FMW 96 Points: “The 2021 La Sirena Chardonnay, Russian River offers up  flinty and bright fruit aromatics.  This lush, full-bodied wine showcases an elegant body loaded withs pure fruit,  lime zest, green apple,  umami richness, and a whiff of minearlity.  The wine offers both power and elegance.   Bright, freshly styled crushed white flowers, more apple fruit and a touch of toasty vanilla are a nice crescendo for this great youngster’s long finish.

Jeb Dunnuck 95+ Points: “Coming from more clay soils as well as a west-facing hillside that gets pounded by the wind, the 2020 Pinot Noir Terraces boasts a deep, concentrated, age-worthy style as well as notes of darker fruits, roasted herbs, graphite, and black tea. This Burgundian, medium-bodied, balanced, structured beauty is well worth seeking out and, I suspect, will be one of the longest-lived in the vintage.

Vinous 95 points: “The 2020 Pinot Noir Terraces is terrific. Dense and vibrant, the Terraces captures the intensity of the year and yet retains notable energy, probably a combination of water-retentive, clay-rich soils and a mix of five clones (Swan, Mt. Eden, 115, 667 and 777) that lends layers and complexity. Red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange and exotic floral notes build into the persistent finish. Drink 2024-2032.”

FMW 95 Points: “Dazzling black stone fruit and chocolate aromas jump out of the glass on impact.   This Bordeaux blend offers deep dark color, with intense aromatics and concentration. The fruit is 100%  sourced from the Hendry Estate in the Napa Valley.  This Cabernet-based blend is concentrated, powerful, yet silky smooth, with a lush and creamy texture on the mid-palate offering up cacao, blueberries, and anise flavors, and its loaded flavors show intense depth,  that leads to a long but silky finish with fine-grained tannins. This wine is drinking well now and should do so for a decade.

Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points: “A 60/40 split of Syrah and Grenache that comes from the Bien Nacido and Larner vineyards, the 2021 Letters to Europe offers up a rocking bouquet blackberries, ground pepper, spring flowers, and leather that needs air to show at its best. This spicy, complex, medium to full-bodied effort has terrific intensity, a stacked mid-palate, and ripe tannins that carry through the finish. It’s a head-turning beauty, that’s for sure.”

Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points: “Another release from Oakville, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard is almost all Cabernet (there’s 1% Petit Verdot) and comes from a single, rocky parcel in the vineyard. It has incredible purity in its cassis, spring flower, spicy oak, graphite, and subtle iron aromas and flavors. A singular wine in the lineup with its pure, focused, balanced, almost old school style, this medium to full-bodied, incredibly impressive 2019 has solid mid-palate density, ripe, velvety tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It’s the purity of fruit, balance, and quality of the tannins that set this beauty apart. Hide bottles for 3-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades. “

Jeb Dunnuck 99 Points: “The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon continues to show brilliantly. (I rated it 97-100 from barrel last year.) It has a quintessential Cabernet nose of pure crème de cassis, crushed stone, lead pencil, graphite, and tobacco that gains depth and richness with time in the glass. Deep, full-bodied, rich, and incredibly textured, yet still fresh, light on its feet, and beautifully balanced, this gorgeous Cabernet shows what’s possible with the variety from Paso Robles.”

This is a warm, rich while also textured wine. It comes from the Côte des Blancs Grand Cru vineyards, Chardonnay central in Champagne. Along with the apple and citrus flavors there are hints of yellow fruits and an elegant structure that could age. Drink this wine from 2022.

*This product will arrive December 18, 2020 – Be aware if you order this with other products, that your order might be held (or we can make arrangements to ship this wine later)

Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points: “A very attractive and floral perfume cascades from the glass of the 2021 Chardonnay The North Slope Vineyard. Displaying a bright yellow-golden color, it leads with notes of honeycomb, melon, incense, and lemon rind, and although it’s full-bodied, it reveals a more linear and elegant profile on the palate, with a silky texture and a mineral accent of wet asphalt. It’s a very pretty style of white with a graceful and savory finish. Drink 2024-2030.”

Vinous 98 Points: “The 2020 La Sangre de Jonata, the estate’s Syrah, is another profoundly beautiful, mesmerizing wine. Over the years, the Sangre has gained tremendously in precision, a combination of the vines getting older and also moving towards picking earlier and generally pushing the wine less. The result is Syrah that sizzles with saline energy, power, and vertical intensity. Ripe, red fruit, pomegranate, blood orange, and incense all soar out of the glass. I wouldn’t dream of touching a bottle any time soon, as the 2020 is very primary, and undeveloped. Its stature, however, is impossible to miss.

Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points: “The 2019 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard is more floral and exotic, with a thrilling core of black raspberry and wild strawberry fruits supported by candied orange, violet, flowery incense, and assorted spices. These all carry to a vibrant, medium-bodied Pinot Noir with a classic, focused spine of acidity, a more rounded mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It’s another gorgeous wine. Drink bottles any time over the coming 10-12 years or so.

Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points: “Next up, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is a slightly broader, more expansive wine with textbook notes of crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, Asian spices, loamy soil, camphor, and chocolate. Offering full-bodied richness, a beautiful weightlessness on the palate, and building tannins, this is another gorgeous, seamless, singular wine from this estate that will benefit from short-term cellaring and evolve for 20-25 years or more.”

Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points: “The 2019 Pinot Noir Seabiscuit Zotovich Vineyard comes from the Sta. Rita Hills and was brought up in 65% new French oak. It shows the spicy, savory, salty style of the appellation, yet all with restraint, and it’s the purity of fruit that leads, with gorgeous ripe raspberries, cherries, and mulberries all front and center. More medium-bodied, elegant, and impeccably balanced, it’s already impossible to resist yet has a good 7-8 years of prime drinking ahead of it.”

Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points: “Moving to the Grand Vin 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, red wine simply doesn’t get any better, and I never cease to be amazed at what winemaker Celia Welch accomplishes with this incredible terroir. Deep ruby/plum-hued, with a kaleidoscope-like array of cr me de cassis, jammy blackberries, spicy oak, graphite, and smoked tobacco, with a kiss of background chocolaty nuances, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a multi-dimensional, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a flawlessly layered, concentrated, balanced profile that has to be tasted to be believed. Given its wealth of fruit and texture, as well as purity and balance, it already offers pleasure, yet smart money will give bottles 4-6 years in the cellar, count themselves lucky, and enjoy bottles over the following two decades.”

Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points: “From a site in St. Helena, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Tournahu Vineyard has a darker, herbal, pure, old school Cabernet character in its ripe black fruits, tobacco, gravelly earth, chocolate, and lead pencil-like aromas and flavors. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, it has a great texture, polished tannins, and a great finish. This is another wine from this estate that readers should snatch up.”