The Latest Cristaldi Scores
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This wine unfolds slowly, finishing with profoundly robust, firm tannins that build and build—but before that, it seduces with calm generosity and perfumed red fruit layered with violets, dark cinnamon, cedarwood, and underbrush. The entry is soft and silky, edged with blue-toned fruit that’s soon drawn into focus by the grip and structure of this powerful Pinot Noir. Like the Coastline Project Pinot, it’s worth holding until late 2026 before pulling corks—and it will easily reward a decade or more of aging. Composed of a barrel selection sourced 70% from McDougall Ranch and 30% from Kings Ridge Vineyard, with 30% whole-cluster fermentation in stainless steel, native primary and malolactic fermentations, and 16 days on skins. Salty Goats is passion of Nickel & Nickel’s Joe Harden and Phil Holbrook (who were mentored by Thomas Rivers Brown). The wines are made at TRB’s Mending Wall facility, sourcing grapes from organically farmed vineyards on the West Sonoma Coast and in Napa Valley.
This Coastline Project Pinot Noir is a dark-fruited powerhouse, showcasing the ripe, soaring tannins characteristic of fruit grown in the extreme coastal zones of the Sonoma Coast. It bursts with dark cherry and plum fruit, framed by red apple-skin tannins and mineral nuances that shine through the dark core—wet river stone, slate, and a touch of violet. On the palate, subtle blue fruit tones emerge beneath the grip of those firm tannins, adding depth and intrigue. I’m inclined to think these 2024s will age longer than the dazzling 2023s; there’s more heft and power here, making it worth holding until at least 2026 before pulling a cork. Sourced from organically farmed vineyards along the West Sonoma Coast and Sonoma Coast AVA—including McDougall Ranch and Kings Ridge (Fort Ross–Seaview), Fociñni (Petaluma Gap), and Lucky Well (Occidental)—this wine blends clones 114, Calera, Schoolhouse, Pommard, and La Tâche. With 30% whole-cluster fermentation in stainless steel using native yeasts and native malolactic conversion, the wine spent 15 days on the skins. Salty Goats is passion of Nickel & Nickel’s Joe Harden and Phil Holbrook (who were mentored by Thomas Rivers Brown). The wines are made at TRB’s Mending Wall facility, sourcing grapes from organically farmed vineyards on the West Sonoma Coast and in Napa Valley.
Primarily sourced from the Chalk Hill Estate, this wine is made at the estate winery, fermented in stainless steel, and aged 24 months in 67% new French oak and 10% American oak. It’s plump and juicy, packed with blackberry and black-raspberry fruit, spiced plums, violets, and rose-petal nuances. Sweet spices frame the palate, supported by rich, velvety tannins that resolve with a cocoa-powder character.
Roth’s winemaker is Henry de Lambert. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel and aged for 14 months in a mix of 50% French and 50% American oak, with 10% new. As a result, there’s a noticeable dose of barrel tannin that brings grip to the palate, along with tobacco and cedarwood notes. Cherry and plum fruit follow, joined by leather spice, cassis, and a touch of cocoa powder on the finish. This wine needs some time in bottle for the tannins to integrate more fully; once they do, the fruit should shine through more clearly.
This wine stands out for its elegance and plush texture—one of the softer, more inviting offerings among the four Ridge wines I tasted on a cool Sonoma day in October 2025. Aromatically fine-tuned to red berry fruit and delicate cedarwood spice, it reveals subtle undercurrents of vanilla and shaved coconut. The palate is supple and blue-fruited, juicy and irresistible, with nuances of citrusy acidity, orange peel, and crushed cacao nib intensity carrying through the full-bodied finish. Sourced from a 19th-century Zinfandel vineyard planted in alluvial loam and clay soils at 500 feet of elevation, the centerpiece of the St. Peter’s Church Vineyard still holds original Zinfandel vines planted in the 1880s—believed to be the oldest Zinfandel vines associated with a church in the United States. Fruit from this vineyard was once used by Kent Rosenblum—founder of Rosenblum Cellars and father of current Ridge winemaker Shauna Rosenblum. The vineyard’s namesake clone of Zinfandel later became the foundational planting for nearly all vines in the mountainous 160-acre Rockpile AVA. Ridge has been a Sonoma institution since 1962, known for its single-vineyard winemaking. COO & Head Winemaker John Olney is accompanied in the cellar by Shauna Rosenblum (formerly of Rock Wall Wine Company), focusing on Lytton Springs.
Ridge’s Pagani Ranch Zinfandel was aged in air-dried American oak barrels, mostly used. The grapes were destemmed and crushed, with natural primary and malolactic fermentations, and pumped over a floating cap. The result is a savory, aromatic red offering mixed berry fruit, cedarwood, and sagebrush notes. On the palate, crunchy red fruit and apple-skin tannins mingle with underbrush and zesty blood orange acidity that’s lively, even slightly prickly, leading to a finish marked by building tannins and red-toned fruit nuanced by crushed cocoa nibs. Since 1991, Ridge has produced Zinfandel from the historic Pagani Vineyard on the western side of Sonoma Valley, where the majority of vines are between 90 and 120 years old, with some blocks replanted between 2013 and 2018. Ridge has been a Sonoma institution since 1962, known for its single-vineyard winemaking. COO & Head Winemaker John Olney is accompanied in the cellar by Shauna Rosenblum (formerly of Rock Wall Wine Company and daughter of iconic winemaker Kent Rosenblum), focusing on Lytton Springs.
Polished, seamless, endlessly delicious—you’ll find yourself wondering, Why haven’t I been drinking this my entire life? And you’d be right to ask. This blend of 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, and 3% Alicante Bouschet brings together grapes you may not know—or be able to pronounce—but together they create a harmonious red bursting with blue and black fruit, wrapped in a warm blanket of brown-spiced oak. Full-bodied, juicy, and sumptuous, it’s packed with flavor in the most irresistible way. Crafted entirely in air-dried American oak barrels (15% new, 10% one-year-old, 10% two-year-old, 30% three-year-old, and 35% four-year-old), this wine has been produced continuously since 1966, making it Ridge’s longest-running Zinfandel. The grapes are grown in three adjoining vineyards on a single soil type—an ancient Russian River washout layered with river stone and gravel. Ridge has been a Sonoma institution since 1962, known for its single-vineyard winemaking. COO & Head Winemaker John Olney is accompanied in the cellar by Shauna Rosenblum (formerly of Rock Wall Wine Company and daughter of iconic winemaker Kent Rosenblum), focusing on Lytton Springs.
This 100% Chardonnay was aged for 10 months in 17% new Burgundian French oak barrels. A timeless, reliable classic—not just in reputation but in quality—this wine perfectly captures the balance of California richness and coastal brightness. It’s lemony and plush, with buttered brioche notes and a creamy, mouth-filling mid-palate that’s hard to resist, finishing with warm brown spices and lingering lemon oil accents. James Hall of Patz & Hall has over 35 years of experience working with some of California’s most acclaimed grape growers, focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
A beautifully crafted and refined Pinot Noir from this iconic producer, the Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was aged in 100% Burgundian French oak barrels (28% new, 72% used). It’s pure California Pinot at its best, showcasing perfectly ripe cherry and raspberry fruit accented by smoky cherrywood and clove. The tannins are soft, round, and supple, balanced by tangy blood orange acidity, and the finish lingers gracefully with notes of dusty rose and warm brown spice that’s utterly enticing. James Hall of Patz & Hall has over 35 years of experience working with some of California’s most acclaimed grape growers, focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
