2019 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Hallberg Vineyard Russian River Valley

2019 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Hallberg Vineyard Russian River Valley

with No Comment $40-$50Kevin VogtPinot NoirRussian River ValleySonomaUSA

JOSEPH JEWELL

PINOT NOIR 2019
HALLBERG VINEYARD
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

2019 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Hallberg Vineyard Russian River Valley
Adrian Jewell grew up in Northern California’s cold, foggy climate, believing that sites with cooler microclimates along the North Coast can grow California’s best Pinot Noirs. Adrian is the owner and winemaker of Joseph Jewell wines, and his goal is to make wines that bring people together with approachability, balance, and natural varietal character derived from small, independently owned, and sustainably farmed vineyards.
 
The Hallberg Vineyard in the Russian River Valley is known for its dry-farmed Gold Ridge soils that encourage deep root propagation in search of water and nutrients, giving fruit with increased depth and complexity of flavors. Joseph Jewell began working with the vineyard in 2010 and has released a single-vineyard designation ever since. His 2019 continues to share the legacy of the vineyard’s distinct earthy and spicy fruit with an impressive depth of flavors. 
 
Side Note: Our tasting panel tried this wine earlier this year, and at the time, it was a bit closed and didn’t make our selection. We tasted it again recently, and it had blossomed into an outstanding representation of Hallberg Vineyard and a truly memorable wine. At our price of $42, it’s one of my favorite Pinots in the shop. 
 
JOSEPH JEWELL
PINOT NOIR 2019
HALLBERG VINEYARD
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
Retails at: $65
 
 
 
“This wine offers a deep, dark-fruit profile of great flavor and texture, with a soft, supple approach to tannin and well-integrated oak. Dark cherry is accented in dried herb, baking spice and forest, expansive on the palate throughout.”
90 Points
2019 Villa Loren Amarone Della Volpolicella Veneto Italy

2019 Villa Loren Amarone Della Volpolicella Veneto Italy

with No Comment $30-$40ItalyKevin VogtProprietary White

VILLA LOREN

AMARONE DELLA VOLPOLICELLA
VENETO ITALY 2019

2019 Villa Loren Amarone Della Volpolicella Veneto Italy
Progetti Agricoli is an established Italian producer showcasing the best in Italian wine production, and their Villa Loren label focuses on wines of Veneto. Within Veneto lies Valpolicella DOCG, where Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone, and Molinara grapes are hand-harvested late in the season for Amarone della Valpolicella. Once harvested, the grapes are dried in well-aerated drying lofts for three to four months, desiccating the grapes and concentrating sugars, flavors, and aromas.
 
Fermentation for Amarone is a long, slow process due to high sugar levels in the juice and cooler temperatures in the winter, enhancing flavor components as the sugar slowly converts into alcohol. The 2019 Amarone della Valpolicella from Villa Loren was aged in medium-sized oak casks for 24 months before bottling and left to rest in the bottle for eight months before release. The resulting rich, layered, luscious wine is an absolute delight and offers exceptional value at under $40 for one of Italy’s most desired styles of wine.  
 
VILLA LOREN
AMARONE DELLA VOLPOLICELLA
VENETO ITALY 2019
 
 
 
“The Villa Loren Amarone della Valpolicella 2019 is a deep garnet red in color, with aromas of fresh figs, cocoa powder, dried rose petals and nutmeg. The concentrated palate continues this theme with bittersweet chocolate-covered tart dried black cherries, preserved plums, and sweet black fruits. These sweet flavors are beautifully balanced with a slightly bitter black tea character. The balance of sweet-tart fruit, bitter, drying tannins, and long, lingering finish combine to leave your mouth watering, yearning for another sip.
93 Points
2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtMt VeederNapaUSA

MT. BRAVE

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MT. VEEDER 2019

2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder
Chris Carpenter is a master at harnessing the power of mountain-grown fruit, gaining a complete understanding of the challenging viticulture crafting legendary vintages at Lokoya and Cardinale. Chris began Mt. Brave on the slopes of Mount Veeder in 2007, unable to resist the temptation to produce wines from a different mountainside with thin, rocky soils and 30-degree slopes at varying angles. This unique topography creates several different microclimates that enjoy temperatures ten to fifteen degrees cooler than the Valley floor.
 
The eastward-facing Mt. Brave vineyard receives a significant maritime influence from the chilly San Pablo Bay, resulting in fruit with tiny, concentrated berries full of flavor and structural components, allowing the wine to age for several years. 
 
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is powerful and focused with fine tannins and fresh acidity that will aid in graceful maturation, slowly revealing the wine’s true nature over time.
 
MT. BRAVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MT. VEEDER 2019
 
 
 
“Showcasing the lovely freshness of high-elevation Mt Veeder grapes. Vivid boysenberry and mulberry fruits give way to mountain herbs, dusty minerals and rich toasty cedar. A compact wine revealing black-fruited flavours and savoury herbal nuances alongside sculpted tannins that are pixelated and mouthcoating. An impressively long finish of iron shavings, baked agave and dried chaparral.”
97 Points
2019 Eco Terreno Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

2019 Eco Terreno Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

with No Comment $30 and underAlexander ValleyCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtSonomaUSA

ECO TERRENO

CABERNET SAUVIGNON  
ALEXANDER VALLEY 2019

2019 Eco Terreno Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
Eco Terreno is a certified biodynamic and organic farm that uses modern techniques to strengthen and restore the soils within the vineyards to their original state. The winery’s sustainably farmed vines and founder Mark Lyons’ years of experience as the lead winemaker for Sebastiani Vineyards result in these sensational bottles.
 
The winery receives coastal fog through the Petaluma Gap each evening, blanketing the vineyards throughout the night into the morning. This helps to preserve acidity and freshness in the grapes, resulting in a balanced and polished Cabernet Sauvignon.
 
The 2019 growing season was nearly perfect for Alexander Valley, and it shows in this incredible value at this price.
 
ECO TERRENO
CABERNET SAUVIGNON  
ALEXANDER VALLEY 2019
Retails at: $32
 
 
 
“The Eco Terreno 2019 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has signature notes of earth and minerality with violet, blackberry, plum, cassis, crushed graham crackers, and black olives. On the palate, the wine has soft tannins and a smooth texture with flavors of black cherry, blueberry, mushroom, baking spices, and cocoa powder. The wine has a silky finish with a structure that should age well over the next decade.”
96 Points
2019 Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

2019 Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaRutherfordUSA

COURTNEY BENHAM

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
RUTHERFORD 2019

2019 Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
California offers geological diversity that few other wine regions can match, and winemaker Courtney Benham, inspired by his upbringing on a farm, fell in love with the varying landscape and endless possibilities. Courtney has three decades of experience in the wine industry, and his talent for selecting expressive plots with terroir-articulated fruit is evident in each wine he bottles.
 
Rutherford’s gravel and loam soils with volcanic deposits are a magical combination that creates the legendary complexity known as “Rutherford Dust,” sought after by Cabernet Sauvignon lovers worldwide.
 
Courtney Benham’s 2019 Rutherford Cabernet comes from a fantastic vintage in Napa Valley and highlights the region’s dusty tannins, earthy characteristics, and fruit concentration.
 
COURTNEY BENHAM
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
RUTHERFORD 2019
Retails at: $85
 
 
 
“Dark berries and fresh flowers on the nose with some herbs and spices. Medium to full body. Refined, very polished and tight with length and focus. Compressed and very pretty. Needs time to open and show its true self. Better after 2024.”
94 Points
2019 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

2019 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Alexander ValleyCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtSonomaUSA

SILVER OAK

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ALEXANDER VALLEY 2019

2019 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
Silver Oak’s founders envisioned creating world-class Cabernet Sauvignon, aged exclusively in American oak, that could be cellared and enjoyed for decades. Founded in a dairy barn in 1972, Silver Oak has maintained a seductive house style from oak from their cooperage in Missouri and is now one of California’s leaders in sustainability.
 
The driving philosophy behind Silver Oak wines is that they have yet to make their best wine, and the vineyard team uses precise viticulture techniques to evaluate each vineyard block and make informed farming decisions on a block-by-block basis. The Alexander Valley Estate sits upon the benchland of the Mayacamas mountains, rich in mineral soils with excellent drainage key for Cabernet Sauvignon, which develops savory-like characteristics. 
 
Until 2011 and a 40-year tradition, Silver Oak Alexander Valley was 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but blending experiments have since proven to enhance the wine, with the 2019 vintage seeing 95.2% Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, aged in an even 50-50 split of new and used oak barrels for complete integration.
 
SILVER OAK
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ALEXANDER VALLEY 2019
 
 
*Released August 5th*
 
 
“The 2019 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has notes of red cherry, raspberry, blackberry, iris, vanilla and clove. Ruby in color, this elegant wine has great acidity and lift on the mid-palate. Black currant and warm baking spices linger with a deep and fruity finish. It will provide drinking pleasure through 2047 given proper cellaring.”
2019 Montagu The Baron Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

2019 Montagu The Baron Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaRutherfordUSA

MONTAGU

THE BARON
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
RUTHERFORD 2019

2019 Montagu The Baron Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
Weston Eidson apprenticed with mentors Jason Moore of Modus Operandi Cellars and Russell Bevan. Well-connected, Eidson has partnered with exceptional vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, including Sage Ridge, Baciagalupi, Durell, Charles Heintz, Hyde, and Richie. He thoughtfully crafts his wines to highlight the terroir through minimal intervention winemaking.
 
The Baron is a rich, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with some Petit Verdot to flesh out the mid-palate and give the wine a zesty spice and playfulness. The fruit comes from a secret vineyard in Rutherford, and the 2019 vintage was fabulous for the area, producing wines with depth, robust flavors, and ripe, fine-grained tannins that feel like satin and will provide at least a decade of ageability.
 
Don’t let the scores based on the winery’s $125 retail sway you. At our price, it is one of our finest offerings and is a rich, powerful, hedonistic Cabernet Sauvignon that will make you wish you had ordered more once you’ve tried it. Our panel loved it, and now it’s an unbelievable value.
 
MONTAGU
THE BARON
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
RUTHERFORD 2019
Retails at: $125
 
 
 
“Starting with the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon The Baron, which includes 10% Petit Verdot, this rich, chewy, mouth-filling effort offers tons of ripe black cherry and plum fruits as well as chocolate and assorted spices. It’s a chewy, fruit-driven Cabernet to drink over the coming decade.” Reviewed May, 2022
90 Points
2019 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir North Canterbury

2019 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir North Canterbury

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtNew ZealandPinot Noir

MT. BEAUTIFUL

PINOT NOIR 2019
NORTH CANTERBURY

2019 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir North Canterbury
New Zealand is known for producing pure, fresh, consistent, and delightful Sauvignon Blancs. However, Pinot Noir is now garnering the attention it deserves for the same reasons.
 
Mt. Beautiful founder David Teece established his winery with the help of his close friend and geologist Ron Sutherland, who has walked nearly every square inch of the northern part of the South Island and has discovered 23 different soil types in the region. The various strata and microclimates create abundant and optimal vine-growing opportunities, as a result of which Pinot Noir is becoming one of the most planted varietals in the country.
 
The 2019 Pinot Noir release has spicy, earthy notes that balance and complement the fruit, giving depth to this easily drinkable and delightful wine.
 
MT. BEAUTIFUL
PINOT NOIR 2019
NORTH CANTERBURY
 
 
 
“Refreshment is the name of the game at this North Canterbury winery, located in the Waipara Valley, just north of Christchurch. The nose is heady and perfumed: vivid cherries, strawberries and florals, with whispers of white pepper, river stones, and vanilla bean. The medium weight palate is similarly vibrant, leading with fresh, silky red berries framed in savory tannins. Not the world’s most complex Pinot but totally delicious nonetheless. Drink now slightly chilled.”
92 Points
2019 Domus Aurea Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley

2019 Domus Aurea Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley

with No Comment $60-$70Cabernet SauvignonChileKevin Vogt

DOMUS AUREA

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MAIPO VALLEY 2019

2019 Domus Aurea Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley
One of Chile’s most renowned vineyards, Clos Quebrada de Macul, planted in 1970, sits on a low-yielding hillside site requiring highly skilled farming. Proprietors Isabelle and Ricardo Peña planted predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with a small mixture of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot that they sold to some of the top wineries in Chile, reaching the highest price on the market and motivating the Peña’s to open a winery of their own.
 
The first vintage of Domus Aurea was released in 1996 and remains today the vineyard’s flagship wine and one of Chile’s most sought-after Cabernets. The wine consistently gained worldwide attention, garnering high praise from critics. 
 
The 2019 vintage comprises 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, traditionally vinified with a long, slow fermentation, aged 18 months in French oak barrels, and bottled unfiltered to preserve the integrity of the wine from this magnificent terroir.
 
DOMUS AUREA
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MAIPO VALLEY 2019
Retails at: $75
 
 
 
“…It has the textbook notes of mint and eucalyptus, intermixed with exotic spices (cola nut and Jamaica pepper), quite aromatic, with notes of crème de cassis and good ripeness. It has the Domus character from the mountains and the stones with that dry sensation and austere palate….bottled in March 2021.”
95 Points
2019 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Napa Valley

2019 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Napa Valley

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOak KnollUSA

KELLY FAMILY VINEYARDS

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ESTATE NAPA VALLEY
OAK KNOLL DISTRICT 2019

2019 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Napa Valley
Kelly Family Vineyards is one of our most exciting boutique wine discoveries this year, and their 2019 vintage embodies everything we look for in superior-quality, small-lot Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. For years, they’ve sold fruit to some of Napa’s top Cabernet producers, and if I told you which ones, I’m confident you’d jump straight to the order button. 
 
Vineyard Manager Mario Bazán immigrated to Napa in 1973 and was charmed by Napa’s beauty, so he carefully honed his viticultural skills as a laborer and today runs one of the most respected vineyard management companies in Napa and Sonoma counties.
 
Winemaker Bob Pepi works closely with Gene and Mario to craft Kelly Family Vineyards’ limited production of premium quality wines. The depth and complexity of the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon release reflect the undivided attention of the small, intimate team and the glorious vintage.
 
KELLY FAMILY VINEYARDS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ESTATE NAPA VALLEY
OAK KNOLL DISTRICT 2019
Retails at: $95
 
 
 
“Coming from another fantastic vintage in Napa Valley, the Kelly Family 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits notes of wet stones, petrichor, black currant, savory spice, and a hint of cinnamon. On the palate, the wine has bright acidity that enhances the flavors of dried herbs, menthol, black plum, cherry, and allspice. The finish lingers on the palate and portrays the complexity of the flavors as it envelopes your taste buds. This wine has the structure to age and will continue to develop.”
96 Points