Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points: “Lastly, the 2021 The Bard checks in as 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah. This beauty has a killer bouquet of cassis, spring flowers, graphite, chalky minerality, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied, seamless, silky, flawlessly balanced effort revealing fine tannins, a good sense of freshness, and a thrilling finish.”

James Suckling 98 Points: This is amazing on the nose with dried strawberries, sandalwood, mahogany and tea leaf. Iron and rust underneath the fruit. Dried flowers, nutmeg, and rose petals. Full-bodied yet agile and energetic with layers of fine dusty tannins. Entrancing finish.”

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.

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.

Vinous 97 Points: “The 2021 Zinfandel Banfield Vineyard, from a site on Martinelli Road planted in 1880, is packed with varietal character. Muscular tannins wrap around a core of black fruit, licorice, spice, dried herbs and graphite. This virile, imposing Zinfandel packs quite the punch. I would cellar it for at least af ew years. Impressive.”

94 Points WE “Editor’s Choice”: “The producer’s marquee wine and a nod to its long-standing ties to farming, this is fresh and earthy in notes of crushed rock, slate, dried herb and black pepper. The fruit is layered and sumptuous in flavors of raspberry and black cherry, while supple tannins and a hint of toasted oak provide framing.”

Robert Parker 99 Points: “Composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard has a deep garnet-purple color, requiring a little coaxing before it spills out of the glass with fantastically showy blackberry preserves, boysenberries and cassis notes, plus hints of black raspberries, clove oil and potpourri, with a touch of tobacco leaf. The decadent, full-bodied palate sports a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins with beautiful freshness. All that generous black fruit melds seamlessly into a very long, mineral-laced finish.”

Robert Parker 92+ Points: “The latest release of Billecart’s NV Brut Sous Bois is excellent, unwinding in the glass with notes of lemon oil, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and elegantly vinous, with chalky phenolic structure and an enlivening pillowy mousse, it’s impressively deep and concentrated, with fine tension and grip. Early renditions of this cuvée tended to be at their best on release, but this impressive effort appears to be built to age.”

Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points: “Offering gorgeous ripe cherries, blueberries, black peppercorns, and sappy flowers, as well as just a touch of gamey, bacon-like nuances, the 2021 Syrah Cinematique Larner Vineyard hits the palate with medium to full body, a soft, seamless texture, and ultra-fine tannins. As usual, it’s a more approachable, polished Syrah compared to the Bien Nacido release. Drink bottles any time over the coming decade.”

Vinous 97 Points: ” The 2021 Pinot Noir Coastlands Old Firs emerges from a block planted with Martini and Wadenswil clones planted in 1989. Exotic and compelling, with captivating inner perfume and stunning balance, the 2021 is unforgettable. Orange peel, kirsch, spice, rose petal, mint and crushed rocks gradually emerge from the glass. The 40% stems are beautifully woven into the wine’s fabric. Bright acids and beams of tannin are holding the wine back today, but make no mistake about it, the 2021 is magnificent.”

Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points: “The 2020 Grenache is absolutely brilliant, and unquestionably up with the finest examples of this variety out there. Based on 78% Grenache, 12% Mourvèdre, and 10% Syrah raised in 50% new oak, it has a kaleidoscope-like bouquet of kirsch liqueur, ripe strawberries, spring flowers, incense, and ground pepper, to name just a few aromatics. This carries to a full-bodied, multi-dimensional, layered, hedonistic beauty with velvety tannins, a powerful yet somehow still fresh and elegant mouthfeel, and a blockbuster of a finish. It will evolve for two decades.”