• California,  Chalk Hill,  Chardonnay,  Exceptional White

    Exceptional White

    Chalk Hill 2020 Estate Chardonnay A Fav! Medium lemon color with aromas of stone fruits, spice, floral, cedar, biscuits and citrus. On the palate flavors of apple, pear & ripe apricot with citrus zest, honeysuckle and nutty toasty oak notes, rich with creamy tones. Smooth, long finish, well balanced with acidity, ending with fruit and integrated creamy oak. Nice! Cheers!    

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Exceptional Red,  Exceptional White,  Merlot,  Monterey County,  Napa,  Pinot Noir,  Santa Lucia Highlands

    Exceptional Selections

                      2017 MerSoleil Silver Chardonnay   2017 Emmolo Napa Merlot 2017 MerSoleil Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir In 1971 Charlie Wagner and his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner asked their son Charles (Chuck) Wagner, who had just graduated from high school, if he would be interested in joining them in starting up a winery. If Chuck declined the offer, Charlie and Lorna were planning to sell out of their ranch in Napa Valley and move to Australia. Chuck accepted his parents’ offer to launch the winery, Caymus Vineyards. The Wagners produced their first vintage in 1972, consisting of 240 cases of…

  • California,  Carneros,  Cellar Selection,  Chardonnay,  Napa,  Petite Sirah,  Syrah

    Cellar Selections

                 2017 Napa Carneros Red Shoulder Ranch    Shafer 2016 Napa Relentless Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres. From a modest beginning of 1,000 cases in 1978, the winery has grown steadily until…

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Grenache,  Mourvedre,  Pinot Blanc,  Sonoma,  Syrah,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selections

            2018 California Rose                      2015 Sonoma County Chardonnay In 1983, Nancy and Ray Coursen arrived in California from Cape Cod to fulfill Ray’s dream of making wine and Nancy’s taste for adventure. After working harvest at Mt. Eden Winery in Saratoga, they moved to Napa Valley and became innkeepers for a bed and breakfast. Ray then spent productive time at Tonella Vineyard Management, where he gained practical knowledge and perspective working in the vineyards. Ray’s 9-year tenure at Whitehall Lane Winery under the tutelage of Art Finkelstein, beginning as a cellar worker and then as head winemaker,…

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Exceptional White,  Napa,  Sauvignon Blanc,  Sonoma

    Exceptional Whites

                  2018 Napa Sauvignon Blanc   2016 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay                                                                            Pastorale Vineyard Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa Valley. In 1999, the Phelps family added 100 acres of vineyard property near the town of Freestone on the Sonoma Coast, where…

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Exceptional White,  Napa,  Sauvignon Blanc

    Exceptional Whites

                      Heitz Cellars 2016 Napa Chardonnay & 2018 Napa Sauvignon Blanc In 1961, Joe and Alice Heitz purchased their first vineyard, 8 acres just south of St. Helena.  Working out of their small California winery attached to the land they purchased, they put in round-the-clock sweat equity to build their business.  Heitz Cellars rapidly established a reputation as home base for one of the Napa Valley’s most innovative and brilliant winemakers, and the unassuming winery soon became a prestigious destination for wine connoisseurs.  In 1964, Heitz acquired 160-acre parcel in Spring Valley and began sharpening his skills on Cabernet Sauvignon, and in 1965, by chance, acquired a small vineyard in…

  • Burgundy,  Cellar Selection,  Chardonnay,  France

    Cellar Selection

    Louis Latour Premier Cru Meursault-Blagny 2016 The winery was the first purpose-built cuverie in France and remains the oldest still-functioning. A unique railway system with elevators allows the entire wine-making process to be achieved by the use of gravity. This eliminates the threat of oxidation from unnecessary pumping of the must. Situated just south of Volnay and Pommard in the Côte de Beaune, Meursault is the most extensive southerly white wine commune of the Côte-d’Or. Surprisingly enough for an appellation of this quality, no Grand Cru exists, however the high quality of the 1er Cru (Premier Cru) more then compensates for this. An exclusive of Maison Louis Latour, the vineyards…

  • Cabernet Sauvignon,  California,  Cellar Selection,  Chardonnay,  Napa,  Sonoma

    Cellar Selection

    Sill Family Vineyards très Rosé de Chardonnay 2017 Sill Family Vineyards is a family-owned and operated exquisite boutique winery with estate vineyards producing ultra-premium, very limited production carefully hand-crafted wines.  As a Court of Master Sommelier, Winemaker, Igor Sill became passionate about Bordeaux wines after being introduced to Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Haut-Brion and Château Lafite Rothschild in the late 1970s by H. Lyman Emerson, a renaissance gentleman and noted fine wine collector. A little about the old history of the Estate: The Sill Family vineyards has a long history dating back to the early 1800s where the Wappo Indians, a Native American Indian Tribe inhabited the Napa Valley…

  • California,  Cellar Selection,  Chardonnay,  Sonoma

    Cellar Selection

    Sill Family Vineyards très Chardonnay 2017 Sill Family Vineyards is a family-owned and operated exquisite boutique winery with estate vineyards producing ultra-premium, very limited production, carefully hand-crafted wines.  As a Court of Master Sommelier, Winemaker Igor Sill became passionate about Bordeaux wines after being introduced to Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Haut-Brion and Château Lafite Rothschild in the late 1970s by H. Lyman Emerson, a renaissance gentleman and noted fine wine collector. Sill owns and operates two distinctive vineyards, Atlas Peak Mountain vineyard located on a plateau 1,650 feet above sea level, and St. Helena terraced vineyard.  The St. Helena vineyard, a half-acre vineyard, planted by famed vineyard manager, Michael…

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection

    Tasting Room Selection

    Barden Wines Chardonnay 2016 (by Margerum Wine Company) In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I…