Expert articles and wine tasting videos profiling wines from California, California wine regions, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, & more.

2014 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Napa - Wine Review

Score: 
100
Grade: 
A+

OK.  My first 100 point review for Intowine.com.  And it deserves it.  This bottle was opened about 7 hours prior to consuming and decanted about an hour prior.  That seemed about right but it could probably have taken a lot more air.  The thing I loved about it was how smooth and elegant it is while a the same time not being in any way shy or reserved or even feminine.  Think Cary Grant.  Purple in color.  The nose is great with cassis, slight dark chocolate, slight coffee grounds.  Also some cedar and spice.  On the palate, this is seamless.  Juicy.  deep and layers of tight complexity un

2012 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Napa - Wine Review

Score: 
99
Grade: 
A+

Wow.  What a gorgeous wine.  Not a fruit bomb but clearly from sunshine and California.  Deep purple in color, shimmering and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, chocolate and spice.  Wonderful texture.  It just spreads itself across the papate.  Depth yet precision.  Cassis, slight dark chcolate, with gravel undertones.  Long, long finish.  This was pop and pour and that was a mistake.  An hour of air and it no doubt hits the 100 mark.  Ready to drink now, but will last 40 years.  Amazing wine.  

2013 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium, California, Napa - Wine Review

Score: 
99
Grade: 
A+

Wow.  Maybach continues to be one of the top wineries anywhere in the world.  This is just fantastic.  I have no doubt that more decanting or cellar time takes this to the 100 point level.  This is a mailing list to be on.  Purple in color.  The nose is fantstic with cassis, floral notes, gravel and pencil lead.  Also some cedar and spice.  On the palate, what a texture.  Juicy, velvety and seamless.  Lots of cassis fruit with depth.  An underpinning of gravel.  Firm tannins at the moment.  This is a 3o plus year wine.  Long finish.  Just gorgeous.  

2014 Booker Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon The Ones, California, Paso Robles - Wine Review

Score: 
99
Grade: 
A+

Wow, who knew they could make a Cabernet this great in Paso Robles.  Just a stunning bottle of wine that will no doubt earn a perfect score with just a bit more time in the bottle.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, baking spices, and a bit of cedar.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a lovely juciness to it.  Lots of cassis fruit.  An underpinning of earth with plenty of structure.  There is a lot of oak showing but it all came together with some swirling in the glass.  No doubt a couple of years and this will be close to or seamless.  It works with food.  Nice finish.  As I said,

2014 Bevan Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard, California, Napa - Wine review

Score: 
98
Grade: 
A+

This is an amazing wine.  It is still young but like most of Russell Bevan's red wines, this is already drinking well.  As an aside, it's funny how Bevan's white wines take longer to be ready than his reds.  Inky purple in color with a ruby rim.  The nose is gorgeous with cassis, some pencil lead and cedar.  On the palate, a big and bold wine but not rough.  Lots of cassis fruit with depth.  Just delicious.  I think a couple years brings out that depth a bit and this gets to be a perfect score.  Right now its like a bottomless pit.  Long finish.  At the same time, this wine has the acidity

2014 Sine Qua Non Lightmotif, California - Wine Review

Score: 
95
Grade: 
A

This is a blend with Chardonnay being the dominant grape.  Deep/medium gold in color.  The nose is very nice.  Chalky with some grapefruit but also a slight honey and peach.  On the palate, this is a bit tight and probably will improve with cellaring or decanting.  Deep and complex on the palate with a slightly oily texture.  The honey and peach notes come out more but there is also a pleasant bitterness especially on the finish that is really nice.  Long finish.  There is a lot of structure to this wine.  

From Start to Finish: A Conversation with Thérèse Martin of Martin Ranch Winery

The winding, tree cocooned Redwood Retreat Road in Gilroy, California, snakes its way alongside Little Arthur Creek and steadily climbs up 600 ft. toward Mount Madonna. Once home to the widow of famed writer Robert Louis Stevenson, this southern neck of the Santa Cruz Mountains continues to lure day trippers, adventurers and cyclists. For two weekends each month, wine enthusiasts heed the call to likewise abandon their GPS and take this less travelled path to experience the award-winning wines of Martin Ranch Winery .
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50 California Central Coast Wines You Should Be Drinking Right Now

The California Central Coast, identified as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo (and its main wine region Paso Robles) and Monterey is California the way it used to be, or at the very least, California the way people want it to be: small towns, charming architecture, varied history of Missions and Indians, and coastlines for miles; a slow pace, clean air and a belief that no one real really works very hard. But the area has been home to grape growing since the Spanish brought vine cuttings from Spain via Mexico in the late 1700s and winemakers and vineyard managers have been working hard ever since. To celebrate this beautiful region IntoWine.com offers these 50 wines that represent the diversity of the California Central Coast.
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Napa Valley Wineries with the Best Wine Caves

Discovering the interior of Napa Valley wineries is as exciting as experiencing the exterior of this magnificent place. Napa Valley wine caves offer visitors a chance to see a winery’s inner beauty, you’re able to witness the more refined details pertaining to the production of Napa Valley wines. Whether they’re chiseled into famous Napa Valley mountainsides or dug deep into the rolling hills, the Napa Valley’s wine caves are very cool (literally and figuratively speaking). The views from the depths of these hidden spaces are intriguing and provide insight into the complexities of winemaking; the bottling and aging, the importance of a wines environment, the temperature and storage. All these aspects of different wine making styles offer a glimpse into how a vineyard produces unique characteristics for their wines. Historically, wine caves reach as far back in history as wine itself, the idea of storing wine in an underground cool climate apparently made a lot of sense then as it does now, and the art of constructing highly functional modern wine caves has now been perfected. In order to cruise around in a Napa Valley winery’s wine cave, you’ll need to plan in advance and make a tour and tasting reservation, most tours include a wine cave excursion but feel free to ask. Here is a list of the Napa Valley’s five best wine caves:
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