California

94 Points! From the highest-elevation vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, at its southern, warmer tip, the 2023 Pinot Noir Cortada Alta exudes feral features of honeysuckle, sagebrush, pine, and wild rose. The exposure to the winds can make the tannins abrasive, though when well-managed as they are here, the wine remains super structured yet supple. Ultimately, it’s both feral and funky in all the right ways, as enjoyable as it is contemplative. It should drink well another 10 years or more. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! The 2023 Pinot Noir Cortada Alta Vineyard is another high point in Russell Joyce's portfolio, offering a uniquely balanced and energetic expression of the Santa Lucia Highlands. It leads with a bright, fragrant bouquet of red and blue fruits, damp earth and crushed stones. The palate is slender and focused, containing a surprising saturation, considering its lithe frame. It concludes with an elegant, ethereal finish with fine-grained tannins. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

97 Points! The Paradigm 2022 Cabernet is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot and was fermented in stainless steel with a small percentage of whole berries included. Winemaker Mark Fasi explains that pressing off the wine before it goes dry helps to soften the tannins. The wine is then aged 18–20 months in approximately 50% new French oak. The Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignons are medium-bodied and exude utmost elegance, showcasing soaring tannins that are assertive yet beautifully integrated and framed by crisp, juicy acidity. The palate reveals pure and gorgeous red berry fruit, complemented by a panoply of brown spices, wild herbs like sage, and floral notes of lilacs and violets. This wine is absolutely pure, brimming with energy and tension, and delivers a stunningly refined expression. A remarkable effort, embodying balance, vitality, and sophistication. Truly impressive. The winemaker is legendary Napa icon Heidi Barrett. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Light-bodied, fresh and tangy, offering green-apple and lime-zest aromas, followed by energized acidity and a touch of key lime pie on the palate. Great balance, focus and precision. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A bright silver/yellow hue, the 2024 Chardonnay Aries is delightful and airy while still delivering refreshing ripe fruit, pear, apple, lime, and lemon sherbet. Medium-bodied, with weightless freshness, sneaky density, salty earth, and wet stones, these wines kick ass.  - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot, with more Petit Verdot included this vintage because Hélène preferred the blend. Pouring a youthful saturated red/black hue, it offers blackcurrants, cedar, toast, black cherries, baked earth, and mocha. Full-bodied, with plush tannins, very good length, and admirable balance in this hot vintage, this wine is a clear step up from the Cabernet Franc in terms of refinement.  - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! So pure, fruity and appealing due to the ripe, welcoming flavors and fine-grained texture that's soothing on the palate. Black cherries, blackberries, dried blueberries and dark chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied, rich in velvety tannins, leading to a lingering finish. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Boldly structured yet retaining a sense of refinement, this Zin is brimming with deep blackberry and cherry flavors framed by licorice, dark chocolate and cracked pepper. Finishes with full-bodied yet polished tannins. - Wine Spectator

96 Points! Black raspberries, spicy wood, flowers, and graphite all emerge from the 2023 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard, which was fermented with 25% whole clusters and aged a total of 17 months in 28% new French oak. Medium-bodied and beautifully balanced, it has a pure, layered, and polished mouthfeel, with fine tannins and integrated acidity. It’s a classy, seamless, and incredibly impressive Pinot Noir that I love even today, though it should be even better with another year or two in bottle and drink brilliantly through 2033. - Jeb Dunnuck

Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot.

99 Points! Wow, so intense, layered and firm, this wine wraps sinewy tannins around generous red and black fruit. So ripe and rich in aromas of blackberries and sour cherries, then bitter chocolate, dense black currant and black licorice flavors. Great structure for further aging. Drinkable now and best from 2030. - JamesSuckling.com

Grape Whisperer, Ruben Solorzano planted the first test vineyard that would pave the way for the other GREAT PLACES vineyards back in 2007. After being inspired while helping Renee Rostaing prune his steep Côte Blonde parcel in Côte Rôtie, Ruben crammed 6,000 pre-clonal Syrah vines onto one beautiful hillside in marching rows of diagonal posts directly above Ballard Creek. This one-acre block, today known as Great Places, Ruben Solorzano, is the founding member of the Great Places Quartet. 

100 Points! The 2024 Syrah Great Places Jessica Lauren Stolpman is the most mind-bending wine in this range, and one of the finest Syrahs I've ever tasted from California. There’s a sense of flash and finesse here that makes this feel so pretty, so enticing. Dark macerated cherry, rosewater, crème de violette, incense and blackcurrant open with boundless concentration, while a pastille-like, velvety texture and ultra-refined tannins convey stunning purity. The inclusion of 85% whole clusters lends the wine remarkable textural vibrancy and aromatic delineation. The 2024 is dynamic and multidimensional, a wine that reaches the top of the mountain. Sensational. - Billy Norris, Vinous

97 Points! A dark and cocoa-accented wine that’s very fresh, balanced and agile in texture. Dark chocolate, dark cherries, dried blueberries, iron, violets and graphite all crowd into a dense, elegant character with fine-grained tannins. So linear and focused. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

A White Wine with Depth and Energy. Lifted and expressive, with a full spectrum of fruit character. The palate is supple and honest, finishing with clean, mouthwatering acidity that lingers. Clarity, texture and energy define this standout Napa Valley white. - Realm Cellars

100 Points! The flagship 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon checks in as 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot brought up in 40% new French oak. With an essence of Cabernet-like character in its darker currants, green tobacco, cedar, graphite, and floral aromas and flavors, this gorgeous wine is full-bodied and has bright yet integrated acidity, polished tannins, and a great, great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! The bouquet is utterly enticing, offering cool blue-fruit notes and a dusting of cocoa-powder freshness that stirs anticipation for the first sumptuous sip. On the palate, satiny richness unfolds, imbued with crunchy red cherry and juicy blackberry fruit, alongside refined sagebrush and tobacco nuances. There is a sense of intricately fine-knit tannins – compact yet impressively integrated at this youthful stage – framed by subtle, refined oak spice. The finish is long and mineral, marked by graphite and a touch of black sea salt. The wine was fermented entirely with native yeasts in stainless steel, with a portion aged in amphora in this vintage, before maturing for 19 months in 95% new French oak. The blend is rounded out by small additions of Malbec and Petit Verdot. In 2023, the vines were farmed regeneratively for the first time, with harvest completed by mid-October. - Decanter Magazine

98 Points! Another absolute gorgeous wine from this team, the 2023 Opus One offers up cassis, black raspberries, spicy wood, flowers, and graphite in a beautifully layered, complex, nuanced bouquet. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, layered mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and integrated acidity, this ultra-classic, elegant Opus One will keep for 30-40 years. It's at the same level as the 2010, 2016, and 2021. - Jeb Dunnuck

98 Points! The 2023 Opus One is a super classic wine. Brisk acids, fine tannins and lifted aromatics signal an Opus One of exquisite finesse and class. Red/purplish fruit, mint, orange peel and chalk are all woven together in a fabric of nearly indescribable class. The 2023 floats on the palate with understated finesse and lightness, but it's not light in any way. This is class personified. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

95 Points! A rarity in California, the 2025 Cachudo Arinto La Marea Pierce Ranch is a celebration of Arinto, a grape that handles heat and heavier soils well and can carry crisp acidity through the extreme heat. Winemaker Ian Brand makes the case here for its deliciousness too, the third vintage from Pierce Ranch, both barrel and stainless-fermented for eight months on the lees. Delicious in slatey pear and a lightness of spice, drink now through 2035. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

97 Points! The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Concrete Aged emerges from mostly older vines and sees a bit of skin contact on the press. Apricot, chamomile, dried flowers, mint and a kiss of tangerine peel are beautifully amplified in the glass. Bottling without filtration results in a wine that is a bit cloudy relative to most commercial Sauvignon Blancs. That should be of no concern to consumers. The 2023 is a total knockout. It's a world-class white at an extremely fair price. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

96 Points! A fresh and refreshing, textural medium-bodied blend of white Rhone varietals. The pillowy texture floats on your palate accompanied by cleansing acidity and chalky minerality. Delicious now but will age elegantly. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2024 Esprit de Tablas Blanc is zesty and deeply spiced, with a burst of ginger and lime zest complicating mint-laced green apples and hints of sour melon. It is deeply textural, silken and pliant, with saline minerality to balance, as a decadent wave of ripe pit fruits swirls beneath an air of sweet inner herbal tones. It finishes lightly structured and long, leaving a honeyed floral resonance and a tinge of sour lemon to linger. The 2024 is already a glorious example of Esprit de Tablas Blanc, yet it has the balance to age effortlessly. - Eric Guido, Vinous

96 Points! So broad, mouth-filling, ripe and exuberant, showing moderate tannins and a great blend of dark fruit and savory, spicy flavors. Nicely firm and subtly seasoned with light herbs, toast, cocoa, black cherries and blackcurrants. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The 2018 Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard has aged really nicely, painting a picture of where Jeff Gaffner's style leads with time in bottle. A velvety, plush. mouthfeel is the highlight today. Rich cherry fruit has softened with time, leaving behind echoes of turned earth, cedar and tobacco leaf. This is in a fine place to drink now and over the next couple of years. - Billy Norris, Vinous, 2026