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

Great showing for this.  Still young but starting to show development.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, coffee, baking spices and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, cassis, slight blueberries with spice.  Deep.  Long finish.  No harm drinking now, but this has another twenty years in it.  Great on its own, this will work well with roasted or grilled meats.  

This is a blend of 48% Syrah, 22% Petite Sirah, 17% Grenache, 6% Mourvedre, 4% Tempranillo, and 3% Roussanne.  Wonderful wine that is just entering its prime drinking window.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, black cherries, spice, chocolate and char.  Lovely full bodied, almost seamless texture.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, loads of fruit but plenty of energy to keep it from being burdensome.  Layers of black raspberries, black cherries with underlying gravel and char.  Delicious.  Long finish.  This drinks great on its own and would w

The label on this bottle (bought at auction) was very wrinkled which was quite worrisome.  No need to worry, the wine was stunning.  Purple in color, magenta at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is deep with cassis, coffee beans, spice and slight graphite.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, complex and deep.  Notes of cassis, chocolate and coffee.  Long finish.  This is delicious.  Great on its own, at age 11, this is starting to show a nice complexity that will work with food.  Beef stroganoff would be interesting.  

Green/gold in color, slightly cloudy.  The nose is very nice with vanilla and lemon cream.  Full bodied.  Slight tannins.  On the palate, this is complex and delicious.  Lemon cream with a touch of limes.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This is very young but has such precision that its worth opening now.  Delicious on its own, this works with assorted cheeses and lighter foods or sea food.  Drink over the next ten to twelve years.  

This continues to be the best value in the Bevan catalog.  Perhaps a little behind the single vineyard wines in quality.  Perhaps not.  It is expensive but half the price of those.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, cedar, baking spices and slight dark chocolate.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  This is obviously young, so decant for a few hours if drinking now.  On the palate, it is lush with loads of cassis, some chocolate and spices.  Deep.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is probably better on its own right now, but that will change as it ages.  Drink over

Calera has farmed their separate but distinctive vineyards since 1973. Limestone rich soil, high elevation, native yeast and whole cluster pressed are just some of the attributes of Calera’s program. These work together year after year to produce stellar wines. The Reed Vineyard fruit has more of an earthy quality to it. There are darker notes of black cherry, blackberry, huckleberry, raspberry and faint herbs The acidity is mild as are the tannins, yet it drinks very well, and cries out for food to help show off the fruit.

More mature than past vintages, this has nice tight tannins and acidity to make the fruit work well for aging long-term. The dusty fruit of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry and huckleberry gives way to light vanilla from the oak influence and slight cocoa notes. The oak certainly plays a major influence here, but it does not detract from the beautiful fruit that has been harvested for this wine. Though this wine has a lot of production, the quality is still amazing for the number of cases it produces That takes control, and focus by the winemaking team at Duckhorn.

This is an excellent value in Napa Chardonnay and in our recent tasting, this was the groups top wine.  Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has lemon cream, some red apples and a bit of vanilla.  Full bodied.  Nice slightly oily texture.  On the palate, lemon cream with some peach and a bit of oak showing.  Good balance.  Nice finish.  This is nice on its own and will work well with seafood or poultry.  Drink over the next three to six years.  

Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is very tight and took some time to open.  With air it shows butterscotch along with peach.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a hint of sweetness along with peach and slight lemons.  Long finish.  This needs a bit of air at the moment so maybe hold for a year and drink for five to eight years after that.  Nice on its own, this would work well with Tuna steaks.  

This is one of the best selling Chardonnays out there but does seems to be a love it or hate it wine.  Count me as a fan.  Green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has peach, apple and spices.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a bit of sweetness with tart grapefruits to balance it.  Also some oak spices come thru.  Pretty much a poster child for Napa Chard these days, but it did not seem overblown.  Better on its own, though it should work well with fried foods.  Drink over the next few years.