2018 AXR Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2018 AXR Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment

AXR

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 AXR Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
AXR’s historic estate in St. Helena sits at the base of the Mayacamas range, where sedimentary soils accumulated from thousands of years of runoff, resulting in a geography that produces wines of enviable character. The mastermind behind their wines is Jean Hoefliger, who’s drawn experience working in the cellars at Chateau Carbonnieux and Chateau Lynch-Bages in Bordeaux, bringing a Grand Cru Classé element to his new-world wines.
 
The 2018 AXR Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon exemplifies the estate’s benchmark style with powerful, lush tannins and rich flavors, arising from a vintage the Wine Spectator describes as “spectacular.” If you’re looking for a pedigreed, super high-scoring Napa Valley Cabernet under $100, this one’s pretty darn incredible.
 
AXR
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018
Retails at: $88
 
Your Price: $79.99
 
 
“Wonderful aromas of currants, plums, lavender, slate and violets follow through to a full body with tight, chewy tannins that are polished and beautiful. Lovely texture and firmness to the opulent, vivid fruit. Opulence with form. Give this at least four or five years to come together. A blend of key single vineyards. Try after 2024.”
97 Points
 
“Refined in rich red fruit, savory spice and bolts of black pepper, this lovely appellation wine shows a roundedness and length—the tannins sweet and well integrated. Dark-plum, cherry and mocha flavors layer atop the smooth texture, providing tremendous quality and complexity for the price.”
95 Points, Editors’ Choice
2019 Calera Pinot Noir Central Coast

2019 Calera Pinot Noir Central Coast

with No Comment

CALERA

PINOT NOIR
CENTRAL COAST 2019

2019 Calera Pinot Noir Central Coast
A pioneer in domestic Pinot Noir, Josh Jensen founded Calera’s vineyard at an elevation of 2,200 feet on Mt Harlan after discovering the area’s limestone soils were similar to those in Burgundy, providing the depth and complexity to some of the world’s most well-respected wines.
 
Calera wines represent an American spirit with a French influence, and the Central Coast Pinot Noir sets a precedent for this old-world style in California and offers remarkable value. This 2019 vintage balances power and elegance with gorgeous red fruits, spice, silky tannins, and linear focus.
 
CALERA
PINOT NOIR
CENTRAL COAST 2019
Retails at: $30
 
Your Price: $26.99
 
 
“The Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir 2019 is a beautiful interpretation of New World Pinot Noir made in an Old World style. It begins with a nose of tart cherry, pomegranate, hibiscus petals, and hints of cloves. The bright, focused palate elegantly displays red cherry/berry characteristics followed by black tea and an interesting saline/liquid mineral complexity that draws you in for another sip. This wine is certainly one of the best value Pinot Noirs available in a daily-drinker price range.”
92 Points
2020 Capo Zafferano Rosso Appassimento Puglia IGT

2020 Capo Zafferano Rosso Appassimento Puglia IGT

with No Comment

CAPO ZAFFERANO

ROSSO APPASSIMENTO
PUGLIA IGT 2020

2020 Capo Zafferano Rosso Appassimento Puglia IGT
Capo Zafferano is proud to represent the rich traditions of Apulia in the Salento region in the heel of Italy’s boot. The area’s ancient soils and long, warm growing seasons are the ideal environment for varietals such as Negroamaro and Primitivo, known for their deep, dark colors, intense flavors, and high tannin levels equally balanced with fresh, natural acidity.
 
Appassimento is the process of naturally, partially drying the grapes on the vine to give a greater concentration of colors, aromas, and flavors. The grapes for the 2020 Rosso Appassimento dried on the vine for 15 days, and the wine is a blend of Negroamaro, Primitivo, and Merlot to help soften the structure for a more approachable wine. 
 
CAPO ZAFFERANO
ROSSO APPASSIMENTO
PUGLIA IGT 2020
 
Your Price: $25
 
 
“The Capo Zafferano 2020 Rosso Appassimento opens with intense aromas of blackberry, black cherries, prune, gingerbread, dried thyme, and freshly ground coffee beans. On the palate, the wine has pronounced flavors of black plum, prune, cinnamon, mocha, and dark chocolate. The fine-grained tannins and ripe fruit flavors are beautifully balanced by high acidity and lead to a long, lush finish.”
95-96 Points Anne Sewell, WSET Diploma Candidate
2019 Domaine Curry Gentlemans Cut Napa Valley

2019 Domaine Curry Gentlemans Cut Napa Valley

with No Comment

DOMAINE CURRY

GENTLEMAN’S CUT
NAPA VALLEY CUVEE 2019

2019 Domaine Curry Gentlemans Cut Napa Valley
Domaine Curry is the culmination of a deep appreciation for wine, family, friends, and the moments shared with the people we love the most. Ayesha Curry is a New York Times best-selling cookbook author, a familiar face on several cooking shows, including the Food Network, a restaurateur, and one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 for “most influential food and wine businesswoman.”
 
Ayesha partnered with her sister-in-law Sydel Curry and CEO John Schwartz, proprietor at Amuse Bouche, Vin Perdu, and Coup de Foudre, offering the perfect balance of entrepreneurial spirit and expertise. The Gentleman’s Cut Cuvée is a Bordeaux-style blend from choice vineyards curated to celebrate Ayesha and Sydel’s husbands, Stephen Curry and Damion Lee, with 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot, 15% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Malbec each playing their part in this decadent blend.
 
DOMAINE CURRY
GENTLEMAN’S CUT
NAPA VALLEY CUVEE 2019
Retails at: $80
 
Your Price: $75
 
 
“Domaine Curry 2019 “Gentleman’s Cut” Cuvée begins with violets, red plum, blackberry, crushed volcanic rock, cloves, oregano, and sweet baking spices. The wine has soft tannins giving a lush mouthfeel with flavor intensity and a long finish reminiscent of black cherry and milk chocolate. The 2019 vintage has a warm approachability with a fine structure for aging, so don’t feel guilty about drinking a bottle tonight, but a bit of time in the bottle will reward those with patience.”
94 Points
2018 Wightman Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

2018 Wightman Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

with No Comment

WIGHTMAN

PINOT NOIR 2018
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

2018 Wightman Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
The Russian River Valley produces some of California’s most distinguished Pinot Noirs due to the sandy loam and Goldridge soils and their proximity to the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean. Wightman’s founder and vintner Justin Harmon worked under 100 Point winemaker Russell Bevan for several years, honing his craft, so he understands how to capture the texture and intensity of the region’s terroir with its opulent, ripe fruit, fresh acidity, and spice.
 
Justin sourced the fruit for this outstanding Pinot Noir from an assortment of Heritage clones: Wadenswil, Pommard, and Martini, harvested from vineyards in the rugged hills on the edge of the Russian River AVA. The wine was aged for 16 months in 30% new French oak giving some spice but allowing the beautiful fruit to shine, making a grand impression on our tasting panel. Now, we can’t wait to share it with you.
 
WIGHTMAN
PINOT NOIR 2018
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
Retails at: $49
 
 
 
“The Wightman Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2018 begins with a nose that includes cotton-candied raspberries, cola bean, delicate fresh green herbs, light florals, and cinnamon hints. The palate has bright, elegantly concentrated red cherry/berry fruit with a liquid saline complexity, hints of toasty oak, and a beautiful combination of fruit extraction and mouth quenching acidity. This release is a lovely, classic Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that is ready to drink now but will cellar nicely over the next eight years.”
93 Points
2018 Wayfarer Pnot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview

2018 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview

with No Comment

WAYFARER

PINOT NOIR
WAYFARER VINEYARD
FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW 2018 

2018 Wayfarer Pnot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview
Throughout his career, acclaimed Napa Valley vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer became increasingly enamored by Burgundian wines, leading him to search for the world’s finest vineyards for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the early 1990s. After a deal fell through in Burgundy, Jayson’s winemaker Helen Turley brought him to an organic farm for sale on the extreme Sonoma Coast that she felt had all the essential elements to be the ‘La Tache of California.’
 
Jayson purchased the property in 1998, and legendary viticulturist David Abreu planted the Wayfarer vineyard in 2002. The fruit was initially blended into Russian River fruit for the Pahlmeyer label until 2012, when the exceptionally high quality of the harvest demanded a brand of its own. Each block for the 2018 vintage was handpicked before sunrise and hand-sorted to guarantee only the healthiest grapes selected, producing elegantly structured wines with intense flavors, bright acidity, and incredible precision.
 
WAYFARER
PINOT NOIR
WAYFARER VINEYARD
FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW 2018 
 
Your Price: $98
 
 
“The 2018 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard has a medium ruby color and slowly opening perfume of garrigue, dried orange peel, prosciutto and rose petals with mineral-laced cranberry and red and black berry fruits. The medium-bodied palate, grainy and incredibly fresh, slowly gains in flavor amplitude and nuance in the mouth, ending in a fanfare of spicy detail.”
98+ Points
 
“…This deeper ruby/purple-hued effort offers an awesome bouquet of black raspberries, scorched earth, toasted spices, and flowery incense. It’s rich, medium to full-bodied, and a stunning effort.. Bravo!”
96 Points
2018 Alex Gambal Bourgogne Aligote Burgundy

2018 Alex Gambal Bourgogne Aligote Burgundy

with No Comment

ALEX GAMBAL 

BOURGOGNE ALIGOTE
BURGUNDY 2018

2018 Alex Gambal Bourgogne Aligote Burgundy
Burgundy is synonymous with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; however, a few vineyards grow lesser-known varieties, such as Aligoté. It takes a lot to stand up to the quality and hierarchy of the region. Still, Aligoté currently represents six percent of plantings in Burgundy, and it’s beginning to make a comeback thanks to increased knowledge in the vineyard, restricting yields and creating more intensely captivating fruit.
 
Vines aged 25 to 40 years in the southern part of the Côte d’Or in Auxey-Durresses are the source of the concentrated, complex fruit for this profound example of Aligote. The grapes are hand-picked, fermented in neutral oak, and aged for 12 months, adding body to the light, refreshing nature of the variety.
 
ALEX GAMBAL 
BOURGOGNE ALIGOTE
BURGUNDY 2018
 
Your Price: $35
 
 
“The Alex Gambal 2018 Bourgogne Aligoté opens with fresh notes of elderflower, honeycomb, lime zest, a hint of vanilla, brioche, and bright minerality. On that palate, the wine has a crisp acidity with flavors of green apple, lemon, and pastry dough. The invigorating style of this wine makes it very easy to sip in the afternoon, especially on a warm summer day.”
94 Points
2017 Juslyn Perrys Blend Spring Mountain

2017 Juslyn Perrys Blend Spring Mountain

with No Comment

JUSLYN

PERRY’S BLEND
SPRING MOUNTAIN 2017

2017 Juslyn Perrys Blend Spring Mountain
Juslyn Vineyards’ proprietors, Perry and Carolyn Butler, came to Napa in 1997 from the tech industry, bringing a high level of quality expectations and detail-oriented nature. Winemaker Angelina Mondavi exceeded those expectations beginning her career at age 10 in the lab at her family’s winery, Charles Krug, and now has 28 harvests under her belt. She also has an undergraduate degree from Villanova University with a major in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Oenology from the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus.
 
Since her return to Napa in 2007, Angelina’s had the opportunity to work with many acclaimed winemakers, including Stacy Clark at Pine Ridge and Jayson Woodbridge of Hundred Acre. She carefully crafts Perry’s Blend as a Left Bank Bordeaux-style Red that changes each vintage but is based around a core of Cabernet Sauvignon enhanced primarily with Cabernet Franc, proudly conveying the Spring Mountain prestige and classic character.
 
JUSLYN
PERRY’S BLEND
SPRING MOUNTAIN 2017
Retails at: $110
 
 
 
The 2017 Juslyn Vineyards Perry’s Blend is an exceptional example from Spring Mountain opening with an incredible depth of aromas, with wild black currants, black tea, balsamic, cloves, fresh roses, and volcanic rock. The palate mimics the nose with its deeply concentrated flavors adding blackberries, black olives, dark chocolate, and a hint of aniseed. A linear structure of flavors reveals a very concentrated and focused wine with a solid tannic structure and bright acidity that will keep this wine fresh, alive, and age-worthy for at least another 12 to 15 years.” 
94 Points
2018 Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva

220520 2018 Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva

with No Comment

BIBBIANO

CHIANTI CLASSICO
RISERVA 2018

2018 Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva
Tenuta di Bibbiano lies in the historic center of the Chianti Classico DOCG, where wine has been a part of the culture for thousands of years. Two brothers, Tommaso and Federico Marrocchesi Marzi, own the winery, and their family has lived on the property for over 150 years in harmony with nature by incorporating organic farming methods.
 
The University of Florence helped identify several different soil types and aspects used to select the proper indigenous clone for each site, with Sangiovese Grosso reigning supreme. The Chianti Classico Riserva is 100% Sangiovese Grosso aged 18 months, half in concrete and half in French oak, creating a balanced integration of complex flavors and offering remarkable quality at this price level.
 
BIBBIANO
CHIANTI CLASSICO
RISERVA 2018
 
Your Price: $34
 
 
“Iron and sanguine elements complement cherry and plum flavors in this old-school red. Loam, tobacco and leafy underbrush elements mingle with dense, dusty tannins as this unwinds through the finish. Best from 2023 through 2032. 420 cases imported”
92 Points
2019 Maritana Pinot Noir Le Russe Russian River Valley

2019 Maritana Pinot Noir Le Russe Russian River Valley

with No Comment

MARITANA

PINOT NOIR
LE RUSSE 2019
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

2019 Maritana Pinot Noir Le Russe Russian River Valley
Donald Patz made wine at Patz & Hall for 29 years, working with Pinot Noir from some of California’s premier vineyards, spanning from the northern coast of Mendocino County to the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 2017, Don created the Maritana Vineyards brand to take his wines in a slightly different direction, focusing on fruit from the Russian River Valley.
 
Donald’s love for Pinot Noir comes from the varietal’s complex perfume of intriguing aromas that he believes are enhanced by the valley’s hillsides and valley floor sites, providing a variety of microclimates. Sourcing from some of his favorite vineyards, including Martaella, Browne, and Martinelli River Road, Don gives the 2019 Maritana “Le Russe” his signature style and flair, offering it at a sensational value.
 
MARITANA
PINOT NOIR
LE RUSSE 2019
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
Retails at: $55
 
Your Price: $39.99
 
 
“Aromas of redcurrants, cherries, cola, nutmeg and flowers. Medium-to full-bodied with soft tannins. Juicy and fruity with a silky, caressing texture and a flavorful finish. Drink or hold.”
93 Points