The outstanding 2022 ‘Walla Walla Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Leonetti Estate as well as the Seven Hills and Skysill Vineyards. Inky in the glass this shows off great depth and concentration. Dense dark fruits parade with tobacco leaf, dried herbs and shades of graphite with great stony essence. Drink 2025-2044

Gorgeous and silky, the 2022 Jett ‘Horse Heaven Hills’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Andrews and Phinny Hill Vineyards. Jet black in the glass, this offers deep, concentrated black Frits that mingle well with blueberry compote, espresso grounds and shades of loamy soils on the palate. This has well-defined power and finesse. Drink 2025-2042-

The 2022 'Red Mountain’ comes from the Quintessence and Shaw Vineyards. Sweet pipe tobacco and anise mark the nos alongside shades of black currant compote. The palate is dense and delicious with serious verve and tension. Very nervy and heady with great concentration and finesse, this really needs about a year of bottle time to settle. Drink 2026-2045

‘I make a block 6 or 14 every year. When I'm tasting through the cellar, I feel like I just have to do this bottling,’ says winemaker Shane Moore. Elevage is 18 months in oak, with forest-borne
notes of fir tips and pine sap, blood orange, wild violets, and penny royal mint. The brilliance of this wine is splendid; it's the last pick each year at Zena Crown, and it retains an astonishing freshness. Fresh fruits show Classically Oregon, with taut pomegranate pulp and purity. It is a
gorgeous wine with blood orange and candied raspberries.

A specific block towards the bottom of the site of Dijon 76 clone Chardonnay makes this wine. ‘There's something about this block that just turns the Chardonnay to 11 for me; I think it's those clay soils,’ says Shane Moore, Gran Moraine winemaker. This wine releases in January 2026. I strive to put this wine on the edge of reduction, which builds for the first five to seven years and then starts to come back around. The aromatics are border opulence, with honeyed peaches,
concentrated Meyer lemon pulp, and a sweet note of candied orange. Gorgeous and flinty across the palate, with layers of stony, complex mineral edges that frame the core of citrus
cream nicely. A stunning lemon tang to the finish with salted lemon that lingers seemingly forever on the tongue

Two south-facing blocks at 500 feet on a very steep slope, 115 and 667, make up the Cascade. Performing the fermentation on the open top manages the tannins, which winemaker Shane Moore says can be an issue in this block. With soaring red and blue berries, this wine wows in the aromatics, a note of Oregon truffle and a gorgeous forest-driven depth. The palate offers fleshy blue fruits while singing with an elegance that balances the beauty of the fruit with a definitive power to boot: violets, sweet Oregon blackberries and a dollop of freshly chopped mint. Performing the fermentation on the open top manages the tannins, which winemaker Shane
Moore says can be an issue in this block. With soaring red and blue berries, this wine wows in
the aromatics, a note of Oregon truffle and a gorgeous forest-driven depth. The palate offers
fleshy blue fruits while singing with an elegance that balances the beauty of the fruit with a
definitive power to boot: violets, sweet Oregon blackberries and a dollop of freshly chopped
mint.

A beautifully layered and complex wine that wraps generous tannins around lovely black fruit and subtle, smoky, graphite nuances. Blueberries and blackcurrants with hints of minerals and cocoa. Full-bodied, complex and structured for further aging. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Wow, so densely layered in velvety tannins and lavish black fruit. A stunning, medium-bodied wine with great power that's kept in check by the slightly austere structure and insistent tannins. Deep black cherry, blackcurrant, graphite and espresso flavors that expand on the palate and linger in the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

The nose is incredibly complex and deeply scented, with aromas of blood plums, cured meat, mulberries, blueberry bush and dried herbs. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins and bright acidity, giving tightly wound notes of cherry confit, iodine, ferric earth, mocha and a slight metallic finish. Exceptionally well constructed, with years ahead of it to integrate. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Wonderfully complex and enticing notes of Meyer lemons, honeysuckle, orange blossoms and talcum powder. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with a phenolic grip from seven months on the skins, giving notes of chamomile tea, sea salt and quince. A very complex and finely integrated wine with a fresh backbone. Excellent. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

One of the most structured, focused and intense merlots in Napa Valley. So laced with super-fine-grained tannins, it’s pointed, precise, linear and concentrated. A powerful wine that will age gracefully. Deep in black cherries, red cherries, cocoa, iron and graphite notes. Contains 15% cabernet sauvignon. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

A sleek and polished wine that's deceptively full-bodied and firmly tannic. So well balanced, silky and rich in blackcurrant, blackberry and black cherry flavors, with notes of dried blueberries, spearmint and cocoa. Contains 6% collectively of cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and malbec blended in for complexity. Drink or hold.

So massive and concentrated, pure and saturated, structured and long. A showcase of the Spring Mountain AVA's firmness, richness and depth. Brilliant blackcurrants, black cherries, spearmint and hints of red fruit, minerals and wild sage. Tightly interlaced tannins give great support to the lush black fruit. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

A masterful blend of grapes from diverse parts of Napa Valley that winemaker Chris Carpenter conceived in the spirit of the Right Bank of Bordeaux. It is plush, mouth-filling and gorgeous in black fruit and intricate spices, chocolaty, yet with with a firm backbone of velvety tannins. Grapes come from four different mountains around Napa Valley, but it’s dominated by Spring Mountain fruit. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Complex aromas of lemon curd, candied lime zest, mandarins and flint. The palate is medium-bodied with bright acidity, giving notes of orange peel, hazelnuts, grapefruit pith, pralines and pastry. Very polished and refined with an underlying tension. Delicious. Drink or hold.

The 2021 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is inky in the glass, offering mountain huckleberry and black raspberry notes on the nose alongside graphite and shades of dried herbs. The palate is rich and viscous with incredible underlying tension. Pencil lead, anise, creme de cassis and chocolate cake notes all combine on the palate. A joy to consume now, savor this beauty over the next twenty years to come. Drink 2024-2044- 97

An intense, linear wine. So bright, tangy and cherry-like, with great acidity lifting raspberry, cranberry, sage, chalk and rooibos tea flavors. Made with 100% whole clusters. Drink or hold.

So beautifully developed now at age nine, it's rich in marzipan, lemon creme, lemon zest and lime peel. Bright with citrus acidity, tangy, dry and appetizing in texture. What an elegant, balanced and complex wine. Drink or hold.

A very tensile, fresh and mineral-laden wine that's tangy in acidity and has an almost crunchy, lively texture. Made from a singular section of the 3-D vineyard planted with Wente and Mt. Eden clone grapevines. Lemon pith, limestone, crisp green apples. So intense and taut, it is sure to age and improve. Drinkable now but best from 2029.

Among the New World’s greatest whites. It weaves together sandy soils, a Mediterranean climate and a variety that has a salty savoriness. There’s a phenolic thread and a gentle touch of acidity. Complex texture from extended skin maceration in large ceramic eggs. Herbal tea, salted quince, lemon rind and pumice-like details. The ‘22 is the finest iteration yet. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drinkable now but best after 2028. Screw cap.

A deep, dark, ruby colour in the glass. This is a dynamite showing at 10 years of age. Pure dark berry fruits are nuanced by toasty oak spices, cocoa nibs, and dusty sagebrush. Medium-bodied, with super firm, taut, mineral-scented tannins and gorgeous black cherry and blackcurrant fruits. The finish lingers for a full 60 seconds, with spicy aromatic garrigue notes emerging. Such a youthful wine, in exceptional shape at this stage, showcasing the freshness and intensity of the vintage from the tail end of Napa’s drought years. It was aged for 28 months in 64% new French oak.

There's a twinkle in this red's eye, as its dense core of boysenberry and mulberry fruit manages to shimmer and its well-buried iron spine manages to emit some glistening light from within the core. Feels chiseled but without hard angles; feels seductive without being overly flattering. This is also remarkably young. And the flurry of black tea, anise and sweet bay on the finish is very, very alluring. Bravo. -- Blind 2014 California Cabernet retrospective (June 2024). Drink now through 2045. 499 cases made.

This is gorgeous from the get-go, with the distilled essence of mulberry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit pouring through, all harnessed by a racy iron note and flecked liberally with anise, sweet bay leaf and iris accents. The finish shows terrific cut and drive as the fruit sails through. Dense for sure, but with purity, freshness and energy. Best from 2026 through 2046. 713 cases made.

The 2021 High Sands Grenache leads with spicy oak and juicy, salty fruit. It has a salted humbug candy nature about it, alongside blonde tobacco and green tea, graphite and blood, Boscobel rose and caper brine. The wine is both lush and lean, defined by its score of very fine, profuse, chewy tannins. The discussion of fermentation/maturation vessels in Grenache is rife, with many astute palates gravitating toward egg or amphora for their purity and unfettered expression within the wines. I am less dogmatic and more inclined to swing as a weather vane does in high wind, toward cuvées that I feel express the place, regardless of their vessels. The place in this case is McLaren Vale, specifically the old High Sands bush vine block, planted in 1946. While the oak is evident in this wine, it softens the fruit and texturally creates what I perceive to be a more subtle texture and nuance within the wine. 2021 was a beautiful season in McLaren Vale, and it shows in this superb wine. This is an excellent wine, with a significant price hike this year. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

From the slightly safer vineyard Ray Guerin planted for himself, and now one of Australia’s greatest pinot sites. Incredibly compressed complexity, like Shakespeare etched on the head of a pin. There’s a char siu meatiness lurking beneath bright cherry fruit. Energy, finesse and a beautifully supple mouthfeel.