2020 Raoul Gautherin Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons

2020 Raoul Gautherin Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons

with No Comment $40-$50BurgandyChablisFranceKevin Vogt

RAOUL GAUTHERIN

CHABLIS 1ER CRU
VAILLONS 2020

2020 Raoul Gautherin Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons
Since 1585 the Gautherin family has cultivated vines on Chablis’ most exposed hillside sites, crafting beautiful wines that tell a detailed story of their origins. Because of low intervention in the vineyard and winery, natural yeasts, and limited or no use of oak, Chablis is one of the purest expressions of Chardonnay worldwide.
 
Raoul Gautherin’s father and son team relies on familial knowledge passed down over several generations and sustainable farming practices that focus on the vitality of the vines to produce world-class wines. The Vaillons Premier Cru vineyard produces wines with distinct minerality and delicate white fruit aromatics, making it one of Chablis’ most desired sites. The 2020 vintage provided wines with rich flavors and deep complexity that are dangerously easy to drink now and will pay tribute to those with the patience to cellar and age.
 
RAOUL GAUTHERIN
CHABLIS 1ER CRU
VAILLONS 2020
 
 
 
“The Raoul Gautherin 2020 1er Cru Chablis opens with expressive notes of chamomile, yellow apple, bread dough, chalky minerality, and oceanic salinity. On the palate, the wine has a silky smooth texture with flavors of apple, quince, apricot, and pastry. This wine has an impeccable balance of rich flavors and bright acidity that flows into a long finish.”
95 Points
2018 Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2018 Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

PURLIEU

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 Purlieu Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Purlieu Wine Company, whom you may know from their second label Le Pich, specializes in single-vineyard wines from some of Napa Valley’s most prized locations, including Beckstoffer To-Kalon, Georges III, Missouri Hopper, and Sugarloaf. Their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a cuvée of several majestic sites and a tribute to the valley with its multiple soil types and microclimates contributing to its remarkable complexity.
 
Originally from France, Julien Fayard’s two decades of winemaking expertise are well respected. He began honing his skills at Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, then gained more valuable experience as Director of Winemaking for Philippe Melka at elite producers such as Lail, Gemstone, Hundred Acre, Vineyard 29, and Mastery. The 2018 release is living up to its expectations from a fabulous vintage known for elegance, intricate flavors, and sophistication with substantial longevity.
 
PURLIEU
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2018
Retails at: $115
 
 
 
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is fabulous. Silky tannins and plush fruit wrap around the palate in a super-expressive Cabernet Sauvignon that has so much to give. Bright acids perk up the blackberry jam, mocha, licorice, spice and gravel flavors. The 2018 is fresh, vibrant and loaded with personality. I loved it.”
94 Points
2020 Chateau Hautes Versannes Saint-Emilion Bordeaux

2020 Chateau Hautes Versannes Saint-Emilion Bordeaux

with No Comment $30 and underBordeauxBordeauxFranceKevin VogtSaint Emilion

CHÂTEAU HAUTES VERSANNES

SAINT-EMILION 
BORDEAUX 2020

2020 Chateau Hautes Versannes Saint-Emilion Bordeaux
Chateau Hautes Versannes’ vineyards grow on siliceous silty soils around the village of Saint-Sulpice de Faleyrens in the celebrated Saint-Émilion AOC. The Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines have an average age of 40 years and produce concentrated fruit with distinct terroir markers, such as rich, ripe red fruit, dark brambly black fruit, herbs, and spices.
 
The 2020 vintage for Saint-Émilion has been rated as an excellent vintage, particularly for Merlot, due to the nearly perfect weather that continued through harvest and contributed to a structure with fine to firm tannins. This wine is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc aged in concrete vats giving clean, polished, pure flavors from France’s most acclaimed wine regions.
 
CHÂTEAU HAUTES VERSANNES
SAINT-EMILION 
BORDEAUX 2020
 
 
 
“Intense nose of rum, red liquorice and violets seasoned with cocoa and spices and earthy undertones. Really smooth on the palate, rich and vivid.”
95 Points
2021 L'Objet Blanc Sauvignon Blanc Comstock Vineyard Dry Creek Valley

2021 L’Objet Blanc Sauvignon Blanc Comstock Vineyard Dry Creek Valley

with No Comment $30 and underDry Creek ValleyKevin VogtSauvignon BlancSonoma

L’OBJET BLANC

SAUVIGNON BLANC
COMSTOCK VINEYARD
DRY CREEK VALLEY 2021

2021 L'Objet Blanc Sauvignon Blanc Comstock Vineyard Dry Creek Valley
L’Objet is the creation of winemaker/owner Danny Glover. Danny spent several years writing and producing in the artistic Los Angeles music culture before discovering a captivating Pinot Noir that inspired and drew him into the winemaking world. He honed in on his new passion by working for Clos du Bois, Armida, and Dutcher Crossing before launching his brand and pursuing the finest fruit quality from conscientious, hardworking growers.
 
Danny sources Sauvignon Blanc from the Comstock Family Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, valuing Bob and Sandy Comstock’s meticulous attention to detail that pays off each vintage with exceptional quality—the 2021 growing season experienced warm days with cool, foggy nights and a lengthy hang-time, perfect for complex flavor development that jumps out of the glass in this fresh and lively Sauvignon Blanc.
 
L’OBJET BLANC
SAUVIGNON BLANC
COMSTOCK VINEYARD
DRY CREEK VALLEY 2021
 
 
 
“The L’Objet 2021 Comstock Family Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley opens with pronounced aromas of acacia, jasmine, Meyer lemon, passion fruit, and cantaloupe. On the palate, the wine has a smooth texture with fresh tropical fruit flavors, pink grapefruit, and jasmine. The wine has a crisp finish that balances the depth of flavors in quite a delightful drinking experience.”
94 Points
2018 Pirouette Proprietary Red Columbia Valley

2018 Pirouette Proprietary Red Columbia Valley

with No Comment $60-$70Columbia ValleyKevin VogtProprietary RedUSAWashington State

PIROUETTE

PROPRIETARY RED
COLUMBIA VALLEY 2018

2018 Pirouette Proprietary Red Columbia Valley
Nine of the world’s top winemakers make up the Long Shadows brand that Allen Shoup created after decades of building the Chateau Ste Michelle brand and its affiliate wineries to international recognition. Allen retired from Chateau Ste Michelle in 2002 to focus on his newest endeavor to promote Washington wines by bringing in celebrated international winemakers.
 
Allen hired Gilles Nicault as the Director of Winemaking because of his expertise, flexibility, and eagerness to merge his winemaking skills with each vintner who joined the team as a co-owner of their wine. Philippe Melka and Agustin Huneeus, Sr worked as a team to create the 2018 Pirouette by combining Old-World winemaking and New World technology elements to make this Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, aged 22 months in French oak. The resulting wine is, as Decanter proclaims, “Hauntingly good.”
 
PIROUETTE
PROPRIETARY RED
COLUMBIA VALLEY 2018
 
 
 
“Hauntingly good, this a stunning new bottling by Philippe Melka. Dense and chewy, once in the month, this takes on a glorious range of flavours from sagebrush and pipe tobacco to blackcurrant jelly and chocolate cake. The vibrant sense of tension and silky tannins both add to the enjoyment, as this has a long way to go in the cellar.”
96 Points
2019 Joyce Pinot Noir Gabilan Mountains Monterey

2019 Joyce Pinot Noir Gabilan Mountains Monterey

with No Comment $30-$40Central CoastKevin VogtMontereyPinot NoirUSA

JOYCE

PINOT NOIR
GABILAN MOUNTAINS
MONTEREY 2019

2019 Joyce Pinot Noir Gabilan Mountains Monterey
Joyce Wine Company began with four acres of vines planted behind the family home in 1986 in Carmel Valley. As a young boy, Russel Joyce learned everything from tending the vineyards and racking barrels to hand-bottling and labeling, with a keen emphasis on attention to detail. Russel became a self-taught winemaker whose passionate drive led him to explore the techniques and practices of world-class winemakers to fine-tune his work and create a style all his own. 
 
Coming from a small vineyard on the eastern side of the Salinas Valley in Monterey County, the Gabilan Mountain Pinot Noir is grown on decomposed granite and limestone, which gives the fruit an ethereal, pure expression, preserved by using neutral oak barrels that shines through in the 2019 release.
 
JOYCE
PINOT NOIR
GABILAN MOUNTAINS
MONTEREY 2019
Retails at: $45
 
 
 
“Quite light in the glass, this bottle from the eastern slopes above the Salinas Valley offers aromas of smashed sour cherry, turned soil, fresh sage and bloody rust. The palate is bright and earthy at once, showing fresh cranberry and raspberry but also ground-up chaparral and dusty rocks and soil. Both rustic and energized.”
93 Points
2019 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley

2019 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley

with No Comment $70-$80Cabernet SauvignonColumbia ValleyKevin VogtUSAWashington State

FEATHER

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
COLUMBIA VALLEY 2019

2019 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
Allen Shoup was a prominent visionary in the Washington wine industry and spent decades building the Chateau Ste Michelle brand and its affiliate wineries to international recognition. In 2002, Allen retired from Chateau Ste Michelle to launch Long Shadows, his most significant and ambitious project yet, aimed at elevating Washington wines by bringing in renowned international winemakers to create super-premium wines.
 
Allen hired ambitious French native Gilles Nicault to be the Director of Winemaking because of Gille’s knowledge, flexibility, and eagerness to merge his winemaking skills with each vintner. Each winemaker joined the team as a co-owner of their wine, and in doing so, Allen hoped each partner would learn more about Washington’s vineyards and embrace the viticultural excellence of the state. With over forty years of experience making wine in Napa Valley, Randy Dunn expertly crafted the 2019 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon from hand-harvested grapes aged 22 months in 85% new French oak bringing forth an extraordinarily high level of sophistication from the Columbia Valley.
 
FEATHER
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
COLUMBIA VALLEY 2019
 
Your Price: $75
 
 
“All Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather is a rich, powerful wine loaded with notions of cassis, graphite, scorched earth, and crushed stone. Full-bodied on the palate and concentrated, it has building tannins, a great mid-palate, and the balance and class to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and, I suspect, evolve for decades.”
95 Points
2019 Ty Caton Upper Bench Merlot Moon Mountain District

2019 Ty Caton Upper Bench Merlot Moon Mountain District

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtMerlotMoon MountainSonomaUSA

TY CATON

UPPER BENCH MERLOT
MOON MOUNTAIN DISTRICT
SONOMA COUNTY 2019

2019 Ty Caton Upper Bench Merlot Moon Mountain District
Winemaker Ty Caton’s relentless drive to produce “wines of distinction with an authentic sense of place” began after he returned to his hometown of Sonoma and convinced his parents to develop their land in the Moon Mountain District. The region located North of Sonoma on the western slopes of the Mayacamas mountain range is now well known for producing intense, flavorful fruit with a volcanic minerality from the intricate complexity of the mountain soils not far from the Pacific Coast.
 
The estate’s three acres of Merlot thrive in the Upper Bench Vineyard with an east-to-west orientation on iron-clay soils that are particularly suited to this variety. The 2019 growing season was nearly perfect in Sonoma with long hang-times, even fruit development, and concentrated flavors that are deeply defined coming from Ty’s mastery in the vineyard and the winery.
 
TY CATON
UPPER BENCH MERLOT
MOON MOUNTAIN DISTRICT
SONOMA COUNTY 2019
Retails at: $42
 
 
 
“The Ty Caton 2019 Upper Bench Moon Mountain District Merlot opens with aromas of violets, ripe fruit, cherries, plums, and sweet baking spices. On the palate, the wine has a silky, smooth texture and flavors of blackberries, chocolate-covered cherries, mocha, and a fresh minerality. Give this a few years in the cellar for further development, or enjoy it now with its supple drinkability.”
93 Points
2019 Laird Chardonnay Cold Creek Ranch Carneros

2019 Laird Chardonnay Cold Creek Ranch Carneros

with No Comment $30 and underCarnerosChardonnayKevin VogtNapaUSA

LAIRD

CHARDONNAY
COLD CREEK RANCH
CARNEROS 2019

2019 Laird Chardonnay Cold Creek Ranch Carneros
With over 50 years of vineyard expertise farming some of Napa Valley’s prized locations, Ken Laird uses his intimate knowledge of each vineyard as the foundation of Laird wines. Ken is the third generation of his family in farming, but he swapped tobacco farming for grape growing after he and his wife purchased land in Napa Valley in 1970.
 
The family’s Cold Creek Ranch is on the Sonoma side of the Los Carneros district and exposed to thick fog and cold marine winds, providing balanced fruit flavors with bright acid and excellent concentration. The 2019 vintage saw 46% malolactic fermentation giving a bit of creaminess to the body without overwhelming the wine, and the result is absolutely delicious. 
 
LAIRD
CHARDONNAY
COLD CREEK RANCH
CARNEROS 2019
 
 
 
“The Laird 2019 ‘Cold Creek’ Chardonnay begins with an inviting nose of honeysuckle, apricot, peach, toast, and vanilla. On the palate, the wine has a rich texture balanced by fresh acidity and flavors of nectarine, salted caramel corn, Werther’s Original caramels, and old-fashioned peaches and cream. This wine offers friendly approachability, ready to be enjoyed right now.”
92 Points
2021 Raen Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert Cuvee Sonoma Coast

2021 Raen Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert Cuvee Sonoma Coast

with No Comment $60-$70Kevin VogtPinot NoirSonomaSonoma CoastUSA

RAEN

PINOT NOIR
ROYAL ST. ROBERT CUVEE
SONOMA COAST 2021

2021 Raen Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert Cuvee Sonoma Coast
The Mondavi family is one of the most well-known names in American viticulture, and their innovation continues to influence the wine industry worldwide. The family began planting Pinot Noir over 100 years ago, and Tim Mondavi pioneered the variety in the early 1970s, later transferring his passionate endeavors to his sons Carlo and Dante. The boys grew up at Opus One estate and learned keen winemaking techniques from their father at his cult winery Continuum.
 
RAEN Royal St. Robert Cuvée Pinot Noir is a tribute to their grandfather, who has been the most valuable mentor in the wine industry. It is a blend of hand-chosen selections of coastal vineyards that give a flavorful depiction of the Sonoma Coast. The 2021 release is 100% whole cluster, natively fermented, and bottled without fining or filtration, creating a super-pure style of Pinot Noir with a powerful core and a vibrant finish.
 
RAEN
PINOT NOIR
ROYAL ST. ROBERT CUVEE
SONOMA COAST 2021
 
 
 
“Extremely spicy with iron, forest flower, black tea, and dried strawberry aromas, following through to a medium to full body, with lovely velvety tannins that are integrated and refined, with a long and flavorful finish. Yet it always remains refined and poised in a exemplary way. Needs three or four years still to show it’s true self. Drink or hold.”
97-98 Points