Specials

96 Points! A powerful but sleek red that's so concentrated and focused, yet polished and satiny in texture. Rich, fine-grained tannins support black cherries, blackcurrants, iron, flowers and a hint of black-olive flavor. A serious, structured wine that needs a steak to pair with, or more years in the bottle to mature. Drinkable now and best from 2030. - JamesSuckling.com

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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

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

91 Points! Lifted, with cherry cola up front, the 2020 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley has a generous palate of fresh cranberry cocktail, sweet baking spice, and tangy acid on the finish. This red is hard not to love and is full of pleasure. Drink it now or over the next 5-6 years. - Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com

95 Points! The 2008 Pinnacle Shiraz comes off Grampian’s Best clone vines planted in 1997. Very deep garnet purple in color, it’s a little mute to begin producing pretty aromas of violets, black pepper, dark chocolate, black cherries and earth. Very crisp in the mouth, it has a medium-high level of very fine, velvety tannins and meaty, savory, spicy flavors coming through in layers. Full-bodied and rich, this wine has a very long finish. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

From the winery: The fruit for this wine comes from two vineyard blocks located in the western slopes of Sonoma Valley, within the appellation's overlap with the Sonoma Coast AVA. The sites are distinguished by their extremely rocky soils - stones from which were used in the mid-1800's to construct the miles of stone walls that ribbon the region. The site's coastal influences and rocky, well drained soils produce moderate yields of very concentrated Zinfandel.

98 Points! Lastly, the 2021 The Bard checks in as 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah. This beauty has a killer bouquet of cassis, spring flowers, graphite, chalky minerality, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied, seamless, silky, flawlessly balanced effort revealing fine tannins, a good sense of freshness, and a thrilling finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! The purity of fruit here is impressive with blackcurrants, bark and black mushrooms. Full-bodied but light-footed and fresh with integrated tannins that melt into the wine. Real transparency and focus. 83% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot and 1% petite sirah. So drinkable but can age as well. - James Suckling

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

96 Points! A selection of the best lots from the winery's Oakville estate, aged in 100% new oak, Groth's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve looks to be even better than the terrific 2021. Black cherries and loamy earth are cosseted amidst loads of almost buttery new oak, while the medium- to full-bodied palate is plush and expansive without going over the top. Long and velvety on the finish. - Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

98 Points! Another incredibly concentrated, focused, insanely impressive wine in the lineup is the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, which offers a powerful nose of darker currants, scorched earth, graphite, and savory herb aromas and flavors. This full-bodied, dense, concentrated, powerful, inward beauty needs 4-6 years in the cellar but will age forever. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! So much black currant, dark fruit, pine cone, bark and pine needle aromas that show a depth and intensity with round, polished and creamy tannins. Medium to full body, with a complex and gorgeously flavored finish. A blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon, 6.5% cabernet franc, 5% malbec, 4% merlot and 2.5% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is creamy and intense, yet retains its classic sense of structure. Inky blue and purplish fruit, smoke, licorice, crème de cassis and dark spices build in a powerful, mountain Cabernet Sauvignon loaded with personality. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

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

98 Points! Intense, vibrant aromas of strawberries and raspberries, together with cola and flowery notes. Milk and mint nuances, too. Shows a lot of licorice elegance and blood-orange freshness on both the nose and palate with firm, velvety tannins and well-packed, brilliant acidity and a polished finish. Good aftertaste and amazing potential. Very classic. Drinkable now, but best from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

99 Points! A fabulous wine of focus and polish with very fine tannins that caress your palate and give great length to the finish. Medium to full body. The aromas of violets and currants are so beautiful. Dreamy. Best ever? A blend of 92% cabernet sauvignon, 4% cabernet franc, 2% merlot, 1% malbec and 1% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Winemaker Chris Carpenter says that his Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Veeder is intended to serve as a counterpoint to the La Jota Cabernet, which is from Howell Mountain, but that each wine showcases a softer expression of mountain Cabernet, and one that is poised for earlier drinking for collectors who stash bottles of the single vineyard Cabernet wines from Lokoya in their cellar. The soils atop Mt. Veeder are volcanic and sedimentary, and two sites provide the grapes for Mt. Brave. One is the Mt. Brave Vineyard, formerly Chateau Potelle Vineyard, and the site is above the fog line on the northern part of Mt. Veeder, where the soils are well-draining, and yields are generally two tons per acre in good vintages. The other is Veeder Peak Estate. Each site is about 24ha. This blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet France, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot was aged 23 months in 80% new French oak. Super fragrant with black fruits, black cherry, and graphite minerality with violets and cherry liqueur undertones. Full-bodied with pronounced tannins that have a chalkiness about them, balanced by very soft and supple fruit that makes this wine so approachable in its youth. An extended finish is marked by blue fruit and pronounced garrigue, blue agave syrup, sage, and crushed cocao nibs. - Decanter Magazine

From the winery: 

The words “classic” and “perfect” were tossed around a lot after the 2012 growing season, and this vintage will always be remembered for its lack of drama! Winter was unseasonably dry, followed by a beautiful spring that led to a very productive flowering and fruit set. Summer and early fall were characterized by fairly mild temperatures with plenty of sunny days that allowed the grapes to ripen slowly and evenly with no major heat spikes. Interestingly, it was ZD’s latest start on record, with our first cabernet not coming in until the second week of October! If there were any challenges during harvest it was finding open fermenters for all of the beautiful cabernet fruit coming in to the winery at a frenetic pace, as harvest came to a dizzying finish the first week of November.

As always, ZD’s Cabernet is produced from several small intensely farmed vineyards in the Napa Valley and the final blend consistently results in a unique wine layered with remarkable flavor and balance. Each vineyard lot was fermented separately in small open top tanks with regular hand punch downs ensuring a gentle extraction of tannin and color. After one year in American Oak barrels and frequent blind tastings at the winery, the vineyard lots were blended and barrel aged for an additional year before bottling in July 2014.

This wine is big and unctuous with a firm structure that gives it excellent aging potential. Aromas of cassis and black cherry mingle with hints of plum, star anise and sweet vanilla. The combination of fruit, oak and tannin integrate seamlessly to provide a long, powerful finish. Enjoy!

Revisited in 2021
It has been a pleasure to revisit this Library Cabernet from what was considered a spectacular vintage for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Looking back at the original notes and tasting it now clearly demonstrates how well Napa Valley Cabernet ages in a “classic” and “drama-free” vintage. This wine has a beautiful medium ruby color. Aromas of jammy raspberry and ripe cherry mingle with subtle hints of cola, clove, earth and cedar. The tannins have softened nicely but still provide a wonderful backbone that continues to support the core of ripe fruit and delicate acidity that will benefit this wine as it continues to develop for years to come.

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

91 Points! A fresh, balsamic-tinged version, with a core of cherry, raspberry and black pepper notes. Firm, revealing sweet fruit in the end. A good steak or pasta with ragù will provide a good match. - Wine Spectator