GUINIGI

Wine Reviews

92

Needle & Thread 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($20)

A youthful expression, with spiced plum and sage. Frisky acidity lightens its mood, creating a superb, food-friendly red.

93

Nick Goldschmidt BOULDER BANK 2025 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborouogh, New Zealand ($18)

Carrying a grassy, grapefruity, and apricot perfume, this single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc had us entranced at first nosing. Notes of pomelo, oregano, and lime chiffon are vibrant, glistening with salinity and mineral gem tones.

90

Ocean Road 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Eastern Australia ($9)

The black currant dominates a nose trimmed with roses and a hint of potting soil. This is an irresistible wine of increasing allure with each taste. These are market-fresh strawberries and pie crust and raspberry. This is pure pleasure with seamless levity and a self-assured firmness and finish.

90

Ocean Road 2024 Sauvignon Blanc, South Eastern Australia ($9)

The theme of this wine is benevolent subtlety, with subdued notes of green apple and a touch of pine. It impresses with taut freshness and a citrus lift with an atomizer’s kiss of sea spray.

94

Opolo 2023 Petite Sirah Reserve, Paso Robles ($50)

Most of the fruit hails from the winery’s higher elevation To the Moon Vineyard in the Willow Creek District, its powdery limestone soils contribute to the wine’s inherent minerality. Aged 16 months in 40% new French and American oak. Plums and violets lean into a compact, exacting elegance. Fresh, and multi-dimensional with streamlined tannins.

94

Painted Fields 2022 Curse of Knowledge Cabernet, Sierra Foothills ($30)

Melded with 8% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, the team of Philippe Melka and Maayan Koschitsky have the talent to smooth out a Sierra Foothills Cab with supreme elegance, aging this wine in (25% new) French oak for 14 months. Mountain garrigue intensifies with licorice-kissed boysenberries and mocha-cherry cedar. Plush and energetic, with concentrated floral tones, the ripest blue fruit and a fine acid structure.

95

Panther Ridge 2023 Pinot Noir Reserve, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Cty ($65)

Reserve release from Panther Ridge is closely comparable to the “regular” Pinot Noir from the same vintage, though it is noticeably darker in color and deeper in flavor. With appealing aromas of spices and toast leading to delicious flavors recalling dark cherries above all, this is worth the extra ten bucks, but both 2023 Pinots are excellent.

94

Panther Ridge 2023 Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Cty ($55)

Suave in expression and silky in texture, this seems like a genuinely Burgundian Pinot from a cool year and a long growing season. Woody accents from 50% new French oak lend complexity but are tastefully restrained, and very fine-grained tannins provide structure without drying or shortening the finish. This is a pure, polished Pinot that can be enjoyed now.