One of the finest wines in the vintage, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon J. Daniel Cuvee is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dutch Henry Canyon area in Calistoga, Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville, and Stelzner in Stags Leap (which was added in 2018). It spent 20 months in 75% new French oak. Still tight and inward, it has sensational purity in its currant, mulberry, truffly earth, graphite, and leather aromatics. These carry to a full-bodied, rich, incredibly concentrated 2021 that has the vintage’s fresher, focused style, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. It's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for a quarter of a century.
View full postThe 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape is a great example of the vintage and has a pretty, perfumed, incredibly Provençal style in its red fruits, savory garrigue, spice, and peppery aromas and flavors. With medium-bodied richness, a balanced, elegant mouthfeel, and ripe tannins, it already offers pleasure today, yet given its balance and the quality of its tannins, it will shine for 10-15 years if well stored. The blend is 80% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 7% Syrah, and 3% Cinsault, which was vinified all in concrete and brought up almost entirely in concrete tanks. There's no Vieilles Vignes in the vintage due to both hail and tiny yields from the drought, so I suspect this cuvée benefited from the inclusion of some truly great fruit that would normally go into the Vieilles Vignes release. It’s one of the finest classic cuvées I can recall and should be on the no-brainer purchase list.
View full postA jeweled magenta ruby color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Bodega Headlands Vineyard is from a coastally exposed site planted with vine cuttings from two Grand Crus in Vosne Romanée and sheltered to the north by redwoods. In the glass, the wine is highly expressive on opening, boasting a rich and refined perfume of violets, raspberry liqueur, pine, and pristine dark spices. Medium-bodied and elegant, it’s one of the richer wines in the range from this noble vintage and offers a ripe feel through the palate, with polished tannins and a hint of underlying mineral richness through its long finish. It’s a fabulous wine that will benefit from being stored properly for another year or more. Drink 2025-2040.
The estate of Steve Kistler and his family in the Bodega Headlands, Occidental is exclusively devoted to producing coastally influenced Pinot Noir, and they are members of the West Sonoma Coast Vintners Association. Kistler was initially drawn to the area after tasting a bottling of Summa Vineyard that expressed a vivid and more cool climate style. Although Occidental was officially founded in 2011, Steve has been planting vineyards and purchasing property in the area since the 1990s and has retained his original cellar team for the past 30 years. His daughter, Catherine Kistler, has been the assistant winemaker since 2017. Each of the wines tasted for this report are their vineyard-designated selections, which are held back an initial year prior to release. I was highly anticipating this tasting, as the quality of the 2021 Freestone-Occidental tasted last year far exceeded my expectations, and this year’s visit did not disappoint. I would be thrilled to have any of these wines in my cellar.
View full postOne of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn't get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it s rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 (maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30+ years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero.
View full postA more Syrah-dominated release, the 2021 Dirt Worshipper is textbook Syrah magic with is peppery, gamey dark fruits, iron, tapenade, sandalwood, and violet-laced aromas and flavors. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. Based on 88% Syrah, 7% Petit Verdot, 4% Graciano, and 1% Viognier that was fermented with 40% whole clusters and aged 20 months in 25% new French and Hungarian oak, it will probably merit a triple-digit rating in 4-5 years, and I’d be happy to put this up with the best Syrahs out there.
View full postLastly, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Dancing Bear Ranch comes from a stunning estate vineyard on Howell Mountain with the plantings dating back to 1999. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and a splash of Cabernet Franc, aged in 59% new oak, this beauty reminds me of a great Saint-Julien (Leoville Barton?) with its incredible purity and regal, structured style. Crème de cassis, lead pencil, violets, chalky minerality, and chocolaty oak all emerge on the nose, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, ripe yet perfectly integrated tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It needs air if drinking any time soon and will ideally be given 4-6 years in the cellar. This beauty will have three decades of overall longevity.
View full postThere are roughly 600 cases of the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Roussanne Vieilles Vignes, a 100% Roussanne from very old vines brought up 50% new oak and 50% once-used. It too is flat-out awesome, with honeyed quince, green almond, white flowers, orange liqueur, and a liqueur of rocks-like minerality. It's full-bodied, has a pure, layered mouthfeel, fabulous concentration, and a finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. If you see it, buy it. I don’t see this being the longest-lived vintage of this cuvée, but who cares? It’s sensational stuff.
View full postCanalicchio Di Sopra makes a powerful statement with their release of the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino and puts their stamp on this vintage with confidence. Tasted multiple times, this brooding, layered, and noble wine is jeweled in appearance, pouring a dark ruby/red color, and offers a gorgeous bouquet of black cherry preserve, wildflowers, licorice, cedar, and incense. Moving to the palate, it’s powerfully structured and full-bodied, with rich tannins and great length throughout. A very impressive wine with a flourish of saline and mouthwatering notes of black tea on the finish, it demands time in the cellar and, if stored properly, should age gracefully over the next 15-20 years. Drink 2026-2046.
I met with Francesco Ripaccioli for this report both at his family estate on the north side of Montalcino, as well as here in New York to taste older vintages of Canalicchio di Sopra in January 2024. He, along with his brother and sister, represent the third generation of the estate. Canalicchio is divided between two areas of Montalcino, the first parcel purchased by his grandfather, Primo Pacenti, after World War II, and the second in Montosoli, where they have six hectares of vine that his father purchased in 1958. Today the combined land spans 60 hectares, 19 of which are dedicated to the vineyards, and for their wines, they both combine the terroirs of the two regions as well as make unique expressions for each of the two locations. The rest of the land is committed to biodiversity and to an Agriturismo also on the north side of the Montalcino hill. Their wines show a lot of complexity, with age-worthy potential across all categories, as readers will find in my notes on the library vintages. The (unofficial) sub-zone of Canalicchio is characterized by a particular type of calcareous clay, with a high pH of 8.2, which contributes to a very elegant texture that you can find in the wines coming from the Cassacchia Vineyard. In Montosoli, there is more dry soil with galestro and schist, although it has the same pH. The Montosoli side tends to contribute more structure and salinity to the resulting wines. In the cellar, they ferment the wines separately and produce these three expressions of Brunello as well as Rosso di Montalcino.
View full postA deeper ruby/red color, the 2020 Barolo comes from the same vineyards as the No Name as well as Annunziata and offers more depth and ripeness, with aromas of black raspberries, candied cherries, preserved flowers, sweet herbs, and mossy earth. It has outstanding ripeness and purity and is long on the palate, with all its components coming together, delivering warmth, structure, and freshness. This is pretty serious wine, one of the best blended wines I’ve tasted in this vintage, and it’s going to be hard to beat. Buy it now.
View full postA co-ferment of 92% Syrah and 8% Viognier, the 2021 Syrah SJR Vineyard was fermented with 50-60% whole clusters and spent 14 months mostly in puncheons, 50% being new. Sporting a deep ruby/plum hue, it offers up a serious bouquet of mulled red and black fruits, smoked meats, iron, and savory, peppery, gamey notes. This carries to a full-bodied Syrah with a gorgeous mid-palate, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, ample tannins, and a great finish. It's the most concentrated Syrah I've tasted from this estate, and it deserves 3-4 years of bottle age and will have 15+ of overall longevity.
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