California

• Amador County
  • Shenandoah Valley
• Carmel Valley
• Carneros
• Central Coast
  • Edna Valley
  • Mt. Harlan
  • Paso Robles
• Contra Costa County
• El Dorado County
• Lake County
• Lodi
• Mendocino
  • Anderson Valley
  • Yorkville Highlands
• Monterey
• Napa Valley
  • Atlas Peak
  • Best of Napa
  • Calistoga
  • Conn Valley
  • Diamond Mountain
  • Howell Mountain
  • Mt. Veeder
  • Oak Knoll
  • Oakville
  • Pope Valley
  • Rutherford
  • Spring Mountain
  • St. Helena
  • Stags Leap
  • Yountville
• North Coast
• Santa Barbara
  • Santa Lucia Highlands
  • Santa Rita Hills
  • Santa Ynez Valley
• Santa Cruz
• Santa Maria Valley
• Sierra Foothills
• Sonoma County
  • Alexander Valley
  • Bennett Valley
  • Best of Sonoma
  • Dry Creek Valley
  • Fort Ross/Seaview
  • Moon Mountain
  • Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak
  • Russian River Valley
  • Sonoma Coast
  • Sonoma Mountain
  • Sonoma Valley
  • Knights Valley

Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is a bit "fleshy" or sweaty socks with some grapefruit and buttered popcorn.  Medium to full bodied.  Slightly oily texture.  On the palate, this is perceptibly sweet with grapefruit notes.  Good finish.  This drinks well on its own but might be a difficult food match.  A nice choice for a summer evening on the patio.  Drink over the next few years.  

Yellow/green in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice.  Very clean without oak.  Aromas of granny smith apples, slight peaches and chalk.  Medium bodied. On the palate, this is crisp but seems to also have some sweetness to it.  A nice combination.  Apples and slight lemon candy especially on the long finish.  This is nice on its own but a bit better with some soft cheeses.  Drink over the next seven to ten years. 

Yellow/green in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with Meyer Lemons, slight peach and just a hint of oak.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, crisp acidity with lemon candy notes.  It drinks easy but has some stuffing too.  A bit different from the "typical" Napa Chardonnay.  This is nice on its own and should be very food friendly with lighter foods but even poultry and seafoods.  Drink over the next five years.  

At a recent blind tasting of Napa Chardonnay's, it turned out that there were two identical bottles submitted and served blind.  Always an interesting experiment as such factors as storage and even the tasting order can affect the results.  As it turned out, bottle #1 was the first served while bottle #2 was the last one served.  

Hay/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has lots of gun powder/sulfur with some pineapple and baking spice.  Medium bodied.  Nice texture.  On the palate, peach and lemon cream with nice acidity.  Nice finish.  This is a bigger, rounder Sauvignon Blanc which has a lot of oak showing at this young stage.  It drinks well on its own and will work with some foods.  Pasta Primavera might be one.  The fruit will likely fade before the oak integrates, so drink up in the next few years.  

Frank Family seems to be one of those wines that people like because the owners are such good people and the wines are good as well.  While I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the owners, I do agree, the wines are very good.  A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Tannins are mostly, not completely, resolved.  On the palate cassis, slight spice and a hint of char.  Nice finish.  An enjoyable, easy to drink wine with some stuffing.  Good finish.  Dri

I get it, many people love these wines while a smaller amount love to bash them.  Personally, I enjoy them for what they are.  I like to open them when I am not looking to sit in the leather char in my imaginary study and contemplate wines place in society over the centuries.  This is a great wine to open with neighbors who may or may not be wine geeks, but do enjoy a big red.  It is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot.

While 2017 was a "lesser" vintage in Napa, it is still a good vintage and this is a great example.  Perhaps not quite the 16 or 18, it still provides lots of enjoyment.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar, spice and char.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, there is some depth.  Cassis with underlying char.  Nice finish.  Drinking well now, it should drink well for another ten years.  Nice on its own, this will work great with a burger off the grill.

This is a blend of Howell Mountain (70%) and Mt. Veeder (30%) grapes with Cabernet Franc (52%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (38%) and the rest Malbec, Petite Verdot and Merlot.  The team at Dagmar are negociants for California wines.  Garnet in color with purple swirls, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has black cherries, tobacco, dust and slight sage notes.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now and should drink well for another seven to ten years.  It works well on its own and would work well with hearty foods such as lamb stew.  

This is their non-designated base Cab.  A truly excellent bottle in its own right.  Purple in color, opaque and inky.  The nose has cassis, slight coffee, slight leather, and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Not an over powering wine, but plenty of fruit and backbone.  Notes of cassis, char, slight coffee grounds and spice.  Clean.  Nice balance.  Long finish.  This is obviously young, but very enjoyable.  it should drink well for the next fifteen to twenty years.  Great on its own, this will work well with all but the lightest dishes.  It should wor