SonomaOct2025 – Page 4 – Cristaldi & Co

Cristaldi Scores

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Wine

Color

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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.

Red

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.

Red

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.

White

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.

White

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.

Red

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.

White

2022

Solar Ash

Bavarian Lion Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, this wine is sourced from the Bavarian Lion Vineyard in Knights Valley, Sonoma County, and aged 18 months in 35% new French oak. It’s a ripe, round, and easy-drinking Cabernet that showcases bold mulberry fruit, crème de cassis, candied violets, and liquid graphite. Full-bodied and supple, it builds toward a finish marked by velvety yet lightly grippy tannins. Born and raised in Sonoma County, brothers Alex and Christian Ehret chose the Bavarian Lion Vineyard to source their single-vineyard, estate Cabernet Sauvignon for the Solar Ash project in Knights Valley.

Red

2022

St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

Old Vine Zinfandel Giovanetti Vineyard

A generous Zinfandel with bright red berry fruit, dusty rose petal, and vanilla notes wrapped in creamy oak spice. The palate is soft and inviting, with fine-grained tannins that build gracefully into a brown-spiced finish. The historic eight-acre Giovanetti Vineyard, planted to Zinfandel and mixed blacks in 1910, produces one of the winery’s most distinctive small-production wines—an expressive nod to Sonoma County’s old-vine heritage and its enduring grower relationships. St. Francis Winery & Vineyards has been in operation for more than five decades, now farming over 400 acres of estate vineyards.

Red

2022

St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Such a well-made 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon—remarkable for avoiding the brandied, liquored-up fruit so prevalent in many wines from the vintage. Instead, it delivers a red-toned core accented by black and blue fruit nuances, elegant oak spice, and supple, fine tannins, all supported by bright acidity and a satiny, full-bodied finish. Quite a fantastic wine at this price point—and totally crushable. The fruit for this Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is grown at high elevations on sloped, well-drained hillsides and aged in French oak barrels, 70% new. St. Francis Winery & Vineyards has been in operation for more than five decades, now farming over 400 acres of estate vineyards.

Red

2022

Surveyor

Sauvignon Blanc

This is always such a pleasure-packed white, showing absolutely lush orchard fruit dusted with fragrant brown spices. The palate builds with rich melon notes, tangerine oil and beeswax, followed by a growing richness on the finish that’s lifted by saline acidity and a brightness that lingers. Aged for 16 months in 50% new French oak. Produced by Sonoma-based winemaker Jesse Katz, the Surveyor wines are an exclusive label of the Montage Resort in Healdsburg, California. Katz oversaw the planting of 15.5 acres of estate vines in 2019 and 2020, many of them planted in and around the resort itself.

White

2022

The Setting Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Setting 2022 Alexander Valley is fresh, vivid, crunchy and red-fruited, layered with sweet, toasty oak spice and elegant cedarwood notes. Aged for 22 months in 85% new French oak, it shows robust yet nicely sculpted tannins that frame the wine beautifully. Full-bodied and rich in the signature Setting style, it remains fresh and inviting, with crisp structure supporting all that generous fruit.

Red

2022

Valette

Browne Pinot Noir by Michael Browne

Dustin Valette has known Michael Browne since his days at John Ash & Co., and when they launched this project it became a genuinely special collaboration for the two of them. This is the first wine they’ve made together. The Pinot Noir is supple, round, and sumptuous, with wonderfully plump tannins and smooth, silky mixed berry fruit, layered with fragrant cocoa powder, dried violets, and rose petals. A rich saline minerality emerges on the medium-bodied finish and seems to linger effortlessly. The intensity of the wine is very much Michael Browne in character, yet it retains admirable energy and drive.

Red

2022

Valette

Bush Crispo Vineyard Pinot Noir by Bob Cabral

Entirely from Bush Crispo, crafted by Bob Cabral. Crushed cherry and cherry compote lead the way, followed by unsweetened chocolate and darker forest floor notes, with nuances of crushed cocoa nibs. The palate is intense, showing Rooibos tea notes and an almost meaty, iron-like mineral character, supported by integrated cedarwood and a spicy white pepper lift from some whole-cluster inclusion. Serve this with steak au poivre.

Red

2022

Valette

Pinot Noir by Bob Cabral

This is crafted by Bob Cabral. Super-fragrant from the outset, with rose petal and rose stem notes, dark cherry, and dark slate, lifted by white pepper spice and fresh redwood forest nuances. Black tea notes support the super-dark, juicy, ripe fruit and macerated cherry character. Hints of tangerine peel and crushed cocoa nibs add detail, all carried by a velvety texture and impressive length.

Red

2022

Woodenhead

Pinot Noir

The 2022 Woodenhead Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley is unfined and unfiltered, revealing a savory, spice-driven expression of Pinot Noir redolent of cherry fruit wrapped in eucalyptus leaves, with Earl Grey tea nuances framing the medium-bodied palate. Black tea–like tannins add structure, leading to a punctuated, lingering finish. Those savory elements are beautifully integrated and make this an ideal pairing for herb-dusted pork loin, spare ribs, or grilled branzino. Enjoy now through 2029.

Red

2023

Aperture

Bordeaux Red Blend

The Red Blend is aged 18 months in 50% new French oak and 5% concrete. It’s dynamic and delicious, packed with mixed berry fruits, warm baking spices, velvety-textured tannins, fig-paste richness, and cocoa-powder notes that carry through the lengthy, full-bodied finish.

Red

2023

Aperture

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cabernet is aged 18 months in 55% new French oak and 10% concrete. This is an ultra-delicious wine in 2023, with super expressive aromatics: dark berry fruit, tobacco spice, violet, graphite, and little pops of blue fruit. There’s a cocoa-powder tannin quality on the rich, layered palate, along with a chalky mineral complexity that drives the lengthy finish, all fueled by bright baking-spice notes and wild herbs. Sourced from SJ Ranch, Del Rio, Oliver, Farrow, and Aperture Estate. That freshness factor in this wine is partly the vintage, but also the highly technical winemaking going on here, and time spent in concrete. Just wow.

Red

2023

Aperture

Del Rio Cabernet Sauvignon

There’s a gravelly freshness that lifts out of the glass, carrying ultra–dark berry fruit with an impressively dense core — so pure, clean, and fresh that the wine is genuinely refreshing, yet still endowed with the depth and tannic intensity you want in a long-lived Cabernet. Tobacco spice, dried violets, and black fruit layer in alongside cool wet-slate tones on the impressively long finish. Del Rio Vineyard is a steep site straddling the highest reaches of Chalk Hill Road in the southeast corner of Alexander Valley, rooted in chalky volcanic soils. This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Red

2023

Aperture

Estate 1912 Red Wine

This is a co-fermented field blend of 11 different varieties from the two 1921 blocks planted at Aperture Estate — small blocks totaling under 8 acres. It’s treated like a Burgundian variety, picked early to accentuate ripeness and given a large saignée (30%) to concentrate the tannins. Aged 16 months in 30% new French oak, all in large 70-gallon barrels. There’s something wonderfully savory happening here. There’s Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, Carignan, some mixed whites, and cross-bred Petite Sirah selections (Pellier/Syrah), all coming together to build a meaty richness in the glass. Dark berry fruit, rich herbal-spice notes, violets, saddle leather, and black olive drive the aromatics. The tannins are firm yet velvety, supporting a full-bodied richness that finishes with creamy caramel accents and a stony mineral edge.

Red

2023

Aperture

Estate Sauvignon Blanc

This is only the second vintage Katz has made of this wine, first produced in 2021. Sourced from old vines on a north-facing hillside at Farrow Ranch, it’s a vibrating, electric, wildly exciting wine — so flavor-packed and intensely mineral-focused, with a gorgeous wet-slate quality underscored by lemon-bright and lime-zest fruit. Green apple, apricot, and lychee drive the fruity core, and then that stony minerality kicks in. The oak work is beautifully delicate, framing the wine rather than weighing it down. It was aged 16 months in 70% new French oak, and with time in bottle it will continue to build complexity from that élevage. You can hold this wine in the cellar — and you should — as it will only grow richer and more savory with time. Farrow Ranch lies within the Alexander Valley AVA, in a site that sits inside a proposed new sub-AVA called Pocket Peak.

White

2023

Aperture

Oliver Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

A beautifully full and expressive red wine, offering red cherry and blackberry fruit with graphite, fleshy new-wood cedar, and a savory olive-tapenade character. The palate is super creamy and richly textured, driven by pristine dark-berry fruit that leads into mulberry and blueberry. The tannins are gorgeous — cedar-kissed, full-framed, elongated, almost beam-like — and the finish carries a seductive mineral intensity that stretches out over lingering fruit and stone. Just splendid in 2023. Aperture’s Oliver Ranch surrounds the Michelin-starred restaurant Cyrus in Alexander Valley. Winemaker Jesse Katz has worked with this fruit since 2010 and produced his first single-vineyard bottling from the site in 2014. Designed by famed viticulturist Phil Freese in the 1980s on an old riverbed of polished stones, much of the 3.6-acre ranch is dry-farmed.

Red

2023

Aperture

SJ Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

Wow — this is something. Positively stellar, full-bodied, with chewy tannins that are perfectly framed, elongated and almost sensual in the way they caress the palate. The wine is rich, full-bodied, generous and complexly layered with mixed-berry fruit, yet it is overwhelmingly mineral and tension-filled. A distinctly gravelly complexity is evident, thanks to the vineyard’s soils — gravelly clay and gravelly volcanic deposits spread across the site — and the result is a wine of unimaginable freshness. It is spectacular. The SJ Ranch in Alexander Valley is a 7.9-acre vineyard of volcanic soils adjacent to Verité off Thomas Road. Cabernet Sauvignon Clones 337 and 7 are blended and aged for 22 months in 90% new French oak, then bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Red

2023

B Cellars

Calesa Vineyard Chardonnay

What a luscious, lovely, rich, and creamy Chardonnay — with plenty of acid verve. Delicious vanilla shows on the back palate alongside well-integrated cedarwood spice. There’s ample crunchy acidity to keep it fresh, bright, and classy. From Calesa Vineyard, all night-picked, whole-cluster pressed, given a two-day settle, then treated with a small sulfur adjustment before native-yeast fermentation. Some lots underwent native malolactic fermentation. Bâtonnage starts with more frequent stirring and tapers off as the wines age in roughly 35% new French oak for 15 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

White

2023

B Cellars

Calesa Vineyard Pinot Noir

Sourced from Calesa Vineyard, a Petaluma Gap site perched on a high plateau with northwest-facing slopes and soils flecked with gravel and quartz. The nose is absolutely gorgeous — dark cherry fruit, warm brown baking spices, a hint of soy, black truffle, and velvety tannins, with a touch of sea-salt savor. The palate shows impressive depth: grapefruit peel, black sea salt, a broad, velvety texture, and a refined, seamless expression. Terrific grip and tension, yet still lush and inviting. Super cool — this one will fire you up.

Red

2023

B Cellars

Manzana Vineyard Pinot Noir

From Manzana Vineyard, planted to Clones 777 and 828, and blended together. The site sits off Occidental Road, a hillside parcel close to Kanzler. The nose is elegant and expressive — cherry fruit, sagebrush, bay laurel — like walking in a cool Redwood grove — all building into medium richness with sweet baking spices woven around dark cherry and raspberry. Medium-bodied, with velvety tannins and a touch of cola root, plus lovely ironstone and earthy minerality and a hint of black-truffle charcuterie on the finish. Bâtonnage begins with more frequent stirring and gradually tapers off, after which the wine is racked into roughly 35–45% new French oak for 15 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Red

2023

B Cellars

Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel

This is a spectacular Zinfandel, with gorgeous red- and black-toned aromatics, loamy earth, robust tannins, and impressive acid grip. Beautiful, lacy ironstone minerality and apple-skin tannins bring freshness, verve, and drive, all framed by sturdy, firm structure that underscores the juicy, ripe, concentrated fruit from 130-year-old vines. Impressively long and layered for a Zinfandel. Aged in 40% new French oak.

Red

2023

B Cellars

Nightwing Vineyard Pinot Noir

Nightwing is super silky and luscious, built around a core of dark berry fruit and rich brown baking spices. The palate is wonderfully broad — velvety and silky at the same time — filling in all the gaps and finishing with a fabulous, laser-like line of complexity. It’s classic Venge style: hitting all the broad-palate markers yet finishing with lift, lightness, and brightness.

Red

2023

B Cellars

Zinfandel

From Hambrecht Vineyard at the top of Dry Creek Road, this Zinfandel was aged for 16 months in three-year-dried American oak barrels. It is robust and powerful — a fitting send-off, as it is the last Zinfandel B Cellars will make. Dark-fruited and savory-spiced, with ample tannins and rich brown baking spices, it shows fig paste, cherry fruit and gorgeous length.

Red

2023

Balletto Vineyards

Teresa's Chardonnay

From the Sexton Valley Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills, this Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed, undergoes partial malolactic fermentation, and is aged entirely in stainless steel. The result is a bright, energetic wine that’s light on its feet yet full of character. Aromas of lemon oil, lemon zest, and white flowers lead to a palate brimming with tangerine peel, crunchy kumquat skin, and vibrant acidity. The finish lingers with stony, wet minerality and subtle notes of lemon curd.

White

2023

Banshee

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon comes from estate fruit across Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Mountain, and Knights Valley. At its suggested retail price of $30, this is a fantastic value. It delivers a generous punch of savory Sonoma character—sagebrush, wild thyme, and bay laurel—wrapped around beautifully pure cassis and blackberry fruit. Elegant cedarwood spice adds lift, while fine tannins and earthy tension shape the palate. Super-pristine fruit and balanced structure make this a killer wine for the price.

Red

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Vintage

Wine

Type

Color

Rating

$

2022

Producer

Name

This 100% Pinot Noir, a suitcase clone known as “Elite,” comes from the Hallberg Ranch Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Aged eleven months in 25% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Like all Emeritus Vineyards wines, it carries a firm tannic backbone and benefits from a bit of aeration. The Elite lives up to its name—elegant, poised, and expressive without being showy. It offers gentle red-fruited refinement accented by mild Indian spice, creating a subtle aromatic allure. The palate is lively and nuanced, driven by wet-slate minerality and bright blood-orange acidity. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in the Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

This 100% Pinot Noir from the Hallberg Ranch Vineyard in the Russian River Valley blends eleven clones—115, 777, 37, 828, 667, Elite, Hyde, Pommard, Cruz, 943, and Swan. Medium-bodied and energetic, it opens with dark cherry and pomegranate seed, framed by savory brown spice and lively acidity. Crisp apple-skin and cherrywood-scented tannins provide structure, while cool river-stone minerality and a touch of cocoa powder add depth on the finish. Aged ten months in 34% new French oak, the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

This 100% Pinot Noir, a suitcase clone known as the “Cruz Especial Selection,” hails from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast. Aged eleven months in 33% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Compared with the regular Pinot Hill bottling, this Cruz Selection shows a softer, more brown-spiced character, fragrant with wild herbs—sage and dried wild fennel in particular. The fruit leans red-toned, the acidity a touch sharper, and the finish trails off crisp, clean, and bone dry. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

This 100% Pinot Noir from Pinot Hill Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills on the Sonoma Coast blends six clones—115, Hyde, Cruz, 667, Elite, and Pommard. Aged eleven months in 41% new French oak, it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine is bold, tart, and structured, bursting with cherry fruit, cherry wood, incense, tangerine zest, and grapefruit pith. While the bouquet is generous and expressive, the palate is more lively and zesty, focused, and linear—a vibrant, food-friendly Pinot Noir. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

Dark cherry fruit mingles with rose-petal florals in this broad-shouldered yet graceful Pinot Noir. As it opens, red fruit shades toward blue on the palate, enlivened by zesty blood-orange acidity and nuanced with incense, dusty rose, sagebrush, and thyme. The finish is long and crisp, marked by both freshness and depth. This 100% Pinot Noir, a blend of clones 667 and 115 from the Hallberg Ranch Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, was aged eleven months in 38% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Founded by Brice Cutrer Jones in 1999, Emeritus Vineyards is a Pinot-focused producer utilizing dry-farmed vineyards (Hallberg Ranch in Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill on the Sonoma Coast).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

A bold, expressive wine redolent of mulberry and muddled blackberry fruit, nuanced by savory black truffle, charcuterie, and cedarwood spice. Full-bodied, with ripe, succulent fruit on the palate accented by graphite, incense, and pressed, dried violets, while tart dried cherry notes emerge on the lengthy finish. The core of this wine is Cabernet Sauvignon grown on steep, west-facing terraces that rise above the winery, reaching a towering elevation of 1,400 feet. Aged for 20 months in French oak barrels (7% new). Founded in 1973 by Fred and Juelle Fisher, this second-generation family winery sources from estate vineyards in Sonoma County and Napa Valley.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot. Aged for 21 months in French oak barrels (85% new). Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Dark-fruited, succulent, and bold, this wine offers lavish, velvety textures and full-bodied appeal, unfolding with notes of graphite, dried violets, star anise, and loamy earth dusted with black truffle powder. Something else entirely. First planted in 1973, Wedding Vineyard graces a south-facing slope in front of Fisher’s original Mountain Estate winery. Nine acres were replanted in 2002 by famed viticulturist David Abreu: seven blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon (including Clone 337 and See Clone), one block of Petit Verdot (Clone 400), and one block of Cabernet Franc (Clone 327). The final remaining block was replanted in 2010 (Wiemer Clone). Founded in 1973 by Fred and Juelle Fisher, this second-generation family winery sources from estate vineyards in Sonoma County and Napa Valley.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

In 2022, this wine shows a bright, engaging personality with rose petal florals, iron, and ripe cherry and spiced plum fruits supported by tangy blood orange acidity. The finish reveals subtle blue fruit nuances and firm, elongated tannins with a chocolaty edge and mild Indian spice on the lengthy close. The Flambeaux Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley sits 350 feet above the valley floor on Boomer Loam soils—metamorphic, red, and iron-rich. The Zinfandel grows in terraced rows on the steep hillside, which helps drain both excess water and cold air, naturally protecting the vines from frost. Aged for 11 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels (25% new).

Red

2022

Producer

Name

A generous and expressive Chardonnay from the famed Sangiacomo Vineyards, it opens with buttered croissant and yellow apple before gaining momentum and complexity on the medium-bodied palate. Layers of unctuous stone fruit, charred pineapple, and lemon-lime acid tension support the ripe, succulent fruit profile and all that toasty, buttery oak goodness. This Chardonnay is sourced from two Sangiacomo family vineyards: Roberts Road Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap, where fog and wind keep temperatures cool, and Green Acres Vineyard in Sonoma Carneros, which benefits from the marine influence of San Francisco Bay. Aged for 11 months in French oak barrels (30% new).

White

2022

Producer

Name

The 2022 Archimedes Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a site more than 2,300 feet above sea level in the Pine Mountain–Cloverdale Peak AVA, and it’s one of the most intense, spicy, structured, and deeply fruited wines of the vintage. Beautifully pure mulberry fruit and graphite nuances intertwine with rose petal and perfumed violet aromas that draw you in. The palate flows with rivers of dark fruit, plump tannins, and stony earth minerality. It’s an immensely pleasing wine, delivering sheer drinking joy.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

A soft, supple, and inviting Chardonnay brimming with crushed almond character and buttered croissant notes that make it hard to put down. Add to that a medium- to full-bodied richness with ripe apple and pear fruit, along with pressed wildflowers and honeysuckle on the lengthy finish. Sourced from the sixth-generation Dutton Ranch in the Russian River Valley. Aged for 10 months in barrels—90% new French oak from hand-selected forests such as Allier, Tronçais, and Vosges, with the remaining 10% in new Hungarian oak.

White

2022

Producer

Name

This 100% Chardonnay comes from two blocks within the Rocchioli-Allen Vineyard, an iconic site planted just south of the Rochioli Vineyard. Aged for 10 months in 35% new French oak. It’s a full-throttle Chardonnay brimming with toasty brioche and salted lemon peel, layered with apricot, white peach, and charred pineapple on the palate. For all its richness, the wine retains excellent, cooling acidity—a hallmark of this exceptional site. Gary Farrell Winery has been a pioneer of the Russian River Valley wine scene for over 40 years.

White

2022

Producer

Name

Aged 18 months in 18% new and used Hungarian oak, this 2022 estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Amigos Ranch in the Chalk Hill AVA is wonderfully fragrant, offering mulberry fruit with high-toned violet and rose petal notes. Blackcurrant, cassis, and muddled blackberry and cherry compote follow, creating a fruit-forward character supported by soft tannins and a smooth, medium-bodied finish. Incredibly approachable and delicious, this value-driven Cabernet Sauvignon makes an excellent weeknight wine.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

The Kobler Family Vineyards Syrah builds out of the glass with a heady dose of cocoa-powder character, woody notes, and earth, all interwoven with dark berry fruit and dusty minerality. The tannins are crisp and crunchy, with juicy dark fruit on the palate and building structure that turns a bit drying toward the woodsy finish.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

Fruit is entirely from the Lancaster Estate, fermented with native yeast in tank and aged 24 months in 100% new French oak. The wine is intensely fruit-driven, with raspberry and strawberry notes alongside warming baking spices, clove, plum skin, grapefruit zest, lavender, and rose stem. It’s super juicy on the palate with very soft, plump tannins and a cool wet-river-stone minerality. This is a porch-pounder of a wine in this vintage—which, at $130, is a good thing if you collect it. Let your more structured, “serious” vintages continue to age while you enjoy the heck out of this one.

Red

2022

Producer

Name

Harvested from a truly landmark vineyard on coveted Westside Road in the Russian River Valley, characterized by three distinct soil types. Fermented 100% destemmed in one-ton fermenters and punched down twice daily, then aged for 10 months in French oak (40% new). This is the most polished, expressive and composed wine in the Landmark portfolio—a great wine, worthy of a collector’s cellar, and an equally impressive bottle to pull for friends and family. Juicy upfront dark-berry fruit, clove and allspice lead the charge, while polished tannins lend a supple feel to this dynamic Pinot Noir. Layers of white pepper, tangerine and grapefruit zest, blood-orange acidity and flashy Asian spices energize the beautifully creamy yet bright, refreshing finish.