| Winery | Special Designation | Vintage | Varietal | Rating | DateTasted | Notes | Buy Again? |
| Clos Saint Jean | Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vieilles Vignes | 2021 | Rhone Blend | 95 | 2/20/2025 | This one is an interesting blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Vaccarese, Muscardin. The nose is pure fruit with a hint of graham cracker crust, rosemary and sage. But strawberry, dark cherry, black raspberry, lime leaf and vanilla predominate.
The body is full. The concentration and intensity are impressive. The finish is sweet and long. Acidity and tannins are lovely and balanced. This is a wine to sip over an evening, being blown away by the flavor at every sip. We are not sure it even needs food. Just drink it slowly and let it breathe along the way. Enjoy the ride! | y |
| Vieux Clocher | Chateauneuf-du-Pape Symphonie des Galets | 2020 | Rhone Blend | 94 | 2/20/2025 | Oh, my goodness. Two Rhone hits in a row. This wine is intense, loaded with strawberry, black cherry, raspberry and blackberry. This wine has the most intense scent of garrigue that I`ve ever tasted. It`s like juniper, rosemary, sage and lavender -- the herbs that grow around the southern France vineyards. These scents merge seamlessly into the wine`s fruit. The wine would smell too sweet without it! There is also some smoke, meat, licorice and granite in this nose as well. I mean, the scents in here are some that you just don`t get in California wines. It is so refreshing.
It has a super intense palate with massive concentration. It has some great, tooth-coating tannins that feel granular and taste like ripe berries. The wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault. It runs $36.99 at Wine.com. Gonna let this breathe for an hour and see how it changes. | y |
| Domaine Galuval | La Montagne Selection Parcellairre, Cru Des Cotes du Rhone, Cairanne | 2020 | Rhone Blend | 95 | 2/19/2025 | Syrah 60%, Grenache 40%
$29.99 on Wine.com -- get it while it lasts, folks! This is a very complex wine with a lovely nose and even more beautiful mouth-feel. It has all classic Cotes du Rhone notes of raspberry, blackberry, cherry, granite, meat, dried fruit and herbs.
Folks, on the palate this is full bodied, long finishing, high acid, wonderful concentration and intensity. This is all about lovely balance between the fruit, tannins and acidity. This is a keeper!!!
And two hours of breathing, this thing shoots to a 97 on the palate. So delicious! | y |
| Beringer | Single Vineyard, Stagecoach Vineyard, Atlas Peak, Napa Valley | 2018 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 | 2/18/2025 | This is one of the darkest monster wines we`ve ever tried. We found it on the Treasury Friends and Family website. Stagecoach is one of Napa`s highest sought-after vineyards, so we grabbed a bottle. Delivery in two days. But with a pedigree like Stagecoach, why is this wine discounted?
The nose on this wine is black fruit, cocoa, leather, coffee bean, vanilla and darkest molasses. The concentration and intensity on the nose are outstanding. It is packed with nose.
The palate is high/long everything. There is a little touch of bitterness in the center of the tongue, but other than that this is a very intense experience as wines go. It`s just so black, so dark. It needs some raspberry or something bright to balance this out.
So, with that said, this wine is dark and intense, a little bitter. But man, what a chunk of wine that never lets you forget where it came from! | y |
| Beringer | Borrow Pit Vineyard, Oakville, Napa Valley | 2017 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 96 | 2/16/2025 | Barely a whiff of age on this. It is majestic and loaded with ripe blackberry, dried herb and flowers, cassis and bramble. Full bodied and concentrated. | y |
| Elizabeth Spencer | Proprietor Selected Calistoga Napa Valley | 2016 | Petit Verdot | 93 | 2/16/2025 | We picked this up untasted at the winery a couple months ago. It is a very pleasant petit Verdot. Though a blending wine, this stands on its own very well. | y |
| Testarossa | Russian River Valley Graham Family Vineyard | 2021 | Pinot Noir | 91 | 2/13/2025 | This is not the best we have had from Testarossa, but still a very approchable wine. | y |
| Clarice | Santa Lucia Highlands | 2022 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Clarice | Rosellas Vineyard Santa Lucia Highland | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 96 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Dial Tone | | 2023 | Chardonnay | 94 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Lombardi | Sonoma Coast | 2021 | Chardonnay | 91 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Lombardi | Martaellas Vineyard Russian River Valley Sonoma Coast | 2021 | Chardonnay | 91 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Lombardi | Sonoma Coast | 2021 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Lombardi | Russian River Valley Sonoma Coast | 2021 | Pinot Noir | 97 | 2/8/2025 | Olivet and Laguna | y |
| Lombardi | Gaps Crown Petaluma Gap Sonoma County | 2021 | Pinot Noir | 96 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Moret-Brealynn | Lakeview Vineyard, Russian River Valley Sonoma Coast | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 97 | 2/8/2025 | This stuff is outstanding! | y |
| Moret-Brealynn | Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Rose of Pinot | 92 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Phone Booth | Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 2/8/2025 | | y |
| Del Dotto | Vineyard 887 U-Stave American Oak Fam Reserve | 2022 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 96 | 2/6/2025 | | y |
| Del Dotto | Vineyard 887 Taransud French Oak Fam Reserve | 2022 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 95 | 2/6/2025 | | y |
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