California Wine

The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard barely hints at eucalyptus on the nose with much more emphasis given to black cherries and cassis. This is full-bodied and rich nicely balancing richness and texture against linear... Read More

The 2018 Insignia is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon 8% Petit Verdot 3% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard sources this year include: 30% Las Rocas (Stags Leap District)18% Yountville (Oak Knoll District) 13% Banca Dorada... Read More

More elegant and refined than the Napa Cab the 2019 Insignia features restrained cedar and vanilla notes (despite spending two years in 100% new French oak) and delicate herbal shadings accenting cassis and black cherry fruit.... Read More

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard is a 275-case blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot. It reveals intense red and black currant fruit good acidity hints of camphor and graphite... Read More

Deep purple-black the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard rockets out of the glass with intense notes of blackcurrant cordial plum preserves and blueberry pie plus hints of Chinese five spice dusty soil menthol... Read More

Including 5% Merlot and checking in at 14.2% natural alcohol the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Cuvee sports a semi-opaque ruby hue to go with a classic almost old-school Cabernet nose of red and black currants chocolate sandalwood... Read More

The 2014 Roberta’s Reserve State Lane Vineyard is a blend of 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. 650 cases were produced which is 27% of their total production. This was actually showing more fruit density and personality than... Read More

A barrel sample the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon features a deep garnet-purple singing on the nose of freshly crushed black cherries black berry pie and warm plums over a core of cassis and pencil lead plus nuances of violets cinnamon... Read More

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Trailer Vineyard exudes serious richness and intensity. Unctuous dark fruit mocha blueberry spice and cloves build as this voluptuous huge wine shows off its personality. The Trailier is an unusually... Read More

The 2020 Chardonnay (Napa Valley) is exquisite. That's all there is to it. Creamy and rich yet not at all heavy the Napa Valley Chardonnay is perhaps a bit understated but also avoids the edginess of so many other wines in... Read More

The 2018 Chardonnay The Judge stands out for its gracious bright personality. It doesn't have the oiliness or richness of most years at least not today. Perhaps that will develop in time. We will see. What is pretty clear... Read More

The 2020 Trout Gulch Vineyard chardonnay from Jamie Kutch was raised in twenty percent new oak in this vintage and comes in at an even thirteen percent octane. These vines were planted in 1977, so they are now over forty years... Read More

As I mentioned at the outset, this was the only pinot noir Jamie Kutch was able to bottle in the inferno vintage of 2020. This is one of the warmest vineyard sites that Jamie works with, which is probably why the grapes were ready... Read More

Altogether much more serious than Lail's Blueprint bottling (and priced accordingly) the 2019 J. Daniel Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon comes primarily from the Vine Hill Ranch Dutch Canyon (Heimark) and Steltzner Vineyards. Marked... Read More

This is structured complex dense and lengthy a celebration of dark berry fruit that is layered and velvety smooth on the palate. Tobacco oak and dried herb accent it with ease complementing and contrasting in myriad ways and landing... Read More

The 2015 Firebelle is their Merlot-dominated cuvée. Coming from the sandy soils called Bale Loam it’s a blend of 71% Merlot 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot. This is a more tightly knit wine with loads of lack fruits... Read More

The 2015 LMV Salon Proprietary Red is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc aged in 75% new French oak. They tend to make about 600+ cases of this wine which comes from their gravelly sandy and clay soils. A sensational... Read More

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain was aged in French oak barrels for 22 months 97% new. Deep garnet-purple colored it rolls effortlessly out of the glass with notes of warm cassis black... Read More

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder was aged in French oak barrels for 22 months 94% new. Deep garnet-purple colored it soars out of the glass with vivacious scents of black cherries black... Read More