Wines

96+ Points Wine Advocate
The NV Ros?? 27??me Edition, much like the Grande Cuv??e 171??me Edition, was created based on the 2015 vintage and is complemented with 38 reserve wines sourced from nine different years (which makes up 55% of the blend). The youngest reserve wine dates back to 2015, while the oldest goes all the way back to 2005. Additionally, the blend includes 10% Pinot Noir, sourced from A?? and Mareuil-sur-A??. This delightful ros?? boasts a stunning, fresh bouquet of peony, blueberry, grapefruit, blood orange, warm biscuits and spring flowers. It has a medium to full-bodied texture and is both tense and crystalline, with a delicate yet concentrated structure and a salty, lingering and mouthwatering finish. I find the mid-palate particularly fascinating, as it is both fleshy and delicate. This lively and pure Champagne ros?? from Krug is made up of 57% Pinot Noir, 23% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier.

The inky/purple-hued 2003 Proprietary Red Wine, a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and the rest tiny portions of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, reveals copious notes of chocolate along with hints of melted tar, charcoal, black cherries, and currants. Full-bodied, dense, and well-balanced... - WA91

93-95 points Burghound
Exuberantly fresh black fruit aromas are liberally laced with notes of earth, clove, anise and wood. The succulent yet muscular and powerful big-bodied flavors possess excellent mid-palate density while exhibiting seriously good length on the mouth coating and strikingly long finish. Note that this is very much built-to-age and a wine that may well require 20 years to reach its apogee. Excellent!

The labels reference Erik Mallea’s Basque heritage, depicting 19th & 20th-century aspen tree carvings by Basque shepherds in the American West. Erik’s father, Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe, is a respected scholar of this cultural tradition.

Organic

The 2022 is a blend of Grenache from Mangels Ranch in Suisun Valley, Cedar Lane in Arroyo Seco, and Waddington Ranch in Mendocino, Carignane from Lolonis, Maria Martinson, and Castañon all in Organic

Mendocino, and Syrah from Vecino in Potter Valley. There is a good amount of whole cluster and carbonic maceration through the lots keeping everything fresh and fun. As always, the blend was made immediately after harvest and the wine was aged in a combination of French oak foudres and stainless steel tanks. 12.4% abv

This wine presents abundant aromas of dark cherry and strawberry jam, brown sugar, dark chocolate and cola with hints of cardamom, black pepper, sandalwood and licorice. The bright and vibrant entry accentuates flavors of fresh blueberries and allspice that linger into a creamy, rich mid palate and ends with a luxurious finish. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah.

Organic

91% Cabernet Sauvignon 6% Petite Verdot, 3% Cab Franc. Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from 3 vineyards: the 60yr old Brigantino Vineyard, the 45yr old Wheeler Ranch, and the 75yr old Tres Pinos Creek Vineyard. The Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc come from Paicines AVA, rocky alluvial deposits above the Tres Pinos arroyo. All vineyards experience warm days, cold nights typical of the Central Coast, allowing these late ripening Bordeaux varieties to be picked at high acidity and moderate sugars. Fermented whole berry with a very light crush in open top fermenters, allowing slower extraction, of tannins into the must and lots of oxygen into the fermentation for polymerization of tannins. Pressed after approximately 20 days. Aged for 11 months on lees in mostly neutral barrels with a couple of active oak barrels sprinkled in. 13.2% abv

93 points Vinous
The 2021 Graciano Portico Hills shows the darker, weightier side of Graciano. Black cherry, plum, gravel, menthol, crushed rocks, dried herbs and incense are all dialed up in this brooding, potent Graciano. The 2021 is going to need some time to soften. (7/2023) Drinking Window 2023-2031

Zac Wasserman is now on his own after a number of years working alongside Joey Tensley.

Organic / Natural

A clean, crisp white wine consisting of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Melon de Bourgogne.
Inspired by the wines of the Loire Valley and vignerons like Didier Barouillet of Clos Roche Blanche (who was an over-the-phone consultant on the project), Thierry Puzelat, and Marc Ollivier of Domaine de la Pépière. Loire inspired wines made in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

Sweet red.

Sweet red.

This exceptionally rich, thick Lafite came in with the highest level of natural alcohol (13.5%) ever achieved at Lafite Rothschild. To put that in its proper context, the 2009 and 2005 were 13.3% and in the hottest Bordeaux summer ever recorded in over 200 years, the 2003 achieved 12.8%. A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot, all harvested between October 9 and 14, the 2010 exhibits an extraordinarily dense color, an unctuous texture and sweet black currant fruit intermixed with graphite, charcoal and truffle notes. A director Charles Chevalier told me, between July and the October harvest, Bordeaux had its driest weather since 1949, but it never got excessively hot. Hence the tiny berries, freshness and extraordinary precision of Lafite Rothschild. This superb effort will undoubtedly shut down slightly once it is bottled despite a pH of 3.8. It needs no building up because much of Lafite Rothschild has now become an obsession with the wealthy Chinese and most of it will undoubtedly be consumed before it ever hits its prime. Ideally, it should be cellared for 10-15 years and drunk over the following 50+ years. -WS 98-100

This beautiful, elegant 2003 is a top-notch success for Margaux. More accessible and softer than usual, it boasts a deep ruby/purple color as well as a beautiful bouquet of flowers, black currants, plums, and underbrush. Medium-bodied, velvety-textured, opulent, and complex, it can be consumed now and over the next 10-15 years. - WA90

"This is more aromatically elegant than the Maréchaudes with an airy nose of various red berries along with moderate amounts of spice, floral and earth nuances. There is more tension if not more size and weight to the delicious mineral-inflected flavors that possess a lovely vibrancy, all wrapped in a tight and persistent but not especially austere finish. Indeed this is relatively approachable in the context of the appellation yet it should also age very well if desired." 92-94pts Burghound

This cuvée comes from 4 parcels situated mid-slope and spread in homogenous fashion over the whole appellation. The soils are deep and made up in equal parts of limestone and clay, giving the wine lovely balance and great length on the palate. It is a terroir that is very representative of the appellation Corton. The vines average 35 years old and face east.

The site is located on the eastern mid-slopes of the Montagne de Corton hill, immediately below the Clos du Roi and Renardes climats. The classic Corton red wine is rich and relatively tannic, meaning that it is quite austere in its youth but develops well with age. Corton tasting notes often refer to flavors of violets, forest berries, leather and earthy notes. The hill of Corton itself is a large outcrop of limestone. The eastern side is a touch warmer - being more exposed to the morning sunshine - and richer in the marlstone which is so well suited to Pinot Noir.

This historic estate was established in 1834. Claude de Nicolay took over from her mother as winemaker in 1988 and crafts traditionally styled wines from one of the Cote d'Or's great terroirs, the hill of Corton and its surrounding villages. The vineyard management has been fully biodynamic since 2005 and organic since 1998. Claude's brother, Francois de Nicolay joined the domaine in 2001.

91 points Wine Spectator
Lovely warmed plum and black currant confiture flavors are starting to settle into a secondary phase as sweet tobacco, lightly singed alder and a perfumy incense note weave around. Nice focused, fine-grained finish. Textbook.?????Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020. 2,200 cases made. - James Molesworth

98+ points Vinous
The 2020 L??oville Las Cases has developed into a powerhouse. Then again, that is Las Cases. En primeur, I thought the 2020 was a bit shy, but its true personality has to emerge. Blackberry jam, gravel, spice, menthol, licorice, espresso and plum all saturate the palate. Vivid and explosive, the 2020 is dizzyingly rich, with plenty of Las Cases tannins that will require patience. I am not sure when the 2020 will be ready to drink, but it won't be anytime soon. Las Cases is one of the wines of the vintage in 2020, that much is pretty clear.(AG)

97+ points Wine Advocate
The 2020 L??oville Las Cases is a classic in the making, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, cassis, loamy soil, violets and dark chocolate framed by a discreet touch of new oak. Full-bodied, broad and layered, it's rich and concentrated, with a deep core of fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins and lively acids. Concluding with a long, resonant finish, it's built for the cellar. (WK)