Specials

97 Points! A dazzling wine, the 2018 Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel Vineyard possesses magnificent richness to match its statuesque personality. The flavors are rich, bold and ample, and yet the 2018 retains so much nuance and vibrancy. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, graphite and spice build into the huge, resonant finish. What a wine. The 2018 was done with 6% whole clusters and was aged in a combination of one and two-year-old barrels. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

96 Points! More mulberry, candied violets, orange blossom, and incense notes emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard, a rich, concentrated, incredibly impressive effort from Matt Dees. Medium to full-bodied, and balanced, with ample tannins and acidity, it's certainly brilliant now, given its purity and elegance, yet a solid 3-4 years of bottle age will put it in its sweet spot. - Jeb Dunnuck

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98 Points! Wild blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, tobacco and dark spice on the nose. Dried violets, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, powdery tannins and a creamy texture. Intense, yet restrained and refined, with a solid core of dark berries and bitter chocolate. Really focused and crafted with exemplary Napa cabernet character. Try from 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is based on 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 90% new French oak. It’s a beautiful wine that shows the vintage’s pure, elegant, yet concentrated style perfectly. Gorgeous crème de cassis, violets, blueberries, and cedar pencil notes emerge from the glass, and this beauty builds incrementally on the palate, with full-bodied richness, a lively, pure, layered texture, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It can be enjoyed any time over the coming 20-25 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is every bit as impressive today as it was last year. It might very well be the finest Private Reserve I have ever tasted. More than anything else, the 2018 impresses with its energy and total sense of finesse. It's a wine that marries power with vibrancy in grand style. As always, most of the fruit is sourced from Beringer's ranches on Howell Mountain. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

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96 Points! Intense aromas of black cherries, lavender and spice, such as nutmeg. Some sandalwood and bark, too. Full-bodied with a solid core of fruit and tannins for the vintage. Rather chewy, suggesting that additional bottle age is needed. Try after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Rich with compact and velvety layers, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino offers fleshy aromas of fig, black licorice, mocha, and roasted sage. It is full-bodied and displays more freshness and transparency on the palate, although it remains fully ripe, with black cherry, plum, turned soil, and macerated violets. It has full and present ripe tannins, a hint of crushed rock, and a saline, savory finish. With its liqueur-like richness throughout, this is a fantastic expression, but it needs a couple of years in the cellar before drinking over the following 10. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! Ripe and juicy, this red reveals plum, cherry, earth, tobacco and menthol aromas and flavors. Well-structured, delivering dense, dusty tannins and ample fruit to match, with a long, complex finish. - Wine Spectator

 

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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

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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

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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

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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

 

 

 

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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

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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

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95 Points! Slight hints of wax, earth and lemon show on the still-shy nose. The palate is equally reticent, tightly coiled but speaking of concentrated citrus freshness that verges into zestiness. The bone-dry nature makes it hard to sense ripe citrus slumbering at the core but the fruit will reveal itself with bottle age. Concentration, purity and power promise a future firework, discernible now in the tangerine zestiness on the finish. - Wine Enthusiast

 

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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

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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

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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

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92+ Points! From Buntsandstein and Muschelkalk soils, the 2018 Bollenberg Riesling Neuberg starts with a pretty open, rather low-sulfured (15 milligrams per liter of free SO2), pure and elegant bouquet. Lean, saline and pure on the palate, this is an elegant, fresh and energetic dry Riesling from the eastern part of the Bollenberg. The finish is intense and complex yet also underlines the youth of the 2018. 12.5% stated alcohol. Tasted at the domaine. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

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98-100 Points! The 2018 Cote Rotie La Mouline is immensely seductive, offering up enticing notes of floral potpourri and red berries on the nose. Those strawberries and raspberries persist onto the full-bodied palate and through the long, lush finish, buoyed by supple, creamy-textured tannins. This is the most complete, compelling vintage of La Mouline I've tasted. - Wine Advocate

99 Points! Just about pure perfection as well as a desert Island wine, the 2018 Côte Rôtie La Mouline comes from a tiny parcel in the Côte Blonde lieu-dit and spent four years in new barrels. Incredible notes of black raspberries, spring flowers, bacon fat, smoked game, violets, and pepper all emerge on the nose. These carry to a full-bodied, round, supple, sexy Côte Rôtie offering ultra-fine tannins, an insane level of purity, no hard edges, and a monster of a finish. As with the other 2018s here, it leads with its fruit and has a supple, ethereal style on the palate... - Jeb Dunnuck

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93+ Points! The regular white 2018 Manda Huevos Blanco Carramainas was produced with grapes from the single vineyard that is mentioned on the label. There is a skin-contact version of grapes from this same plot, but these grapes were harvested 12 days earlier than those destined to ferment with the skins, as the aim here was to achieve higher acidity and freshness and let the lees rather than the skins be the ones defining the style of the bottled wine. This is 95% old-vine Macabeo with only 5% Garnacha Blanca, with good ripeness and bright acidity. It fermented after a slow pressing and one night of settling in 500- and 900-liter oak barrels, where it was kept with the full lees for two months. It was then racked into Flextank (plastic) eggs with fine lees and then matured for another 12 months. It has a Burgundian profile, going back to the style of the 2014, in a leesy and smoky style, still very young and undeveloped. There's also something that reminded me of old-style white Rioja. The palate is vibrant and has pungent citrus acidity. It feels like a white to lay down, as it should develop nicely in the bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com Learn More

95-97 Points! Not yet bottled, the 2018 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict is still resting in 20% new French oak. Coming from a great site on the southern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, it offers a rocking bouquet of lemon curd, chamomile, toasted bread, spice, and a touch of crushed stone-like flinty minerality. Beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and elegant on the palate, it's another brilliant wine from this estate. - Jeb Dunnuck Learn More