The Latest Cristaldi Scores
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Keith Emerson (of Vineyard 29 and AtLarge) notes that “we’ve been working with these vineyards since 2016. I just love it, everytime we get there you just are in awe of how different it is to St. Helena. The soil is just… rocks. I love working with the fruit.” The plantings for this Cabernet are situated at up to 2,300 feet, from the Block 3D Crimson Ridge, and Amber Knolls west block 1C. The fruits are bright, red and blue on the nose, accentuated by ample laurel, rosepetal, and baking spice notes. Similar to other Amber Knolls reds, there’s an herbal and savory component that is prominent while also being well-integrated. The palate is a total crowd-pleaser, balancing buoyant, plummy fruits with bright acidity. It’s a bit of a masterclass in mountain Cab tannin management, too. Delicious, it’s a near-perfect introduction to the AVA’s luxury tier. Aged 20 months in 60% new and 40% once-used French oak.
This showcase red, sourced from Block 1B planted in 1999 to Clone 337, is meant only as a demonstration of the site’s potential and is not made available for general sale. It spends 17 months in 100% French oak, and it’s wonderful stuff. Cola, black cherry, pencil lead, dried and very savory herbs, sage, blackberry compote, and hints of mint all appear on the expressive and complex nose. On the palate, this EXPLODES with black cherry juiciness, later showing black plum, cassis, and notes of leather, licorice, and toast. Powerful and voluptuous in the mouth, it does a great job of balancing upfront fruit with its more structural elements, like its cherry skin tannins and ultra-bright acidity.
With just 200 cases produced, this Dry Riesling is thoroughly charming and highly aromatic, bursting from the glass with honeysuckle richness infusing yellow apple and tangerine blossom notes. Medium-bodied, it reveals a splendidly silky, orchard-fruit-driven profile, supported by a firm spine of zesty, chalky acidity. The finish is long and gently resonant, marked by delicate baking spice nuances.
I greatly admired the 2023, and this 2024 stands shoulder to shoulder with it. It offers bright red berry fruit layered with elegant earthy and tobacco spice, cedarwood accents and lifted violet florals. The tannins are softer than in the previous vintage, yet they quietly assert themselves, building through the earthy, floral-driven finish with gentle persistence and poise. The 2024 Cabernet Franc is sourced from vineyards on Seneca Lake. Each lot was vinified separately in one-ton bins, with 20% saignée prior to fermentation, 10% whole-cluster inclusion and native yeast ferments. Aged for 12 months in neutral French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Sumptuously earthy, with rich blackberry fruit interlaced with leather and dried violets. Medium-bodied, it is shaped by gentle tannins and a streak of zesty acidity that brings real juiciness and lift. The finish gathers intensity, marked by bright wild herbs reminiscent of dill and thyme. Refreshing and thoroughly appealing.
One sniff, one sip, and you’ll be singing ‘Hello, darkness my old friend,’ because this wine will come for you again and again, with its positively dark, brooding black cherry fruit laced with umami-rich Hoisin sauce, building with a brightness of muddled strawberry fruit, candied violets, and fine brown baking spices on the full-bodied finish.
There it is—your childhood in a glass. That candied red-berry fruit, licorice, and Sweetart candy we’d buy on the walk home from middle school, liquified, positively irresistible on the palate, supported by a granular, almost chalky texture, or like ultra-fine sand, that resolves through a bright, juicy, and fragrant finish.
Alright, someone told you about Moscato once, and you never looked back. And why would you, if you love a white wine that gives the impression of walking through a park dotted with honeysuckle bushes, jasmine, or Magnolias. That’s this wine. On the palate, it bears a balanced sweetness, never overpowering, but redolent of lemons, limes, and poached pears, and always that fragrant sweet white floral note lingering through the slightest joyful effervescence.
If you love Italian Pinot Grigio, this light-bodied Californian counterpoint delivers the same zippy, citrusy, easy-going quality, but imbued with riper-tasting citrus and orchard fruit grown under a canopy of bright California sunshine. A touch of baking spice and wet river stone finish brings complexity.
Made from 100% Melon de Bourgogne grown on soils of schist, quartz, and flint, producing a medium-bodied, fragrant, crisp, and energetic white wine redolent of mango, passion fruit, and blood orange, lifted by lemon and grapefruit peel nuances and imbued with the flinty, stony minerality reflective of its vineyard origins. A must-have for shellfish and seafood dishes, and equally perfect as a crunchy, low-alcohol aperitif when you want something refreshing without reaching for a higher-octane G&T.
Entirely barrel-fermented in large-format neutral oak, with partial malolactic fermentation to round out the acid bite. The result is a full-bodied, silky, satiny, and downright seductive white. All that palate texture comes from the oak aging, yet there’s no overt oak character. The wine remains bright, zippy, and zesty, layered with floral and citrus notes, creamy orchard fruit, and a long, saline-mineral, crushed-almond finish. Grab as much as you can.
An organic red produced in Castrocaro Terme from fruit sourced from 15-year-old Sangiovese vineyards, this spends 12 months in oak. A very nice nose of herbal spices, leather, wild berries, florals, and red and black fruits is on offer here. The mouthfeel is almost burly in its structure, but there is great minerality and dark fruit flavor to balance it all out. The finish is long and herbal, and the entire palate is absolutely packed with tannins by Sangiovese standards. – J.R.
Sourced from Brisighella, this is a take-no-prisoners Sangiovese that offers lots of dark currant and cherry fruit aromas, along with prominent dried herb spice notes. Fleshy, fruity, and full of body, it’s a mouthful that has impressive structure throughout, and needs some time (or lots of protein). – J.R.
