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Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
The 2022 Samsara Chardonnay hails from Francesca Vineyard, a windswept, seven-acre site on the far western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills, where sandy-loam soils and full Pacific exposure yield intensely concentrated fruit. Aromatically, it lifts from the glass like a perfectly buttered bowl of popcorn—rich with caramel, smoky toasted oak, and butter croissant notes. Despite the decadent nose, the palate is more focused and linear, with plenty of mid-palate richness layered with baking spices. Bright lemony acidity keeps it taut, balanced by citrus oil richness—think lemon and tangerine—finishing with salted, toasted almonds. A bold, generous expression of Chardonnay from this extreme coastal site.
This 50% Mourvèdre, 50% Grenache blend was co-fermented and aged in stainless steel. The pale rose-gold hue leads to a complex and seriously delicious rosé, driven by notes of white peach and dried apricot, interwoven with a smoky mineral character that adds depth and intrigue. The palate is rich, silky, and supple, finishing with refreshing saline-acid tension and a cool river stone minerality. This isn’t your typical fruit-bomb, pool-pounder rosé—though you could, and probably should, crush bottles by the pool. Still, it’s best enjoyed while lounging with a book in an Adirondack chair or catching up with good friends around the backyard picnic table. Pour it for your favorite people—and definitely pour it for yourself.
A blend of Syrah from four vintages—2019 (20%), 2020 (20%), 2021 (40%), and 2022 (20%)—this wine brings together fruit from Stolpman, Kimsey, and Larner vineyards in Ballard Canyon and John Sebastiano in the Sta. Rita Hills. The final blend is 95% Syrah, 4% Grenache, and 1% Viognier. Aged for an extended period in barrel before careful blending, this bottling pays homage to Vega Sicilia’s famed Único Reserva Especial in Ribera del Duero. The label, a commissioned artwork by artist R. Anthony Askew, adds an extra layer of thoughtfulness to an already compelling bottle. I love this wine—and you will too—because it delivers a mouthful of Syrah deliciousness, done the Santa Barbara County way. Rich, supple dark fruits meet tangy blood orange acidity and mid-palate density. The wine builds with layers of black cherry, blackberry, violets, sandalwood, and robes of dark chocolate, all weaving into a satiny sheet that glides across the palate. The multi-vintage integration is so seamless and complete, it makes you wish Dragonette would craft a wine like this year after year.
Notes from the winery on how this wine was made:
“We harvested each block in the cold morning hours, personally hand sorting in the field. The grapes were destemmed within hours then cold soaked for 2-7 days, before fermentation with native yeasts. Pumpovers, punchdowns and delestage were used to gently extract flavor, while managing tannins. At dryness, the wines were transferred to French oak barrels of various formats (500L puncheon, 400L, and 228L barrique) of which a portion is new. Each vintage included in this blend was itself a blend of the best barrels for that given season. Each component vintage was aged separately with a range from 26 to 62 months in barrel, with an average age of 42.8 months in barrel. In honor of our 20th Anniversary, the wine was bottled in January of 2025.”
Notes from the winery on how this wine was made:
“We harvested each block in the cold morning hours, personally hand sorting in the field. The grapes were destemmed within hours then cold soaked for 2-7 days, before fermentation with native yeasts. Pumpovers, punchdowns and delestage were used to gently extract flavor, while managing tannins. At dryness, the wines were transferred to French oak barrels of various formats (500L puncheon, 400L, and 228L barrique) of which a portion is new. Each vintage included in this blend was itself a blend of the best barrels for that given season. Each component vintage was aged separately with a range from 26 to 62 months in barrel, with an average age of 42.8 months in barrel. In honor of our 20th Anniversary, the wine was bottled in January of 2025.”
Brooding, expressive, and impressively focused, this blend of 97% Syrah and 3% Grenache draws from three distinctive vineyard sites—Stolpman (clay loam and limestone), John Sebastiano (Linne clay loam), and Larner (sand)—each selected for its unique soil series. The wine opens with a rush of pure black cherry and blackberry fruit, mingling with dark plum, deep forest underbrush, bark, dark chocolate, rich loamy earth, and roasted espresso bean. Aromatics build with momentum, gaining lift and energy on the palate, where gorgeously perfumed violet and rose petal notes emerge. In 2021, the tannins are particularly gentle, velvety, and elongated, wrapped in a dusting of white pepper and tobacco leaf. The finish is vivid and complex, with ripe, muddled farmers market–fresh blueberries, a pulse of blood orange acidity, and savory notes of black truffle, tar, and incense. Wow. As winemaker Brandon Sparks-Gillis explains, the idea behind Dragonette’s MJM Syrah has always been simple: “The sum is greater than its parts.” That ethos has guided every vintage since the inaugural release in 2007.
Year to year, this wine goes in and out of the most vivid floral intensity imagineable and in 2022 it is back in spades, boasting darkly seductive voilets and rose petals notes, dark blood orange acidity, darker cranberry and black cherry notes, alluring incense and a deep woodsy underbrush character, liek the backside of a fallen bark on the forest floor, detail-driven into the tannins, which are supple and salty, giving length, tension, and energy to this entry level Syrah from Dragonette. What a killer wine.
For a textbook lesson in terroir-driven contrast, pour Dragonette’s Radian Vineyard Pinot Noir side by side with their Bentrock bottling. You’ll find yourself stepping into the shoes of a Master of Wine candidate or an aspiring Master Sommelier—the structural differences are unmistakable, even as the core flavors remain strikingly aligned. These are Dragonette’s flagship Pinots from the vintage, each bursting with crystalline red cherry fruit and meticulously defined brown spice—like top-shelf Indian spices, finely ground espresso beans, a dried blood orange peel garnishing a Manhattan, and a wisp of smoky incense over slatestone minerality. But it’s the palate where their personalities split. Bentrock is open-hearted, plush, and inviting. Radian is moodier, more reserved—brimming with hidden depth. Bentrock chats freely, telling you its whole story in the first sip. Radian keeps you guessing, its elegance cool and tightly wound, dressed to impress and in no rush to reveal its full self. Radian is a long-distance runner, lean and disciplined, with stamina for days. Bentrock is Jim Belushi entering his SNL era—charismatic, a little wild, and on the cusp of greatness.
For a compelling case study in site expression, taste this Bentrock Vineyard Pinot Noir alongside Dragonette’s Radian Vineyard Pinot Noir. You’ll immediately feel like a hopeful Master of Wine or Master Sommelier—the wines are structurally distinct yet flavorfully aligned. These are Dragonette’s top Pinots of the vintage, both bursting with red cherry fruit and exquisitely defined brown baking spices—think the finest Indian spice blends, perfectly dialed-in medium-roast espresso, and a curl of dried blood orange peel hanging from the rim of a Manhattan. Add in smoky incense and crushed slatestone minerality, and the aromatics alone are worth the study. On the palate, however, the wines diverge. Bentrock is gracious, giving, supple, and seductive. Radian is darker-toned, brooding, reserved—full of secrets. Bentrock tells you everything you ever wanted to know. Radian is coy, plays hard to get, and knows it’s the best-dressed Pinot in the room. It’s coiled, like a lifelong jogger planning to live forever. Bentrock, on the other hand, is Jim Belushi at the start of his SNL career—youthful, charming, and full of potential—and will finish somewhere between John Mulaney’s honesty and the sharp-witted Tina Fey’s antics.
Only 300 cases of Dragonette’s 2023 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir were produced—and what a wine it is. Crunchy cranberry and cherry fruit meld with ground espresso and a burst of dark Pacific Ocean sea salt. The beautifully sculpted tannins bring a sense of polish and ease, offering a smooth, approachable expression. Yet underneath, there’s serious structure built for aging. But let’s be honest—you’re probably going to drink it all between now and next weekend.
This 2023 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir from Dragonette is a power-packed, juicy, and supple red, bursting with alluring aromatics of brown spices—think coriander, cumin, star anise, and a hint of curry—layered with dried rose petal, incense, and ground espresso bean. On the medium-bodied palate, tart, juicy red cherry and raspberry fruit are supported by salty, toasty, smoky minerality that carries through a long, lingering finish. It’s so appealing, you’ll be hard-pressed to put the glass down.
All you really need to know about this Rita’s Crown Chardonnay is that one glass will never be enough. You’ll swirl, sniff, sip—and suddenly want to chase its magic for days. It holds the energy of a late afternoon thunderstorm, with a moody edge and an electrically zesty palate, like a raincloud squeezing out lemon juice, shifting to lemon oil, then unleashing waves of fresh and candied ginger. It splashes across the palate like rain on slick slate—slightly smoky from the first drops hitting warm stone. Irresistible, complex, and utterly compelling. You just can’t get enough of this structured, dynamic, and gorgeous Chardonnay. It lives on the far side of “delicious”—a word we haven’t invented yet, but one that would mean delicious multiplied by infinity.
I’ve biked past this vineyard countless times, and to this day I marvel at the complexity of the wine that emerges from these vines. Surrounded by neighboring vineyards, Vegelzang’s vines are planted on undulating slopes, surrounded by a patchwork of trees, shrubs, and rock formations, and the site exudes a quiet energy—and all of it seems to pour into the glass. The 2023 vintage is something special: pure apple and apricot notes lead the way, joined by crunchy pear and bright sea grass—the kind that grows wild on oceanfront sand dunes. A deeply penetrating salinity evokes salted candied lemon peel, nuanced by lime blossom and crushed Marcona almonds. This is Sauvignon Blanc Paradiso. And whether or not you think you love Sauvignon Blanc, you’ll love this wine. You can’t help it.
Dragonette continues to produce some of California’s most compelling Sauvignon Blancs and this Grassini Family Vineyard, situated inland enough so that a north-south mountain range blocks the Pacific coastal breezes, preventing them from cooling the canyons where this grows and as such the wine is generous in its creamy orchard fruit character, stunning lemon-lime oil purity and unbeleiveable mid-palate depth, like diving into the depths of a salty, briny, ocean, coming up with a handful of oysters. It has that kind of sea-like minerality with lemon blossom and lime zest and porached pear and apple fruit with subtle apple skin tannins. It’s a helluva Sauvingn Blanc. Meaty and laser focused.
Bracing and intense, this wine opens with a flash of saffron oil that’s quickly washed clean by a remarkable lime-scented rainstorm—cooling the old slate sidewalks of your neighborhood, enlivening the palate with scents and flavors of a wet pear or apple orchard, and settling in for the day on the mid-palate, carrying a cloud-like density—weighty yet airy—an enigma in and of itself. That acid tension is no illusion. It’s crystalline, bright, and perfectly balanced by a chalk-like minerality. It’s almost too complex to wrap your head around—so don’t. Just drink it. And by god, pair it with oysters or calamari.
Dragonette continues to produce some of California’s most compelling Sauvignon Blancs. This entry-level bottling serves as the precursor to their trio of single-vineyard SBs, offering a vivid preview of the house style. Sourced from the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA, it’s a dynamic wine driven by orchard and tropical fruit, zesty sea grass, and prairie herbs. A kiss of vanilla and creamy oak spice mingles with lime oil, saffron, and quince, all carried on a long finish laced with crushed almonds and fine sea salt.
This is a nicely structured wine that lands somewhere between Napa Valley and Bordeaux on the palate, with crunchy red-berry fruit, graphite minerality, and expressive dusty cedarwood. Fine-grained tannins linger, lifted by subtle notes of dark chocolate, ironstone, and a zesty spine of tingly acidity. It’s that vibrant acid tension that evokes Bordeaux, while the firm, integrated tannins nod to Napa—wrapped in the distinctive minerality and energy that define Happy Canyon.
This blend of 68% Syrah, 21% Grenache, and 11% Mourvèdre delivers a pleasingly spicy, red-fruited wine that brims with the aromatic intensity of a just-baked blondie cookie. Ripe, juicy red fruit defines the silky palate expression, building to a lengthy, fruit- and spice-driven medium-bodied finish.
This Pinot Noir was aged on the lees for 17 months in 50% new French oak. Classic Bing cherry and spiced plum leap from the glass, joined by toasty cherry wood and dark chocolate, accented with subtle, crunchy currant fruit. Warm baking spices abound in this gracefully textured wine, which glides across every corner of the palate all too easily.
This Santa Barbara County Grenache comes from Sans Liege, a Tin City–based producer in Paso Robles, with fruit sourced from Alta Mesa Vineyard in the Cuyama Valley. The label is incredibly cool—and the wine delivers, too. It’s zesty and zippy, driven by vibrant acid tension that resolves into a chalky mineral texture. Medium-bodied and expressive, it’s rife with dark cherry, raspberry, and strawberry fruit, layered with notes of chocolate, cinnamon, and dusty dried rose petal.
From Sashi Moorman (CEO at Povignage and managing partner for Domaine de la Côte, Sandhi Wines, and Evening Lands), comes this striking wine. Just 12 barrels were produced from regeneratively farmed vines nestled in a patch of oak woodland between Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean, called the Jalama Canyon Ranch, owned by the White Buffalo Land Trust. This marks the third vintage of this bottling, and my first taste confirms what I suspected: if Moorman is behind it, I don’t just want a glass—I want most of the bottle. Tart, ripe, and expressive red berry fruit mingles with vivid white pepper spice and rich cherry pit character, all growing more intense and savory on the medium-bodied palate. Super fine, firm, mineral-rich tannins form a perfect foundation, supporting dusty salinity and waves of juicy, crunchy red berries and orchard fruit—like biting into a tart, crisp red apple or freshly picked raspberry. It’s layered with chalky white pepper and finishing with vibrant tension. Intriguing and complex. The proceeds of this wine go back to the White Buffalo Land Trust, which is focuses on “the principles of regenerative agriculture, we are developing systems that support biodiversity, water resources, soil and human health while enhancing ecosystem services,” according to its website.
