Turnbull 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($60)

 I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I think dollar-for-dollar, this is probably one of the very best entry-level Cabs from Napa Valley. Yes, this Oakville estate makes some much more expensive wines, and yes, I'm sure they buy some of the fruit that goes into this Napa Valley wine, but it sure tastes like Oakville Cabernet. It's packed with cassis, blackberry, cherry and mocha flavors, and is supple enough to drink young, but it has enough structure to last for a good while, and it has enough acidity to balance the rich black fruit. It's just plain delicious. (93 Points)

- Tim Teichgraeber 

2021 Smith-Madrone Riesling Estate Riesling Spring Mountain Napa Valley ($40)

 Some of the Riesling vines on this property at the top of Spring Mountain date back to the 1970's, and the estate vineyard produces a wine that is nothing less than a complete freak of nature. No one would ever plant Riesling in this location today, but these deeply-rooted vines on the rocky slopes of Spring Mountain produce a wine that is remarkably opulent, voluptuous, and completely unique. You just have to hand it to the Smith brothers for continuing to make this wine and not re-planting to Cabernet Sauvignon, which would certainly bring a better profit margin. This medium-full bodied wine is redolent of apricot, but it still has some bright green apple and citrus notes. There's no notable oak at play, but the wine is rich and round. We roast a lot of chickens around here, and usually I think a Chardonnay is the perfect fit, but this Riesling? This one works very well, thank you. When you travel the world tasting wine for a long time, you learn that there are some wines that don't make sense on paper, but they make perfect sense in the glass. This is one of those wines. (93 points)

- Tim Teichgraeber 

Auteur 2022 Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast ($85)

 

 

This wine comes from a fairly notorious (in the best sense) vineyard on the gently-sloped, rocky western slope of Sonoma Mountain in the Petaluma Gap, a cool area that experiences a vigorous interplay between the cold Pacific ocean and warmer inland climes. And damn, this wine delivers the goods. It's bold and concentrated, but still has some finesse. There's a bit of lavender on the nose, cherry and raspberry fruit, and notes of cinnamon, mineral, and a subtle savory, saline note that really adds some depth. A powerful wine with extraordinary balance, this is super impressive. Made by Kenneth Juhasz, only 218 cases produced. (96 Points) 

- Tim Teichgraeber 

2022 Rex Hill Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($38)

 

Thoroughly enjoyable. It has good depth of color and leads with deep raspberry fruit brightened by a subtle cool-climate celery note and a gorgeous woodsy, forest floor aroma. Medium-bodied with a nice burst of acidity on the finish. I had it with a foraged chanterelle mushroom risotto, and it was lovely. Definitely recommended. (92 Points)

 -Tim Teichgraeber

Bonny Doon Vineyard 2023 "Take Me to Your Liter" Le Cigare Volant Wine of the Earth ($18)

 

 

This liter-sized edition of Bonny Doon's legendary 'Le Cigare Volant' Rhône-inspired blend is as joyful a bottle of wine as you're going to come across this year. Here's the announcement, straight from Klatuu, himself:

Bonny Doon Vineyard is pleased to announce the release of “Take Me to Your Liter,” a celebration of its flagship wine, Le Cigare Volant, in a limited one-liter format. The 2023 “Take me to Your Liter” is a red Rhône-style blend driven by cool climate Grenache grown in Monterey County.

One of the first California wineries to embrace Rhône grape varieties, founder Randall Grahm established Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz in 1983 and produced his first vintage of Le Cigare Volant (“red wine of the earth”) in 1984. Inspired by an ordinance passed in 1954 whereby flying saucers – or flying cigars – were prohibited from landing in the protected vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Cigare has become the brand’s iconic logo.

Recently asked about the flagship wine, Grahm -- a prolific writer – explained, “For someone like myself, whose spirit lives somewhat randomly throughout the space-time continuum and diverse alternate realities, this 40th anniversary of Bonny Doon is a perfect occasion to reflect upon the inception of Cigare Volant, as I have doon on certainly more than one occasion.”

He continued, “I am sure I’ve repeated ad vinum nauseum the somewhat contingent nature of the birth of Cigare and I feel now so incredibly fortunate that all the appropriate doors happened to magically open when they did. When I started out in the business, I had no idea whatsoever that imagining and talking about wine could be so much fun, especially if you had a magical starship on hand to transport you to the outer limits of your imagination. Le Cigare Volant has been such a vehicle for me.”

This Monterey County, cool-climate Greanche-driven blend is bright, lucid, playful, and effusive - I just can't get enough of it. Imagine fresh foraged strawberries and raspberries topped with a dash of aged balsamic vinegar and a twist of black pepper. It's crazy fresh, savory, and just a little bit spicy all at the same time. It's January 7, and I may have already found my favorite value of the year. Folks, do not miss out on this one - it has me grinning ear-to-ear. The ancient aliens have spoken through winemaker Nicole Walsh. (95 Points)

- Tim Teichgraeber 

 

Bella Union 2022 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($60)

Bella Union is a sub-brand of Far Niente, a Napa Valley staple. It has a Far Niente-reminiscent Art Nouveau label style, and is named after a late 1880's Deadwood, South Dakota brothel depicted in the outstanding HBO series Deadwood. Let's just say that it was a slightly classier brothel and casino than some that preceded it. On to the wine... It is delicious. Winemaker Brooke Price and consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown have delivered the goods here. It's seamless, focused, even from beginning to end, and it almost reminds me of a Michel Rolland wine, where it's hard to describe what you love about it except that it is so well blended that everything fits together. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end to this vinous book, and the pages turn every second after you take a sip. There are wines that elevate a certain terroir or place, and those can be stellar teaching moments. I think this wine is a little different than those. Yes, I think it is definitely a Napa Valley Cabernet, but what it emphasizes is skilled blending and it's straight-up a wine-making clinic This is really good wine at a fair price, all pedigree considered. (94 Points)

 

 

- Tim Teichgraeber 

Acumen 2022 Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($110)

I believe most of Acumen's fruit is sourced from Napa's Atlas Peak sub-AVA, but I don't see that designation on this bottle. I am a fan of the winery, but I found this particular iteration a little hard to warm up to. At this stage, it's a prickly, tense Napa Cab with unusually high acid, mostly red fruit, and a lot of tannin. To be perfectly honest, I was not immediately charmed. Then I went back to it over the next couple of days. It rounded out, softened a bit, and showed some genuine class. This wine just needs time, and by that I mean about ten years. In my humble opinion, this is not a wine to drink anytime soon, but I think it will be lovely in time, and that's the proposition for my rating. (92 Points)

 

- Tim Teichgraeber