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Light ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, dust, iodine and slight spice.  Medium bodied.  Tart acidity.  Light tannins.  On the palate cherries with some spice.  A bit of cherry cough drop on the finish.  This seems to be just getting to peak.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  It will work better with food due to the acidity.  It would be a nice match with Roasted Duck.  

One of my favorite Chardonnays (both the winery and this vineyard).  Light golden in color with some green hues, clear and bright.  The nose is smoky with minerality, slight vanilla and grapefruits.  Medium to full bodied.  Slightly oily texture.  Good acidity.  On the palate, minerality and slight grapefruit.  Lemon candy on the long finish.  12.9% abv.  This is still drinking youthfully.  It should drink well for another ten to fifteen more years.  Great on its own, this will work well with lighter foods but also seafood and even fried chicken.  

This is the basic Cab from winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown's home winery.  At $75, it is expensive but at the same time, a great value  in high end Napa Cabs.  Purple in color with a thin ruby rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, chocolate, char, slight graphite and slight cedar.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is young but delicious.  Cassis and slight black cherries with underlying char and slight spice.  Long finish.  This could use another five years in the cellar but drinking well now with some air.  This has twenty years of great drinking left and the score sh

This is a blend of 59% Syrah, 23% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache and 3% Viognier coming from California's Central Coast.  The EABA means it got extra barrel ageing than their regular release wines.  In fact, it saw 22 months in French Oak (50% new).  Typically, extended ageing wines seem to need more time in bottle to come around as well.  This one does.  That said, it is a ripe, delicious, hedonistic wine right now.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose needs some air, then shows black raspberries, blueberries, plums and black cherries along with spice, roasted meats, slight floral

These are some of the slowest to come around wines in Napa.  They act very similar to a Frist Growth Bordeaux.  It was with some trepidation that we opened this at age 9.  95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot.  Inky purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is classic.  Cassis, pencil lead, spice, chocolate and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Great texture.  On the palate, this took a couple of hours to open and unwind, then it was stunning.  Cassis, some chocolate and underlying char.  Long finish.  This is drinking well but may still earn that 100 point moniker.  Eighte

Harvested from five different vineyard sources, winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave says her goal is to define “the specificity of a dry, beautifully intense wine, yet with volume and texture.” And this she does quite well. Her 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is a little softer than past vintages but nonetheless offers bright, expressive fruit – lemongrass, lime zest, guava, apricot Asian pair, and Green Apple. The acidity is fairly mild, and this proves to be a very drinkable wine with enough to use it for different types of food. 3,400 cases. ORIGIN: Sonoma County. ALCOHOL: 13.7%.

This 2014 Blanc de Blanc is a sparkling wine with a brisk acidity and a hint of chalky minerality. Hand harvested and whole cluster pressed, there’s a lovely creaminess to this wine with very mild carbonation, allowing more of the fruit to come through. It offers lemon-lime notes, guava, red delicious apple and grannie smith green apple, light unsweetened honeysuckle, Asian pear, a hint of baked brioche. The balance of the flavors makes this easy to pair with a diversity of foods. 178 cases. ORIGIN: Alexander Valley, Sonoma. ALCOHOL: 12.5%

Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, spice and slight bramble.  Light to medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this has cherries with some underlying char.  Moderate finish. Nice to have something a bit different every now and then.  Drink over the next five years. A nice wine with pizza.  

There are at least four other Kirkland wines reviewed on this site quite positively.  There is nothing to complain about for the money, but I had hoped for better.  $15.  No sign of smoke taint (that was a year with fires).  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black cherries and a bit of spice.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, there is some black cherry fruit.  Not much in the way of nuance, but certainly drinkable.  Slightly bitter on the finish.  This would be a nice mid-week wine with a burger or meatloaf.  

Alban wines typically take some time to come around, but at age 7, this was drinking quite well.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, roasted meats and roasted herbs, slight dark chocolate and black pepper.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is delicious.  It is on the bigger side but not a monster.  Black raspberry fruit with some black  pepper and a bit of roasted herbs.  Long finish.