California

99 Points! Remarkably pure and fresh. Pristine black cherry and blackberry, layered with beautiful violet aromas. Everything builds with precision and focus, supported by gorgeously firm, taut, mineral-rich tannins that bring energy and drive. The wine is compact and tightly wound at this youthful stage, its intensity truly emblematic of the vintage. - Decanter Magazine

94 Points! Ripe, fresh and focused, with a lovely beam of red currant plum coulis that stretches out alongside hints of savory, violet, tobacco and singed cedar. Finishes with a late twang of iron. Nicely done. - Wine Spectator

94 Points, Wine Spectator's #10 Wine of the Year 2024! Oozing with character, this succulent and mouthwatering white offers a fleshy, juicy mix of perfectly ripe peach, mango and lemon bar flavors, with fresh herbal accents of lemon verbena and vetiver. Offers accents of freshly grated ginger, tangerine and crunchy sea salt on the finish. Drink now through 2036. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! The 2022 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is also a bright silver straw color and has a slightly deeper tone. Revealing notes of smoky wet stones, lemon balm, green apples, and fresh flowers, it has a bit more medium-bodied richness. with a lovely. light-on-its-feet feel in this vintage. - Jeb Dunnuck

93+ Points! Scents of pine resin and hints of mint accent black cherry and cassis notes on the nose of Ink Grade's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. It's a sturdy, wiry effort, with the ample tannins and coiled intensity that often mark mountain wines, followed by a lingering, gently astringent finish. Like the other reds from Ink Grade, it spent time in a combination of oak tanks and barrels, yet the wood is scarcely noticeable. Give it a few years to unwind. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

95 Points! Very beautiful aromas of blackcurrants, violets, and lavender with hints of sandalwood. Medium to full body. Chewy mountain tannins, but they are so well integrated and polished that they melt into the wine. Hints of dried cocoa powder at the end with some cedar. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! Lots of perfume and dark-fruit aromas with floral and burnt-orange undertones. Full-bodied and very, very refined and long. It goes on for minutes. Such subtlety and wonderful tannins. Love it. Drink in 2020. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon yet from Pritchard Hill, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Houyi Vineyard offers a massive blast of blue fruits, crushed violets, spice box, and new leather. This beauty comes from a site next to David Arthur and has a ripe, rounded, and incredibly sexy style that belies its mountain terroir. Still, it has plenty of underlying tannins, impeccable balance, and one seriously long finish. Give it a year or so and drink bottles over the following 2-3 decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Stone Côte, from a block within the Durell Vineyard, was barrel fermented and matured for 14 months in 13% new French oak. It has detailed aromas of apricot, citrus blossom, oyster shell, matchstick and beeswax. The light-bodied palate combines expansive, mineral-driven flavors with tangy acidity, and it has a long, textural finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Stone Cote Vineyard is also a youthful golden hue, with aromas of fresh peach, flinty earth, and lemon rind. Full-bodied, it boasts a supple and soft texture, with round fruit up front and fresh lift on the finish. Offering up a luxurious feel on the palate, with well-managed notes of sweet baking spices, honeydew melon, and wet stone, it’s long on the palate and has a good finish. - Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com   

95 Points! Aged nine months in 100% neutral oak barrels, the 2023 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers crushed citrus, oyster shell, white flowers, and a kiss of salty minerality. It's medium-bodied, has remarkable purity, vibrant acidity, and a great finish. As I've written many times, this appellation release can stand toe to toe with any Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Shows harmony and intensity, with focused flavors of tangerine, Meyer lemon, lime and pomelo that are lovely at the core, plus aromatic notes of lemongrass, lemon thyme and oregano. A fresh thread of acidity and details of Himalayan sea salt gain momentum on the finish. Drink now. - Wine Spectator

From the winery: This bottling is comprised Chardonnay from four vineyards within the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. 3D, Machado, Hapgood, and Perilune vineyards all contribute to the wine which exhibits a drive, richness and pedigree expressive of our special growing area coupled with the purity of fruit and firm structure which have been the trademark of Brewer-Clifton.

3D The primary emphasis of the predominantly sandy 10 acre vineyard is chardonnay, with five clones planted. In addition to chardonnay, there is a smaller field of pinot noir planted to Swan, Pommard and 667 clones.

MACHADO 15 acre parcel on the Machado family land is located adjacent to Clos Pepe and immediately behind the Kessler-Haak vineyard. The site is marked by a gorgeous rolling terrain with sandy clay loam soils.

HAPGOOD In slightly richer soil, the vineyard is planted to the Mount Eden selection of chardonnay. The elevated clay loam content results in larger volume and a more dense palate expression. Our most recent installation, planted in 2010, is this small 2 1/2 acre section of pinot noir planted to Merry Edwards clone.

Only neutral barrels are employed. We strive for whole cluster fermentation. We farm with a focus of ripening the stems alongside the fruit, allowing the cluster to be in harmony. Working with the stems allows for wines that are structured, earthy and balanced with our beautiful Sta. Rita Hills fruit.

100 Points! A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2019 La Joie is deep garnet-purple in color. It has a wonderfully flashy and flamboyant nose of blackcurrant cordial, redcurrant jelly, plum preserves, and potpourri with hints of chocolate mint, tilled soil, chalk dust, and forest floor. The medium to full-bodied palate is very taut and muscular with tons of bright, crunchy black fruits and wonderful tension, finishing with tons of earthy nuances. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, TheWineIndependent

99 Points! Composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and the remainder of Petit Verdot, the 2019 La Joie is compact and unfolds more slowly in the glass. The nose is rich with graphite, sage oil, and black plum. The palate is full of kirsch, fresh leather, currant, and tobacco, with fine tannins that go for ages, along with the fruit and well-balanced acidity. - Jeb Dunnuck

91 Points! The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a gorgeous, entry-level wine for the estate. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, spice and gravel are all pushed forward. This is an unusually forward wine although there is plenty of the typical savory/graphite notes that are so typical of this site. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

99 Points! A blend of 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Estate Cuvée is another outstanding wine from L'Aventure in the challenging 2020 vintage, offering singular concentration and elegance. Deep ruby-purple, it has a pure core of cassis and slowly unfolding accents of licorice, cured meats, tobacco leaves, cedar and truffle. Full-bodied, juicy and alluring, it floods the mouth with layers of blue fruit, floral perfume and spice. It is supported by powdery tannins and boasts a tremendously long, detailed finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

99 Points! A big, muscular, powerful wine, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard T6 boasts a monster note of blackcurrants, fresh plums, scorched earth, tobacco, and chocolate. This all carries to a full-bodied 2019 with the ripe, savory, concentrated style of the vintage, building tannins, no shortage of fruit, and a great, great finish. It's certainly one of the biggest, richest, more structured wines in the lineup, yet the balance is spot on and everything is in the right places. It's going to take at least 7-8 years for this puppy to shed some of its considerable baby fat and hit maturity, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it evolve for 20 or 30 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

97+ Points! The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon T6 Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is made from Clone 6, an old California heritage clone that's notoriously shy-bearing. It boasts lovely aromatics, layering dried spices and exotic florals over super-ripe cherries, while the full-bodied palate is all silk and cashmere, finishing incredibly long and elegant. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com 

99 Points! From the C1 Block of Beckstoffer To Kalon, winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown has worked with these Clone 4 Cabernet vines since 2005. This is a block bottling like many of the Schrader wines. Lush, generous fruit but with structure – all the elements amplified but on equal proportions. Explosive nose of rich black fruits, black olive, dried wild herbs and baking spices. Incredibly textural with pixelated three-dimensional tannins finishing with pops of dried tobacco and purple-red florals. A joy to drink but among the most collectable and cellar worthy wines of the vintage. The 'CCS' on the label refers to the initials of proprietor Carol Colesworthy Schrader. - Decanter Magazine

98 Points! Throws off a range of sassafras, chaparral and anise aromas before yielding up a prodigious core of açaí berry, plum and blackberry compote. Offers a nice interplay of power and purity, with tarry violet and loamy incense accents. While tannic through the finish, this terrific version reveals a subtle ripple of acidity and a hint of iron. Best from 2024 through 2040. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard CCS from the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville is another heavenly wine in the lineup. I always find another level of purity in this cuvée, and the 2019 offers remarkably pure crème de cassis-like fruits as well as notes of white flowers, incense, toasted spice, and unsmoked tobacco. Full-bodied, deep, round, and plush on the palate, I love its tannins, it brings incredible richness while staying perfectly balanced and fresh, and it’s just already a joy to drink. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard brings a more concentrated, serious feel and offers ripe mulberry and cherry fruit as well as scorched earth, graphite, and minerality, with nicely integrated oak. It's medium-bodied, concentrated, and focused, with a beautiful mouthfeel. It needs 2-3 years in the cellar (you'd be forgiven for enjoying a bottle today) and will evolve nicely over the following decade. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. The Tanbark Hill was bottled in June of 2023. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged up to 20 months. The tannins are quite assertive at this young stage, in classic Spring Mountain Togni fashion, with a fine granularity about them. The wine feels quite complete, teeming with pure dark berry fruits and very fresh. Deeply mineral-tinged dark berries and black currants are framed by a wine with noticeable coiled-up energy and tension. It’s mostly mouthfeel at this stage and will soften with a few more years. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The medium to full-bodied 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard delivers complex notes of mountain fruit, with hints of sage and bay leaf accenting cassis, blueberries and raspberries. In the mouth, it's firmly buttressed by grainy tannins, with terrific acids that linger on the finish in mouthwatering fashion. This, Togni's "early-drinking" wine, should age two decades with ease. -  Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard is one of the most potent vintages of this wine I can remember tasting. Dense and textured, the 2021 shows ample dark fruit and complex earthy/savory undertones that add balance. The 2021 benefits from the addition of some excess fruit that would have been used in the main label but that, for practical purposes, ended up in the tanks for the Tanbark Hill. Readers will find a wine of breadth, power and character. In this vintage, the Tanbark Hill gives a very good idea of the quality and style of the Grand Vin. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

100 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. An absolutely riveting Cabernet showing a deep ruby-purple colour. Gorgeously fragrant at the cork's pull with terrific violets and loads of black currants and dark dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied with chiselled, precise tannins that build and build on the palate. At this early stage, the wine is full of ripe blackberry and black currant fruits that harbour impressive clarity of flavours, growing even more expressive with beautiful sagebrush nuances. Philipp Togni remarked that this vintage reminds him of St. Julien. Indeed, it is incredibly aromatic, elegant, and structured, and it is also a complete and seamless wine. 82% Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet France, and 1% Petit Verdot. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

99 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine and also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The 2021 possesses mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. (Drink between 2031-2051). - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

97 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 15% Merlot and traces of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with bold notions of blackcurrant jelly, juicy black plums, and wild blueberries followed by hints of crushed rocks, cardamom, licorice, and tar plus a fragrant touch of violets. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with black fruit and mineral layers, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long with loads of ferrous and earthy sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

100 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. An absolutely riveting Cabernet showing a deep ruby-purple colour. Gorgeously fragrant at the cork's pull with terrific violets and loads of black currants and dark dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied with chiselled, precise tannins that build and build on the palate. At this early stage, the wine is full of ripe blackberry and black currant fruits that harbour impressive clarity of flavours, growing even more expressive with beautiful sagebrush nuances. Philipp Togni remarked that this vintage reminds him of St. Julien. Indeed, it is incredibly aromatic, elegant, and structured, and it is also a complete and seamless wine. 82% Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet France, and 1% Petit Verdot. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

99 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine and also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The 2021 possesses mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. (Drink between 2031-2051). - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

97 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 15% Merlot and traces of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with bold notions of blackcurrant jelly, juicy black plums, and wild blueberries followed by hints of crushed rocks, cardamom, licorice, and tar plus a fragrant touch of violets. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with black fruit and mineral layers, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long with loads of ferrous and earthy sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

97 Points! The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass.The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! Generous, with savory aromas of ripe blackcurrants and fresh black cherries and a gentle texture that shows a slight nip of tannin. It is well structured and a bit tight, which is normal for a young cabernet sauvignon-based red that’s a proven collectible. Gives up graphite and pencil shavings, some cocoa and espresso. Full-bodied. Spicy, toasty oak is really showing through right now. Best from 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass.The aromas are high-toned with cassis and graphite, and a cinnamon-dusted red berry character nuanced by the woody, spicy aromas of just-cut rose stems balanced by fresh rose petals and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's a creamy wine with a bit more satin or velvet texture than the 2021, and a touch more sweetness in the berry fruit, but balanced by the textural integrity of the tannins. The finish is sweetly floral and tamed by a salty mineral quality that lingers. There's a real brightness to this wine as it opens in the glass. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! Generous, with savory aromas of ripe blackcurrants and fresh black cherries and a gentle texture that shows a slight nip of tannin. It is well structured and a bit tight, which is normal for a young cabernet sauvignon-based red that’s a proven collectible. Gives up graphite and pencil shavings, some cocoa and espresso. Full-bodied. Spicy, toasty oak is really showing through right now. Best from 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! An enticing aroma of violets, cherry blossoms, fresh blue and black fruit and great structure define this beautiful, age-worthy wine. Subtle layering of fruit and oak spices between firm, fine-grained and supportive tannins gives it a calm intensity. So elegant and polished. Hints of cinnamon and graphite accent blackcurrant and blueberry flavors that linger and grow in a long finish. Already attractive to drink, but best after 2029. - JamesSuckling.com

97+ Points! The 2021 Opus One is one of the most elegant, polished Opus Ones in recent memory. Pliant and supple, with super-refined tannins, the 2021 has a ton to offer. It boasts gorgeous textural depth and resonance, not to mention superb balance. Dark red/purplish fruit, flowers, spice and mint caress the palate, framed by silky, ripe tannins that are the hallmark of a superior vintage. I can't wait to see how the 2021 develops. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media 

99 Points! The purity of fruit is really something else here, with currants and fresh flowers, such as violets and roses. Flower stems as well. Fantastic length and structure to the wine, with tightness and focus. Wonderful fruit. Graceful. A blend of 78% cabernet sauvignon, 8% merlot, 7% petit verdot, 6% cabernet franc and 1% malbec. Try after 2028. - James Suckling

95 Points! A tightly focused beam of bitter cherry, damson plum and raspberry coulis streams through, with mouthwatering cut in the form of ocean breeze minerality that runs from start to finish. Iris and rose hip notes fill in the background as the long, piercing finish shows a remarkably pure and unadorned feel. A high-definition Pinot. Drink now through 2035. - Wine Spectator