Specials

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.

95 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers a richer, nicely oaked profile that includes honeyed stone fruits, toasted spice, crushed stone, and salted citrus-like nuances. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, and has a concentrated, mouth-filling profile that's grounded by a beautiful spine of vibrant acidity. It benefits from air, and this is another awesome Chardonnay from this team that readers will absolutely love. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! Crunchy black cherries, raspberries, leather, and peppery floral notes all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills, an incredibly pure, medium-bodied Pinot Noir that has fabulous concentration, a focused, nicely structured mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's a hidden little gem of a Pinot Noir that readers should snatch up! - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! I loved the 2020 Côtes Du Roussillon Villages L'Amourette, a Mourvèdre-dominated blend of 60% Mourvèdre and 40% Grenache raised in concrete tanks. Blackberries, leather, dried meats, and spices give way to a beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied red with fine tannins and a seamless mouthfeel. It’s incredibly well done and one of the standouts in the lineup from Calvet. - Jeb Dunnuck

From the importer: From 100% Merlot grapes grown at the foot of the inactive Amiata volcano, the San Vito wine exudes an aromatic and intricate character. Sumptuous black fruit aromas unfurl into notes of tobacco, graphite, and oriental spices, enticing the senses. On the palate, it is rich and silky, with well-integrated tannins that linger through a long, persistent finish. Dense in color, the wine showcases a captivating garnet red hue that releases sumptuous fruit aromas to the nose. Prominent notes of blackberries, cassis, and violets stand out, gradually unraveling into more complex nuances of blond tobacco, graphite, and a melange of oriental spices. The sip is impressive yet rich in finesse, with a silky body enriched by well-smoothed tannins that stretch towards a persistent, aromatic finish.

96+ Points! Very deep purple-black in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate Vineyard gives up warm cassis, black berry and black cherry notes with hints of cedar chest, black pepper, black soil and baking spices plus a waft of tapenade. Medium to full-bodied, firm and tautly built, it has a lovely ripe and coarsely grained texture with oodles of freshness giving lift to the muscular fruit. It finishes on a complex earthy note. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com

96-100 Points! A barrel sample of the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate looks to be out of this world. It is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot, and ratchets up all of the components that the 2014 had, but adds an extra dimension of glycerin, flavor intensity, fragrance, and lusciousness. It is a killer – a flattering, stunning wine that will be pushing perfection when released in a year or so. It should drink beautifully for 25-30+ years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

From the winery: 44% Petite Sirah, 27% Zinfandel, 19% Carignan, 10% Mataro. This bold, complex, and distinctive red blend is produced from vinesplanted in the 1880’s to the dry farmed and windswept vineyard of Sandy Lane. Rooted to sandy soil in the town of Oakley, this extraordinary sitehas been farmed by the Gonsalves family since the 1930’s, and produces vibrant wines with tremendous complexity and stunning purity of fruit. This is a gorgeous red blend that is brimming with ripe berry fruit, savory complexity, silky texture, and refreshing acidity. It displays the unique characteristics of this sun-soaked old vine vineyard and is utterly delicious.

94 Points! A juicy and transparent grenache noir with aromas of strawberries, cherries, stones, iodine and some spices, too. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins. It’s crunchy and full of vitality and energy on the palate. Vertical and not hiding anything with a precise, vibrant finish with some peppery notes. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

A flurry of fruit and spice, the 2020 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderful snapshot of what Paso Robles has to offer. Before diving into the glass, you will notice the rich color this wine exudes, then aromas of blueberry, cocoa, and toasted coconut. Bright, red cherry-like acidity awakes the palate and transitions to a juicy and elegantly tannic mid body. Flavors of blackberry and blueberry carry all the way through to a lingering finish of toasty oak and cocoa powder. A Cab lover’s dream!

• Practicing organic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• Grapes from all of Mortet’s holdings in Gevrey-Chambertin (village + 1er Cru + Grand Cru)
• Direct press rosé
• Indigenous yeast
• Fermented and aged in stainless steel

From the winery: Planted in the 1940s, the Stampede Vineyard is an own-rooted Zinfandel planting in the toe-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains within Lodi’s Clements Hills AVA. With soils composed of decomposed granite, the Stampede Vineyard lies on a parcel that overlooks an old riverbed on one side and the Clements Stampede rodeo grounds on the other. Brothers and Lodi-natives Jeff & John Perlegos impeccably farm this vineyard.

On August 19th, we picked our third vintage of rosé from the ancient vines at Stampede Vineyard in Clements Hills. We couldn't be happier with how the wine turned out. Pressed whole-cluster and fermented in stainless steel. A slow, cold fermentation led to a weightier and more textural rosé, but the wine is everything you'd want a California rosé to be. At only 12.5% alcohol, the wine has loads of acidity, but with a density and vivacity you'd expect from old vine Zinfandel.  Drink now and drink often. This wine* is* springtime.

94 Points! Hailing from a warm vintage that was one of the best in what would otherwise have been a fairly ordinary decade, the 1985 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon is starting to take on a deep golden appearance, commencing to amber. It offers a gorgeous, suave texture and a very complex nose that's a touch oxidative but that adds a layer of additional intrigue: it's all nuts, raisins, walnuts, olives, warm pastry, cinnamon, cooked orange peel. It's round and sweet (95g/L) but not unctuous with richness on the mid-palate while retaining enough acidity to refresh the mouth on the long finish. A wine that is very comfortable in its own skin, providing a very relaxing experience.

Moulin Touchais produces sweet Chenin Blanc in the Coteaux du Layon appellation. The wines are most often late harvested, although in some vintages - such as 1997 - a high level of botrytis builds on the fruit. What makes the winery special is its late-release policy: the wines must spend a minimum of 10 years in the underground cellars beneath the village of Doué la Fontaine before release. - Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, 2021

97 Points! A complex nose of raspberries, redcurrants, blueberries, spices and dried herbs. It’s medium-bodied with elegant tannins. Round, juicy and layered on the palate, offering great harmony and balance. Fresh, yet complex with a savory finish. Old-vine character. The vines are more than a century old. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

The oldest Malbec vines in Chile, planted 1890!

92 Points! Aromas of black berries, brambleberries, floral, orange peel, and wet earth. Medium body, creamy and round tannins and a refined finish. Delicious. Just yummy. 52% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 10% cabernet franc, and 8% petit verdot. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! I love the bright nose of lime zest and ripe star fruit. Very focused, medium-bodied palate, but with a silky texture, this is a serious and sophisticated chardonnay. Plenty of stony minerality, plus nutty and licorice character at the very long, cool finish. Minimal sulphites added. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2019 Winemaker's Cuvee is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 5% Malbec, and the rest Cabernet Franc and was aged for 15 months in 50% new French oak. It is rich with aromas of lavender, tobacco, and boysenberry compote and delivers ripe fruit through the mid-palate, with notes of blackcurrant, leather, and baking spice. This red has immediate appeal, but it will continue to evolve over the next 10 or more years. - Jeb Dunnuck

A complex and fresh wooded Chardonnay in a Burgundian style made by Philippe Colin. The subtle oak aromas bring to this wine a luxurious mouth feel. Grapes are handpicked early in the morning to keep the freshness of the grapes. The must is settled and the alcoholic fermentation starts with wild yeasts in a stainless steel tank for 1 week, before to be transferred into 450L Rousseau Piano oaks (French). Then, the malolactic fermentation is done naturally during the 12 months ageing. Batonnage are done every 2 weeks.

92 Points! The 2019 Cap de Faugères has tightened up a lot on the nose, showing dense black fruit, tar and graphite scents, quite Left Bank in style. The palate is much more expressive, featuring fleshy red berry fruit mixed with allspice, clove and white pepper. Persistent and quite convincing on the finish. Give it time for those aromatics to get their mojo back – which they will. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

91 Points! The 2019 Cap de Faugeres is terrific, just as it was from bottle. Rich and expansive, the 2019 is so expressive right out of the gate. Succulent red cherry, spice, leather and tobacco all kicked up in this attractive entry-level offering from Silvio Denz. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! The 2019 Vigno had a spectacular and ever-changing nose from the moment I uncorked it. It started with some meaty notes and slowly started developing subtle nuances of roasted coffee, milk with cinnamon and herbs. It has a vibrant palate that makes it feel light and medium-bodied even at 14% alcohol, but the very low pH (3.32) and remarkable acidity (6.38 grams of tartaric acid) clearly lift it up. This is delicious, a wine that never fails to amaze me. It matured in 2,500- and 5,000-liter oak foudres and barriques for 14 months. 11,568 bottles and 60 magnums were filled in February 2020. This is not pure Cariñena, as it comes from a field blend with 10% to 15% other grapes—Malbec, Cinsault, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon—that certainly add to it. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com