Specials

93 Points! This powerful red is dense yet fleshy, evoking cherry, tobacco, iron, earth and wild herb notes. Balanced and fresh, with a lingering aftertaste of fruit, savory Mediterranean herbs and mineral notes. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! Notes of raspberries and cherries with red licorice, dried orange peel and spices. Medium- to full-bodied with meaty structure. Tannins are wide and velvety with a juicy, red-fruited mid-palate. Fresh and crunchy at the end. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2020 Zinfandel Sheep Camp lifts up more like a spiced herbal tea than wine, with rose buds, cedar shavings, rosemary and dried strawberries forming its bouquet. This is soft textured with chalky minerals and crisp red fruits that give way to dusty tannins. The acidity wins the day, adding a vibrancy yet also spiciness that tugs at the cheeks as the 2020 finishes with admirable length and full of tension. - Eric Guido, Vinous

96 Points! Very focused, pure and well balanced, showing great poise and freshness for a full-bodied Napa red. This cabernet sauvignon-dominant blend is bold and packed with dark fruit, toasted oak and dark spices. Black cherries, dried blueberries, blackberries, black pepper and chocolate mint. Well concentrated and delicious. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! One of the valley's great, great values, the 2022 The Bard is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 4% Franc, and the rest a mix of varieties. It has a killer nose of bright red and blue fruits intermixed with spring flowers, graphite, baking spices, and incense. This carries to a beautifully balanced, full-bodied red that has a lively, elegant mouthfeel and fine tannins. It competes with wines at 2-3 times its going rate, especially in a vintage like 2022. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! From a lower section of the Ink Grade Estate, below 425 metres, this vineyard sits just outside the Howell Mountain AVA, making it part of the Napa Valley AVA. Intentionally made in a more reductive style, it is fermented partly in barrel and concrete, then racked to stainless steel for six months before completing full malolactic fermentation. This wine showcases a generosity of fruit, leaning towards the stone fruit spectrum, with layers of spicy ginger and cool wet slate or flinty mineral notes. The palate is rich and textured, with warming spice nuances of ginger and turmeric, leading to a leesy, lingering finish. Very elegant and exceptionally food-friendly. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! Aromas of dark cherries and cedar with a touch of elderberries and a pleasant floral component. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with chalky tannins complemented by elegant concentration that leads to a persistent and elegant finish. Better from 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Like chiseling through an ashen stone to find a treasure trove of exotic spices, incense and cinnamon-tinged black currants, the 2018 Taurasi Radici makes itself known. This is a soft and generous expression of Radici, with depths of tart black fruit offset by dark chocolate and sour citrus notes. It finishes with tremendous length but without the typically harsh tannins associated with Aglianico in its youth, leaving behind inner earth and herbal tones. The 2018 ends with a salty flourish. This is a much more forward expression of Radici. That said, I expect it will give much pleasure over the medium term. - Eric Guido, Vinous

93 Points! Packaged with its distinctive black label, the Mastroberardino 2018 Taurasi Radici offers impressive complexity with a long succession of aromas that includes dried blackberry, cherry liqueur, tarry smoke, campfire ash, sweet baking spice and cinnamon. The bouquet is also heavy on bramble, rosemary sprig and forest floor. It is all smoothed out by soft tobacco. This wine shows robust fruit weight and equally balanced oak spice. The tannins are well managed and Radici is long in persistency. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2001 Taurasi CampoRe is made in a more generous style than the normal bottling. It also spent an additional year in oak. This full-bodied, fat Aglianico is gorgeous and pure in its expression of smoke, tar, dark cherries, spices, leather and tobacco. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

93 Points! The 2018 Riesling Vulkan opens with a pure, fresh and herbal, slightly flinty and still yeasty bouquet of crushed stones. Lush and round on the palate, this is a bone-dry, linear, fresh and elegant, very pure and grippy Riesling from Odinstal. The finish is salty, piquant and tight. A gorgeous wine that was bottled with no more than 29 milligrams per liter of total SO2. Tasted in Odinstal in December 2019.  - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

93 Points! Currants, brambleberries, dark chocolate, dried violets and tobacco leaves on the nose. It’s full-bodied with firm, polished tannins. Excellent structure, depth and concentration. Try in 2023. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! Cherry, cassis and pine notes mark the nose of the 2018 Andosol, a blend of 80% Zinfandel and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. Matured largely in tank and foudre, it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, framed by silky tannins, then finishes long and bright, with plenty of red fruit and mouthwatering acids. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! A firm and polished red with cranberry, blackberry and crushed stone character. It’s clear and bright with a darkness and tension. Shows flowers and spices at the end with some dried potpourri and peppercorn. From vineyards in Howell Mountain. Aged three years in cask. A blend of Zinfandel, 20% cabernet sauvignon, and 5% merlot. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A light beautiful color of red marks the visual appeal of the 100% varietal 2022 Grenache, grown at high elevation on the producer’s estate around 2,400-feet. There’s a beautiful perfume to the wine, a combination of wild strawberry and lilac, accented in blood orange. Tobacco, white pepper, and garrigue play along the full-bodied palate that tastes more delicate than it is, the tannins smoothened into rounded submission. This should age well another 5-7 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Expressive and expansive nose of fresh plums, cherries, cloves, nutmeg, flowers and sandalwood. It’s so transparent and vibrant, with a medium to full body and fine, tight tannins. Gorgeous fruit. From organically grown grapes. Try from 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The San Polo 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Podernovi shows a very earthy side that evokes savory spice, smoke and gamey aromas. The core of this organic wine is colored by black fruit and baked plum, but the wine is primarily driven by the aromas it has picked up during oak and bottle aging. This adds a medium-heavy constitution and a good amount of warm-vintage fruit weight for a Sangiovese. The wine also has an accessible character that makes it best to drink over the next 10 years. The fruit represents a selection from over two hectares. - Monica Larner robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon AE, with 5% each of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec in the blend, is deep garnet-purple in color. It bursts with vibrant scents of blueberries, stewed black plums, and blackcurrant pastilles opening out to notes of mint tea and garrigue. The full-bodied palate is plush, juicy, and ready to go, delivering bags of black fruit and savory flavors and a long, lifted finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

93 Points! This has a real minerally character with oyster shells and sliced apples that run long and true in the wine. Medium-bodied with a clean and creamy texture. Flinty, complex finish. Feels like a Chablis on the palate. Drink now.  - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Tina-Louise Shea Vineyard lifts from the glass with a savory blend of freshly sliced green apples, split pine and contrasting hints of mint. Round, pliant textures and succulent ripe orchard fruits wash across the palate as confectionary spice comes forward toward the close. This tapers off potent and long yet remarkably fresh, leaving touches of young kiwi to fade. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

93 Points! Lovely nose of golden apples, baked pears, sweet spices, blanched almonds, warm herbs and some lemons. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. Fresh lemon character at the center and a caressing, silky texture enveloping the palate. Well-balanced, lively and precise. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! A high percentage (75%) of new wood has given this wine a very fine polished character. Along with the structure, it has brought out impressive aromas of black fruits, cinnamon spice and power. The wine is has a fresh black-fruit aftertaste. - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points! Lovely depth to the nose of this young Bordeaux with black currant, ink and walnut aromas that follow through to a medium to full body with a solid core of polished and integrated tannins. This will drink beautifully in 2026 and onwards. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2021 Lynch-Bages has a wonderful bouquet with intense blackberry and bilberry fruit, retaining the estuarine element I remarked upon from barrel. The oak here is seamlessly integrated and gains complexity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins, very supple and focused, a little more peppery toward the finish with impressive grip and depth in context of the vintage. This is a superb achievement in a tricky season. Chapeau, Jean-Charles Cazes. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

93 Points! A gorgeous entry-level offering, the 2016 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) captures all the natural exuberance of the Russian River. Black cherry, cola, spice, lavender, licorice and cloves are all amped up in this boisterous, juicy Pinot. Here, too, the presence of slightly mature notes makes the 2016 so rewarding to drink now.

This might very well be the best set of wines I have ever tasted from Fred Scherrer. The 2016 Pinots and Cabernets in particular are superb. Scherrer releases his wines a bit later than most, so readers will find wines that show a good bit of bottle complexity and are largely ready to drink. As always, the wines are done in a style that prizes structure and energy over lushness or immediacy. Ideally, these are wines that are best enjoyed over many hours. I can't recommend these new releases highly enough. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

93 Points! This deeply flavored 2018 Fat of the Land Seppeltsfield is a single vineyard Shiraz offering rich, dense licorice, tar, aniseed and blackberry aromas with a core of sweet oak. Luscious flavors are followed by warming alcohol - a no-holds-barred, full-throttle style well supported by firm drying tannins through to a lengthy, slightly hot, finish. - Angus Hughson, Vinous Media

#FatOfTheLand

94 Points! This has bold and rich blackberries and dark plums with licorice, coal smoke, cedary oak and tarry notes. The palate is quite round, soft and fleshy with rich blackberries and blueberries. Dark chocolate, too. The cedary and spicy oak is well integrated and wraps deep into a glossy finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! This bold 2018 Fat of the Land is a single vineyard Greenock Barossa Shiraz boasting lashings of sweet blackberry and licorice aromas wrapped in a cloak of new French oak. This is done in quite a sturdy style with firm oak tannins supporting sweet, ripe, voluptuous fruits. A long finish tops off an impressive package for fans of the style - Angus Hughson, Vinous Media

#FatOfTheLand

96 Points! This is from hearty Barossa soil, offering rich blackberries, blueberries and licorice, as well as sarsaparilla and a coal smoke. The palate is saturated with ripe dark plums and blackberries and smooth tannins stack up nicely, delivering such intensity of flesh and flavor into the long, fresh finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Dense and concentrated, this red showcases clove, chai tea and bittersweet chocolate aromatics that mingle with a note of hot cast iron minerality, which adds an appealing high tone. Delivers dense, thick tannins and toasted herb flavors, which leave an appealing impression on the finish. Drink now through 2036. - Wine Spectator

#FatOfTheLand

From the winery: Radian Vineyard is the most southern and westerly vineyard in the Sta Rita Hills AVA, and it is perhaps the coolest vineyard we work with, being battered by cool winds off the Pacific Ocean year round. In 2022 Radian Vineyard fully embodies the characteristics of the vintage demonstrating its extreme climate through its texture - rustic, deep, and brooding (for Pinot at least). However, Radian always shows off its finesse through the nose. Think of red fruits, florals, and cedar.