Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.
This is the first vintage and first wine under the Saxum label. It is a blend of 92% Syrah, 5% Grenache and 3% Mourvedre. 14.8% abv.
This is a blend of 46% Grenache Blanc, 31% Roussanne, and 23% Chenin Blanc from the great James Berry vineyard in Paso Robles. What a delicious wine! Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose is great with honey, orange peel, minerals, quince and slight wild thyme note. Full bodied. Slightly oily texture. On the palate, this is nuanced and complex. Great balance. Orange citrus, quince with slight honey and lots of minerality. Long finish. This is still young but could probably go another ten years and gain in complexity what it loses in vibrancy. Still, if you just have o
Made in a more classic California Chardonnay style, this Migration offers traditional lemon-lime, apricot, white peach, resin and guava notes along with honeysuckle, pear and a pleasant mouth feel. There is a good balance of oak and non-oak, excellent acidity and a subversive viscosity. Aged 10 months in just 34% new French oak allows the fruit and acidity to shine through. Made of all Chardonnay, the grapes came from five different vineyard sites within the AVA, which helps to provide a more well rounded Chardonnay. ORIGIN: Sonoma Coast. ALCOHOL: 14.2%.
An excellent take on Albarino from California. The grape is normally found on the northwest coast of Spain where it makes crisp youthful white wines. This one is a bit rounder. Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has limes with a good bit of salinity. Slightly oily texture. On the palate, the limes come thru along with a nice minerality. Crisp acidity. Long finish. The wine drinks well on its own but would be better with some salty and/or fried appetizers. Drink over the next couple of years. This is a bit pricier than its Spanish counterparts but this is as good or
My personal view of extended barrel age wines is that they take more time to be ready to drink than regular aged wines. This one is from what might be a slightly lighter vintage, but held true. It is a blend of 58% Syrah, 28% Mourvedre, 11% Grenache, and 3% Viognier. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, plums, black cherries, spice, roasted meats, and slight black olive. Great texture. On the palate, this is tight but with air has black raspberries, black cherries with underlying roasted meat and herbs. A bit of black pepper comes out with air.
Goldeneye has been making wine in the Anderson Valley for 30 years. This current release is comprised of 63% Pinot Noir and 37% Chardonnay. There is a lovely softness to the carbonation and viscosity of the wine itself. Pleasant notes of fresh, baked bread, golden delicious apple, apricot jam, blood orange and a slight honeydew melon fill the palate. Unlike many sparklers, this doesn’t lean towards sour apple, nor sweet, it straddles a middle ground of pleasant, soft notes, making this a delightful sipping wine with enough acidity for food.
This is a nice solid Napa Cabernet that often shows up on restaurant lists. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has cassis, coffee, slight chocolate and a slight herbal note. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, lots of cassis, some chocolate and just a hint of spice. Nice finish. This drinks nicely on its own and will work great with a steak or burger. Drink over the next five to eight years.
Good Pinot Noir is hard to find. A good Pinot at a good price is even harder. But Decoy’s latest hits the right notes. Black cherry, boysenberry, wild strawberry, black berry and a hint of green tea leaf, this offers mild tannins and acidity and is a pretty comprehensive Pinot for just $25. The grapes were harvested from six different counties in California, and it was aged one year in new French oak barrels, 35% of which were new. The result is a well crafted Pinot Noir that won’t break the bank, but will give you a quality wine that is food-friendly and enjoyable.
This is a "kitchen sink" blend of lots of red varietals grown in California. Garnet in color, purple at the core, bright. The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, black raspberries, spices and chocolate. Full bodied. Light tannins. Moderate acidity. On the palate, this is big wine. Tasty but the kind of wine that doesn't demand introspection. Loads of black cherries and cherries with a bit of chocolate. Long finish with slight warmth. It drinks well on its own and will need big food such as BBQ Ribs off the grill. Drink over the next five to eight years.
This is a blend of 92% Syrah, 6% Mourvedre, and 2% Viognier. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, blueberries, black pepper, chocolate and roasted meat. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Nice acidity. On the palate, this is delicious. Lots of black raspberries with some blueberries over a bit of roasted meat (more char). Long finish. Drinking nicely if not fully mature. Drink over the next ten to fifteen years. Great on its own, this needs bigger food. It would work well with Prime Rib.
