The Latest Cristaldi Scores
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
This Barbera comes from the Celestina Vineyard and was aged for 18 months in French oak. The nose is highly floral, with red berry fruit, tobacco, leather, and fresh cedar. On the palate, it shows richly sweet fruit, concentrated like brandied cherries, with a hint of walnut husk and blood orange acidity framing the finish. Serve slightly chilled and enjoy alongside sticky-sweet BBQ ribs.
Super expressive, with honeyed richness. Fermented in both tank and barrel, then aged on the lees for 5 to 6 months before bottling. The palate shows bracing lemon-lime acidity and crushed white flowers. Intensely fragrant and an ideal match for oysters. Winemaker Kelsey Evans uses multiple picks to build complexity.
Planted on alluvial cobblestones and weathered granite in the shadows of the Siskiyou Mountains, these vines lie in the Applegate Valley—part of Southern Oregon’s larger Rogue Valley AVA. Sourced from the Glory Oaks Vineyard, this wine is native yeast fermented and medium-bodied, with a satiny texture. High-toned red berry fruit, vanilla, and cedarwood aromatics are balanced by savory notes of black olive, tobacco, and saddle leather on the palate.
Gorgeous aromas of white flowers, jasmine, honeysuckle, and apricot. The palate offers lush fruit expression, with lemon-lime, white peach, chalky minerals, and a hint of mango on the long, savory, spiced finish. Fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel for 5 to 6 months on the lees, which adds a touch of richness.
This wine showcases all the hallmarks of its two expressive grape varieties, with red berry fruit and violets on the nose. On the palate, it softens into a light- to medium-bodied expression, lacking some mid-palate depth and finishing a bit short. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy in the dark-toned, juicy fruit, soft tannins, and gentle acidity. Serve well chilled alongside hearty fare for best results.
“When we’re assembling the blends for the vintage, we put together an über-blend,” says winemaker Justin Harmon. From that exercise come tiny-production bottlings—about 50 cases each—of Rosetta and Babel. These wines are set aside in neutral barrels, left to rest for an additional year in the quiet corners of the cellar before release. This wine leads with super high-toned dark berry fruit layered with cinnamon spice and floral lift. The palate has a cooler presence, with tremendous concentration of rich black fruit and finely knit, sinewy apple-skin tannins. Broad-shouldered yet focused, it’s held together by crunchy acidity that drives freshness and tension throughout. At this stage, it remains tightly coiled, with exceptional structure and energy. There’s no doubt this wine is still unwinding—but even now, it’s profoundly delicious and promises remarkable evolution with time.
The Indigo Syrah from Sonoma Mountain is the most powerful expression in the lineup—akin to the Appellation Series, but dialed all the way up. Aged for 28 months in 100% new French oak, this bottling is the dark knight of the Syrahs: brooding, intense, yet lifted with precision. Supple blackberry fruit leads the charge, accented by violets, dark cherrywood, and deep brown baking spices. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, layered with dark cacao and salted, saline minerality that carries through an everlasting finish. Intense and muscular, yet refined by freshness and spice, this is a Syrah of commanding presence and exceptional tension.
From vines on Sonoma Mountain at 1,100 feet, rooted in gray, ashen soils. The nose absolutely screams with crunchy black cherry fruit, violet pastille, rose petals, white pepper, and tobacco spices. Full-bodied with a suave texture and supple tannins, it delivers layers of tobacco leaf and cigar box, black truffle, and charcuterie. Super juicy blood orange notes carry through the everlasting finish, lifted by grippy acidity. Aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak.
Absolutely explosive in its expression, this Syrah from Sonoma Mountain is both intensely perfumed and deliciously concentrated. Aged for 22 months in 25% new French oak, the wine reflects meticulous farming practices that are critical to taming Syrah’s natural vigor. As winemaker Justin notes, “Syrah should be farmed like Pinot—but it’s so vigorous you need a machete to the canopy, or the sun will never reach the fruit.” To ensure proper exposure, the vineyard is farmed down to one cluster per shoot, yielding around 2.5 tons per acre. The resulting wine bursts with aromas of violets, white pepper, blood orange, and cherry, framed by expressive pine forest notes. The palate is rich yet lifted, carrying all those vibrant elements through a lengthy, beautifully attractive finish.
The Bastard Tongue Pinot Noir is a Sonoma County appellation blend, divined from exceptional fruit sources, and for winemaker Justin Harmon he wants it to explode out of the glass. As Harmon puts it, “Every single one of our Pinots has a shot at becoming this cuvée.” The final blend is often anchored by Swan selection, followed by Calera and Clone 115. Fermented in stainless steel and aged for 22 months in 85% new French oak, the wine delivers on its promise—it practically explodes from the glass with expressive dark berry fruit, floral intensity, and spice. The palate is creamy and decadent, medium- to full-bodied, with lavish notes of clove, cardamom, and baking spice layered over crushed cacao nibs and violets. A hint of rose petal and crushed river stones adds further complexity. The finish is long, fruit-driven, and spiced-up, framed by juicy acidity that lifts the wine’s richness and keeps it fresh and vibrant.
From the renowned Kanzler Vineyard, this Pinot Noir is strikingly floral and high-toned, with lifted aromatics of white pepper, blood orange, and rose petals. Medium-bodied with wonderful depth and concentration, the palate reveals ripe dark berry fruit framed by sinewy, velvety tannins. Layers of baking spice—clove in particular—interweave with crushed slate and a full-bodied richness. The finish is long, salty, and perfumed, leaving a lasting impression of elegance and power in equal measure.
From the renowned Kanzler Vineyard, the 2023 Pinot Noir bursts with vivid freshness and tension, offering bright notes of ruby red grapefruit, blood orange, and savory sage. Aromatics of anise, mint, rose petal, and rose stem lend complexity and lift, while crisp, woody tannins provide structure. Juicy, spicy acidity laced with saline and pine forest character underscores the wine’s impeccable grip and precision. Compared to the softer, more supple 2022 vintage, the 2023 is taut and energetic, built for longevity. Enjoy the generosity of the 2022s now—by the boatload—while the 2023s continue to evolve toward their full potential.
This wine bangs hard — In a great way! Sourced from both hillside and valley floor vineyards within the Sonoma Mountain AVA, this wine showcases striking vitality and spice-driven aromatics. The nose is bold and expressive, with notes of blood orange, grapefruit zest, fragrant pine forest, and wild underbrush. Medium-bodied on the palate, it unfolds with vibrant citrus tones and firm yet elongated velvety tannins. Rose petal lifts the lengthy, perfumed finish. Grapes were destemmed, then cluster- and berry-sorted before undergoing a seven-day cold soak in stainless steel with inactive yeasts naturally propagating. Fermentation began spontaneously as the must warmed, driven entirely by native yeasts. Following fermentation, precise press cuts separated free-run and press juice before barreling. The wine was aged for 16 months in 87% new French oak, resulting in a complex, richly textured expression of Sonoma Mountain fruit.
