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Cristaldi Scores

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Wine

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Rating

Vintage

Wine

Color

Rating

2022

Saxon Brown

Durell Vineyard Chardonnay

From Durell Vineyard. The sandhill at the top of this site isn’t sand at all but diatomaceous earth, and Gaffner works with three clones planted there: Wente, See, and Rued. The nose is intensely mineral, with a chalky edge, salted Marcona almonds, flinty notes, and well-measured toasty oak spice. The palate has real depth and flavor, showing apricot, white peach, pear, and yellow apple, all carried by a saline-toned minerality. A touch of lemon-cream lift comes through on the finish, a hallmark of Gaffner’s long, slow, cool fermentation with malolactic completing later.

2022

Saxon Brown

ETRE Chardonnay

From Durell, Sangiacomo’s Green Acres, and Catarina, where they work with a unique Chardonnay selection that reminds Jeff Gaffner of Riesling. The wine is barrel-fermented long and cool, with malolactic held back until the following spring; he stirs the lees through winter before allowing ML to finish naturally. The result is a layered, deeply textural Chardonnay with a complex, nuanced oak profile and impressive acid freshness. Extremely ripe quince, candied ginger, and a touch of saline drive the finish. Just dynamite.

2022

Saxon Brown

Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir

Swan, 777, 415 and 828 clones are all co-fermented here, and it’s off to the races. Ferrington has two distinct sections: an older, virus-affected block, and newer plantings of Pommard and 828. The wine shows more mid-palate weight and generosity, with dark berry fruit, fig notes, black tea and loamy earth. A building richness is neatly framed by a cool freshness from the firm acid backbone, with lingering brown baking spices on the finish. Energetic, layered and delicious.

2022

Saxon Brown

Fighting Brothers Pinot Noir

Fighting Brothers indicates a multi-vineyard blend; in this case it’s Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Roberts Road. Gaffner’s Pinot Noir approach is consistent across sites: he starts with a cold soak and works in pumpovers and punchdowns before alcohol rises, as he believes ABV acts as a solvent. Early extraction builds color, tannin, and esters, and once fermentation is underway he backs off. After fermentation and cold stabilization, the wine goes to barrel for about 16 months with 40% new French oak. The method precipitates out harsher tannins and preserves the finer elements, resulting in wonderfully precise, soft, velvety tannins that frame ripe dark-berry fruit. A cool, refreshing edge runs through the wine, along with underbrush nuances and warm baking spices on a lengthy finish.

2022

Saxon Brown

Fighting Brothers Zinfandel

Holy Zinfandel—this is honestly one of the tastiest Zins I’ve sampled in years. Kudos to Jeff Gaffner (winemaker and dad to Jason and Tyler, the ‘Fighting Brothers’), though the real triumph here is the internal balancing act: blending the many personalities of Zinfandel into a wine that feels wholly complete and seamless. Even at 15% alcohol, it tastes cool, balanced and refined. Classic red-berry Zin fruit lifts from the glass, while the core delivers fantastic concentration of mixed-berry and brambly-spiced flavors. Suave, seductive and silky, it envelops the palate and finishes with savory-spice nuances. A joyful, soulful wine.

2022

Saxon Brown

Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Sourced from two sections of Gap’s Crown—one higher on the slope and one lower in elevation. Incredibly floral and bright, with red berry fruit, rich baking spices and cherry pie notes. Medium-bodied on the palate yet delivering impressive depth of flavor, with a saline-acid brightness that feels both enticing and sumptuous. Totally captivating—you can’t help but finish the entire bottle in one sitting.

2022

Saxon Brown

Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir

From the Garys’ Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands comes this ripe-cherry-fruited, vanilla-laced, cedarwood-spiced Pinot Noir, bending around rich espresso-bean nuances and supple tannins. A plump, creamy mid-palate is lifted by zesty blood-orange acidity, leading to a lingering finish of warm Indian spice and vanilla-bean cream. Sumptuously refined.

2022

Saxon Brown

GMS Red Blend

Beautifully refined, filled with baking-spice and cedarwood accents, and lifted by floral notes that cascade through the wine. Juicy cherry and blackberry mingle with plum and pluot, creating a fragrant, flavor-packed profile. Medium- to full-bodied, with gentle tannins that support all that juicy fruit and warm spice, and a lingering wet-slate minerality. Just lovely.

2022

Saxon Brown

Green Acres Hill Vineyard Chardonnay

Sangiacomo’s Green Acres Hill Vineyard in Carneros, planted entirely to Wente clone, yields a highly aromatic Chardonnay with a lift of lemon-cream foam that expands across the palate. Subtle tropical fruit richness and a thread of apricot follow, joined by beautifully integrated cedarwood and a clean, wet-slate minerality. The finish is laser-focused and long. A super expressive, multidimensional wine from winemaker Jeff Gaffner.

2022

Saxon Brown

Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay

The Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Gaffner is wonderfully fragrant, zesty and fresh—exactly as Hyde is meant to be. Pure citrus notes rise from the glass, nuanced by white-flower aromatics and crushed-almond accents, all embraced by sumptuous, well-integrated oak spice. The medium-bodied palate builds both richness and volume before giving way to a host of saline, rocky mineral characters that carry the wine through a long, invigorating finish.

2022

Saxon Brown

Roberts Road Pinot Noir

Gorgeously woody and deeply sumptuous on the palate. Creamy in texture yet bolstered by crisp apple-skin tannins, with an expressive salinity running through the core. Layers of sumptuous brown spices unfold alongside graham cracker crust on the finish.

2022

Saxon Brown

Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay

Such an alluring nose of anise, fennel, and lemon cream and French pastry, apricot jam and flinty minerals, all coming together on the palate framed by richer tropical notes of grilled pineapple, and white peach, with butterscotch cream and lemon zest, supported by zingy acid tension and a toasty oak finish. This Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Ganer is one of the more richer styles of Chardonnay he produces, and if you love that style this is your bag baby.

Vintage

Wine

Type

Color

Rating

$

2022

Producer

Name

From Durell Vineyard. The sandhill at the top of this site isn’t sand at all but diatomaceous earth, and Gaffner works with three clones planted there: Wente, See, and Rued. The nose is intensely mineral, with a chalky edge, salted Marcona almonds, flinty notes, and well-measured toasty oak spice. The palate has real depth and flavor, showing apricot, white peach, pear, and yellow apple, all carried by a saline-toned minerality. A touch of lemon-cream lift comes through on the finish, a hallmark of Gaffner’s long, slow, cool fermentation with malolactic completing later.

2022

Producer

Name

From Durell, Sangiacomo’s Green Acres, and Catarina, where they work with a unique Chardonnay selection that reminds Jeff Gaffner of Riesling. The wine is barrel-fermented long and cool, with malolactic held back until the following spring; he stirs the lees through winter before allowing ML to finish naturally. The result is a layered, deeply textural Chardonnay with a complex, nuanced oak profile and impressive acid freshness. Extremely ripe quince, candied ginger, and a touch of saline drive the finish. Just dynamite.

2022

Producer

Name

Swan, 777, 415 and 828 clones are all co-fermented here, and it’s off to the races. Ferrington has two distinct sections: an older, virus-affected block, and newer plantings of Pommard and 828. The wine shows more mid-palate weight and generosity, with dark berry fruit, fig notes, black tea and loamy earth. A building richness is neatly framed by a cool freshness from the firm acid backbone, with lingering brown baking spices on the finish. Energetic, layered and delicious.

2022

Producer

Name

Fighting Brothers indicates a multi-vineyard blend; in this case it’s Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Roberts Road. Gaffner’s Pinot Noir approach is consistent across sites: he starts with a cold soak and works in pumpovers and punchdowns before alcohol rises, as he believes ABV acts as a solvent. Early extraction builds color, tannin, and esters, and once fermentation is underway he backs off. After fermentation and cold stabilization, the wine goes to barrel for about 16 months with 40% new French oak. The method precipitates out harsher tannins and preserves the finer elements, resulting in wonderfully precise, soft, velvety tannins that frame ripe dark-berry fruit. A cool, refreshing edge runs through the wine, along with underbrush nuances and warm baking spices on a lengthy finish.

2022

Producer

Name

Holy Zinfandel—this is honestly one of the tastiest Zins I’ve sampled in years. Kudos to Jeff Gaffner (winemaker and dad to Jason and Tyler, the ‘Fighting Brothers’), though the real triumph here is the internal balancing act: blending the many personalities of Zinfandel into a wine that feels wholly complete and seamless. Even at 15% alcohol, it tastes cool, balanced and refined. Classic red-berry Zin fruit lifts from the glass, while the core delivers fantastic concentration of mixed-berry and brambly-spiced flavors. Suave, seductive and silky, it envelops the palate and finishes with savory-spice nuances. A joyful, soulful wine.

2022

Producer

Name

Sourced from two sections of Gap’s Crown—one higher on the slope and one lower in elevation. Incredibly floral and bright, with red berry fruit, rich baking spices and cherry pie notes. Medium-bodied on the palate yet delivering impressive depth of flavor, with a saline-acid brightness that feels both enticing and sumptuous. Totally captivating—you can’t help but finish the entire bottle in one sitting.

2022

Producer

Name

From the Garys’ Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands comes this ripe-cherry-fruited, vanilla-laced, cedarwood-spiced Pinot Noir, bending around rich espresso-bean nuances and supple tannins. A plump, creamy mid-palate is lifted by zesty blood-orange acidity, leading to a lingering finish of warm Indian spice and vanilla-bean cream. Sumptuously refined.

2022

Producer

Name

Beautifully refined, filled with baking-spice and cedarwood accents, and lifted by floral notes that cascade through the wine. Juicy cherry and blackberry mingle with plum and pluot, creating a fragrant, flavor-packed profile. Medium- to full-bodied, with gentle tannins that support all that juicy fruit and warm spice, and a lingering wet-slate minerality. Just lovely.

2022

Producer

Name

Sangiacomo’s Green Acres Hill Vineyard in Carneros, planted entirely to Wente clone, yields a highly aromatic Chardonnay with a lift of lemon-cream foam that expands across the palate. Subtle tropical fruit richness and a thread of apricot follow, joined by beautifully integrated cedarwood and a clean, wet-slate minerality. The finish is laser-focused and long. A super expressive, multidimensional wine from winemaker Jeff Gaffner.

2022

Producer

Name

The Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Gaffner is wonderfully fragrant, zesty and fresh—exactly as Hyde is meant to be. Pure citrus notes rise from the glass, nuanced by white-flower aromatics and crushed-almond accents, all embraced by sumptuous, well-integrated oak spice. The medium-bodied palate builds both richness and volume before giving way to a host of saline, rocky mineral characters that carry the wine through a long, invigorating finish.

2022

Producer

Name

Gorgeously woody and deeply sumptuous on the palate. Creamy in texture yet bolstered by crisp apple-skin tannins, with an expressive salinity running through the core. Layers of sumptuous brown spices unfold alongside graham cracker crust on the finish.

2022

Producer

Name

Such an alluring nose of anise, fennel, and lemon cream and French pastry, apricot jam and flinty minerals, all coming together on the palate framed by richer tropical notes of grilled pineapple, and white peach, with butterscotch cream and lemon zest, supported by zingy acid tension and a toasty oak finish. This Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay from Jeff Ganer is one of the more richer styles of Chardonnay he produces, and if you love that style this is your bag baby.

Vintage

Wine

Type

Rating

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Durell Vineyard Chardonnay

Still Wine

$$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown ETRE Chardonnay

Still Wine

$$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Fighting Brothers Pinot Noir

Still Wine

$$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Fighting Brothers Zinfandel

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Gap’s Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown GMS Red Blend

Still Wine

$$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Green Acres Hill Vineyard Chardonnay

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay

Still Wine

$$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Roberts Road Pinot Noir

Still Wine

$

2022

2022 Saxon Brown Roberts Road Vineyard Chardonnay

Still Wine

$$

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