Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.
Bob Foley is one of Napa's great winemakers. This is from his eponymous winery. It is a typical Bob Foley Cab which is to say, big and fruit while at the same time, ageable and having a sense of class. It is still quite young right now. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, sandalwood and baking spice along with a touch of pencil lead. On the palate, this has sweet cassis fruit. Firm tannins. It is drinking well on its own today and will take bigger food to not be overwhelmed. However, with another ten years this should mature nicely into something that will be more flexible. It s
This winery is fast becoming one of my favorites for Chardonnay and Santa Crus is definitely my favorite region in the world for Chardonnay. That is a pretty bold statement but there it is. Light golden in color. The nose has lemons, lemon candy, minerals and slight vanilla. On the palate, this is ever so slightly sweet/ripe with lemons and great minerality. It has such great energy and cut. It glides down the palate, and lasts forever. Delicious. Complex. This is obviously young but seems like it should be a twenty year wine. It drinks great on its own but will work well with sea
This is another of the bourbon barrel aged wines. While some wine nerds may scoff or even cringe at this trend, many consumers are buying and enjoying. This comes in attractive packaging with a clear bottle and an "old timey" label. It is a big wine that clocks in at 15.9% abv. After tasting the bottle, I served it to a group of friends and it proved popular. Is is a blend of Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep ruby in color. The nose is sweet with caramel and also black raspberries. On the palate, this has sweet black cherry fruit. Firm tannins that are slightly
This is a reasonably priced Sparkling Rosé from California (prior versions carried a Napa designation). It is non-vintage. Off the top, it is nice that it is the same price as the white version. It makes no sense that so many sparkling wines charge a premium for a Rosé. The packaging is quite nice. It is a blend of 65 percent Chardonnay and 35 percent Pinot Noir. The wine is light golden in color. Not that color is critical, but everyone tasting this commented that it had, maybe, just the slightest shade of pink. Maybe not. I called it light gold. Nevertheless, it has a nice mousse
This come sin attractive packaging. It carries a California designation for this release. There does not appear to be a vintage designation either. It is the current release. It is quite good and an excellent value for $20. Made from 100% Chardonnay (which is what Blanc de Blanc designates). Light golden in color with some green hues. A nice head with lots of smaller bubbles. The nose is elegant with lanolin, limes and a mineral base. On the palate, this starts with a nice tartness; mostly lemons. The mid-palate goes more of a lemon hard candy route which intensifies on the back e
Heitz Cellars is one of the more iconic wineries in Napa. While they made their name from the single bottling of Martha's Vineyard, the regular Cabernet is very nice as well. It also ages quite well. At age 13, this one is drinking quite well. Purple in color, ruby at the rim; this is bright and mostly opaque. The nose has cassis, cedar, slight sandalwood, and a bit of cherries. On the palate, there are more black cherries but the cassis is still there too. This is clean. Some level of depth. Tannins seem fully resolved but not past prime. Good finish. This probably should be con
Truly one of the great Syrah vineyards in the world, James Berry Vineyard is the home of Saxum, but Justin does sell off some fruit and Mike Office gets some for his Carlisle winery. Purple in color, dense and bright. The nose has black raspberries, white pepper, slight roasted herbs and hints of roasted meat. On the palate, this has a great texture. Still young with firm tannins, it opens in the glass showing black raspberries over char with a slight peppery note. Good balance. Bright acidity. Long finish. This should still develop further but no harm opening now although a few hou
One of my favorite Chenin Blanc's from California. Light golden in the glass. The nose is mostly about minerality but there is some honey, and slight orange peel to it as well. On the palate, this is dry but with a viscous texture. A nice backbone of acidity. Minerals with some underlying dried oranges. Long finish. One get's the feeling this could last for a long time, but to be safe, it probably should be consumed in the next five to seven years. It will go well with Asian foods.
This is a blend from Paso Robles. It is 75% Grenache, 21% Mourvedre and 4% Syrah. At age ten, it is still youthful but drinking great. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has black cherries, black raspberries, graphite, black pepper and spice. On the palate, this is big and full bodied. Slight tannins. Lots of black raspberry and black cherry fruit. Great mouth feel. Long finish. This drinks great on its own and will work with roasts or grilled foods. It will drink well for the next ten to twelve years.
