| Winery | Special Designation | Vintage | Varietal | Rating | DateTasted | Notes | Buy Again? |
| Ant Hill Farms | Peters Vineyard, Sebastopol, Sonoma Coast | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 93 | 5/23/2026 | Notes taken during dinner last night: Class pinot notes with med body, high acid, med+ intensity, concentration with a really long finish.
We have seen this wine on Wine Spies and Last bottle recently. Never actually pulled the trigger on any of it. So, glad a friend brought this over to try. Very worth while tasting! | y |
| Baca | Dusi Vineyard, Double Dutch | 2021 | Zinfandel | 95 | 5/23/2026 | absolutely ripe on the nose with blackberry, raspberry, black cherry, cocoa, coffee, black plum and black pepper. Lush and concentrated.
The palate is almost off-dry due to the ripe fruit. The concentration is lovely. This has full body, high acid, long finish, med+ tannins and super peppery, blackberry fruit.
A great zin from Halls Baca label. If you open this bottle, be prepared to finish it. | y |
| Cirq Wine Co | Russian River Valley, Sonoma County | 2021 | Pinot Noir | 96 | 5/23/2026 | This review is based on basic notes we took while visiting friends. Needless to say, this wine is excellent. The scent and flavor notes are phreesia, potting soil, raspberry and black cherry.
The flavors are complex, well balanced and very concentrated. The acidity gives this wine a little playfulness. But the intensity holds it down with great grace. | y |
| Elivette | Spring Mountain Vineyard, Napa Valley | 2006 | Blend (Red Table Wine) | 95 | 5/23/2026 | Got this off of last bottle. And we took this over to a dinner party last night. We did 4 pinots first and then had this with BBQ salmon.
Sheesh, what a wine! This is in the perfect sweet spot where fruit meets impeccable bottle aging. It has intense concentration and long finish. Acid is high and the tannins are still very prevalent. With this fruit profile and those characteristics, this will keep aging! | y |
| Patz & Hall | Gaps Crown Vineyard, Sonoma County | 2022 | Pinot Noir | 95 | 5/23/2026 | Classic black raspberry, brioche, dusty dirt, blackberry, mineral, peach pit, nori, meat, pomegranate and cocoa. All of these are fine and concentrated.
It has great acidity, long finish, med body, med+ intensity and concentration. Med+ tannins.
A fine example of Gaps fruit and fine winemaking woven into one!
| y |
| Patz & Hall | Maddocks & Green | 2023 | Chardonnay | 94 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Maddocks & Green (Barrel Tasted) | 2025 | Chardonnay | 96 | 5/23/2026 | Near perfect Chard | y |
| Patz & Hall | Soberanes Vineyard | 2023 | Chardonnay | 94 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Chardonnay | 93 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2022 | Pinot Noir | 96 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 93 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Kent Ritchie Vineyard Russian River Valley | 2023 | Chardonnay | 93 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Patz & Hall | Burnside Vineyard Russian River Valley Sonoma County | 2023 | Pinot Noir | 92 | 5/23/2026 | | y |
| Rare Wine Co | Historic Series | NV | Madeira | 96 | 5/23/2026 | This was our first ever madeira. Our host opened this for us after dinner. We didn?t even have a reference point other than port to go on. And it does come across as a tawny port style. But it is very rich, smooth, powerfully flavored and mildly sweet.
We are going to rate this as a 96 even though it is our first. | y |
| Beaulieu Vineyard | Napa Valley | 2023 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 93 | 5/22/2026 | Red plum, cinnamon, rhubarb, cocoa, red cherry, wood, graphite, apricot Danish and raspberry.
The palate his high tannins, high acid, med+ intensity, concentration, body and finish. Enough said. It has plenty to offer. It has balance and structure.
And heres the thing: this is the supermarket BV offering. It runs about $40. It is a 2023 -- being touted as possibly the vintage of the century so far. And this wine is sticking with that trend. A very nice effort for the store brand BV. | y |
| Siduri | Rosellas Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands | 2024 | Pinot Noir | 92 | 5/21/2026 | This has some of those classic SLH pinot notes like raspberry, red cherry and strawberry. You even get that lovely Jello note. But this is really crisp with minerals, earthy notes and tartness on the nose. The nose is med+ in intensity.
The palate shines with medium tannins that are ripe with berry flavors. They stay on the palate for a good long time with the finish. Acidity is high as you would want. The body is not huge but appreciable. Concentration and intensity are med+.
This is a vivid wine with lots of zippy acid and minerals. The fruit almost keeps up, just about. This is Rosellas for crying out loud. And it is lovely, lively and very different than the 2023. It is a must try. | n |
| Trader Joes | Platinum Reserve, Napa Valley, Lot #130 | 2021 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 89 | 5/21/2026 | This is the first new wine from TJs in a darn long time. Last year there were dozens by this time! Not sure what is going on there.
Anyway, this is pretty nice wine. The nose has a medium intensity with classic Napa Valley scents like blackberry, black cherry, cocoa, coffee, potting soil, lilac, vanilla and currants.
The palate is med+ in intensity and concentration. The body is full, the finish is med+. The acidity is high. It feels sleepy, so I might let it breathe for a couple hours and come back to it. Good fruit on the palate, though not complex. This wine has the hallmarks of a wine that still tastes young and could age well for 10 years. It has a lot of promise but lacks the intensity for long aging beyond that. I am guessing this one needed to lay down for 5 years due to the tannins, which are now still nearly high. | n |
| Siduri | John Sebastiano Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills | 2024 | Pinot Noir | 90 | 5/20/2026 | Cranberry, red cherry and dusty earth on the nose. On the palate it is pretty tart. The concentration and intensity of fruit is light. It has a long finish, however and the acidity gives it a vivacious feel. It feels fresh and light. | y |
| Siduri | Seascape Vineyard, West Sonoma Coast | 2024 | Pinot Noir | 93 | 5/19/2026 | Raspberry and strawberry jam, brioche, spicy dry earth. The nose is not on the intense side.
But on the palate it is very concentrated and saturated with flavors. Good acidic tartness, long finish, full body and balanced fruit.
This wine has a lovely intensity on the palate. So much lovely fruit and tartness. It is just the thin nose that holds this back. | y |
| Hollys Hill | El Dorado | 2024 | Counoise | 95 | 5/18/2026 | What did they do to this wine?! Wow. It is exceptional, especially compared to last year. It has so much rich fruit on the nose. Cocoa, raspberry, strawberry and red cherry. But these sound like Pinot characteristics ? and believe me, this is not anything like a pinot. And yet, you get all these lovely fruit notes. But there is also a floral note like dianthus. And there is rose as well.
The tannins are med+, the finish is huge. The acidity is high, the fruit simple intense and concentrated. This is exceptional wine. It is a treat. But it also is a very California version of this old Rhone varietal. It is so worth trying. | y |
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