| Winery | Special Designation | Vintage | Varietal | Rating | DateTasted | Notes | Buy Again? |
| Testarossa | Sanford And Benedict, Santa Rita Hills | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 92 | 3/9/2025 | A gentle, strawberry wine | y |
| Tolenas Winery | Suisun Valley | 2022 | Zinfandel | 89 | 3/8/2025 | Not our favorite flavor profile for Zin. Still, it is a really interesting wine. | y |
| Tolenas Winery | Suisun Valley | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 92 | 3/8/2025 | A very dark fruited, flavorful pinot | y |
| Dona Luisa | Cream Sherry | NV | Palomino | 88 | 3/7/2025 | | n |
| Dona Luisa | Amontillado Medum Dry Sherry | NV | Palomino | 87 | 3/7/2025 | | n |
| Testarossa | Rancho La Vina, Santa Rita Hills | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 93 | 3/7/2025 | Lime, strawberry, cherry and raspberry Jello. | y |
| Hollys Hill | El Dorado | 2023 | Carignane | 92 | 3/5/2025 | Lovely dusty wine with plenty of fruit, concentration and deliciousness. | y |
| Beaulieu Vineyard | Clone 4, Rutherford, Napa Valley | 2016 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 98 | 3/1/2025 | This is possibly the most concentrated, intense wine we have ever tasted. It was so intense, that we could not finish the bottle in one night. That is the only reason this is not a 100 pointer. Weird problem to have. | y |
| Siduri | Dutton-Perry Ranch Vineyard, Russian River Valley | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 90 | 2/25/2025 | Strawberries, red cherry, earth, asparagus, pine, cedar, tar, marzipan and smokiness.
The body is full, the tannins are medium, the finish is long, the concentration is high, the acidity is high . . . but the balance is off. this wine is all over the place. The astringent greenness, tarriness make the wine a tad bitter. It has enough that is just barely off that it doesn?t work for us. | y |
| Siduri | Anderson Valley, Edmeades Vineyard | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 89 | 2/25/2025 | The nose has a medium concentration with notes of strawberry, jello, dusty earth, minerals, tart cherry and honeysuckle petals (herbal).
The tannins are medium, concentration medium, acid high, medium+ finish, medium+ body and medum+ intensity.
Well, this wine is missing something . . . concentration and intensity. It?s a bit green flavored, tart and medicinal. | y |
| Siduri | Santa Lucia Highlands, Soberanes Vineyard | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 2/25/2025 | Very, very SLH! Notes of raspberry, cranberry, candy red cherry, blackberry bramble, minerality, wet soil, floral lilac and fried bread. That?s an odd note, but it goes.
This wine has high acid, full body, rich concentration, intensity, long finish and medium tannins. A very pleasing wine, playful, bright and rich in flavors. | y |
| Siduri | Perilune Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 93 | 2/24/2025 | This is a departure from many California Pinot. This wine is all red cherry with a dose of strawberry, bright minerals, good acidity and an earthy mushroom note.
It?s points better than last year. We weren?t super impressed with the 2022. This one has high acid, medium tannins, long finish, good concentration and structure. If you like your pinots on the brighter side, slightly lighter than Santa Lucia Highlands, then Siduri has produced a wine for you. | y |
| Siduri | Barbieri Vineyard, Russian River Valley | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 91 | 2/24/2025 | Tart berries, strawberries, baking spice, earth, weediness. This is not what we have come to expect from Russian River. It?s almost unripe smelling.
But the taste is far more balanced. It?s acidic, tart, mildly sweetly fruited, med+ body, long finish and light tannins. You get this wide but balanced gap between the tart and the sweet. But it works. | y |
| Siduri | John Sebastiano Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 94 | 2/23/2025 | I`ll admit that we have had mixed reviews from Pinots we have tried from the John Sebastiano vineyard. So, this is going to be fun.
Ooooo, man, the nose is a little elusive at first and then it opens up. This wine is wily! It?s concentrated and all over the place with fruit, minerals, vegetal notes and earth. It is so much more rounded than the Perilune just below.
High acidity, med+ body, long finish, good concentration, med tannins, great intensity and lovely balance. It`s like a party in your mouth. Keep in mind you have blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, tart rhubarb, herbs, earth and a lemon peal citrus note.
The lovely thing about Siduri wines is that they are all the same price. Get a bottle of this! It really parties in your mouth. It sort of feels like Santa Lucia Highlands without the jam! A lighter version and way more minerality. | y |
| Beringer | Bancroft Ranch Vineyrard Howell Mountain Napa Valley | 2018 | Merlot | 94 | 2/22/2025 | If you can find this gem get a few bottles. IT is lovely. | y |
| Domaine de la Janasse | Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vieilles Vignes | 2020 | Rhone Blend | 98 | 2/22/2025 | If you like black cherry, blackberry, black pepper, garrigue, strawberry, brioche, licorice and plum -- you got it all here.
The palate roils with flavor and it so intense and concentrated that you don`t want to swallow it. Just got by some. And get some of the 29.99 stuff below if you can find it. This is wonderful wine. | y |
| Vieux Telegraphe | Chateauneuf-du-Pape, La Crau | 2020 | Rhone Blend | 97 | 2/21/2025 | This wine has pure intensity and concentration. The acidity, fruit and tannins are all in balance. The nose had intense berry notes, spice, vanilla and dried herbs. | y |
| 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 |
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