Wines

95 Points! Mostly Merlot (there's roughly 20% Cabernet Franc), the 2019 Château Valandraud Virginie De Valandraud from the Thunevin team reveals a deep purple hue to go with a brilliant nose of spiced currants, black cherries, new saddle leather, Provençal herbs, and subtle floral nuances. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, with gorgeous tannins and a great finish. It's the finest vintage for this cuvée I've tasted, surpassing the 2015, 2016, and 2018. It's going to drink brilliantly for 20 years or more. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2019 Virginie de Valandraud is wonderfully deep and super-expressive. Red plum, raspberry jam, espresso, crushed rocks, rose petal, lavender and tobacco build into the richly textured, resonant finish. This explosive, flavorful Saint-Émilion has a ton to offer. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

94 Points! Blackberry, chocolate and hazelnut character on the nose, following through nicely to a medium body with integrated tannins and a fresh finish. Tight at the end, suggesting more to come with bottle age. Hints of mushrooms and earth. Second wine of Valandraud. Hint of wood at the end that will dissipate with age. Drink after 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Tasting a bit riper than the 2021 due to the heat during the 2022 harvest, but still an elegant, well-balanced wine. This wine is golden in color, aromatic in lemon-butter, vanilla bean and golden apples, with vivid acidity. Medium-bodied. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2021 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is generous, expressive and begging to be drunk! It has deep aromas of pomegranate, red cherries and blueberries with nuances of garrigue, Angostura bitters and orange peel. The medium-bodied palate is softly chalky and fresh, full of voluptuous, spicy fruit, with pretty botanical accents on the long finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

91 Points! Notes of fresh raspberries and cranberries with orange peel and spices. Juicy and savory with a medium body and dusty texture. Spiced and racy finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2023 Chardonnay Cuvée Anne comes from several vineyards, including Justice, Koosah, Sojeau, Witness Tree and X Novo. It was barrel-fermented and matured in 45% new, 350- and 500-liter French oak for 12 months, plus an additional four months in stainless steel. It has alluring aromas of golden apple, nectarine, beeswax, hazelnut, flint and holiday spice. The medium-bodied palate is silky and mouthwatering with waves of ripe, spicy fruit, and it has a very long finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

96 Points! Pale silver/yellow in hue and coming from Mount Pisgah Polk County, the 2023 Chardonnay Freedom Hill Vineyard turns up the intensity with notes of lime oil, crushed flint, starfruit, and subtle spice. Medium-bodied and saturating on the palate, the acidity is present but even, offering a graceful tension. The finish carries elegant notes of white peach and candied lime. A beautiful, expressive wine to drink 2025-2040. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

96 Points! Yet another exhilarating and finely etched Chardonnay from Ken Pahlow, this one from the Freedom Hill Vineyard. Classic Walter Scott reduction on the nose, with serious salinity and smoky, chipped flint announcing this wine's mineral core, which buoys the intense grilled lemon wedge.The palate has verve and plays off the briny and smoky minerality. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! This is a step up, with lushly textured flavors of crushed plum, currant preserves and mulled black cherry driving along nicely, underscored by licorice, black tea and warm earth. Even with the earthy flash, this stays refined and focused, with latent energy on the finish as well. No rush here, either. Drink now through 2040. - Wine Spectator, 2023

95 Points, Wine Spectator's #8 Wineof the Year 2025! Offers beautifully rendered notes of hibiscus, rose petal, damson plum and mulberry that stretch out lengthily thanks to the fine-beaded acidity and taut, precise tannins. The sapid finish lets in tea and incense hints amid the glistening fruit. Best from 2026 through 2036. - Wine Spectator

97 Points! Complex aromas of iron, iodine, raspberries, blue fruit, mussel shells, lemongrass and orange peel. Medium- to full-bodied with crunchy fruit and a lightly chewy finish. A barrel selection of the best wines of the vintage. A little tight now, but it opens in the glass. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points, Wine Spectator's #8 Wineof the Year 2025! Offers beautifully rendered notes of hibiscus, rose petal, damson plum and mulberry that stretch out lengthily thanks to the fine-beaded acidity and taut, precise tannins. The sapid finish lets in tea and incense hints amid the glistening fruit. Best from 2026 through 2036. - Wine Spectator

97 Points! Complex aromas of iron, iodine, raspberries, blue fruit, mussel shells, lemongrass and orange peel. Medium- to full-bodied with crunchy fruit and a lightly chewy finish. A barrel selection of the best wines of the vintage. A little tight now, but it opens in the glass. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Exuberant aromatics rise to the fore in the 2023 Pinot Noir Estate Grown, which blends estate grapes from the Nash Mill and Abel vineyards in Anderson Valley's Deep End into a heady concoction of smoky game, earthy floral intensity, and crisp, crunchy cranberry. Smooth and seductive, this small-production red is medium-bodied in mouthfeel but energetic in acidity. Drink now through 2033. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

91+ Points! More of a long distance runner is the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Leonardini Vineyard. This wine still shows plenty of oak and notes of new saddle leather intermixed with graphite and black currants in a structured, full-bodied, youthful, almost infantile stage of development. I can’t imagine this wine has moved much from its post-bottling days. It still needs another 5-6 years of cellaring, and should keep for at least 20+ years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2011

91 Points! Open-knit, with a juicy ball of boysenberry and blackberry notes backed by bramble and licorice root hints. Reveals toasty vanilla streaks on the finish. Drink now through 2033. - Wine Spectator

92 Points! Features friendly violet, cassis and black cherry notes woven with perfumed sandalwood and cedar threads. Offers savory and iron accents that fill out the finish, with a late echo of loam. Nicely done. Drink now through 2035. - Wine Spectator

91 Points! The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc—it includes 20% Sémillon—was mostly fermented and aged in stainless steel, with 25% going into oak. The result is a gently grassy-herbal wine loaded with grapefruit and nectarine-tinged fruit, plus hints of fig and melon. It's medium-bodied, plump and creamy on the mid-palate, then long and silky on the finish. It's nicely complex and composed. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

91 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Willamette Valley has savory scents of honey, nuts, toasted meringue and spice accenting a core of peach and quince paste. The light-bodied palate offers understated fruit and a soft, satiny texture, and its focused acidity gives the finish an ethereal feel. It's very easy to drink without sacrificing nuance. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

93 Points! I was able to taste three 2021s from Woodward Canyon. The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series checks in as 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc and was brought up in 30% new French and Hungarian oak. It's a perfumed, exotic, pretty red that has both red and blue fruits as well as some underlying sappy flowers, truffle, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. It's beautifully balanced, has fine tannins, and a pure, layered, seamless profile that will evolve gracefully over the coming 15 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! For this light-bodied category this has a remarkable concentration of stone fruit, honeysuckle and slate character. But it’s the combination of this with the elegance of the mineral acidity that makes it stand out. Glides over your palate in the very graceful finish. Fermented and matured in two 1,000-liter Fuder barrels, of which one was new. Drink or hold. - Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! There’s no denying that this very elegant Mosel riesling Spatlese has some natural grape sweetness, as is normal for the category. This sweetness is married to understated fresh acidity that makes it very cool, minty, lively and elegant. Plenty of white tree fruit and shrub notes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2023 Riesling Bernkasteler Badstube Spätlese has a touch of flint on the nose before chervil, lemon and dead nettle kick in. The palate brings in notes of Reine, Claude plum greengage, white peach and candied lime peel. Sweetness is cut by acid and vice versa-they are equal elements creating their own, quiet, delicious drama. It has wonderful length. (Sweet)" - Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous Media

91 Points! Made from 100% Syrah, the 2023 Crozes-Hermitage is a classic wine in the vintage with its upfront, perfumed, spicy style. Red, blue, and black fruits, peppery herbs, potpourri, and spice notes all shine, and it's medium-bodied, has a pure, layered mouthfeel, soft tannins, and outstanding length. - Jeb Dunnuck

92 Points! A finely calibrated version that offers high-toned elements of violet, plum and black currant alongside an iron-edged, chalky mineral backbone. Warm earth and humus notes fill in, with salty intensity and smoked bacon accents. Singed mesquite smoke wafts through the delicious finish, which shows good density. Drink now through 2032. - Wine Spectator