| Winery | Special Designation | Vintage | Varietal | Rating | DateTasted | Notes | Buy Again? |
| Tolenas Winery | Totality Suisun Valley | 2022 | Pinot Noir | 91 | 4/3/2026 | | y |
| Trader Joes | Grand Reserve, Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley Lot# 148 | 2022 | Merlot | 91 | 4/2/2026 | Notes of med+ intensity raspberry, black cherry, black tea, graphite, cranberry, honeysuckle and pomegranate molasses.
This palate is very plush. The tannins are silky/firm. The concentration and intensity of the fruit is fairly high with the fruit predominately acidic pomegranate. It has a lovely sweet/tart mix.
This is a TJs release that shouldnt be sniffed at. They dont always release amazing wines, but this one is pretty nice. | y |
| Trader Joes | Reserve, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, Lot# 279 | 2024 | Pinot Noir | 90 | 4/2/2026 | Starts soft but opens over a ten-minute period. We got nice, bright notes of red cherry, strawberry, lilac, brioche, potting soil, hint of sweet milk chocolate and roasted, buttery potato (this is not a negative note).
The palate is lovely with strawberry jam notes, medium acidity, body and low tannins. All the flavors are bright, almost sweet like a Carneros Pinot Noir. I would love to know where this fruit came from. It does not have the same darker fruit intensity of other Russian River fruit that we`ve tried. But all in all, the wine is really worth a try. | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2024 | Cabernet Franc | 97 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2025 | Cabernet Franc | 97 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2025 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 97 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2024 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 99 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2024 | Merlot | 98 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Quintessence Vineyard, Red Mountain | 2025 | Merlot | 97 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Covale Cellars | Eagle and Plow, Horse Heaven Hills, Barrel Tastee | 2024 | Chardonnay | 97 | 3/28/2026 | | y |
| Mark Ryan | Board Track Racer, Columbia Valley | 2023 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 91 | 3/27/2026 | | y |
| Mark Ryan | Board Track Racer, Columbia Valley | 2022 | GSM | 93 | 3/27/2026 | | y |
| Puente Austral | Privada Valle de Colchaqua, Chile | 2022 | Carmenere | 91 | 3/27/2026 | | y |
| Rush Lattin Cellars | Columbia Valley | 2022 | GSM | 95 | 3/27/2026 | | y |
| Rutherford Hill | Cask Reserve, Napa Valley | 2013 | Merlot | 93 | 3/23/2026 | The nose is rich with tertiary notes, ripe berries spice. Do not walk, run to find some of this wine. For a lamb BBQ, roast chicken or even salmon, this wine is perfect. It really wants food, but can be easily imbibed alone -- as I am now.
The palate does not disappoint. The concentrated fruit, bottle aged flavors, lovely, firm tannins and long finish set this above. This is 13 years old and the tannins, acidity and fruit are still going strong. It has another 5-10 years of beauty. This is a lovely wine. | y |
| Rutherford Hill | Club Cuvee, Napa Valley | 2013 | Merlot | 91 | 3/23/2026 | Not that this is readily available, but my fried David who works for Rutherford Hill brought this over tonight. Oh my, talk about a Merlot based wine that is just ripe and full of balanced bottle age. It is a gentle giant, plush and soft with tertiary notes. A lovely wine to sip for an evening. | y |
| Tablas Creek Vineyard | Esprit de Tablas, Adelaida District of Paso Robles | 2013 | Merlot | 91 | 3/23/2026 | Bright raspberry, cherry, lime leaf notes. This is a real charmer of a wine on the nose. If you were familiar with Cotes du Rhone Villages wines and you tried this blind, you`d think that was from the Rhone valley. It is beautiful.
The palate is crisp with acidity, firm in tannins, concentrated and intense in fruitiness. The body is medium, as it the finish.
What is lovely taste this was. This is right up there with other Rhone blends like Holly`s Hill and Sans Liege. It is great that there are so many California wineries that are creating Rhone styles that are so close to the original. | y |
| Wrath Wines | Tondre Grapefield, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 98 | 3/23/2026 | This is absolutely beautiful wine. The nose is plush, concentrated, with tons of jammy, berry fruit. It has enough acidity to just balance the heck out of this wine.
The palate is nearly perfect, hence the 98 pt score. Someone else already gave this a 97. Totally agree here, but the perfection of this wine pushes it higher for us.
I`m gonna get more of this one. Wrath has knocked it out of the park with this one. It has scent and palate textures that are reminiscent of Pisoni, Rosellas and Sierra Mar - among others. Get some before I buy it all! | y |
| Wrath Wines | KW Ranch, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 3/22/2026 | We get raspberry, red cherry, kaffir lime, rose, turmeric, biscuit, jam and a hint of mint. It feels like it needs time to breathe.
The palate shows high acidity freshness. The concentration and tannins stick to the teeth like jam. But the finish seems to fade quickly. The high acid and intense jam are a nice contrast. The only thing holding this wine back is more cohesiveness.
But keep in mind this thing is YOUNG. Might be worth getting a half case and sitting on it for 3 years and then try it again. | y |
| Wrath Wines | Boekenoogen, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 96 | 3/22/2026 | Raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, cocoa and cherry tobacco. Toasted oak is prevalent, as are anise, cola, nutmeg, cardamom and dried herbs. What a combo of Pinot notes!
The palate is almost perfect with just a hint more acidity than it needs. But this wine is young. The concentration and intensity are great. The body and tannins are medium and the finish is long.
Wrath is so soulful. And they are knocking it out of the park with these 2023s. They are all so different and none of them are boring at all. They all have such interesting edges. (I keep vacillating between 95 and 96 on this one. It shows me different sides of itself. I tried it inside and outside in the cool of the night). The empty glass is ripe with strawberry jam. This wine is really cool!!! | y |
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