and has a sense of more evolved stone fruit and textural charm showing of tangerine, white peach, rounded melon and a hint of tropical fruit on the medium bodied palate, adding citron oil, almond and lime flower accents. The all organic Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Blanc is all de-stemmed and gravity pressed and then the juice is fermented and aged in 100% temperature-controlled stainless steel tank with some lees contact and with most vintages seeing full malos. The regular Cassis Blanc, a blend of Clairette and Marsanne, plus a touch of Ugni Blanc, is, as noted before, aged in total for between 14 to 18 months in tank before bottling and release. Everything is done to allow the terroir to shine through and make a wine that goes beautifully with the local cuisine, which luckily mirrors the local food foods I get here on California’s Central Coast. The Clos Sainte Magdeleine’s Cassis Blanc, as importer Kermit Lynch adds, success lies in an uncanny ability to capture a dichotomous nerve and sun-kissed unctuousness, making it both incredibly food-friendly and delicious entirely on its own, of which I complete agree with. I’ve long admired and followed this wine, I enjoy it with sea foods and Middle-eastern dishes, like lemon chicken and couscous.

The Clos Saint Magdeleine estate, as I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews, now run by Fancois Sack was originally founded by Jules Savon, who won the Gold Medal for the domaine at the World’s Fair in 1900 and put this estate on the map and the Sack family who have been in charge for four generations continue to make awesome wines in this picturesque village on the Mediterranean sea, not far from both Bandol and Marseille, where Cassis is a favorite at the best bistros and cafes. The Cassis village wines (AOC) which allows only White and Rosé is an ancient fishing village, and as Kermit Lynch notes, Cassis has seen its fair share of visitors over the millennia. Greek colonists from Phocaea first arrived in the sixth century B.C., and with them came the timeless Ugni Blanc grape and viticultural savvy. The Romans later made their way here, as well as their Barbarian successors, followed by the medieval Counts of Les Baux, all the way to tourists of the modern era looking to escape the cold, dark cities. Cassis is not only an active port, but what Kermit calls “an earthly paradise…”, with the vineyards of Clos Sainte Magdeleine being particularly stunning, and, as I’ve dreamed of, it is a place I hope to visit in person someday sooner v. later. These vineyards jut out on to a private cape to meet majestic shoreline and spectacular limestone cliffs, poised above gorgeously beauty of the sparkling, azure Mediterranean, which is the perfect setting for this Cassis Blanc, it even transports me there, this is a must have Summer wine. As I’ve said, this dry and crisply focused Clairette and Marsanne based wine is one of the best from France’s Mediterranean region, don’t miss a chance to enjoy it!
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Desire Lines Wine Co, Dry Riesling, Cole Ranch Vineyard & AVA, Mendocino County.
Cody Rasmussen’s set of Rieslings are maybe the finest set of American versions you can find and his 2023 Desire Lines Massa Estate and Cole Ranch bottlings are the best yet and electric, especially this cool toned, steely and vibrant Cole Ranch old vine Dry Riesling with its racy acidity and mineral intensity making an instant rival to the best from Alsace, Austria and Germany. Like the outstanding 2018 and 2021 vintages, this greenish/gold 2023 Cole Ranch Riesling, from a cooler year, really has a laser like focus and precision on the crisp and tension filled lighter framed palate with zesty lime, unripe apricot, green apple, quince and muskmelon fruits, along with hints of peach pit, almond, chamomile, orange blossom, wet stone and lemon oil. This wine, as always, transmits the combination of rocky soils, that includes some limestone, gravel and loam that are here at the Cole Ranch, with its mature vines, with a stunning pristine clarity. I was grateful for the chance to taste the current and new releases of the Desire Lines collection with Cody’s wife Emily Rasmussen recently, who showed off these hand crafted and small lot bottlings, with the brilliant Rieslings again grabbing my attention. To make his Rieslings, Cody Rasmussen, also as noted before, uses traditional old world methods, with grapes seeing a whole cluster pressing with cold settling in tank, which bleeds out, or drops out the green phenolics, that, as Cody explains, is followed by fermentation in neutral barrels, where the wines are left on fine lees until bottling in the following summer, or about 9 months in total, which allows for a charming roundness, while focusing on absolute purity. I can’t seem to say it enough, this is a winery that should be on your radar and I suggest getting on their mailing as soon as possible.

One of the most iconic single vineyard alternative white wines in California, the Cole Ranch Dry Riesling by Cody Rasmussen at Desire Lines Wine Co, as I’ve said before, is an exceptional bottle of varietal wine with an amazing contrast between acidity and fruit concentration. The Cole Ranch Vineyard, located in a remote area of Mendocino County, is in a narrow valley, as Rasmussen notes, in the mountains between Boonville and Ukiah, it is a rare monopole site being both a single-vineyard and an AVA. The incredible mature Riesling vines here, as Cody adds, were planted back in 1973 and are on St. George (American) rootstock, all old school head-trained and dry-farmed, which makes them some of the most interesting and historic Riesling vines in California. Cody and Emily Rasmussen started their own micro-winery and label, Desire Lines Wine Co. with a small batch of Syrah in 2014 and now has a wonderful collection of wines from which to chose, including his set of Rieslings, which, like a broken record, I can’t recommend high enough for Riesling lovers, and the brilliant Carignane based Evangehlo Red Wine, which is from vines well over 100 years old. Rasmussen, who works for Morgan Twain-Peterson MW at Bedrock Wine Co, is doing some mighty work here with his Desire Lines label, and I will be reviewing a bunch more soon, with his Massa “Kabi” slightly off dry Riesling being another classic effort that has a nice generosity and goes great with spicy cuisine, making it a wine that proves you don’t need to fear residual sugar! While Rasmussen does fabulous Zinfandel with his day job at Bedrock, his Carignan and Mourvedre blend, mentioned above, comes from the deep sandy soils in Contra Costa and the famed Evangehlo Vineyard, which dates back to the late 1800s and an incredible historic site, is a sleeper in the lineup and a must have along with the Rieslings here.
($26 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2018 Il Paradiso di Frassina “12 Uve” Maremma Toscana Rosso DOC, Tuscany, Italy.
This unique dark garnet Maremma Toscana Rosso by Brunello producer Il Paradiso di Frassina is like fine music to the palate with a fantastic array of flavors and rustic charm led by loamy mulberry, plum, brandied cherry and brambly raspberry fruits, along with a spicy savory crunch, bay leaf, balsamic tones, dried flowers, cut tobacco, creme de cassis, anise and cedary accents. This firmly structured and medium to full bodied red has twelve distinctive varietals in the blend, including 40% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Syrah, 6% Cesense, 6% Ancellotta (Which I’ve never heard of), 5% Alicante (Grenache), 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 3% Carmenere, 3% Canaiolo and 2% Ciliegiolo, which the winery says are like individual notes in a piece of music. This wine keeps changing and evolving in the glass and while the Sangiovese leads here and comes into focus with air and food, the other grapes really all play key roles and I was totally convinced it was a Rhône based wine at first when tasted blind, but later I clearly got the dusty Sangiovese component, especially when I enjoyed with my meal. The subtle leathery element and warm ripeness in this Maremma Rosso makes this an old world treat, and it nicely contrasts with the winery’s top Brunello di Montalcino, which reviewed a while back. The music theme here is intriguing, and the estate’s main Mozart Vineyard at Il Paradiso di Frassina is an exciting project where Mozart’s music is played by specially designed Bose speakers 24-7 and heard in the vines, as well as in the cellar. This study into the beneficial effects of sound waves on the grapes and the resting wine post fermentation has actually proved successful! The winery truly believes this has been a breakthrough in winemaking, playing a part in producing a distinct and lusty Brunello di Montalcino, and even my skepticism couldn’t hide the big smile on my face when I had the 2016 Brunello and this wine is almost as delicious. This excellent wine, which is very seriously crafted, saw 100% de-stemmed grapes fermented in stainless steel with a 25 day maceration and then was aged for two and a half years in Allier oak barrels and one year in bottle, in the vault of Paradiso di Frassina, before release.

The 12 Uve comes from a vineyard located on sandy clay and loam soils the hills of Cinigiano, in the shadow of Mount Amiata and not far from the sea in the Maremma DOC on the Tuscany Coast and this crazy blend, which the winery calls a Super Cru, rather than Super Tuscan, is Bach inspired, as it imitates Bach’s musical scale with its 12 semitones.The Paradiso di Frassina, as I noted in my prior review of their fabulous Brunello, is set amongst olive groves and Tuscan forested hillsides and is an ancient medieval farm that dates back to the 11th century that is located just five kilometers north of the historic hilltop town of Montalcino. This estate is perfectly nestled at the foot of the famed hill of Montosoli, which is one of the best terroirs in all of the Brunello of Montalcino DOCG zone! The Paradiso di Frassina property, as they themselves note, enjoys a unique location in the picturesque countryside to the south of Siena, in the Val d’Orcia valley, not all that far from the border with Chianti, in rolling hills that marry a more continental climate and soils that range from volcanic to classic clay and limestone. It is a great terroir for Tuscany’s best known grape, located in a cooler zone, and with the vineyard immersed in the harmonies the famous Austrian composer Mozart’s music, that is played and spread amid the rows of vines thanks to a hundred weather proofed speakers at Paradiso di Frassina. This is not a silly gimmick, as it might appear to be, as this is a serious experiment into agronomic and scientific research concerning the beneficial effects of musical frequencies on the vines (Vitis Vinifera), supported by the Universities of Florence and Pisa, and from the center of agronomic research of Arezzo. It also came about with the sponsorship of and by BOSE itself, who obviously specialize in the production of ultra high quality audio systems and who were interested in what the results would find. Staying at Paradiso di Frassina with its two small villas or cottages on site has become a very coveted opportunity with the promise of gorgeous vineyard landscapes, good music, a relaxed atmosphere and great Brunello (to drink during the stay here) being a huge draw. The farm’s agriturismo limited accommodations are widely popular, so you’ll have to book it well in advance, which I would recommend for classical music and wine lovers. There’s a lot to admire here at Il Paradiso di Frassina and I highly recommend searching these Tuscan gems out, with this one being a great place to start.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2018 Giuseppe Rinaldi, Barbera d’Alba, Piemonte, Italy.
Of course, Giuseppe Rinaldi is one of the most sought after labels in Italy and a producer of coveted and rare Barolo, which I cannot afford these days, but just like other top Barolo makers there is their Dolcetto and Barbera bottlings that are the outstanding values, and this 2018 Rinaldi is just what the doctor ordered, even though not cheap by any means. As much as I love Nebbiolo, I love Barbera, so I was thrilled when a friend opened this beauty with a home cooked pasta meal recently, it brought joy and rustic charm to an evening of serious wine tasting and never once the lesser on the night. the 2018, with some age, shows off a minty and earthy character with brandied cherries, dark plum, briar laced Marionberry and currant fruits, along with hints of leather, pipe tobacco, bay leaf, dried flowers, cedar and balsamic notes. Rinaldi believes his wines should not be ones that pleases easily, especially his Barolo, rather he hopes his wines are austere or severe, so that they demand research. He says It takes time for a great wine to seduce and reveal its complexity, maybe like foreplay and you can see that even in this Barbera. While not as firm or austere as Nebbiolo, this is pretty serious and savory stuff and a bucket list Barbera for those that admire this grape, sadly it is none to easy to get, but not as hard as the Barolo and worth the chase.

The ultra traditionalist, Giuseppe Rinaldi, or Bebbe, represents the fifth generation of this historic winemaking family to work the vines here in the heart of Barolo, when he took charge of the estate when his legendary father Battista passed away in 1992. Rinaldi pays respect for his ancestors and the land by farming organically, and he ferments with the indigenous yeasts in his father’s and grandfather’s ancient tini—tall upright oak vats—without temperature control. with his Barolo seeing about a month of on skin maceration, he punches down by hand and ages in old botti grandi for 3 ½ years. Intriguingly, I learned that, Rinaldi like Maria-Teresa Mascarello, and her late father Bartolo, is a fierce adherent to the tradition of blending Barolo from different sites, instead of individual vineyards as is most common now. He has old-vine holdings in some of Barolo’s greatest crus, including Ravera, Cannubi and Brunate, but still he makes no single-cru Barolo bottlings. Beppe is widely quoted as saying that this, blending from different crus, is how the previous generations obtained a natural balance and harmony in Barolo, and, for him, it is still the perfect method to make his top wine. For the Barbera, Rinaldi fermented it spontaneously, then maceration on the skins in steel for about 2 weeks, after which the wine aged for 12 months in 33HL Slavonian oak casks, giving the wine a real depth of character and what a treat to enjoy. This is not an everyday Barbera, but this grape can be truly great, as seen here.
($79 Est.) 94 points, grapelive

2023 Alfaro Family Vineyards, Grüner Veltliner, La Playita Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains.
One of the first top notch dry Grüners in California, Alfaro’s estate La Playita Vineyard Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s signature white grape, is a dynamic and crisp version with bright lemon/lime, gooseberry, quince and tart white peach fruits, along with white pepper, verbena, bitter almond, sea shore and wet stone accents in a zesty lighter framed palate. i’ve always been a fan of this wine and Ryan Alfaro has hit a home run with this vintage, this golden straw tinted 2023, which is due for public release soon, is electric and crystalline, rivaling many of its cousins from the old world. This Grüner saw a cool stainless fermentation and after settling it was aged 6 months on its fine lees in neutral oak, to promote freshness and purity, while allowing for some textural quality. Just around 250 cases of the Alfaro Family Vineyards La Playita Vineyard Grüner Veltliner were produced and I would gather from my own reaction and other who tried at a recent trade tasting in San Francisco, this one that will sell out fast.

Ryan Alfaro, who is also gaining a great reputation for his personal Farm Cottage Wines, is a latest generation of Alfaro’s to craft wines at this hilly site, less than 8 miles from the cool Pacific Ocean and set on sandy loam soils between 450 to 800 feet above sea level, perfect for cool climate varietals. The long growing season here allows for deep flavors and retains plenty of zesty acidity, as seen here in the latest edition of Alfaro’s GrüVee. Ryan worked many years with his dad Richard, who got things started here in the late 1990s, in the cellar, in recent years he’s taken a bigger role with great success. After doing a stint with California legend Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards and studying wine in New Zealand, he has brought a lot passion to the family business and has, as noted above, put a lot of hard work in to get to this point, and Ryan’s personal project Farm Cottage Wines is natural extension to these efforts at this small Corralitos estate. It was great to catch up with Ryan recently, along with his dad Richard at their distributor’s portfolio tasting in San Francisco, and I was highly impressed with the full set of Alfaro wines, including some of my other favorites here, like the Trout Gulch Chardonnay and Pinot, along with the regular Estate Pinot Noir, all of which are beautifully drinking wines.
($34 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

August 2024

2023 Cleto Chiarli e Figli – Vecchia Modena, Lambrusco Grasprarossa DOC “Nero” Methode Ansestral Sparkling Red Wine, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
This dry and tasty Vecchia Modena Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro black label from Cleto Chiarli is a delightful red sparkling wine with a deep magenta and ruby color and a bright juicy medium bodied example with a vibrant beading mousse. The vivid earthy blackberry, cherry, blood orange and brambleberry fruits are lifted by natural acidity and the Pet-Nat style creamy bubbles make this tasty Lambrusco shine, along with hints of leather, lilacs and tangy herbs that add to the complexity here in a sparkling red that goes great with simple country rustic cuisine. The Cleto Chiarli Lambruscos are some of my favorites from the Emilia-Romagna region and always bring a smile and some fun to a meal and this one really is a delicious example and great with meaty dishes. We’ve seen a dramatic rise in quality in Lambrusco in the last ten years and this one definitely has loads of character and balance, it’s a great way to discover these unique and traditional wines, which go great with burgers, pasta lunches and or as a fun aperitif or starter wine.

The Vigneto Cialdini is Cleto Chiarli’s top-of-the-line Lambrusco Grasparossa DOC that with the 2023 vintage has moved into the Cleto Chiarli’s Vecchia Modena line, and now know as (the) Vecchia Modena Nero. Cleto Chiarli’s importer, Chambers and Chambers, says the wine is made through a single fermentation under pressure, rather than the normal two-fermentation process of almost all other classic sparkling wines. This dry Lambrusco is in the Brut range, with only a slight sweetness detectable. The vines where this wine comes from, Vigneto Cialdini, the name of the vineyard, is dedicated to Enrico Cialdini, who was a famous general during the unification of Italy. Made from vines that have served up fine and hearty Lambrusco efforts since ancient times, this single vineyard is located in the heart of the Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro denomination and makes for a high quality sparkling red wine, as seen in this fabulous 2023 vintage and I highly recommend this distinction fruit driven, spicy and savory Cleto Chiarli e Figli – Vecchia Modena treat.
($18 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 Domaine Frédéric Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin AC Rouge, Red Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, France.
The pretty, dark ruby hued and open knit 2022 Gevrey-Chambertin is a rewarding Pinot Noir with a lovely silky texture and concentrated fruit with a medium bodied palate of dark cherry, mulberry and plum layers, along with subtle oak, tea spices, mineral tones, a touch of sultry earth and a delicate mix of florals. This is wonderfully pure and already is drinking well and it has the depth and structure to age, much less reductive in nature than most Burgundies in this realm and with good acidity to shine with a meal. Frédéric Esmonin has beautiful Premier Cru and Lieu-Dit parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin, including “Estournelles St-Jacques,” “Lavaux St-Jacques,” “Clos Prieur” and “Champonnets” to name a few and the Village wine is always a treat too. The Premiers Crus, like from the Lavaux Saint-Jacques, which is Grand Cru quality, is a touch darker in fruit, with mineral and iron notes. Esmonin uses a bladder-press which gives excellent control over the amount of pressure exerted on the grapes, which are picked only when they have reached ideal ripeness. The grapes are de-stemmed and after a short cold maceration gives the wines an extra dimension of fruit, and only indigenous yeasts initiate fermentation. The domaine ages its wines in oak for between 14 to 17 months, with carefully selected French oak barrels of Allier and Nevers forest wood, which are exclusively made by coopers Radoux and Berthomieu. The top wines see about 80% new oak, but this one can be the reverse depending on the vintage with the 2022 getting a bit more new than say the 2021, but usually is more neutral.

The Frédéric Esmonin winery is one of the most consistent performers, and a fine high quality producer based in Gevrey, and they draw upon some prime vineyard holdings to make these beautiful Pinot Noirs. Their Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards were mostly re-planted in the 1950s so the wines and are reaching sublime levels of complexity and consistency that can only be achieved with these older vines.This Gevrey-Chambertin, as I’ve said before, you’ll want to re-visit in 3 to 5 years and again in 10-15 years, one of the best in the set for value, but if you are looking for a bit more serious offerings both of the Grand Crus I tried were exceptional with Esmonin’s Mazy-Chambertin getting my personal nod for the cellar. There’s not much of these wines available, but certainly they will be worth the effort to get some, especially these exceptional ’22s and the set of Gevrey-Chambertin bottlings, which I have enjoyed for more than 15 years now, in particular the Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos Prieur” and this one. I have been lucky enough to taste with the domaine’s namesake Frédéric Esmonin a few times at tastings in San Francisco, and I am a big fan of wines here, though sadly he wasn’t able to come to this most recent tasting in the City, hosted by Monterey Bay Wine and Atherton Wine Imports. It truly is heroic with his being wheelchair bound, and with no heirs, how he is able to run and manage this estate, with his 90 year old dad still helping, bravo Frédéric for all of your awesome and brave efforts and putting out such delicious stuff year after year, it is truly inspiring. Esmonin’s Pernand-Vergelesses too are very good, but it is the Gevrey offerings, including this one, the Lavaux Saint-Jacques rarity and the Clos Prieur, which are real prizes here!
($55 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Reeve, Vermentino, Sonoma County.
Noah and Kelly Dorrance’s Dry Creek based Reeve wines are lovely California wines and their 2023s are stellar across the board, it was great to catch up briefly with Noah as he showed off his latest stuff at a portfolio tasting in San Francisco, with his new Vermentino putting on a delightful and refreshing performance. For this vintage Dorrance put his Vermentino together from three Sonoma County sites, including some estate Dry Creek fruit, that gives depth and ripe textural elements, the Las Brisas Vineyard, which always enhances the cool climate zesty and green essences in Vermentino and a western Sonoma site that adds mid palate complexity. This cool year 2023 really excites the palate with juicy citrusy lemon/lime, gooseberry, along with white peach and tart apple fruit, all accented by steely and stony notes, plus wild herbs, bitter almonds, white florals and zesty verbena. This brilliant effort adds an extra dimension with air and food which make it great for Summer quaffing as well as with a full meal, especially sea foods like steamed clams and or raw oysters. Vermentino looks to continue its run of success in California, with many fine efforts coming from many drastically different regions from cool to hot and from many exciting producers from Ryme to Tablas Creek, with the varietal being high in acid allowing it be grown in wide range of climates. This Reeve Vermentino embraces all those forces with its mix of terroirs, but the sunny warm Dry Creek and its stony volcanic soils providing some backbone, spice and opulence to the mix. This vintage, 93% Vermentino and intriguingly 7% Falanghina was fermented and aged in a combination of stainless, concrete egg and very neutral French oak barrels to achieve these thrilling results.

Reeve Wines, as mentioned in prior reviews, was founded by Noah and Kelly Dorrance, who hit the ground running with an all-star winemaking team that included Ross Cobb, of Cobb Wines and Katy Wilson of LaRue Winery and has kept getting better and better with each new set of releases with this 2023 collection being the best yet, especially Noah’s awesome Heinz Chardonnay, the Pinots and this brilliantly crisp Vermentino. Noah and Kelly have special love for Tuscany, where they got married, and in particular Cortona, which is home to one of Italy’s most intriguing wineries, d’Alessandro, and it inspired them to try their luck at Italian varietals like Sangiovese and Vermentino. I’ve been impressed with their versions, which usually feature a California twist and hope to show off a sense of place, with this Vermentino being a nice tribute to the Tuscan and Ligurian coastal styles with a crisp, mineral toned and salty charm and subtle richness, which this Mediterranean varietal is known for. Like I said, I really enjoyed all of the wines here at Reeve, this was a serious and delicious array of wines, which still has the talented hands of Katy Wilson guiding Noah’s stylish and desirable efforts. The winery based in Healdsburg is mostly focused on cooler hillside fruit and work with sustainable vineyards that provide grapes that excel in purity and vibrancy, which clearly shows in this set of 2023s. Noah’s early career in importing classic European wines also inspired and influenced his wines, with his wines going for restraint in alcohol and a light touch with oak use, things that make these Reeve wines very popular with Sommeliers, as they are food friendly and nicely balanced, as seen here, with this wine coming in at just 12.7% natural alcohol. So be sure to search out these Reeve wines, I’m sure you’ll find some of these small lot and hand crafted offering very compelling!
($38 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Cattleya, Syrah “The Initiation” Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
I was very excited to taste through the latest Cattleya wines and it’s not a surprise I was blown away by this producers set of outstanding offerings and especially this awesome “The Initiation” Syrah from the Pisoni’s exceptional Soberanes Vineyard, a wine that is regularly one of California’s best. After the almost perfect 2021, winemaker Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni had to deal with a bit more difficult conditions with heat spikes playing havoc with even ripening, making her efforts here even more remarkable and this 2022 is a gorgeous wine of depth, a full range of flavors and elegance. The full bodied Initiation Syrah has incredible fruit density and velvety tannin(s), like a Giugal La La, displaying boysenberry, damson plum, blueberry compote and black cherry fruits, along with crushed violets, creme de cassis and vanilla, as well as subtle savory meatiness, sweet cedar, black licorice, bitter espresso, smoky graphite and peppery spices. The SLH terroir coolness helps cut into the opulence and warm ripeness adding a fine sense of balance here, making it again a class act and a standout example of this varietal. The deep purple/black hued Alban Clone (Côte-Rotie) Soberanes Syrah, again saw, a 10 day cold soak and a slow maceration and primary fermentation lasting about three weeks with gentle punch downs and pump overs daily until it was dry, then it was pressed to French oak 228L barrels, with close to 70% new, where it matured for 16 months. The Initiation Syrah, Bibiana says, marks the true beginning of a quest, one she took, to Côte-Rôtie, home to some of the world’s most exquisite Syrahs, was where she worked her very first harvests and made her first wines. Now her goal with her Pisoni family vines is to create a Syrah of great beauty and finesse that shows this terroir, but honors where she’s been. The Soberanes Vineyard, owned and farmed by the Pisoni team, on decomposed granite and sandy loams, in the Santa Lucia Highlands captures the essence of the region with its cool Pacific Ocean breezes and chilly nights allowing for long hang time for the grapes, giving deep ripe flavors and a lift of natural acidity, and it’s one of the most important sites for Syrah in the state, as seen here and with the Pisoni family’s own Lucia version.

As I’ve mentioned before, Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni is an unlikely master of vine, coming from Colombia, a country almost without any grape vines, but, in her childhood she says, a few sips occasionally stolen from her father’s wine glass were enough to inspire an all-consuming dream—to become a winemaker and as soon as she could she packed her bags a went to France! While in France she quickly took to winemaking like a duck to water, ultimately earning a BTS degree in Viticulture and Enology from Cognac, which was followed by a degree in Enology from the University of Bordeaux, she adds, graduating with honors. After which she was well on her way to stardom, working the sheer granite slopes of Côte-Rôtie at Domaine Stéphane Ogier, then she helped at Domaine Clusel-Roch, before returning to Bordeaux and the famed estates of Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. If this sounds amazing for a young Colombian winemaker, it was only the beginning of her incredible journey which has seen her excel in Burgundy, Alsace, Cognac and even in South Africa before turning her attention to California, where she is one of the state’s absolute best winemakers. While in California she met and married another rising star winemaker, Jeff Pisoni of the famous Pisoni Estate in the Santa Lucia Highlands and the two have become an awesome team, producing wines together under their Shared Notes label. In 2011 Bibiana’s Cattleya label was born and by 2014 she had become winemaker of the year, focused almost exclusively of Syrah vines at the Pisoni’s Soberanes Vineyard, though she had at that time helped Pahlmeyer’s Wayfarer become a world class producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Soberanes Vineyard, planted last among the Pisoni crus, has proven to be one of the top sites in the highlands and while I love the Chardonnay and Pinot from here, I truly believe Syrah, which is mainly Alban (Cote-Rotie) clone, is the best grape here. The Orchid or Cattleya, as noted before, is Colombia’s national flower, hence the name for Bibiana’s solo project, which includes her heroic Syrahs, as well as her regional bottlings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which are also just amazing wines, they too continue to impress all that taste them, it’s needless to say I highly recommend them all!
($70 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

n.v. La Rogerie – Familie Petit – Boxler, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Brut Nature Champagne “Lieux de Vie” (#2) Avize, France.
This exciting and deep Vieux de Vie 100% Chardonnay, coming a mix of vintages, and a 2018, 2019 and 2020 base, from very old vines set in chalky and clay in the Avize Grand Cru area and makes for an excellent Brut Nature bottling with a rich mouth feel, ultra dry extract and a luxurious but vibrant beading mousse. This gorgeous La Rogerie offering, which I had head about, but haven’t had before, shows off precise steely details and has a firm palate of lemon, apple, quince and white peach fruits, as well as a serious stony quality, white blossom, honeycomb, saline, clove spice and a hazelnut leesy depth. The Domaine La Rogerie – Famille Petit Boxler, which was founded in Avize in 2016 by François Petit and Justine Boxler, both from famous wine families, has become a must have with grower producer Champagne enthusiasts and their latest Vieux de Vie Non Vintage Blanc de Blancs is a gorgeous wine of depth, presence and elegance. Made from old organic vines that were planted between 1937 and 1961 with a massale selection of Chardonnay clones, with chalky soils and fossils that adds to the distinction of the wines here. A big thank you to my friend Alex Lallos, who has long worked with small Champagne houses, rarity grower fizz and top Tête Cuvée bottlings from the Grande Marques, and who shared this bottle with me and friends, he never fails to amaze me with his generosity and discoveries, and this one was remarkable.

Justine and François Petit-Boxler’s Domaine La Rogerie Champagne house is all about terroir driven Grand Cru vineyards, which are in the Avize area and extend to the border of Cramant and Oger, where Chardonnay is magic. These chalky vineyards are famously known for their tuff and ancient limestone soils made up of marine sediments, allowing for deep complexity, mineral toned flavors and purity of fruit. The Boxler’s are famous in Alsace and I’ve loved those wines for years, especially their stunning Rieslings, but I had known much about this project and or Francois Petit, who was born and raised in Avize and seems to have been inspired by the cult favorite Selosse Champagnes. Justine and Francois, who have recently moved into a farmhouse that has been in the family years, have immersed themselves in this project and the nature here, they carefully work the land by plow by horse and lightweight tractors, have eliminated herbicides/pesticides, and are using homemade organic compost. The goal of this pair, they say, is to encourage the natural growth and development of organic biodiversity in the vineyards and showcase the purest form of terroir. This absolute delicious non vintage La Rogerie Brut Nature Grand Cru Champagne “Lieux de Vie” Number 2 (only 155 cases made) was disgorged, I think, in 2022 after seeing close to three years on the yeast, it really impressed me and I can wait to explore the full collection of offerings and recommend grower producer Champagne enthusiasts search out these offerings, with this one being a great place to start.
($99 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive

2020 Raul Perez – Castro Ventosa, Mencia, D.O. Bierzo, Spain.
The fresh very Beaujolais like 2020 Castro Ventosa Mencia is vibrant and spicy with a pretty violet/lilsac nose, juicy berry fruits and a savory ops on the medium bodied palate, it shows off all the quaffable joy that this grape can deliver to near perfection. Authentic and charmingly raw in style, again reminding me of a Côte de Brouilly, this Mencia has layers of black raspberry, plum, candied cherry, pomegranate and cranberry fruits, good zesty acidity, loamy earth notes, minty anise, truffle, bay leaf and a light sense of old cedar. The family owned Castro Ventosa winery led by Raul Perez has been in viticulture since the 18th century and remains a benchmark producer in Castilla y Leon’s Bierzo region, focused on old vine Mencia wines, with all traditional bush vines and organic farming. This “Bunny” bottling is an entry level from the famed Raul Perez and made mostly from Valtuille de Abajo grapes, from very old vineyards, with a good combination of the of grapes sourced as well from all the places in the town, sometimes including over 300 micro plots! Fans of Mencia with really enjoy this bargain version and love its sultry character and easy to drink quality.

The Castro Ventosa estate, with the largest old vine holdings in the area, can proudly say that it is one of the few wineries in Bierzo with all its vineyards on their own property and Its Mencía vineyards are all more than 85 years old. As early as 1752, the ancestors of the Pérez family were vine growers in Valtuille region here and continue today under the leadership of Raul Perez, one of Spain’s greatest winemakers and the Godfather of Mencia! The soils here in the Bierzo, differ from the Ribeira Sacra and are mostly a mix of clay soils, clayey with stone, sandy and rich in organic matter and the terroir is more Continental influenced and with a minor bit of the cooling from the Atlantic, giving the Mencia real depth and complexity. Castro Ventosa typically lists this wine with having 85% Mencia, 8% Alicante Bouschet, and the other 7% being a mix of white grapes and other native and super rare varietals and usually sees a full de-stemming all stainless fermentation and maceration. The fermentation takes place only using native yeasts and lasts about 25 days, in cool temperature controlled vat the with daily pump overs before pressing, then it rests and goes through malos. After which the wine sees a short 3 months in neutral old 5,000L wood fudres, then it gets bottled quickly to preserve freshness and transparency. What’s not to love? This is an under the radar gem from Raul Perez’s family winery, I highly recommend chasing this one down.
($24 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2022 Weingut Carl Loewen, Riesling Kabinett, Herrenberg, Old Vines, Mosel, Germany.
The old 1200L Mosel fuder raised 2022 Herrenberg Kabinett is beauty from Loewen and even though it’s got a lighter off dry palate it drinks drier than you would expect and has some serious depth, intensity and steely tones with racy citrus, white peach, kiwi, crisp green apple and quince, along with slatey flint and spice. The brisk, low alcohol, but juicy palate adds dimension and a touch of the lees adds a almond and there a bit of verbena and apricot that lingers, this is so good. A huge fan of Christopher Loewen and the Carl Loewen wines and his set of 2022s were impeccable and outstanding wines, and for value it s almost impossible to drink a better Kabinett for the money than his pure and mineral driven Herrenberg. This brilliant Carl Loewen Herrenberg Kabinett comes from ungrafted 100 year old vines, with the Longuicher Herrenberg being planted in 1902, and there remains some original blocks here from 1896 that go into the top cru wines. it is set on pure red slate closer to the Mosel River where it gets a reflection effect, meaning riper fruit and the iron rich broken slate soils influence the Riesling in the grandest way possible. Loewen is very careful picking only grapes that are non botrytis for his drier wines, which takes extreme attention to detail. As noted, these Longuicher Maximin Herrenberg Riesling grapes are from some the oldest Riesling vines in Germany, and from a dramatic steep vineyard, that transmits terroir into the wine.

The Carl Loewen estate, as mentioned before, originally founded by the Catholic followers of the Maximin order was privately established during Napoleonic times around 1803 and the Loewen family purchased the famous Maximin Klosterlay in 1805, after which the family continued to pick up steep parcels in the area, with Christopher’s dad collecting some great plots in more recent times, including the second steepest site in Germany, they very smartly picked up historic vineyards that were difficult to farm, but produced awesome grapes. The Loewen the younger, Christopher, has taken over in the cellar and has set the world on fire with his wines since about the 2014 vintage, employing a more natural approach in the cellar and stricter organic practices in the vines, and as he puts it, he presses the grapes whole cluster and the pomace is never moved as to not break up the solids that leads to phenolic (bitter) flavors that can mire delicate wines and he browns the juice pre-ferment(s), which reduces reduction and he allows the wine to ferment sponti, using no yeast or enzyme additions with his single vineyard wines and top cuvées going directly into large fuder, oak casks. Congratulations to Christopher Loewen, not only for his absolute masterpiece 1896 Feinherb, which I reviewed previously, but for the whole collection of the Weingut Carl Loewen 2022s, including this one, all of which are stunning efforts that I highly recommend, again each of these Rieslings are stars in their own right, don’t miss them.
($25 Est.) 93 points, grapelive

2021 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Hochheim Kirchenstück, VDP Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau, Germany.
The gorgeous Künstler 2021 Hochheimer Kirchenstück Grosses Gewächs sourced from select parcel on calcareous löss and loam soils from vines planted in 1969 is starting to unwind from a tight and youthful period and gaining magnificent palate expansion, while remaining precise, steely and crisply detailed with this region’s lemony tones and exotic tropical fruit notes in the full bodied, texurally pleasing, but with a vibrantly dry vitality. There’s a lot going on here, and it should keep getting better, displaying white peach, bitter melon, green apple and quince, along with leesy notes, clove spice, white blossoms, saline, chalky stones and lingering tart mango and hazelnut. The Kirschenstück GG or Grand Cru vineyard site is, as Künstler notes, set on a heavy lime bedrock, with löss, loam, and sand, making for a complex mix of soils that all play a part in this wine’s greatness. The grapes in this wine come from vines in the famous village of Hochheim am Main, which gained prestige in the 17th century Britain, after a brief visit by English royalty and the term ‘Hock’ was used to describe all Rhinegau wines for the better part of a hundred years. At that time, these Hoccheimer wines were much more famous than Mosel wines and were even, as historic record shows, more expensive than some of the finest Bordeaux. As I’ve mentioned, Künstler has a vast collection of Rheingau Cru plots from Hochheim to Assmannshausen, where he has an amazing parcel in the fabled Hollenberg Vineyard where he gets some his Pinot Noir, plus Gunter has some Rudesheimer Berg GG vines in Rottland and Schlossberg, which are intense with slate vigor, as well as some quartzite influenced blocks in the Drachenstein, which is one of my favorites. I was, as I am usually, very impressed with the latest Künstler wines, in particular their Kostheim Weiss Erd GG, the new Pfaffenberg Monopol GG, the profound Hölle GG, and this fantastic, if not under the radar, Hochheim Kirchenstück GG.

Gunter Künstler, who’s family has been involved in winemaking since 1648, is one of Rheingau’s greatest producers based at the confluence of the Main and Rhein rivers in the “Hoch” sub zone, which along with Rudesheim one of the most historic winemaking villages in Germany. As noted before, Gunter Künstler’s family winery was founded in Hochheim am Main, in 1965 by Gunter’s father Franz, with Gunter taking over In 1992, after which its fortunes began to rise quickly. In 1994 the Künstler estate was admitted to the VDP, and since then it has become maybe the most iconic grower of the “Hoch” zone and one of Germany’s best. The historic sleepy Hochheim am Main, doesn’t always get a lot of attention, but it truly is one of Germany’s most distinctive terroirs, and it was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who famously visited Germany and the region here back in 1788 and wrote about the delicious wines he found. This area takes heroic farming effort to overcome the humid conditions to produce crystalline dry Rieslings without Botrytis and Künstler is working these amazing sites with organic practices and his wines are some of the most elegant and monumental dry wines in Europe. Künstler explains that he ferments with (a) cultured yeast because it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and to work sponti (native yeast) would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. The cellar at Künstler gravitates toward cask fermentation as opposed to steel, though tank is used here as well depending on vintage and style of the wines. Wood gives, what Gunter says is the ideal for giving some low-tech micro-oxygenation. The overriding goal at Künstler is to produce soulful wines with expressive and authentic personalities, especially these GGs, which are incredible in terms of depth and elegance, as seen here. Again, as noted in my prior reviews, this is a must have label for serious white wine lovers and collectors, I have been lucky over the years to have tasted with Gunter and had many older vintages which were and are astonishingly like Burgundies when they have significant age, in particular the offerings from Hoccheim, with the limestone and marl soils adding to that impression.
($62 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2022 Farm Cottage, Syrah, Ryan Spencer Vineyard, Alfaro Family Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains.
From vines named after him by his dad, Ryan Alfaro’s Farm Cottage Ryan Spencer Vineyard Syrah is a stylish and complex deeply hued wine that excites the palate with a dense array of blackberry, damson plum, tangy blueberry, currant and bramble berry fruits, a heady mix of dark florals, spice, earth and wild herbs in support, along with hints of clove, tar, licorice, tapenade and subtle oak notes. This ripe, but vibrant Syrah has a nice textural mouth feel and modest alcohol, making a fine companion to a wide selection of cuisine choices, going great from everything from Basque cheeses to Korean BBQ, with just the right about of cool climate acidity. The response to Ryan’s Farm Cottage label has been amazing and there’s quite a well deserved buzz about these wines, in particular the set of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots. Ryan worked his dad in the cellar in recent years, after doing a stint with California legend Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards and studying wine in New Zealand. He has brought a lot of new passion to the family business and has, as noted here, put a lot of hard work in to get to this point, with Ryan’s personal project Farm Cottage Wines being a natural extension to these efforts at this small Corralitos estate.

As the winery notes, the Ryan Spencer Vineyard Syrah plot was originally planted back in 2001 by Richard Alfaro, Ryan’s proud dad, on his Corralitos estate using three different and distinct clones. The hilly site, less than 8 miles from the cool Pacific Ocean, is comprised of 7 acres broken into separate blocks on a very steep slopes and up between 450 and 800 feet in elevation. These unique parcels are situated on sandy loam and are clones 470, 877, and 174, for those that are into those things, like myself. Ryan says he hand harvested the grapes on October 6th, allowing for a long hang time, hence the depth and complexity of the fruit. Then he continues, unlike the original Alfaro version, the grapes were fermented 100% whole cluster in an open-top stainless steel tank with those vivid stems adding distinction and pop here. A natural pied de cute (fermentation starter direct from the vineyard) was put into the tank on day two. The must saw gravity rack and returns that were performed twice a day for full, but gentle extraction. The healthy skin fermentation lasted just nine days before Ryan pressed the wine, after which he racked into neutral French oak barrels for an elevage of just about 9 months. This excellent unfiltered, sultry and transparent Syrah gets kinda forgotten behind the Pinots and the fabulous Trout Gulch Chardonnay, but it shouldn’t be missed and I’m even more excited about the 2023 vintage!
($40 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Schloss Lieser – Thomas Haag, Riesling Kabinett, Juffer, Mosel, Germany.
Kabinett Riesling is having a moment in the spotlight and are some of the most pleasing lighter framed and easy to love whites in the world, with this brilliant 2023 Schloss Lieser Juffer version showecasing why these wines are having a modern revival, displaying crystalline purity, delicate sweetness and freshness. I was very excited to taste Schloss Lieser recently in San Francisco and this one was a thrill with its slate terroir of the histroic Brauneburger Juffer cru showing through with smoky, mineral and spicy character influence behind the peach, tangerine, green apple and fleshy melon fruits. The low alcohol, juicy Juffer Kabinett, coming from some un-grafted vines with 70+ years of age, is a fabulous effort and a delicious Summer sipper that brings nothing but smiles, it delivers the class of this vineyard in a no pretense, but is a serious and sublime quality effort. The wines at Schloss Lieser, as noted in my prior reviews, are almost all done in stainless steel and are exceptionally pure terroir driven efforts, as this drier Kabinett Juffer 2023 clearly shows. It was a pleasure to go through the latest set of wines with Lara Haag, who is one of the latest generation of this famous Mosel family led by her dad Thomas Haag.The Schloss Lieser Rieslings see no skin maceration fermentation(s) that are always spontaneous and the grapes a a cool, gentle pressing as to not allow for bitter phenolics and the must is allowed to take as long as needed to finish, sometimes about 6-10 weeks. Then the wine ages on the lees for 4 or so months, after which it racked to tank to further mature and is only bottled when it tastes ready to do so. There’s an incredible array of talent in the Mosel these days and Schloss Lieser has eagerly joined the ranks of top producers and these latest releases, mostly 2022 and 2023 vintages, really are stunning.

The historic Schloss Lieser winery, which dates back to 1904, is known locally to have one of most striking buildings in the Middle Mosel and it is beautiful Neo-Renaissance castle that was built in 1875, but it was known for its wine until recent times under the leadership of Thomas Haag, who’s father Wilhelm Haag is an important figure in German wine and the owner of Weingut Fritz Haag. Thomas decided to stay and lead Schloss Lieser instead of take our his father’s estate, which is run by the also very talented winemaker Oliver Haag, Thomas’ brother. Thomas became the director of the estate in 1992 and has slowly revamped this special small estate with some prime Grosse Lagen vineyard parcels, including the Lieser Niederberg Helden and the well known Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr (Sundial), which provides some elite old vine Riesling grapes. One of the most prized of vineyards, the steep Brauneberger Juffer, is set on classic decomposed Devonian slate and capable of producing monumental and structured wines, as seen in the Haag family’s GG version, which dry Riesling fans need to put on their bucket lists. The Haag family, as mentioned here in my previous reviews, with the new generation of Lara and Niklas, both of which studied at Geisenheim University in the Rheingau, the top wine-making school in Germany, have a hand in making the wines now. Also notable is that they have added other top quality vineyards to their portfolio, including Graacher Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Bernkastler Doktor and Graacher Domprobst, helping fill out the fantastic collection here. The extra care and effort here, in each and every bottling, including this lovely Juffer Kabinett, really pays off and these Schloss Lieser wines are exceptional and very rewarding Rieslings, with the traditional off dry, sweet and dry styles to chose from, to keep an eye out for!
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2016 Domaine Fabrice Vigot, Vosne-Romanée “La Colombiere” Red Burgundy, France.
Totally unknown to me until recently, the Vigot wines look to be under the radar jewel with very classic Burgundy character, as this earthy old school Vosne-Romanée shows in the glass with morning forest floor and truffle led aromatics and a complex medium bodied palate of black cherry, strawberry, mulberry and tart blueberry fruits, along with hints of leather, delicate dried roses, orange peel, tea spices, anise and subtle sandalwood. This is a wine that changes as it swirls and the reduction funk, plus a faint brett note, taking a back seat allowing a more pleasing and silky personality to take over, though it is much more poised and elegant with food. I was on the fence on this one, coming from a single Lieu-Dit in the famed village of Vosne-Romanée and its limestone and clay soils, but it grew on me and in the end there was a lot to admire in its authentic and unvarnished style. The winemaking here is pragmatic depending on the grapes and parcel, with de-stemmed or full-cluster, depending on the vintage. The Vigot’s ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, with temperature controls, getting a gentle extraction of color, fruit depth and tannin. Wines are then pressed off the skins aged in new 228L French oak barrels for around 12 months, then transferred to older tonneaux for an additional six months, before bottling all unfined and unfiltered.

From what I’ve learned, Fabrice and Christine Vigot founded their own Domaine back in 1990 and not long ago, Christine inherited the vines from her family’s Domaine Bernard Martin-Noblet, giving them some extra top notch parcels in prime terroirs in the Côte de Nuits. Notable too, is that they have moved towards all organic principles, and are experimenting with biodynamics. Fabrice and Christine Vigot are focusing on crafted small lot, handmade and soulful Burgundies from the famous communes of Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-St.- Georges. Interestingly, especially to enthusiasts of Burgundy, I understand that the famed Mugneret-Gibourg and Dr. Georges Mugneret hired Fabrice Vigot’s father to tend a number of his prized vineyards in a crop-sharing agreement, which included a Grand Cru plot in Echezeaux, as well as prime plots in Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. The Mugneret-Gibourg contract, which was first done in the 1960s was passed down to Fabrice, who with his wife, Christine, continued his father’s legacy, until 2016, and though it has now ended, they still farm some very coveted grapes from all estate owned vines. The Vigot’s, who only farm 100% Pinot Noir are going to be all organic certified with this vintage and I look forward to trying more of these wines in the future, especially the Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges, as well as their more affordable Bourgogne or Coteaux Bourguignons bottlings. I must thank Ryan Cooley, Sommelier at Carmel’s critically acclaimed Aubergine Restaurant for sharing his personal bottle and the introduction to this producer.
($90 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2021 Cantina Spada, El Cencio, Bianco Verona IGT, Italy.
The Spada El Cencio Bianco Verona IGT is an exotic and golden dry white wine with a beautiful sense of expansion and textural presence in the glass, it shows off racy gooseberry intensity to start and then adds expressive apricot, preserved lemons and muskmelon fruits, along with peach sorbet, vanilla, bitter almonds and a touch of waxy honeycomb. To achieve this, 50% of the grapes were partially dried, which adds some tropical notes and richness, without much if any residual sugar, keeping plenty of zest and zing, with this El Cencio having some mineral charm, mouth watering saline and wet stone notes. The winery notes, the grapes are all carefully sorted and hand picked, and this bottling saw a vinification in toasty French oak barrels, which is quite rare in the Veneto. The Spada vineyards are set in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico zone, in the area around San Pietro in Cariano in Verona, and I get the sense they are extremely focused on quality and traditional methods, along with a flourish of innovative winemaking, as seen here, with the use of red grapes in the white blend.

Cantina Spada, most known for their deep Amarone and Valpolicella reds, does an interesting selection of white wines with this El Cencio Bianco Verona IGT being a signature bottling, as this 2020 vintage shows. The vines for this wines are located in the Valpolicella Classico zone, but whites don’t get the DOC, and this wine uniquely was made from 50% Corvinone, a red varietal, juiced clear and 25% Garganega, the noble grape found in Soave, and the ancient Malvasia, again 25%, with the white grapes seeing a bit, as noted, of Amarone style drying before being pressed. The final blend is racked to small French barriques for fermentation and aging, with a percentage of new wood, for six months and then rested in bottle for another six months before release. Renzo Spada, the founder of the Spada winery, is nicknamed “El Cencio” hence the name here, and the winery continues to pay tribute to him in the most delicious way possible. I had not had the Spada wines before, I am not sure they are easily found in the States, but I was excited to try this one and look forward to exploring their full range of offerings in the future, especially the limited series of Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG bottlings, as well as the Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC reds and the Ripasso!
($30 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan, Margaux, Grand Vin de Bordeaux – Medoc, France.
The pretty aromatic, dark berried and deeply hued 2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan Margaux by Marie Laure Lurton is wonderfully pure and ripe fruited with layers of earthy blueberry coulis, blackberry, currant, plum and black cherry along with classic Medoc loam, black olive, anise, a touch of iris and violet and a bit a raw tannin grip. Interestingly for a Margaux classified Bordeaux, Lurton uses no oak on this tank raised dark purple/garnet full bodied wine, made from mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a touch of Petit Verdot, which adds color and spice to the background. I was very joyously impressed with this wine, the second wine to Château Tour de Bessan, which I had never had before, especially as I probably would have never had noticed it or picked on the shelf, so thanks to H. Mercer Imports for putting this one in front of me to try. The top wine, with much more Cabernet Sauvignon in the final mix, sees about 30% new wood and is matured quite a bit longer, and while under the radar, it should be a Bordeaux to look for, especially for the price, and this one even more so. This 2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan Margaux with its light perfume and raw transparency of form is wonderfully food friendly and will go nicely with hearty meat dishes and or just with a selection of hard cheeses.

The estate where Château Tour de Bessan sits was originally established back in 13th century, where a tower was situated, in Soussans, and it wasn’t for centuries later that this Château became noticed, and It was in 1972 that Lucien Lurton bought the tower and vineyards from the Clauzel family. To show intent to make this a serious property, Lurton, according to their importer, pulled out all the stops to rebuild this wine estate, all the while managing his other more famous properties. In 1992, his daughter, Marie-Laure took over, and progress continued, armed with a wine making degree in hand, and 6 years experience under her belt, this Margaux’s vineyards began producing some outstanding fruit. Marie Laure, who cut her teeth working on her father’s other domains, knows all the blocks here like the back of her hand, and she led this estate to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place, raised the quality to new heights. The vineyard parcels here are set on classic Medoc Pyrenean gravel with clay underpinning, making a happy long time home for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Lurton adding Petit Verdot in more recent years starting in 2012. The typical cepage for the La Petite Tour de Bessan is about 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot and the wine is vat raised for close to 12 months, making it a wine to be enjoyed in its youth, rather than being a wine to hide in the cellar for a decade or more. The wine is a nice alternative to the oaky and flashy Saint-Emilion offerings and I recommend it to bargain Bordeaux enthusiasts.
($40 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive

2023 Dönnhoff, Riesling Trocken, Hermannshöhle, VDP Grosses Gewachs, Nahe Germany.
I needed a moment to gather myself and my thoughts after tasting this 2023 Hermannshöhle, such was the striking precision and quality here in this Grand Cru Dry Riesling, and words absolutely fail to describe what is in the glass, except maybe perfection. In fact maybe this wine will be a 110 out of 100 in the years to come, interesting I think giving this wine a 100 Points will almost take away from the anticipation and wondrous joy of Riesling fans that get a chance to experience this magical effort. Less flashy than the recently reviewed Felsenberg GG, this crystalline Hermannshöhle GG shows off a classic slatey/flinty mineral driven palate with lime, green apple, tart apricot and quince, along with subtle smokiness, delicate white blossom, saline, spice and citron oil. There’s tremendous depth and grace here, it easily rivals the white wine greats of the world and there’s so much more to come, just wow. Dönnhoff, which is located in the village of Oberhäusen an der Nahe, is one of the Nahe superstars and the full range of wines here are exceptional and these 2023s are stellar collection of dry Rieslings by winemaker Cornelius Dönnhoff, who produced some of greatest pre-release samples I’ve ever tried, especially this perfect Hermannshöhle. The Dönnhoff family, as noted here many times, arrived in the Nahe region over 200 years ago, and their modest farm slowly evolved into one of Europe’s greatest wine estates, making some of most desirable dry, off-dry and sweet wines in the world. The Grosses Gewachs dry wines, like this one, are typically fermented in Dönnhoff’s traditional German casks (1200 L stuck and 2400 L doppelstuck), with the lighter and or sweeter wines seeing mostly stainless steel, with both allowed to go through spontaneous fermentations. Though, interestingly, as Terry Theise, who introduced me to these wines, notes that Donnhoff’s cellar is unique in its capacity to hold all of its production entirely in stainless steel or in wood casks, allowing for the ideal élevage for any of wines at any point during a vintage, depending on the nature of the vintage or personality of each wine.

Helmut Dönnhoff, who is credited with bringing this property into the limelight had been making the wine since 1966, and now his son Cornelius, the 4th generation to run this historic winery and their 25ha of Grand Cru vineyards, has increased the fame of these wines as the winemaker. The Riesling vines here at Dönnhoff are old clones which according to the winery were sourced from sites in Niederhausen and Schloßböckelheim and the estate vines are farmed with holistic and mainly organic practices to preserve the soils here and produce the highest possible quality grapes, which are mostly Riesling. A vineyard that has the same prestige as Montrachet, the Niederhauser Hermannshöhle is one of Germany’s and especially the Nahe region’s jewels with some of the best and historic wines coming from this spectacular site above the river. As noted by the winery and wine lovers for over a hundred years, the Hermannshöhle has been revered as one of the Nahe‘s best vineyards and is a benchmark for the Nahe. It most likely takes its name, according to the Dönnhoff family, from a small mine, or “Höhle”, in the middle of the hillside and “Hermann” is derived from Hermes, the Roman god of messengers and travelers. The name likely hints at an ancient place of worship once located here, in Germany’s smallest region that straddles the Rheinhessen and the Rheingau. The VDP Grosse Lage Hermannshöhle vineyard faces due south and sits up around 150 meters above sea level and has a combination of complex soils with a lot of slate, mixed with igneous rock, porphyry (volcanic) and limestone elements. The mature and organically farmed vines are on steep slope and there is micro parcels here that allow making of both dry and sweet Riesling treasures. It should be noted that the Dönnhoff Riesling vines are all old clones and are quite distinctive in character and add tons of terroir personality, in particular in their Grand Cru wines, such as Klamm, Brücke, Leistenberg, Felsenberg, Kirschheck, Dellchen, Krötenpfuhl, Kahlenberg, and Höllenpfad. I was grateful to taste through Dönnhoff’s 2023s early this Summer and I again was blown away with each and every wine in the limited collection of samples and I highly recommend pre-booking a lot this amazing vintage, especially this unbelievable Hermannshöhle GG!
($100 Est.) 99 Points, grapelive

2016 I. Brand & Family Winery, Chardonnay “52 Month Elevage” Escolle Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
As a fan of Jura’s rustic, often funky in style with nutty, sherry like oxidative notes which are typical of wines aged sous voile, with flor, I was excited to try Ian Brand’s well aged California semi Non Ouillé version, which is still bursting with energy and has bright preserved lemon, apple, baked pear and dried pineapple fruits, as well as pecan, hazelnut, dried apricot, subtle wood, delicate florals, loamy stones, saline and clove spice accents. This held back 2016 vintage has a nice textural development with a touch of a honeyed waxy element and mineral charm to go with the expressive Jura character and the depth and complexity with impressed the true enthusiasts of this quirky type of wine, which has the zesty zing of a Fino or Manzanilla Sherry, making it great with Alpine cheeses and or Tapas plates, including fried anchovies or grilled sardines. In recent years there’s been an underground movement in California to explore the Alpine French style of winemaking, with both the Jura and Savoie regions being inspirational, especially in Sommelier circles looking for something unique and food friendly, as most have lower alcohol and can be very distinctive in a lighter framed wine. Brand naturally fermented and aged the cool climate Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay on the lees without racking for over four years before bottling, with a few top ups and allowing for a light filmy flor. Some of his evolved golden hued 2016 was held in bottle for another four years and is now about to be library released, along with a limited amount of 2010 and 2012, which are much farther along in the oxidative realm.

Jura tradition, according to Kermit Lynch, who imports some of the region’s finest examples, calls for aging whites sous voile, or under a fine “veil” of yeast, sometimes referred to as Flor, that grows over wine in barrel that has not been topped-off (non ouillé) to compensate for evaporation. The voile effectively slows the process of oxidation, while chemical reactions between these microorganisms and the wine below give rise to a highly distinctive and complex set of aromas. Continuing Lynch says these wines often hint at walnuts, beeswax, oriental spices, cheese rind, and brine, and I agree and that sous voile matured wines can come as a shock to the unhabituated palate, or newbie to Jura or a dry Sherry even. Their textural and aromatic singularity, Kermit explains naturally sets them in a category of their own at the table, (which) perhaps the best setting in which to gain an appreciation for such wines. Three of my own 100% Chardonnay favorites from the Jura are Jean-François Gavenat, who’s wines range from Burgundy style to the oxidative, the very authentic and old school Domaine Tissot and François Rousset-Martin, who’s Côtes du Jura Chardonnay is aged sous-voile in barrel for six years and the most like what you see here in Ian Brand’s flor influenced Non Ouillé bottling. Certainly this 52 Month Chardonnay will not be a crowd pleaser, but it intellectually it’s quite intriguing, recommend to only the geekiest of wine lovers, otherwise enjoy the crisp Albarino and or the normal Escolle and or Fox Creek Chardonnays offerings here. There’s always a few new goodies in Ian Brand’s winery and it’s a good time to visit the winery tasting room in the Carmel Valley Village.
($36 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

2021 Bedrock Wine Co, Old Vine Zinfandel, California.
As per normal, this 2021 vintage Old Vine Zin from Bedrock really hits the spot with its deep purple/garnet color, dark fruit density, a dusting of spices and a satiny full body this wine is always eager to please. Coming from a wide collection of old vine sites throughout California, including Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, again sourced from vines ranging over 80 years old, with some well past a century, so you really taste and see California wine history in the glass with a hedonistic reward. Hats off to Morgan Twain-Peterson MW and his team for the excellent quality throughout the range here at Bedrock and these 2021s are exceptional offerings, especially his Heritage Old Vine Zins, but for outstanding value, this bottling is one of California’s greatest bargains. A bit less ripe and with a nice almost cool tone, this 2021 shows off classic layers of crushed black raspberries, Italian cherries, plums and currants, which is accented by classic bramble and briar spices, sweet cedary sandalwood, minty herbs and beautiful dark florals with a vibrant kiss of acidity and a hint of shaved vanilla. The Old Vine Zinfandel again includes a who’s who of top Zin sites with Teldeschi Ranch, Beeson, Sodini, Nervo, Dommen, Pagani, Papera, Evangelho, Pato, Katushas’ and of course Bedrock all playing roles here. I can say without a doubt, if I want to enjoy a soulful and pleasing California Zinfandel based wine, this and Ridge’s Lytton Springs are two of my favorites and ones I personally like to have around as much as possible. This no pretense offering can be enjoyed with a hearty range of foods, but is also just a really good sipper with friends and family, when you might not want to get into a more serious indulgence. While the flagship, old vine Bedrock Vineyard, Sonoma Valley Heritage Red, continues to be magic and it’s hard to imagine a better poster child for Californian wine, this one is an easy to like pure Californian red in the same mold as a Côtes du Rhône Village.

Bedrock Wine Co., as noted here, is run by Morgan Twain-Peterson, who’s family has a significant history making Zinfandel in California, with his dad Joel Peterson, famous for crafting some of the best Zins of the 1980s and 1990s under his ex Ravenswood label, with Morgan carrying on the traditions, but with the added responsibility of caring for two of the state’s most prized old vine Heritage vineyards, their namesake Bedrock, in the Sonoma Valley and Evangelho in the deep sands of Contra Costa County. In the winemaking, Bedrock’s main mission is to keep things simple and let the grapes do the talking, with Morgan saying that they try to use native yeast and natural fermentation(s) without additions, similar to how Ridge and Turley do their Zinfandel based wines, with the Zinfandel lots being made with almost entirely de-stemmed grapes, even though the winery embraces whole-cluster fermentation in their other varietals. Bedrock ultimately for their wines, focus on ideal ripeness, freshness and aromatics in their offerings and age their wines in top notch oak. Bedrock’s most prized wines are field blends which include many black grapes, but with this Old Vine Zinfandel there is a more single varietal style than their other efforts, with the finished blend being about 85% Zinfandel, plus 7% Carignan, 4% Cinsault and, as Twain-Peterson notes, there is also, bits and bobs of Grand Noir, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet and other field-blended varieties. With this entry level wine, Morgan and Bedrock Wine Co. wants to express generosity and release a wine that can be enjoyed in its youth, as this 2021, as usual does it all very nicely and it should age for another decade too, and I can’t wait to try the 2023! In recent years, as I did deeper and deeper into Bedrock’s collection, a few under the radar bottlings have also stood out, and I’ll mention that I recommend you explore the whole range, but the Beeson Zin and Evangelho wines are right up my alley!
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2018 Caraccioli Cellars, Brut Cuvée, Escolle Vineyard Sparkling Wine, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The absolutely gorgeous, intensely serious and cool mineral toned 2018 vintage Caraccioli Brut Cuvée grower producer Methode Champenoise sparkler is almost perfection in the glass, with a vivacious and luxurious mousse and a beautifully layered palate of bright lemon, tangy peach, green apple and crisp pear fruit, along with exceptionally well integrated yeasty richness and hazelnut, clove spice, delicate florals and wet stone accents. I help but be completely seduced by this 2018, I can’t remember a California sparkling wine reaching this level of depth, energy and elegance, bravo Scott Caraccioli and team for this amazing release, which by the way saw 58 months on the lees! As mentioned, Caraccioli’s estate Escolle Vineyard, which is set on the Santa Lucia Highlands’ sandy loams and sees a huge cool Pacific Ocean influence, was first planted in 2008, and is named after the historic local legend Honoré Escolle. Caraccioli says he was one of Carmel’s founding fathers, and was very influential in many ways to Monterey the region, as well as operating the main kiln for pottery and clay works in the area and was known to camp on the land where the vineyard lies. Escolle has become one of the most prized vineyards in the region and noted for the quality of the fruit, especially its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The farming here is quite exceptional making it, along with likes of Garys’, Rosella’s, Tondre, Pisoni, Soberanes to name a few, a top site in the Santa Lucia Highlands and the recently added Gamay Noir here is showing huge potential, as witnessed with their own efforts and others. I caught up with Scott Caraccioli recently during Carmel’s famous Car Week events and was treated to his exceptional 2018 sparklers, which to my humble palate are the best yet and should not be missed!

Few other wineries, as I’ve mentioned before, have put together such a fine collection of terroir driven wines in such a short time than Caraccioli, especially their Sparkling wines, which is the main focus of the winery. It all started with the help of the late Michel Salgues, who had worked for famed Champagne house Louis Roderer for most of his career, including the last nineteen years at Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley, where he was the founding winemaker. Scott Caraccioli and his team have quickly gained a solid reputation for his grower producer style bubbly and is now considered one of the best producers in California of Champagne method sparkling wines. Caraccioli follows a very traditional regime from the vines to the bottle, with early picks to long lees aging on these elegant and extra lively wines. Caraccioli first does a light pressing of the cool and fresh juice in small lots, with the winery noting that they do 120 gallons (well below what the law in Champagne mandates: 150-180gl.) at a time. The Cuvée and Rosé see no skin contact and mostly gets some stainless, though some of the lots are fermented in barrique, with all of the primary fermentation(s) being spontaneous, done with ambient yeasts. The Caraccioli Brut Rosé undergoes the same processes and initial blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, as this Brut Cuvée. The difference in the Rosé is that Scott hand picks of a barrel of Pinot Noir still wine to blend into the final Rosé for color, while Brut Cuvée is all naturale. As mentioned in prior reviews, to enhance complexity and depth the young wine is barreled down-post fermentation for a few months, taking as Caraccioli explains, a little rest before blending, though in a few years there is some stainless aged juice and a long élevage in bottle. What a treat is was to visit Caraccioli’s Carmel by the Sea tasting lounge and taste the latest releases, luckier still to have Scott Caraccioli there to show them off to me, especially this one, and the fabulous vintage Rosé, both of which are equally stunning!
($65 Est.) 98 Points, grapelive

2018 Cantina Roeno, Teroldego della Vallagarina “I Dossi” Vallagarina Veronese Trentina, Italy.
The deeply hued black/purple and garnet 2018 Roeno I Dossi Teroldego Vallagarina IGT Rosso is a beautifully aromatic, complex and concentrated example of this rare and unique Dolomiti varietal and makes for a wine that has distinct character that reminds me of Chinon (Cabernet Franc) and Cross-Hermitage (Syrah) love child with dark fruit, spice, mineral tones, meaty elements and lovely florals. There’s a lot to love in this Roeno Teroldego della Vallagarina, with its very dark almost Petite Sirah like color and its layering of blackberry, wild plum, mulberry and black cherry fruits, along with an accenting of black olive, bell pepper, dried minty herbs, cedar, graphite, tartare and crushed violet flowers. This textural medium to full bodied effort impresses in the glass and has started to evolve into a very engaging wine with a firm underpinning of tannin, subtle acidity and now displays a rewarding mouth feel, along with a good length and persistence that makes it a superb companion with a hearty meal. The Roeno Winery, which has a unique array of varietals planted, is located near the border between the Veneto and Trentino, in the land known as “Terra dei Forti” or land with no borders, with the estate surrounded by majestic Dolomite mountain slopes that flank the Adige River. There’s a bunch of cool things being made here and this wine is just the tip of the iceberg and I highly recommend searching out these Roeno offerings.

After years of guessing and study, it was through DNA analysis, that revealed that Teroldego, native to the Trentino area, together with the Schiava Gentile, is a close relative of Lagrein and Marzemino, and a cousin of Dureza, which all are relatives of Syrah. In modern times, Teroldego has been championed by the famous Elizabetta Foradori and her wines remain the grape’s finest and most coveted efforts, they need to be on your bucket list of Italian red wines, but as a starter version of Teroldego, this Roeno is an outstanding way to begin your exploration of this varietal. For their Teroldego della Vallagarina, Roeno uses 100% de-stemmed and carefully hand harvested grapes that are fermented with maceration on the skins in temperature controlled stainless steel vats with pump overs to extract the Teroldego’s intense color, structure and fruit density. After primary fermentation the wine is pressed to large mostly used neutral oak casks, where the winery says it goes through natural secondary (malos) fermentation and matures for about a year before being settled in tank and then bottled. This was the first time I’ve tried the Roeno wines, by the Fugatti family, who’ve lived and worked here for multiple generations, and I look forward to sampling the full range of imported options, which is still pretty limited in the States, as I see that they do some Interesting stuff, including a dry Riesling, that looks like one of their signature wines. I also understand they have an ultra rare red made from 100% Enantio (which I had never even heard of) from vines planted in 1865, which is on my radar now to discover as soon as possible!
($22 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Kabinett, Lenchen, Rheingau Germany.
Again, as I’ve mentioned before, after focusing more on the old vine and dry wines, including the fabulous set of GGs at Spreitzer in my reviews, I noticed I hadn’t mentioned often enough, one of my favorite wines in their lineup, the delicious Lenchen Kabinett, and that is an almost unforgivable oversight on my part! This aromatic and bright lighter bodied pre-release sample of 2023 shows lovely potential for the vintage with radiant slightly off dry crystalline fruits, including white peach, green apple, honeyed lemon and hint of pineapple, along with lime blossom, rosewater, ginger spice and green tea. The Lenchen parcels, part of the VDP Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) Oestricher Lenchen vineyard, overlook the widest part of the Rhein and this area gets an almost lake effect climate, warmer and moist, usually allowing for high sugars and early ripening grapes, making for flexibility in picking so the Spreitzer’s can make a wide array of styles from the Grand Cru dry Grosses Gewachs to a lush and intensely sweet Auslese, as well as this traditional Kabinett. The Spreitzer team used a combination of old fuder (German oak cask) and stainless steel tanks to ferment and lees age the wines here, with the Lenchen Kabinett exclusively seeing stainless steel, to retain fresh detail as well as give texture, which this vintage manages to convey to near perfection, making for an ideal Kabinett Riesling. This is a wine that is both fun and quaffable along with having complexity to thrill the senses and goes brilliantly with food, classic German dishes and especially spicy Asian cuisines like Thai.

One of the oldest family wineries in the Rheingau, Weingut Spreitzer, which I visited in 2016, is located in the tiny hamlet of Oestrich in the middle Rheingau is run now by Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, who took over from their father Josef in 1997 and have really done an amazing job elevating this historic estate. One of their prize holdings, is the Lenchen Vineyard with its VDP Grosse Lage Rosengarten being the elite parcel here, it is set on mostly of gravelly loam and loess soils and not far from the Rhein and the winery itself. There are numerous underground streams here that ensure that even in dry years the vines have plenty of refreshment and a natural source of water for the roots to drink up. During my visit with Andreas in the 2016 harvest period I got a chance to see a lot of his vineyards and tasted in the ancient cellars and in the modern tasting lounge the Spreitzer’s have. It certainly was a fantastic experience and a beautiful place that I recommend to visit when you tour the Rheingau region. The whole area should be on your short list of paces to taste when in Germany and Spreitzer is not far from some other famous spots like Kloster Eberbach and Schloss Vollrads, as well as being close the Geisenheim University and just up Rhein River from Rudesheim, one of the Rhein’s most picturesque villages. I was thrilled to catch up with Andreas Spreitzer earlier this Summer and taste through his upcoming releases, including this deliciously pure Lenchen Kabinett, all of which were outstanding efforts that are reason for excitement and the 2021 and 2022 vintages are already tremendous wines, with the Wisselbrunnen GG being a monumental and profound dry Riesling.
($24 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2020 Chiussuma, Carema DOC, Alto Piemonte, Italy.
Still flying under the radar, the new on the scene, Chiussuma winery that is based in the Carema and Caluso wine regions in Alto Piemonte, north of Torino, bordering the Val d’Aosta, specializes in Nebbiolo and this 2020 Carema DOC is elegant, evocative and beautifully detailed version which delivers lovely delicacy, purity and incredible length. This ruby/brick hued wine highlights why this remote area, lesser known than the famed Barolo and Barbaresco, is capturing the hearts of Nebbiolo fans, it shows off Burgundy like class, with fine rose petal aromatics, silky texture and mineral tones. The medium bodied palate delivers charming Nebbiolo red fruits, including brandied cherry, damson plum, currant and blood orange, along with all spice, crushed stone, wild mushroom, light cedar and anise accents. Still vibrant and fresh, this lighter framed Nebbiolo is developing nicely and gets better and better in the glass, this is a wine to spend an evening with and enjoy its full personality over a slow meal. Winemaker Matteo Ravera Chion says the Nebbiolo vines here are set on morainic & mica schist soils, carried up the impossibly steep slopes from the valley bottom, with the terroir benefiting from a dramatic daily temperature fluctuation, which adds complexity and distinction to the wines.

This winery, which is named after one of many nearby waterfalls, Chiusumma is located in Alto Piemonte and the Carema region, which has been produced Nebbiolo based wines for over five hundred years and a region that has seen a lot of modern times attention recently with this varietal’s most fanatic fans. Chiussuma has founded in In 2016 by the young Matteo Ravera Chion, a graduate of Torino University, who joined forces with a couple of locals including his wife Alessandra to form this label, first releasing a 2019 vintage Rosso Canavese, after which the longer aged 2016 and 2017 Caremas . These early efforts are what that caught the eye of a savvy importer and now we can get these exciting, extremely small lot and authentic wines in the States. The Carema, which was awarded its DOC back in 1967, by Ravera Chion here at Chiusumma saw a 100% de-stemmed 15 day skin maceration and fermentation, after which it was pressed to used bigger 500L Tonneaux barrels, where it matured for 18 months. Production is tiny by anyone’s standards, with this wine being a limited 100 case offering. Chiussuma also does a Caluso Erbaluce, a white wine that I am excited to try too. This vintage of Carema is only the second of Chiusumma’s wines I’ve tried and I was especially impressed by this one and recommend keeping an eye out for this one.
($60 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Berger, Gelber Muskateller, Kremstal, Austria.
Digging deeper into the collection of Berger wines, beyond the basic Grüner Veltliner by Erich Berger, you’ll find some other outstanding values, especially the Rieslings and this highly aromatic and dry Gelber Muskateller, which is a fun and delicious Summer wine with classic Muscat jasmine perfume, a touch of spearmint, vibrant white peach, lemon/lime and crisp green apple, along with a stony element and bitter almond note. This is fine light bodied effort that is a fabulous aperitif wine and or fun picnic wine, being fresh and zesty it also goes nicely with lighter sea food dishes. An ancient, very floral varietal, the light gold/geen berried, Gelber Muskateller, which is the German (and Austrian) name for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, a white wine grape that some believe originates from Greece, though certainly around the Mediterranean Sea, and is also commonly in Italian and French region, with Alsace maybe the most famous. It’s also quite versatile and can be used to make dry, sweet and sparkling wines with great success and is even done in a tawny port style too, most notably in Australia. Muscat is one of the oldest grape varieties in the world, of which there are many distinct different clones or genetic version, especially in Italy, and are differentiated by the color of the berries, like yellow, orange and black. Grown in the Kremstal on Loess and deep brown rich soils with gravel and marl, Berger’s Muskateller is slowly fermented and then shortly aged exclusively in temperature controlled stainless steel tank to allow for freshness of detail and transparency. I’m a fan of dry Muscat, especially from Müller-Catoir in the Pfalz, Germany, and in Alsace, but for everyday drinking it is easy to love this zesty/tangy Berger version.

As noted with my reviews of Berger’s wines, in the cellar, Erich Berger does everything to preserve and focus of vitality and freshness, he uses only ultra clean practices with his Grüner, Riesling and Muskateller only seeing selected cultured yeasts and temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation(s) and aging, nothing fancy, but highly effective for transparency and clarity of form. Erich Berger, the winegrower, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and completely humble, and to taste his his wines is always a pleasure, and as mentioned they all impress for their no pretense quality, and in particular, this one. Weingut Berger has implemented methods, such as organic farming, and a focus on sustainable practices to produce wines that showcase terroir and varietal character, and while always highlighted as a value producer, the game has changed here, as mentioned before in my prior reviews, and the wines are certainly winners through out the collection. I met up with Erich’s son Max at a recent tasting in San Francisco, with Berger’s importer Skurnik Wines, and was again impressed with the quality here, especially Berger’s white grape wines, as noted above, that come from steep terraced sites in the eastern section of the Kremstal region, not far from the Danube River, just to the west of Vienna on classic loess soils. I have really enjoyed Berger’s wines over the years, and have noticed a surge in quality in recent years and highly recommend the current vintages, in particular the Grüners of course, with the 1L bottle being an outstanding quaffer, along with the more serious single cru offerings, like the Gedersdorf Kremstal Grüner, as well as the superb intense Kremstal Ried Steiner Pfaffenberg Riesling, which is the most limited in the portfolio.
($24 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2021 Parsonage Village Vineyard, Syrah, Monterey County.
A big, opaque purple/black and tannic Shiraz style Syrah from Parsonage with deep aromatics, a dusting of mixed spices and a core of ripe black fruits, making for a broad and gripping wine that absolutely needs a hearty protein rich meal to bring out its best quality. This wine, sourced from the Argyle Vineyard in the remote arid San Antonio Valley area of Monterey, which gets a lot more heat during the Summer and cool nights from the Pacific Ocean breezes leads to thick skins and biting tannic structure, which this 2021 Parsonage delivers with chewy intensity, a nervy and fiery version of this grape, rather than the more opulent and hedonistic that the estate examples of Parsonage show. The palate is full and powerful with dark berries, violets and subtle wood notes lead the way with a firm layering of blackberry, plum, currant and blueberry compote, along with a touch of mocha, peppercorn, anise, Tahitian vanilla, incense and gritty graphite notes. Best to decant and enjoy this with a prime rib, lamb and or a selection of Basque hard sheep cheeses, this is a wine for those that are looking for throwback version of forceful Syrah. There were no 2020s due to the fires within the region here and these 2021s so far are turning out to be thrilling wines that look like they might need some extra bottle age to soften, though this one I think will stay on the firmer side, it makes for an interesting contrast to Parsonage’s more luxurious and hedonistic estate wines.

As mentioned many times here with my reviews, Bill Parsons planted his estate with Syrah, a first for the Carmel Valley AVA, and Bordeaux varietals, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and the rare Petit Verdot blocks back in 1998 and hit the ground running with his 2000 debut bottlings that garnered eye brow raising critical acclaim. The wines have impressed for their lush fruit driven quality, something that not many people thought possible here until Parsons brought these wines out, up until then most of the Carmel Valley reds were austere and needed tons of bottle age to be their best, like the wines that came from the historic Durney label, now known as the Massa Estate. If you’ve not had the Parsonage wines, now is a good time to start, in particular the estate grown bottlings of Syrah, like this Estate, the Cabernet Sauvignon and especially the single varietal Dario Reserve Merlot, which is also absolutely stunning in this stellar 2019, and the delicious 2018, vintages. The Parsonage wines are crafted by Frank Melicia, owner and founder Bill Parsons’ winemaker and son in law, who also makes the Silvestri wines, and that goes after richly flavored, ripe and textural wines that stand out, which has been a winning formula for this small label in Carmel Valley. As with all the Syrah efforts here, the grapes are 100% de-stemmed and vigorously sorted, seeing a lengthy maceration and daily punch-downs for full color and phenolic extraction and then they basket pressed to French oak barriques, mostly used and mature close to 18 months before bottling. I highly recommend chasing down the 2019s here at Parsonage for near term drinking and put these 2021s away for another couple of years.
($45 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2021 Weingut Prieler, Pinot Blanc, Leithaberg DAC “Alte Reben” Burgenland, Austria.
Georg Prieler, one of my favorite Austrian producers, makes some of Europe’s best examples of complex and delicious Pinot Blanc, rivaling top notch versions from Alsace and the Alto Adige, with his latest Leithaberg old vine being an outstanding vintage. The 2021 Leithaberg Alte Reben Pinot Blanc is delicately golden in the glass and has surprising depth and structure to go with a lovely mineral toned palate of apple, lemon preserves, white peach and fleshy melon fruits, along with yeasty hazelnut, honeycomb, zingy herb and stony notes. Fresh and lively with a medium bodied feel there is a lot to admire here and elevates this varietal, which can rarely reach this level, this is stunning stuff again from Prieler. Prieler’s 20 hectares of vines are cultivated in small parcels between the Leithagebirge, which according to the winery, is the last outpost of the eastern Alps that protect the vines from the western winds, and the Lake Neusiedl, which tempers the hot climate of the Pannonian plain, where there is the most sunshine in all of Eastern Europe. I highly recommend digging deep into this latest Prieler collection. Prieler has many varietals planted here, including Blaufränkisch, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Welschriesling, Sankt Laurent, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which all enjoy lots of sunshine and a complex series of calcerous and iron rich soils with sand, limestone over deep chalk, fossilized rock and some mica-schist. As well as this Cru version, Prieler does the all stainless Seeberg bottling, which is a great value priced option as well.

The Prieler estate, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, founded in 1972, is based in Schützen, which sits on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, in Burgenland, it is a historic old farm, that was once dedicated to many types of agriculture, but now specializing almost solely in grape growing. Georg Prieler is a the second generation Prieler to run this iconic winery and the one that has brought world wide acclaim to this property with his fantastic terroir driven Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc wines. Georg’s wife Silvia brings a wealth of experience to the winery with a PhD in biochemistry, international experience including an internship at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and a precise touch, which explains the class and finesse in the wines. The winery notes that all of the grapes are carefully crushed and fermented at closely controlled temperatures in steel tanks or wooden casks. The character of the variety and the vineyard determines how the wine will be matured and what in. For example, the Prieler’s add, the most of the Pinot Blanc will aged exclusively in stainless steel to maximize freshness and clarity, though this one sees two days on the skins and some lees aging in large cask, which adds depth, as seen here. Prieler’s Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc bottlings take center stage in the lineup, with the 2020 Oggau Johanneshöhe Blaufränkisch and this white Burgundy like 2021 Leithaberg DAC Pinot Blanc Alte Reben (old vine) being my favorites, along with their dry Rosé and the Kalkterrassen Gemischter Satz (co-fermented white blend), which was all new to me. Again, as noted and written here, Prieler is a jewel of a winery and if you’ve not had them before, now is an excellent time to do so!
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2019 Whitehall Lane, Merlot, Napa Valley.
The dark purple/garnet and lush 2019 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley is a smooth and deeply opulent wine that is drinking fabulously well right now, it captures the varietal’s and region’s best character and qualities in the glass with lovely aromatics, a polished luxurious texture and has good depth and complexity with loads of dense black fruits, velvety tannins, a light dusting of spice and well judged oak use. This vintage of Whitehall Lane’s Merlot had a final blend of 87% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot, and the winery notes it has always utilized the art of blending to make their Merlot, which adds to the total enjoyment in the wine, especially in years like 2019 that was ripe, but also well balanced. The full bodied palate delivers classic blackberry, black cherry, plum and currant fruits along with hints of pencil lead, chocolate, sweet sandalwood, sage/spice, caramel, delicate pipe tobacco, licorice, dark floral notes and smoky vanilla. The Merlot, sourced from multiple parcels and areas within the Napa Valley, 100% de-stemmed saw a lengthy cold soak and was fermented using a selected culture and once dry it was pressed to 100% French oak with about 35% new wood used. The Napa Valley Merlot was allowed to mature in barrel for close to 20 months, after which it was bottled unfined and unfiltered, that adds up to a wine that is ready to please upon release, though this vintage looks to be rewarding for a decade, such is the structure and fruit density.

The Leonardini Family, owners of the famed Whitehall Lane Winery in St. Helena, as I mentioned in a recent review, originally founded this label mainly dedicated to Bordeaux varietals in 1979, then oversaw the 1989 re-planting of their 14 acre vineyard site right near the famous Harvest Inn and eventually bought the vineyard in 1993, forming their first true estate property. According to the winery, the area had been originally planted to black grapes in the late 1800’s when the Lewelling Family settled on a large tract of land on the southern outskirts of St. Helena. The old-time farmers of the area said that the soil, Cortina Gravely Loam, in this particular area was renowned for quality wine grapes, though much turmoil followed and it wasn’t until more recent times and better farming that the full potential was realized here and it was planted to mainly Cabernet Sauvignon. Like the winery itself, the vines are right off the Highway 29 that carves through the Napa Valley, on the western side on what has become one of the most iconic area in the wine world. As mentioned, I was a huge fan of the early 1990s wines here, drinking lots of Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and the Merlot, that has long been a great value offering, as well as visiting the winery when I was up in Napa, so it was great to taste their current offerings, which I highly recommend. Most recently Whitehall Lane added a series of small lot Tête Cuvée Cabernets, a brace of Pinot Noirs rom cool climate sites and a single varietal Petit Vedot, all of which I am excited to try.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive

2022 Sandlands Vineyards, Assyrtiko, Lodi, California.
While winemaker Tegan Passalacqua is manly known for his red wine, especially his Turley Zinfandel and Petite Syrah, along with his own Sandlands collection of distinctive reds, including his fabulous Cinsault and Carignane offerings, he also has some very savvy whites, with the Semillon, Chenin Blanc and now this exciting and mineral crisp Assyrtiko, one of Greece’s signature white grapes, most commonly found in the famous wines of Santorini. This is a rarity in California, and maybe the only Assyrtiko in California, at least by a high profile and quality label so far and it sure likes like this varietal will find the state a happy home. This pale golden hued 2022, the debut release, from sandy soils in Lodi, has plenty of fresh acidity and shows of an array of sunny citrus and tangy stone fruits on the light to medium bodied palate with kumquat, kiwi, unripe apricot, quince and melon, along with bitter almond, zesty herb and a delicate orange blossom floral note. With air you pick up a textural appeal and a light yeasty tone, along with a mouth watering saline and chalky element, making for a nicely balanced white wine to enjoy over the next year and with a flexible range of foods, in particular grilled salmon, sardines and or squid dishes, though also a nice Summer refresher with a picnic or salad. Even in a year with some intense heat, this Assyrtiko, a grape that can handle arid and hot conditions, keeps a natural vibrancy, showing that it should be a good fit for the future, retaining acidity, like Vermentino does.

For these Sandlands wines, as mentioned before, winemaker Tegan Passalaqua, who is the vineyard manager and head winemaker at the famous Turley Wine Cellars, uses restraint and employs a light touch in the cellar here with most bottlings being small wines made with indigenous yeasts and lots of whole cluster. Along with an old school maceration(s) with hand punch downs, basket pressing and with the aging being done in well used barrels, mostly French oak. California wine enthusiasts are re-discovery Lodi and other region’s historic old vines, like here in Contra Costa County, with many vineyards being well over 100 years old, set on well draining sandy soils, which is what many of California’s best vineyards have. The Sandlands line-up encompasses these forgotten classic California varieties, and other rarities such as this Assyrtiko, Mencia and Listen Prieto, AKA The Mission Grape, primarily grown in decomposed granite (sand), as seen here, from regions and vineyards that have been farmed, as Passalaqua notes, for many generations but have remained the outliers of California viticulture. Coming from primarily head-trained, dry-farmed and own rooted 100 year old plus vines, as Tegan continues, that harken back to California’s roots of exploration, wonder, and hard work. There’s a lot to admire and enjoy here with Tegan’s Sandlands Vineyards wines, and while the reds are always very tasty treats, don’t over look the whites! I’ve been a fan of Sandlands for a long while and am very excited to see these latest set of wines exceeding my expectations, with the Mataro, Carignane and Cinsault really impressing me in recent years.
($22 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive

2021 Ridge Vineyards, Lytton Springs, Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.
The beautiful, aromatic, opulent and spiced 2021 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend is one of my favorite vintages and is showing fantastically right now, with this slightly cooler year adding a heightened excitement on the palate with black raspberry, tree picked plum, Italian cherry, tangy red currant and puckering blueberry fruits, along with bramble/briar, sandalwood, anise, dusty earthy loam, smoky vanilla and delicate dark floral accents. This wine, while full bodied and densely vinous, is also nicely crafted to keep vibrancy of form, with contrasting savory notes to go with the seamless layering of fruit, this very seductive stuff again from one of California’s greatest wineries of all time. I have been visiting Lytton Springs since before the Ridge take over and seen it grow from a rustic barn with a few feral cats wondering through to its current form as one of the most sustainable and modern tasting facilities in Sonoma County, and even though I adored it back at the beginning, it still is a must visit when in the Healdsburg and Dry Creek area. I have many wonderful memories from Lytton Springs and equally great experiences with the wines from the estate, which are some of California’s best and most pleasing wines, which was again proved here with this 2021 edition. There’s a ton to admire about Ridge past and present and their current collection has an amazing array of diverse wines to chose from, including their famous Monte Bello Bordeaux blend, as well as things like single varietal Carignane, Syrah and even Valdiguié, and there has never been a better time to explore them.

Ridge’s Lytton Springs Zinfandel based bottling typically sees 70% Zinfandel along with a mix of small parts of Carignane, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet and even some Cinsault and Counoise, as seen in this 2021 version, all coming from the old school bush vines around the Lytton estate property. For this wine, Ridge does all hand harvesting and a 100% de-stemmed native yeast fermentation with rigorous daily punch-downs and a full maceration, which goes for a couple weeks before being pressed to barrel. The Ridge Lytton Springs goes through natural secondary fermentation in the wood with an elevage in a selection of air dried American oak barrels, usually seeing close to 20% new oak, but with about 60% seeing 5 plus year old barrels to allow for authentic transparency and a focus on the purity of the fruit and the place. In recent vintages, I am noticing a slight and very welcome drop in natural alcohol, with this one coming in at 14.3%, which also helps deliver a more fresh and vivid profile, that I find more balanced and more appealing, especially with a meal. This 2021, which was aged in barrel for 18 months, ended up with a final blend of 72% Zinfandel, with a good portion coming from vines planted in 1901, 15% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane, 2% Alicante Bouschet, from ancient vines right next to the tasting room, 1% Cinsault and 1% Counoise, from an 80 year old parcel. Ridge does everything they can to keep to minimum intervention in the winemaking with low sulfur and a light filtration, making these wines brilliant and delicious on release, but with the potential to age decades, as I’m sure this one will be able to do. I must say, as I get older I do like these Ridge Zins, including the classic Geyerville, Pagani and this Lytton Springs with bottle age, but was gracefully impressed with this 2021 from first sip to last drop, I wish I had a few more!
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive

2023 Weingut Dönnhoff, Riesling Trocken, Felsenberg, Grosses Gewächs, Nahe Germany.
The Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg VDP Grosse Lage or Grand Cru site is set on porphyry dominated soils, which are volcanic influenced and is quite distinctive in the wines that come from here and this is very much the case with Dönnhoff’s outstanding 2023 Felsenberg GG barrel sample I tried recently at Skurnik Imports West Coast Germany and Austria portfolio tasting. Without quest the critically acclaimed 2022 vintage were exceptional wines, but I was curious to get a preview of the 2023s, and I was not disappointed, with Dönnhoff being some of the best examples, in particular their set of GGs, with this ’23 Felsenberg being close to my favorite with its spicy and slightly austere start and its intense mineral driven nature. Once given a moment to come alive in the glass this pale greenish/gold dry Riesling opens up to becoming a monumental and profound wine with heightened aromas and flavors that excite the senses. The medium bodied and racy palate shows layers of complexity with a mixed array of powerful forces engaging you, including lime blossom, tangerine, smoky rock, white peach, muskmelon, tart green apple, bitter almond, verbena and quince playing roles here. This wine is absolutely electric and zingy, but there’s an underlying vinous depth that makes you take notice and it lingers on and on with extreme persistence and length adding rosewater, tropical essences and tea spices, there’s some real potential here and I wouldn’t want to miss seeing what is going to happen in 5 to 10 years!

The spicy intense Felsenberg Grand Cru (GG) dry Riesling from Donnhoff is simply out of this world, and like I’ve said before here in my reviews, it is very different and unique wine and site in the collection of amazing vineyard that Dönnhoff has above the Nahe River, I can only explain that Felsenberg is to Hermannshöle, is like what Batard-Montrachet is to Corton-Charlemagne! In some ways, I can compare the Dönnhoff GGs to Grand Cru Chablis, especially Le Clos, as they are steely and mineral driven, more so than the wines of the Côte de Beaune and I mean that they are similar in class, even though the Rieslings here are very much varietal in the purest sense, it is just way of conveying just how fantastic they are and helps to explain where they sit in the peak of dry white wines, and they are maybe better, especially from what I recently tasted rom Dönnhoff! The mature and organically farmed vines in the Felsenberg cru are on steep slopes and are perfect to produce dry Riesling treasures, as seen with this 2023. It should be noted again that the Dönnhoff Riesling vines are all old clones and are quite distinctive in character and add tons of terroir personality, in particular in their Grand Cru wines, such as Klamm, Brücke, Leistenberg, Felsenberg, Kirschheck, Dellchen, Krötenpfuhl, Kahlenberg, and Höllenpfad. There’s exceptional quality throughout the range at Dönnhoff and I, as noted before, am a huge fan of these wines and highly recommend them all, with my personal favorites being the Leistenberg Kabinett, the Hermannshöhle GG, the Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken and this one. It was great to catch up on the latest releases from Dönnhoff, with their 2022 showing fantastically well and 2023s too, please note the 2023 GGs will be a year away from release, and all are wines to stock up on!
($89 Est.) 96-98 Points, grapelive

2019 Drew Family Cellars, Syrah, Perli Vineyard, Mendocino Ridge, Mendocino County.
Again, as fantastic as Drew’s Pinots are, Jason Drew’s Perli Syrah is just as desirable, and it is usually one of my favorite bottlings from this small family producer based in the western edges of the Anderson Valley, with this 2019 proving to be an elegant and compelling vintage, less meaty and gripping than most years with a vivid array of dark fruits, delicate florals, spice and mineral tones. I almost thought I made a mistake, and did a double take on the label to be sure I actually opened a Syrah and not a Pinot! Such was the graceful and bright nature found in this version of Drew’s Perli cool climate Syrah. The natural acidity and under 13% alcohol here with Drew’s Perli Syrah give this wine a lean and lighter feel on the medium bodied palate, which shows off some beautiful and silky black raspberry, tangy blueberry, damson plum and tart currant fruits, along with hints of briar, camphor, anise, peppercorns and a subtle violet toned bouquet. Definitely within keeping of pure Syrah varietal character, but this vintage is a bit more shy and less fleshy than I would have expected, though perfectly exciting, fresh and delicious with food. This year’s Perli comes across more Saint-Joseph like, rather than Cornas or Côte-Rotie, for reference in this exceptional Northern Rhône inspired wine. I love all of the Drew wines and as the estate gets more and more mature, the home grown stuff gets better and better, especially the Field Selection bottlings.

As noted here in my prior reviews, the Perli Vineyard, as Drew notes, comes from hillside vines that were planted about 20 years ago with the Syrah being the McDowell selection and the 877 clones, is 10 miles from the ocean and is perched at close to 2,200 feet above sea level on thin and steep north east facing slope. The Ornbaun soils here are a unique combination that gives this wine its soul, consisting of shale, fractured sandstone and rhyolite with some sandy loams. The McDowell selection, as Jason adds, is notable as it is the oldest field selection of Syrah in North America, brought into California to the San Jose Mission in 1880 and later planted on the McDowell Ranch in Mendocino County in 1902. This very lovely cool climate Syrah, with a nod to Cote-Rotie, is co-fermented with close to 5% Viognier in the traditional style of one of the Northern Rhone Valley’s most legendary places. The winemaking at Drew is always transparent and artisan in nature with a gentle touch to allow for a terroir driven profile with this Perli Syrah, with this 2019 noticeably less stemmy in profile than past editions, which maybe down to vintage conditions. Normally, Jason Drew, employs a 100% native yeast and 50% whole-cluster fermentation on his Perli Syrah with just the right amount of stem inclusion, but this one saw 100% whole bunches, and it was aged solely in a neutral French Oak, typically Puncheon(s), for 18 months. I also recommend Drew’s sister Syrah from the Valenti Ranch, and I am very excited for the new estate Syrah which I hear was just released to their mailing list!
($58-70 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive