The Latest Cristaldi Scores
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Made in the traditional method and aged 19 months on tirage, this sparkling wine is 100% Grüner Veltliner grown in Lemmons Vineyard, the northernmost site on Crane Ridge. The vineyard experiences constant breezes and is blanketed in coastal fog each morning. It shows true Grüner character, swirling from the glass with beautifully subtle citrus notes, apple and pear skin aromatics, and a hint of pineapple core adding richness. There’s plenty of oyster shell minerality, salted citrus peel, and the faintest touch of baking spice—all supported by a lively, frothy, and zesty mousse. A thoroughly enjoyable bubbly for anytime sipping.
From the winery’s estate Triska Vineyard—one of the coolest sites in the Crane Ridge area of Livermore Valley—where near-constant breezes sway the vines and mornings find the site shrouded in a thick blanket of coastal fog. Aged three months in stainless steel. This is such a pleasure-packed white wine. Is it the name, Alpine? Or does this wine truly have an alpine freshness—like the air on a morning hike up a craggy range on a cool winter day? In other words, it’s fresh and inviting, with a marvelously rich texture on the palate that gives the wine a luxurious feel, teeming with ripe orchard fruit and creamy white peach, supported by zesty lime-bright acidity on the lasting finish.
Fans of previous vintages of this wine will immediately recognize its rich, toasty, and buttery croissant aromatics, along with decadent layers of yellow apple, creamy pear, and warm baking spice accents. All that richness is supported by vibrant energy, and in 2024, all the components feel especially well-balanced and seamlessly integrated. In short, this is a delicious Chardonnay. The DeMayo Vineyard is a small 4-acre Chardonnay site in the Crane Ridge area of the Livermore Valley, located just south of Tesla Road, ranging from about 1,000 to 600 feet in elevation. Grapes are whole-cluster picked, then fermented and aged for six months in French oak.
Cabernet Clone 30 (Silverado Clone), in the hands of winemaker Julian Halasz, shows real elegance and a velvety texture, with bright red berry fruit, a pop of minty freshness, and subtle hints of red leaf tobacco and rooibos tea. There’s a generosity to the wine that carries it from a medium- to full-bodied finish. Aged 20 months in French oak; 100% estate-grown. Only 226 cases produced.
If you find yourself gathered around a fire pit after hours, this Firepit Society Cabernet Franc is the bolder, richer, riper expression of “firepit” wine from the Darcie Kent team that you’ll want in your glass. They also make Firepit Red, which is more medium-bodied and agile, but this version is built for those deeper, more contemplative conversations. It’s confident in its seductive dark berry fruit, heady cocoa powder notes, dried rose petal florals, and fuller-bodied presence, with fantastic wild herb character supported by supple tannins. Juicy, long, and lingering, this is a crushable, easily enjoyed wine—with or without a firepit. Aged seven months in French oak and 100% estate-grown in Lemmons Vineyard.
A darker‑styled Pinot Noir from this producer, the 2023 Above the Clouds from Benmar opens with the juicy richness of black cherry and black raspberry, warmed by cedarwood spice and enlivened by tangerine peel and grapefruit zest. The nose deepens with crushed raspberry, wild cherry and pomegranate, offset by wild herbs, rose petal and forest‑floor. On the palate, sinewy, crisp tannins support a saline‑tinged core that pulses with redcurrant, cranberry and strawberry fruit. Intense minerality and a whisper of black tea anchor the mid‑palate, while the finish drifts into cocoa‑powder, conifer and lingering brine—a hauntingly savory, vibrant expression of high‑elevation Willamette Pinot.
Named for the terraced vineyards surrounding this often underrated estate’s ancient dovecote (“pombal” in Portuguese), this release hails from a hot and dry vintage (even by modern Douro standards). Exceptionally spicy on the nose, with green and dried herbs, pepper, violets, and wild blackberry notes. On the palate, this is ripe, plummy, dense, and full, with tannins that carry a dusty edge. Delicious now, this will be even better with 2-3 years of cellaring. – J.R.
This is a Reserve with the “seriousness” factor dialed up a notch. The fruit is sourced from Quinta da Vila Velha, purchased by James Yumington in the late 1980s. Deep, dark, and downright brooding, this shows hints of resin, mint, dried black figs, mocha, and succulent blackcurrants. The palate carries both power and refinement, almost like a young Vintage Port. – J.R.
What a gorgeous aroma: black pepper, wild blackberries, garrigue, lavender, smoked game, and iron. There is a fantastic mouthfeel to go with it, too, one that’s chock-full of red, black, and blue fruit, but also tons of minerals and surprising structure. A stunner, sourced from Côte Rôtie clones planted in the Soberanes Vineyard. – J.R.
A dark and brooding Pinot with intense boysenberry, plum, and black raspberry fruits. Hints of leather, turned earth, and tobacco and tea leaves join the fray on the wonderful nose. It’s silky and substantial, but clearly has a mineral edge (and great structure) under all of that ripe palate fruitiness. – J.R.
Boy oh boy, is this concentrated! Tangy red cherries, red currants, dried cranberries, baking and wood spices, orange peel, and earthy tobacco waft from the glass. The palate delivers a flash of the same, upping the ante on the tanginess. Aged 18 months in French oak (both 500 and 700 lt), with 12 more months refining in the bottle. – J.R.
