The Latest Cristaldi Scores
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Vintage
Wine
Color
Rating
Whatley Wines’ Erste Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Texas High Plains is bold and dark, with deep rose petal hues in the glass. Call it “the Cowboys’ rosé”—barrel fermented and aged for 8 months in oak, it’s robust, with grippy tannins that lend structure and grip amid its aromas of red berry fruit and subtle nutty undertones.
Wedding Oak Winery’s Texas High Plains Castanet Rosé offers a fantastic medium-bodied palate with a velvety-silky texture. A subtle hint of sweetness is balanced by a firm spine of grippy acidity, creating a harmonious and inviting profile. Layered with flavors of strawberry, watermelon, white peach, and candied apricot, it also features delicate notes of pressed flowers and a hint of bergamot. Elegant and complex, this rosé is a standout.
The Wedding Oak Winery Roussanne, sourced from the family-owned Hye Top Vineyard in the Texas Hill Country, delivers a focused medium-bodied expression of this classic French variety, which thrives in the High Plains. It opens with enticing aromas of lemon oil, dried apricot, and a medley of sweet baking spices, accented by a hint of honey and pressed white flowers. The palate is long and layered, with a salty minerality and a refreshing touch of lemon zest on the finish.
The Wedding Oak Winery Rosé of Grenache, sourced from Mirasol Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country, offers delicate hints of rose water, blood orange, and a subtle kiss of dried fennel. Light-bodied on the palate, it showcases a refreshing salty minerality balanced by soaring acid tension. Focused, linear, and vibrant, this rosé is wonderfully food-friendly.
Sourced from the Diamonte Dos Vineyard in the Texas High Plains, this Petite Sirah opens with aromas of rose petal, violets, and crunchy red fruit. It is framed by burly tannins that provide a unique granularity, giving the wine an interesting texture that builds with intensity. With good concentration, it finishes with cool graphite and dried herb character. Pair this structured and flavorful wine with herb-encrusted pork loin.
The Wedding Oak Winery Riesling, sourced from Cerro Santo Vineyards in the Texas High Plains, greets you with a sharp, high-toned nose that belies the wine’s inviting palate. Once tasted, it reveals a creamy texture with delightful notes of honeydew melon, honeycomb, fragrant wildflowers, and lemon oil. A subtle richness adds depth, making it a pleasure to drink, while the slightly off-dry finish rounds out its balanced and approachable profile. A charming Riesling that rewards those who delve past its initial sharpness.
Barrel-aged for 12 months in neutral oak, this Robert Clay Chardonnay is sourced from Mason County in the Texas Hill Country, an hour west of Stonewall. Here, vines thrive in hickory sands—deep, fine soils that rest above the large Hickory Aquifer. This “B 21 03 RCV CHA” label represents the filtered expression of their Chardonnay, offering a leaner, more focused profile compared to their unfiltered “B 21 02 RCV CHA.” It showcases white pepper-infused citrus and orchard fruit, accented by savory cedarwood spices. Medium-bodied with precise acidity and heightened tension, this wine finishes with a distinctive cool, wet granite minerality.
This release of Robert Clay’s Chardonnay, sourced from Mason County in the Texas Hill Country AVA, is sourced from vines rooted in the deep, fine Hickory sands that sit atop the expansive Hickory Aquifer. Barrel-aged for 12 months in neutral oak, this wine showcases a ripe, full-throttle character. It opens with vibrant citrus fruit, white pepper, and a subtle hint of savory prairie grass, intertwined with sweet cedarwood spices. Medium-bodied, the palate is surprisingly leaner than the nose suggests, offering bright acidity and balanced tension. A crowd-pleaser with excellent structure, it’s one of the most food-friendly Chardonnays from Texas. Notably, this “B 21 02 RCV CHA” is an unfiltered expression of Chardonnay (their “B 21 03 RCV CHA” offers a filtered version).
This Robert Clay Sangiovese from Mandola Vineyards, which was ripped out sadly, produced from a single barrel of the 2015 vintage and aged for 65 months in French oak, presents a truly unique and intriguing rendition of the variety. At the pull of the cork, the wine is fresh and currant-driven, and builds with air into an unmistakably Port-like power, which is quite rare—and fascinating—for Sangiovese. Bone dry on the finish and with a sherry-like quality, and with more air it offers toasty nutty notes and currant fruit flavors, complemented by rich spice cake nuances. This is truly a one-of-a-kind expression of Sangiovese.
Barrel-aged for an impressive 76 months in French oak, this bottling is the second release of 10 barrels from an old vine field blend of Merlot, Touriga Nacional, and Ruby Cabernet, bottled unfiltered. The result is a truly intriguing wine: rich with molasses character, stewed red fruit, and sweet spice notes, evoking a tawny port-like nose. These same flavors carry through on the palate, with a touch of strawberry balsamic reduction adding complexity. The tannins are still quite firm and present, building on the long, nutty finish.
“The Individualist” Red Wine from Grape Creek Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country is a dynamic blend of 84% Tannat, 9% Montepulciano, 7% Petite Sirah, and 4% Aglianico. Tannat is showing incredible potential in Texas, and may very well prove to be one of the state’s best red varieties over time. This wine offers alluring dark berry fruit notes that mingle beautifully with tobacco and sage. Fragrant rose petal aromas are interwoven throughout the full-bodied palate, which is framed by very fine, firm tannins that are powerful and assertive. The ripe tannins resolve through layers of black fruit, graphite, and espresso bean nuances.
The Grape Creek Vineyards Viognier opens with high-toned spice notes, hints of prairie grass, and sage, creating a distinctive and aromatic profile. Light- to medium-bodied, it reveals bright citrus fruit on the palate, adding a refreshing dimension. The finish is pleasantly lively, accented by a subtle jalapeño spice that adds an intriguing touch.
This blend of 40% Pinot Blanc, 40% Pinot Grigio, and 20% Muscat Blanc, sourced entirely from the Texas Hill Country AVA, is hand-harvested and aged for 10 months in neutral French oak on the lees. The result is a wine with enticing aromatics of lemon-lime and apricot, accented by a hint of kumquat and a subtle parmesan rind character. Light-bodied on the palate, it is clean, fresh, and focused, with a fine thread of chalky minerality that adds depth and balance. A perfect “porch-pounder,” this wine is both vibrant and immensely drinkable.
This fragrant estate Syrah is a bold, muscular wine with broad-shouldered tannins and a nice balance of sweet spices, violets, and loamy earth. Medium-bodied, it unfolds with leather and tobacco nuances, complemented by tart, dusty, mineral-rich red fruit flavors. The finish is long and entertainingly spicy.
This Tannat from Bending Branch was finished in bourbon barrels, with flash detente and cryo-maceration, and fermented in half-ton open-top fermenters. Sourced from two vineyards, it offers intriguing aromas of brandied morello cherry fruit and leather spices, mingling with sappy tannins on the medium-bodied palate. Softer and fleshy in the mouth, the wine reveals nice baking spice character, with layers of toffee, espresso bean, and a hint of molasses on the finish.
The Lost Pirogue Vineyard, located in the Texas Hill Country at 1,605 feet of elevation on limestone rubble soils, is the source of this exceptional Souzão. Hand-harvested and whole berry macerated, the wine was fermented in half-ton open-top containers and aged for just over 24 months in oak. Souzão truly shines in the Texas Hill Country, and this expression is a full-bodied, satiny-soft version of the variety. With perfectly integrated tannins, the wine reveals layers of dark currant and black cherry fruits, complemented by a nice inlay of ironstone minerality. The finish is long and expressive, marked by vibrant dried florals and lilacs. Totally inviting and delightfully expressive.
This Camp Lucy Vineyard Petit Verdot from the Texas Hill Country comes from a north-facing 5-acre site west of Dripping Springs. The wine offers an attractive nose, with red-toned fruits mingling with lilac and prairie herbs. These aromas build with nice intensity through the medium-bodied palate, supported by well-integrated, soft, and velvety tannins.
