Wine experts Bartholomew Broadbent and Loren Sonkin answer user submitted questions about wine.

MacRositie 2021 The Key Chardonnay

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$75.00USD

For years MacRostie has had much success with Chardonnay and this latest offering is no exception. Pulling fruit from three distinct vineyards – all of which produce exceptional fruit on their own - this offers a taut acidity with light notes of green melon, citrus, star fruit, honeysuckle, lemon meringue, resin, guava and floral wildflower notes – a palette of tropical fruits. The combination of these vineyard sources shows how a wine can be better than the sum of its parts, and The Key is a harmonious, lovely, enjoyable wine.

MacRostie 2020 Sparkling Wine Blanc de Blancs

Vintage: 
2020
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$52.00USD

This is the first Chardonnay-centric sparkler MacRostie has ever made and, as an inaugural effort, they nailed it, creating a lovely wine that is complex and just plain enjoyable to drink. This is a soft, velvety sparkler that drinks incredibly smoothly. The carbonation is fairly mild, a plus in that we get more of the aromas and flavors of the wine than it being obstructed by bubbles. Soft baked bread, light lemon-lime, whispers of resin, grapefruit, white peach and Asian pear fill the palate.

Emeritus 2020 Pinot Noir, Pinot Hill Vineyard

Vintage: 
2020
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$72.00USD

Emeritus has long had a love affair with Pinot Noir, always seeking new ways to let grapes and ground express what’s in the bottle. This 2020 offers bright fruits of wild cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, plum with back notes of light green tea leaf, very light cola, and light earthiness and minerality - notes that Sonoma coast fruit is known for. There is a nice velvety viscosity to this as well as mild tannins that support the fruit and mellow out the overall feel of the wine.

Canvasback 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain

Vintage: 
2020
Score: 
92
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$44.00USD

In just a few short years of production the Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon has become one of the de facto wines from the Red Mountain AVA in Washington state. Having reviewed this wine from multiple vintages, there is a clear consistency to its quality. Like most Cabernet you will find the requisite black cherry, blueberry, blackberry notes, but this adds huckleberry, boysenberry into the mix along with dusty tannins and a light mocha quality. But Red Mountain fruit also offers an earthiness and minerality with richer fruit.

C.L. Butaud 2021 Tempranillo, Farmhouse Vineyards

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$54.00USD

C.L. Butaud started making wine in 2014 in Texas, another wine to join the impressive ranks of Texas wines being produced in the fourth largest wine producing state in the U.S. A truly Texas Tempranillo, this offers black cherry notes, tobacco leaf, plum and pomegranate, dried tomato leaf, a slight rhubarb quality and a light earthiness. The tannins and smooth but noticeable and the light acidity helps create a wine that, on the first sip, makes you want food with it. The oak influence is just a wee bit heavy, however the fruit still shines and the balance created in impressive. 250 cases.

Three Sticks 2021 Pinot Noir, Gap’s Crown Vineyard

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$75.00USD

One sip and you realize this is a different kind of Pinot Noir than the norm. If you know Sonoma Coast Pinot’s, they all have a rustic quality to them; a brambly component that sets them apart from the overt fruity Pinot, and this is a good thing. This certainly offers red raspberry and wild cherry, touches of huckleberry and gooseberry, but it is that resin/bramble/wild berry note that makes this a unique and fun wine. Certainly this wine is not for everyone, the acidity is higher than most Pinot’s, but it immediately begs for food.

Three Sticks Pinot Noir, Sonoma Ciast

Rodney Strong 2021 Pinot Noir Reserve, Russian River Valley

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
90
Grade: 
Current Price: 
$60.00USD

A plush wine, this is a rather decadent Pinot Noir, offering Rainer cherry, plum, raspberry, rhubarb, a slight earthiness as well as light vanilla, campfire smoke and pomegranate. The acidity keeps the bright fruit balanced and the light touches of oak influence (14 months in French oak of which just over half was new) creates a velvety easy drinking smooth wine. Some wines are built for deconstructing and some wines and made for the pure enjoyment of drinking them, and the latter is the case here. ORIGIN: Sonoma, Russian River Valley. ALCOHOL: 14.5%

Alma de Cattleya 2022 Pinot Noir

Vintage: 
2022
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$35.00USD

The Alma de Cattleya wines represent quality wines without sticker shock. To prove that point the 2022 Sonoma County Pinot offers soft elements of strawberry, pomegranate, guava, rose water, red raspberry, and light citrus. This is a delicate wine, but with enough acidity and tannic structure. Aged just 11 months in French oak allows for the fruit to be more expressive and the quality in the bottle exceeds the price. ORIGIN: Sonoma County. ALCOHOL: 14%

Chappellet 2021 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A+
Current Price: 
$95.00USD

It should be no surprise that this wine is a stunner. Chappellet has long delivered quality wines that exceed the status quo; nearly 60 years in fact. The fruit for this wine comes from Pritchard Hill, a well-know parcel that produces exceptional grapes. A classic old-school Cabernet, this offers blackberry, blueberry, huckleberry, boysenberry and black cherry notes with back notes of vanilla, sage, tight tannins, good acidity and the one thing that makes a wine sing – balance. Comprised of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, there are small amounts of Petite Verdot, Malbec and Merlot added in.

Cuvaison 2021 Chardonnay, Hedon

Vintage: 
2021
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$70.00USD

The Small Lot expressions of Cuvaison (wine typically under 200 cases and a focused identity) have become some of the most exciting and anticipated wines coming out of California. This latest Chardonnay expresses both traditional and non-traditional Chardonnay notes. Typical would be citrus, lemon lime, white peach and guava. Untypical shows kumquat, amber resin, a slight sour green apple and an even slighter butter rum hard candy.

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