2019 Jolie-Laide Valdigué Rosé Rosewood Vineyard Mendocino County
The Valdigué grapes for this rosé were whole-cluster pressed and fermented with ambient cultures in a mix of neutral oak, stainless, and concrete vessels….
California
2020 Gallica Cabernet Franc Napa Valley
Gallica’s Napa Cab Franc is ruby purple with blue-fuchsia glints. The wine has a perfume of violets and black plums, and the first palate…
2017 Smith-Madrone Riesling Spring Mountain Napa Valley
This is an estate Riesling, dry-farmed. The wine has firm acidity and is the color of a lemon drop with greenish glints. The fragrance…
Massican’s Four 2020s
Massican’s four whites are, as always, a harmonious chorus
Three vintages of Corison Sunbasket Cabernet
Cathy Corison’s wines are vintage-expressive; a vertical tasting reveals more about the temperament of the season than that of the winemaker. I always find…
2019 Frank Family Vineyards Chardonnay Carneros
Frank Family sources the Chardonnay for this bottling from a range of estates in cool-climate Carneros. The wine was barrel fermented and aged for…
2020 Gallica Estate Rosé St. Helena Napa Valley
Gallica’s rosé is blend of organically grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. The vines are old, planted in 1953 and 1990. The wine is…
2019 Pax Mahle Wines Mission Somer’s Vineyard Lodi
One hundred and twenty years old. Let that sink in.
2018 Birichino Chenin Blanc Old Vines Jurassic Park Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley
This old-vine wine hails from a vineyard Birichino winemakers John Locke and Alex Krause describe as a dinosaur boneyard. The pair ferments the grapes…
2018 Birichino Old Vine Cinsault Bechthold Vineyard Mokelumne River Lodi
Plummy, elegant old-vine Cinsault
2019 Centralas Barrel-aged Rosé Hussy Santa Barbara County
Centralas sources fruit for its rosé from a certified biodynamic vineyard. The wine is a fifty-fifty blend of Grenache and Syrah that ferments with…
The Hilt Estate 2018 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
A pair of wines from Sta. Rita Hills