AWARD WINNERS

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This wine drew rave reviews from all of our tasters. It is pale ruby in the glass but don’t let the light color deceive you. Medium plus acid gives this wine great backbone. On the nose is a symphony of fruit: strawberry, red cherry, cranberry, strawberry jam, boysenberry, and blueberries. The fruit then gives way to cedar, eucalyptus bark, smoke, herbs, vanilla, and toast. The palate adds cooked red plum and dried cranberry and soft, medium tannins for a long, lingering finish. A well-balanced, complex, great flavorful ride! 

One of our reviewers called this the best new-world Sauvignon Blanc they had ever tasted. This wine has a pronounced intensity of aroma of tropical fruit, stone fruit, and a hint of citrus: pineapple, lime zest, peach, nectarine, lees (brioche), lychee, and passionfruit. The fruit is layered with an undercurrent of honeysuckle and blossom on the nose. On the palate there is also a nuttiness with almond and a touch of honey, and a slight minerality on the finish. The mouth feel is outstanding: rounded, silky, luxurious, turning to full body as the wine warms up. We recommend taking your time with each glass, so you can see that change. A Chardonnay lover’s Sauvignon Blanc. This is an interesting, outstanding wine. Bravo! 

This full-bodied treasure delivers medium acid and tannin with blackberry, cranberry, black plum, herbs, green bell pepper, clove, and vanilla on the nose. The black fruits carry through to the palate with red cherry, oak, dill, black pepper, with prune, dried blackberry, turned earth, and a hint of almond at the end. Great complexity. Enjoy this now but you can still allow the tertiary flavors to develop over the next few years. 

This wine is your summer go-to. It's bright, fresh, and just downright delicious. Lemon, pear, and honeysuckle, with a hint of apricot, followed by great salinity and mouth feel on the finish. Medium plus acid gives the wine structure and we detect tertiary notes of dried apple and nuttiness. A treat by the pool. 

Joey Tensley does it again with this tour de force, deep purple Syrah. It is a high acid, ripe tannin, full-bodied pleasure. Black cherry, black plum, fresh boysenberries, cassis, violet, sweet notes of blueberry jam, sweet raisin, leather, tobacco, forest floor, mushroom, and black pepper. Full and lush in the mouth. All the structure and complexity you could want in a Syrah. It packs a punch but is wonderfully balanced. We could get lost in that inky swirl and long finish. What’s not to love? 

The grapes are sourced from Coombsville in Napa Valley (50%) and Alexander Valley in Sonoma County (50%). The wine is invitingly deep pink in the glass and has a pronounced intensity of aroma, both floral and fruit. So many identifiable characteristics: blossom, rose petals, elderflower, strawberry, raspberry, orange zest, and a hint of honeydew melon. The palate confirms the nose with the addition of stone fruit and slate picking up steam for a long finish. Good acid structure and medium body give it a great mouthfeel. A complex Rosé to be savored. Winemaker Gerry Martinez hit another home run with this one.

This light, blush-colored rosé is a bottle of summer. 50% Syrah and 50% Grenache. On the nose, there are fragrantly sweet, floral qualities, like honeysuckle, white flower, and cherry blossom. Fruit of pear, apricot, and peaches. This wine has great minerality, a touch of pleasant sweetness from honeydew melon, and a velvety mouthfeel. Overall a well-balanced wine that is enjoyable to drink. And it has a great label! 

A blend of Cinsault (50%), Grenache (43%), Clairette Blanche 5%), and Mourvèdre (2%). Pale pink in the glass with aromatics of apple crisps, peaches, banana, mango, grass, blossom, and easy notes of tangerine. Light and crisp on the palate with a balanced sweetness that features stone and a bit of pepper on the finish. Overall, the tropical fruits and light floral notes make this reminiscent of a lingering tropical vacation. This is a refreshing rosé, and it is so easy to reach for another glass. 

An exceptionally well-made wine, representative of the best Napa Valley has to offer. Swirl the deep purple and experience the pronounced intensity of the aroma. Blackberry jam, black currant, mint, violet, licorice, leather, forest floor, farmyard, cedar, smoke, and chocolate. It is a tertiary carnival! This wine is in its prime and the tannic structure is evident but well integrated. Solid acid shows it still has years to offer. A standout among incredibly impressive peers. 

Matt Espiro Jaeger‘s Fuil Wines returns to the winner’s circle again this year with a Chardonnay from six different vineyards in Santa Rita Hills. The wine is pale lemon in color with aromas of pear, green apple, Meyer lemon, grapefruit, and blossom. The aroma is so good one of our tasters declared that she’d like to wear some on her neck! The fruit is fresh on the palate, supported by high acid, and finishes with a hint of lavender, butter, caramel, and minerality. A great picnic wine with an apple, cheese, and cracker board. 

After taking home Best in Class Red Blend in 2022, La Mesa Vineyards is back with a Best in Class Primitivo. This wine is medium garnet in color with good viscosity. Primary aromas and flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cassis, a bit of red fruit, and black pepper. Solid fruit development showing now with fig, raisin, and dried cherries. Pleasant secondary aroma and flavor of vanilla. This is a complex wine, exhibiting lots of tertiary characteristics: game, meat, leather, wet leaves, earth, and mushroom. Medium acid and tannin, but plays bigger than that with a medium plus mouth feel and a full finish. A wine that makes you think, and that’s a good thing! 

Orange wine is NOT made from oranges. It comes from leaving the juice of white grapes in contact with the skin for a period of time (not typically done in white wine production), thereby extracting color. The profile is different than either a red wine or a white wine. Orange wine is gaining in popularity as more producers are adding this style to their portfolios. Not unexpectedly, the 2022 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Orange is medium orange in the glass with medium acid and even a bit of tannin, which can surprise first-time drinkers. First aromas are floral, followed by lemon zest, orange rind, eucalyptus, and wood varnish. The palate shows orange zest and pecan, with honey on the end. A nice harmony of flavor. Drink outside the box and give it a try! 

Pét Nat is short for pétillant naturel and is the oldest form of sparkling winemaking. It involves a single fermentation with the wine placed in the bottle while still fermenting. The result is typically a fruitier style with less fizz than sparkling wines that undergo a second fermentation. The 2022 Rockets Red Fizzion Pet Nat is pitch perfect for this style: strawberries, red cherry, freshly cut apples, citrus, peaches, and blossom, with tiny bubbles. Fruity, harmonious, refreshing fun in a bottle. Jordan, our marketing director, while not an official taster, declared it her new favorite sparkling. This makes it a clean sweep for Jason Mergenov, whose wines won Best in Class for both of his entries. 

Port/late harvest/dessert wine is just a fun category, with many more expressions in California than most may realize. The best we tasted was the Sonoma Portworks (this producer had several impressive entries) Maduro Reserve Tawny Port from the Clarksburg AVA. Tawny comes from the color in the glass and this wine has a pronounced intensity of aroma and flavor. Nose of caramel, butterscotch, walnut, marzipan, toffee, apricot, plum, raisin, nutmeg, and nuts. On the palate it is like a stack of buttermilk pancakes with the Vermont maple syrup and whipped butter. Full, velvety mouthfeel with a nutty finish. Silky smooth. Dessert in a glass.

Chillable red wine is nothing new; Beaujolais has taken it to an art form using the Gamay grape. However, the Rosé craze of the last decade has created a spin-off: chilled reds from grapes not typically served at other than “room temperature.” This category is now popping up at wine competitions as this style has gained quite a following. The Best in Class for our 2023 Under the Radar California competition is the 2022 Tábla Solas Nua Chilled Red Wine Santa Barbara County. This wine is made from 2/3 Mourvèdre and 1/3 Viognier and has the right acidic backbone and fruit-driven profile to best serve chilled. But the color, oh the color! Red wine colors typically fall into four categories: ruby, purple, garnet, and tawny. Matt Espiro Jaeger’s Solas Nua creates its own color category: magenta. It is striking in the glass because it is unique. Aromas and flavors of summer berries, cherry blossom, dragon fruit, violet, kirsch, lime zest, and a hint of pepper. It is light and refreshing, but with a medium tannic structure to give it complexity. It is, seemingly, ever so slightly effervescent, and showcases minerality and black cherry on the finish. This is a wine you must have for the summer. Tábla joins Rocket Red Wines in winning Best in Class for both of their entries. 

For the second year in a row, La Mesa Vineyards ties for Best in Class Red Blend, this time for the 2020 Seta Estate Reserve Red Wine Amador County, a blend of 75% Primitivo and 25% Petite Sirah. The wine is a beautiful deep ruby with a medium plus intensity of aroma. There are a myriad of descriptors, showing primary, secondary, and tertiary characteristics: red currant, black plum, bramble, blueberry, violet, charred wood, red currant leaf, tomato leaf, nutmeg, cedar, earth, wet leaves, leather, and coffee. We just love the complexity, and after 30 minutes the flavors intensify. The wine has medium plus acid, high tannin, and is full bodied, yet soft on the mid palate. For those who love to see a wine change in the glass, take your time with this one. It is fantastic now and has a lot of years of enjoyment left. 

Michael Speakman‘s Westerly Wines is a consistent leader in producing premium wine at prices much less than his competitors. Fletcher’s Red is a Bordeaux blend of 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Malbec, 13% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot. A big, bold wine that leads with intense aromas of spice, molasses, and licorice, opening up to lovely dark berries with hints of raisin, brown sugar, and earth. Layers of complexity building to a long finish. This well-balanced, full-bodied wine has medium plus acid and tannin and is easy to savor to the last sip. Winemaking at its finest. 

Barbera is a grape variety grown mainly in the Asti region of Italy and is characterized by high acid, low to medium tannins, and red cherry flavor. The 2020 La Mesa Barbera displays this varietal typicity. Its high acid delivers the fresh red cherry flavors to the palate. The wine follows with red plum, strawberry, violet, fennel, spice, peppercorn, and a touch of vanilla from its slight French oak infusion. Tertiary flavors of dried red fruit are just starting to emerge, showing this wine has versatility. The high acid and fresh cherry flavors make it a pleasure to drink now but it also has solid medium tannin and will age well as the fresh fruit turns dry and the impression of alcohol is lowered. While Barbera can often be made in simple expressions (mainly for early drinking) this wine has good complexity and a long, powerful finish. Give it a try! 

Vermentino is a dry white wine grown mainly in Sardinia and Tuscany that has medium plus acid, medium minus body, and displays green apple, citrus, and floral notes. This top expression from St. Avalo transports their drinkers to Italy with a California twist. The nose is floral, with white blossom, then leads to green apple, pear, sweet grapefruit, lemon, and even a hint of nectarine building toward tropical notes. The wine is bright and fresh. There was is great salinity and mouthfeel and shows almond on the long finish. Floral and zesty. Delicious and Refreshing. A pleasure to drink.