I can’t recall seeing a label that announces its charitable cause so prominently (“Every Bottle helps a Dog in Need”), but it turns out that the wine can stand on its own merits for $15. Simple but solid, it displays straightforward and satisfying blackberry and black cherry fruit that is neither under- nor over-ripe, with no evident oak but tannins that frames the flavors without foreshortening the finish.
Aged over two years in French oak, this red hails from a prestigious neighborhood, with neighbors such as Far Niente and To Kalon. Dusky aromas of tree bark, cherry oak, and new leather show its layered complexity from the get-go. The wine opens with flavors of chocolate-covered cherry cedar and a badge of fresh soil. The full-bodied fruit persists with a companion of toasted oak, sweet tobacco, and roasted almonds. Tannins glide along the palate.
Vanilla wafer glistens with lemon drops and creamed corn. Its amplified acid structure beams into the wine’s rich attitude, creating balance and a crisp purity. Aged 18 months in 30% new French barrels.
Planted seven miles from the Pacific at elevations up to 1,000 feet, the wine is aged in 15% new oak, curtailing its naturally high acidity. The taste and aromas of rain on wet pavement is a fine first impression, demonstrating its sleek character and cut-glass persona. Line sorbet and an underlying juicy mouthfeel smacks of ginger and elderflower, punctuated by white pepper.
A massale selection of clones are planted in this vineyard, featuring two-million-year-old Bearwallow-Wolfey fractured quartz and sandstone soils. The iron shavings character is apparent, and what Winemaker Jeff Brinkman terms as the “Bearwallow Sting.” The iron wraps around dark cherry, forming a bond of conviviality, with chalky tannins and an inner tension. Graphite goes deep, creating a foundation to show off concentrated blackcurrant.
Planted to a massale selection of clones on the vineyard’s eight Pinot Noir blocks, 900 feet above sea level, with high-density plantings, this sturdy red offers a dusty mouthfeel and bright fruit tones. Sage surrounds purple plum and raspberry, filling the palate with a parade of dried herbs, lavender, and cherry pith. Deep and dark, with notes of soy sauce, and fresh soil, it lengthens and brightens towards the finish.
Among the handful of best New World Chardonnays I’ve tasted during the past two years, this is a complete and compelling wine that is already beautifully integrated before hitting three years of age. It is highly complex because its aromatic and flavor elements are so well proportioned that none of them overshadow the others, but its ultimate candidacy for greatness is a symmetrical finish that lasts for a full minute. In brief—stunning Chardonnay.
In my book $125 is a pretty “big ask” for Pinot from anywhere, but this delivers obviously superb quality. The bouquet offers up subtle spice notes as well as alluring scents of both red and black cherries, and the flavors flow in keeping with the aromas, with nothing seeming discordant. Acidity and tannins are beautifully intertwined with the fruit notes, enabling this to seem complex but coherent at once.