Wines

For fans of the fruit-forward, richly-appointed style of the Chardonnays from Robert Talbott! Less oak here, but all the joy. A couple select sites throughout Monterey County. 2021 was a pretty normal year down there. Regardless of where you are the wind and mild, steady coastal temps make for wonderfully balanced Chardonnay. Harvest September 4th-17th. 20% new French oak aging.

This is sourced from a handful of select sites throughout Santa Barbara County. 2021 was a pretty normal year down there with a couple early July heat spikes into the upper 70s low 80s. The marine influence and the wind buoy and temper the bright fruit flavors in the resulting wines. Harvest September 9th-25th. 25% new French oak aging.  

94 Points! From the Duncan family of Silver Oak fame comes Timeless, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant proprietary blend crafted by winemaker Nate Weis with grapes from the Duncan's Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard. The site is a 113-acre ranch in the estate in the benchlands of the Vaca Mountains just north of Napa. The blend is rounded out with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. In 2020, this wine offers a fragrant, bright, and lifted nose with lovely red and black currants, savoury sagebrush, tobacco, and dried red florals with blood orange. Medium-bodied with a gorgeous tapestry of crunchy red cranberry, plums, and cherry. Crushed stone mineral notes form a solid base from which baking notes of dark chocolate emerge. The tannins are persistent, building, and turn chalky as they resolve. This wine has plenty of acid grip and a beautiful, quiet intensity. It has excellent cellar potential. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter

96 Points! The fifth vintage release of Timeless from the Duncan family of Silver Oak continues to showcase its hallmark style—where elegance meets Napa mountain muscle. This Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant proprietary blend is crafted by winemaker Nate Weis using grapes from the Duncan family's Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard, an estate spanning 45.7 hectares in the benchlands of the Vaca Mountains just north of Napa. Unlike Silver Oak, which is aged in American oak, Timeless is aged entirely in French oak. The 2021 vintage exudes alluring blackberry and black cherry fruit, lifted by toasty cedarwood, rose petals, and dried apricots. Ripe and powerful tannins frame the wine, which displays remarkable concentration and depth, with a darker fruit profile than previous releases. Those tannins build through the full-bodied finish, making 2021 the most powerful and structured vintage yet while still retaining a thread of freshness and vibrancy. The blend includes 5.6% Petit Verdot. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter

92 Points! Based on 81% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Malbec, the 2021 Cabernet Franc sports a vivid purple hue to go with impressive aromatics of cassis, black raspberries, spring flowers, and chocolaty oak. It's medium-bodied and has a supple, elegant mouthfeel, fine tannins, and a great finish. A beautiful wine, it might even be better in another year or two as it integrates its oak. Regardless, it's a terrific value that I'd happily drink any time over the coming 8-10 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

92 Points! A rich and fruity cabernet franc with creamy berries, vanilla and sweet oak spices on the nose. Medium body with plush tannins. Creamy berries and mocha on the palate with dried herbs and cedar in the finish. Try after 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The appellation 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon checks in as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, and smaller portions of Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. It's another fabulous wine from this estate, offering pure cr me de cassis, classy oak, new leather, and graphite-driven aromas and flavors. With medium to full-bodied richness, plush, integrated tannin, and the vintage's fresher, focused style, it tastes like it costs three times the price. Drink bottles over the coming decades. Bravo. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! Aromas of ripe blackcurrants, dried raspberries, spices, cedar and bark. Full-bodied with a mellow, fruit-forward character and creamy texture to the tannins. Delicious and smooth with a velvety finish. - JamesSuckling.com

From the winery:

The 2022 Bald Mountain Zinfandel is the second release of our single vineyard Zinfandel and is comprised of 100% fruit from the Bald Mountain Vineyard. This old vine Zinfandel is grown in the mountain vineyard off of Wall Rd and is one of the most stunning vineyards in the North Coast. The old vines produce a concentrated and ripe Zinfandel that will age for years.The fruit was picked on September 23rd, 2022 and arrived at the winery early in the morning before being destemmed to tank. The wine was then macerated for 14 days until the completion of alcoholic fermentation.  After draining it was racked to 30% new American Oak barrels where is aged for one year before being bottled in August.

94 Points! The 2018 Ghemme Dei Manzoni is powerful and quite brooding in bearing. Macerated cherry, spice, orange peel, leather, tobacco, incense and dried flowers all meld together. In the glass, the 2018 is wonderfully exotic and complete, with tons of nuance and persistence that just builds over time. It's a reference point wine for the appellation done in a strapping, old school style that is all about structure, tannin and size. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

96 Points! This seductive wine rolls up all the velvety appeal of Oakville Cabernet in a bottle that's comparatively affordable for what many consider Napa's best AVA for Cab. Plump dark plums, black currants, dark chocolate and cinnamon come to mind while savoring this full-bodied but gentle wine. Tannins are profuse but silky, so the wine is enjoyable already. - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points! A very firm and polished red with currants, chocolate and salted almonds. Terra-cotta. Medium body. Juicy and flavorful with extremely polished tannins. Very creamy textured. Give it two or three years to come around. Drink after 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Checking in as 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot, all from Oakville, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville sports a dense purple hue to go with straight-up textbook Oakville notes of darker fruits, iron, black olives, and tobacco, with just a kiss of background spring flowers. It's medium to full-bodied, round, textured, beautifully balanced, and has tons of classic varietal character. It's a brilliant value to enjoy any time over the coming 15 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! A combination of Wente and Calera clones, the 2022 Chardonnay Cuvée Susan Hyde Vineyard features scents of crushed stone, struck flint and a hint of pencil shavings, in addition to fruity notes of melon, pear and pineapple. It's medium to full-bodied in the mouth, plump and even a bit custardy-oily, then finishes long and creamy. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2023 Cuvée Juveniles Blanc is sedate and driven by dry extract; it is wider than it is sweet or intense, and the flavor across the palate draws out long over the finish. This is a classy wine here, with lemongrass, chalk, pear skin and green almond. It has an intense mid-palate with very pretty flavor; it's structured like Chenin Blanc. I like it, a lot. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

96 Points! The 2021 Descendant is often termed as the "Baby Runrig," which, as we all know, is a bit of a myopic way to view things, but it gets the point across. This is Shiraz fermented on Viognier skins (8% by weight, no liquid) and decidedly floral on the nose, with marmalade and orange peel, pink peppercorns and blood plums. The wine is dense and velvety, with loads of tannin; the Viognier, while contributing floral aromatics, textural silk and flow, also contributes tannin, and it is felt here. There is no new oak, which helps with the tannin expression and core of red and purple fruit. The signature Barossan red dirt and ironstone show through the finish. It's really good! Excellent wine.- Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The 2022 The Steading is juicy, fleshy and aromatically abundant. It is routinely a reliably satisfying wine, and it has been ever since I started drinking wine. Framed by this fine, fresh, late vintage, the Steading looks better than ever, with raspberry, licorice, mulberry, star anise and a hint of aniseed. Super! 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2022 The Steading is juicy, fleshy and aromatically abundant. It is routinely a reliably satisfying wine, and it has been ever since I started drinking wine. Framed by this fine, fresh, late vintage, the Steading looks better than ever, with raspberry, licorice, mulberry, star anise and a hint of aniseed. Super! 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! The 2021 RunRig is an impossibly bright and vibrant wine, with intense power and structure to match the impermeable fruit. Not much more can be said of this wine other than that it came from a magnificent vintage that experienced healthy winter rains in the lead up to the growing season and dry conditions throughout the growing season. The wines have been lauded, and in the case of a wine like this, it is evident why. Like the 2018 vintage, you could drink this anytime, but one would counsel patience. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, September 20025

91 Points! The 2022 Woodcutter's Shiraz is a brilliant entrée to Barossa Shiraz. It exhibits all the earthy, red gravel, ironstone characters that infuse the tannic structure, while fleshed out by dense, purple fruit. It has levity and balance and freshness too, which is ultimately what makes it a great wine. There's gorgeous splay of spicy tannins, chewy and a little grippy. Matured for 10 months in seasoned oak, "the 2023 is coming out of oak as we speak now," says winemaker Ian Hongell. The fruit for this wine cascades down from a number of different sources within the Barossa (including Eden Valley). It's very good. - Erin Larkin, robertparker.com

96 Points! So much black fruit, black walnuts, blueberries, wet earth, black truffles and some graphite. Medium to full body with lots of tension and focus. It runs very long with a salty undertone and some bitter, burnt lemon. Yet ever so subtle and refined. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2020 Château Tour Saint Christophe showed spectacularly well, and based off past vintages, this shouldn't surprise anyone. Based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc raised in 40% new barrels (the balance is in second- and third-fill oak), it offers a full-bodied, incredibly pure, balanced style revealing subtle oak, terrific darker, almost blue fruits, lots of chocolate, leafy herb and mineral nuances, and gorgeous tannins. It's worth pointing out that this will be the last vintage made by the talented Jérôme Aguirre. This terrific Saint-Emilion will evolve for two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck