Hello Merlot!
The 2019 La Jota Vineyard Co. was another dense and rich merlot grown in the volcanic soils of Howell Mountain. Both wines show promising cellar-worthy characteristics.

Hello Merlot!
From the mountain terrain of Mt. Veeder, the 2019 Mt. Brave was bold yet elegant, displaying a luxuriously flavorful finish.

Within Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley lies a rugged, high-elevation sub-AVA that was established over ten years ago but is still relatively unknown as the entire 4600-acre region has only 230 acres planted to vines (via Sonoma County). The Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA lies at altitudes of 1660 – 3000 feet above sea level. Here, sitting at some of the highest elevations, Capture Winery grows rustic, bold, concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon for its Capture Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Cabernet Sauvignon. With structured power and an elegant frame, the wine melds earthy graphite and dried tobacco characteristics with black and blue fruit, woody herb, and cedar. Pair this wine with any protein you are grilling tonight!

North of Sonoma County lies Anderson Valley. It is a region with a maritime climate heavily influenced by the Pacific, thanks to its close proximity to the ocean. It is home to some of the most exciting cool climate Pinot Noir wines produced in California today. From one end of the valley to the other, the cool-climate variety can take on red or black fruit notes, earthy forest floor, and herbal flavors, all while melding rustic tannin with lively acidity. Siduri brings fruit from three vineyard sites for its Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, showcasing blue and blackberry, cranberry, and pomegranate with an underlying note of herbs de Provence.

This premium Napa Chardonnay is sourced from the Ahmann and Huichica Vineyards in Carneros, the Keyes Vineyard in Howell Mountain, and the Rancho Sarco Vineyard on the north east edge of Napa. The nose shows tropical fruits, russet apple, caramel, delicate sweet spices and wet stone. Medium-full bodied with a creamy and refreshing texture, look for ripe stone fruit and orchard fruit on the long finish.

The 2018 Capensis is matured in 45% new oak that comes from three cooperages, though I found the wood component supremely well disguised. It has a pretty bouquet that demands a little coaxing, eventually offering dried yellow flowers and touches of dried mint. Quite understated compared to its peers. The palate is well balanced with a lovely, slightly waxy texture counterbalanced by a fine bead of acidity. Nicely focused, nothing extravagant on the finish yet everything feels neatly embroidered together with fine persistence.

The 2018 Fijnbosch comes from fruit on their own Fijnbosch estate in the Groot Drakenstein mountains in the Banghoek Valley. It is an amalgam of blocks designed to represent the property, originally contributing to the main Capensis blend before being parsed out to create this cuvée. It has a precise bouquet with citrus fruit, white peach and light floral scents; this is nicely focused, but like the regular Capensis, remains quite understated for its class. The palate is medium-bodied with more roundness and depth than the Capensis, certainly more power and concentration, though perhaps the Capensis has a touch more tension on the finish.

The 2020 Silene is a cuvée that used to be sold off in bulk that comes mainly from younger vines supplemented by out-sourced fruit from the Stellenbosch hillsides. It essentially undergoes the same maturation as the Capensis, whole bunch pressed at around 2.6 bars and raised in foudres, small French oak and cement. It has an attractive lime leaf and citrus peel-scented bouquet that unfolds in the glass. The palate is well balanced with a phenolic, texturally-satisfying opening. Fine weight and acidity with a light sour lemon note on the finish. Enjoy this over the next five to seven years.

21 Cheap Wines That Will Please Even Your Pickiest Guests
Cheers to saving $$$!
We've said it once and we'll say it again: There's absolutely nothing wrong with cheap wine. Not all celebrations call for shelling out big bucks for a bottle, especially if they're simply the "we made it through another day!" kinds of celebrations. So to help you enjoy yourself without spending a small fortune, we've rounded up 21 bottles of inexpensive wine. Pop the cork and enjoy!
#11 - Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay 2020
Kendall-Jackson has been America's #1 selling Chardonnay for 25 years. You'll taste tropical flavors with citrus notes in this wine.

Murphy-Goode California Merlot is a rich and velvety smooth crowd-pleaser you’ll want to try this fall and enjoy all year round. Chalked full of ripe dark berries, cherry, plum, vanilla and sweet spices, this easy-going California red is ready to enjoy now with wood-fired pizza, BBQ fare, or even spicy cuisine. Enjoy 2022-2024.

Meaty, spicy, and impressive, and quite self-aware of all three.

Arguably the prototype for California's iconic barrel-aged Chardonnay style, this sustainable wine has maintained its position as the most popular Chardonnay inthe US for many years. With plenty of oak spice and whiffs of vanilla from sur-liebarrel ageing and monthly battonage, the nose is layered with baked apple,hazelnut and a bit of the butter true to the malolactic style. In the mouth, thewine is well-balanced if a little simple, with tropical pineapple and mangofl avours brightened with Meyer lemon.

Much of California is too hot to grow finicky Pinot Noir.
However, Murphy-Goode sources the grapes for its 2019 Pinot Noir from coastal vineyards in Sonoma and Santa Barbara, which are kept cooler by Pacific breezes.
The resulting grapes maintain good acidity and fresh fruit flavours for a Pinot with a plush, cherry-and-vanilla profile.

The undisputed champion of California white wines is Chardonnay and the 2019 Murphy-Goode Chardonnay is a prime example with the right balance of fruit and oak for a drink that's rich and full-bodied and reminiscent of grilled pineapple and crisp apple.

The 2020 La Crema Pinot Noir Rose fits the bill with a fresh, light and glamourous profile of sweet ripe raspberry and tart orange peel.

This is great. A great wine and a great drink – and all at 13.5% alcohol. So what’s the secret of the Yangarra King’s Wood Shiraz 2020?
It obviously starts in the vineyard (hello cliche!). This comes from a patch of vines planted on an ironstone sandy outcrop on the certified biodynamic Yangarra McLaren Vale. In other words, a choice block, inside a celebrated old McLaren Vale vineyard, farmed to the highest standards. Check. Then in the winery – there are some whole bunches included in the (wild) ferment before maturation in very big 25hl foudre, a mix 50% new, 50% one and two year old oak. Those big barrels ensure that you get much less wine surface area in contact with the oak, and they tend to have less oxygen ingress – so less oak flavour, and more vibrancy.
The end result? A lovely, entirely moderate McLaren Vale Shiraz. Mid weight, this kicks off in the red (rather than purple or black) end of the fruit spectrum, with an unforced, gently spiced feel. If anything, it’s a style more akin to some of the Tyrrell’s classic Hunter reds rather than classic plump and purple McLaren Vale Shiraz, which are more vibrancy rather than impact (indeed, Tyrrell’s pick early, and use very large oak too). There’s still some plummy ripeness through the middle, but it’s not heavy, and then the wine finishes with very fine fruit tannins. In some ways, it would be easy to mark a wine like this down – and it’s not going to win show awards as a result. But that’s kind of the point – this isn’t out to win show awards, just hearts and minds. It got mine.
Best drinking: now, ten years time, twenty. It will still be going strong. Would I buy it? Definitely.

I jumped the gun with my original International Grenache Day post a few weeks back, so here is another super wine on the actual Grenache Day. This Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2020 is right up there too.
Sourced from a block planted in 1946, the fruit is fully destemmed and spends 180 days on skins in 675L concrete eggs.
What a lovely, lucid, red fruit laden, yet structured, Grenache it is too. There is this interplay between tannic picker and glacé raspberry that is a delight, even if the tannins hit like a wall. Formidable Grenache. In fact, the only question is whether it’s a more perfect wine than the Clarendon Grenache? This wine is more intellectual, that wine nor seductive. Both are bloody great. Interestingly, I don’t see the compactness and the drying finish that marks some 2020 McLaren Vale reds.
Best drinking: good now, good in five years, good in ten. I like these younger though tbh. Just go now, you won’t regret it. Would I buy it? Sure would.

The 2019 Ironheart Shiraz beats with an oxblood character upon opening: it is rich, deep and staining. The oak is prevalent; however, it is high quality and well-matched to the fruit, so it is hardly a problem. Awesome. There are pink peppercorns, meat, salted licorice and a firm tannic structure through the mid-palate and finish. The wine is abundant, but it is stabilized and grounded by a flurry of savory tannin and a spine of fine, salty acid. The fruit is really impressive; it almost overflows the glass, but it’s brought to heel by acid and tannin, so you know it only needs a decant to allow it to unravel and unfurl.

The beautiful 2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon has 5% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc blended in. Needing an hour in the decanter to be fully aroused, this delivers ripe cassis and huckleberry notes that combine with wet stone and suggestions of sandalwood on the nose. The palate is refined and elegant, with plenty of dense dark fruits and power — yet comes off quite weightless. Refined tannins and bright acidity frame this outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon that is only starting to come into its own.

The absolutely delicious 2019 Mt. Brave Merlot comes from eastern-facing slopes on Mt. Veeder.. It immediately gratifies with chocolate covered kirsch notes alongside black raspberry, graphite and loamy soils. The intense aromatics bring you back to the glass for more enjoyment. The wine showcases velvety tannins that frame a beautiful core of red and dark fruits, with espresso grounds, mocha and lighter dried herbal notes. Finishing very long, this is soft, complex and stunning high-elevation Napa Merlot to consume now and over the next twenty years. Give this at least an hour in the decanter if enjoying now.

Luscious fruit defines this 2020 King's Wood Shiraz, but it morphs through the middle palate with shades of meat, red licorice, dark chocolate and mulberry—it’s very sweet in character. There is blackberry, raspberry and licorice on the nose, however on day two it feels much softer and lighter, with deli meat, star anise, clove bud, green tea and layers of red apple, eucalypt and crushed granite. Kind of a loose, sandy disposition. Really impressive. Dappled and beautiful.

I tasted this 2014 Brooks Road Shiraz as a second-round release in 2022. This wine was made by Charlie Seppelt and not by Pete Fraser as the more recent ones are. This is great. It is pure and savory, with attractively fine tannins through the middle palate and tail. A cascade of salted red fruits that tumble over each other and really spool out through the long finish. Smart. Very smart.

This 2020 Brooks Road Shiraz is littered with rendered lamb fat, BBQ char, clove bud and licorice on the nose. In the mouth, the wine is defined by red fruit, and it is savory and fine. This is not at all a big wine. It is medium-bodied and carries its fruit and freshness well. Much of this cuvée is from the 1971 plantings outside the house I am sitting in right now (in Clarendon). Saline acidity curves through the fruit, and the tannins shape the course of the finish. Lovely wine. Classy. (The plus sign in the score relates to the fact that I am sitting here also tasting the 2014 alongside, and if anything, it's a better wine, as it has gained momentum in the spice and character department; so, it follows that this wine will only improve in time.)

One of several Yangarra Grenache iterations, this one unique in its ceramic, egg-shaped vessel winemaking as well as individual block sourcing. Fragrance parameters sit in a familiar frame – bush florals meet crushed berry, meets kitchen herbs, especially dried thyme. Keep swirling the glass and you’ll disappear into its vapours, as you will when you sip, all those aromatics echoing as flavour whirlpools in the mouth, coated with a pretty decent cloud of fine tannins that are pliable enough to still allow the wine’s inherent juiciness and spice-like seasoning to remain front and centre. There’s a lot to calculate here besides the pure expression of the variety at its most enjoyable. Let it sit in the glass. Let it dwell. It’s gorgeous.

The 2019 Cardinale Red WIne is a stunning effort by winemaker Chris Carpenter. Needing two plus hours in the decanter to fully develop, the wine leads with layers of toasty oak and blackberry compote that mingle with dark chocolate covered Arabica bean, and huckleberry cordial notes. With more air the beautiful aromas become more intoxicating. Once on the mouth you sense the core being beautifully textured and structured, with firm tannins holding everything together. Rich anise, and black currants amalgamate with espresso grounds, and creme de violette, with copious minerals. Try to avoid consuming this beautiful wine for at least another year. Drink 2024-2048