California Wines
California Wines
With a history of wine production that dates back to the 18th century, California currently sits as one of the world’s most prolific and reputable wine regions. With an area as vast as California, you can expect a colorful collage of terroir profiles, a series of microclimates, and micro-environments that give the wine a unique, memorable appeal. The region’s produce is far from homogenized in that sense, and it would take you countless hours to sample all of it.
While the region boasts scars from the Prohibition era, it went through what can only be described as a viticultural Renaissance sometime after the 1960s. At that point, California went from a port-style, sweet wine region to a versatile and compelling competitor on the world market. Today, no matter which way your taste in wine leans, you can find a new favorite producer among California’s most talented.
Notable sub-regions include legendary names like Napa Valley and Sonoma County, places that any wine lover worth their salt would die to visit. California’s quintessential warm climate allows for incredibly ripe fruit expressions, a style that provides a stark contrast to Old World-inspired, earthy classics. Even where inspiration was clearly taken from staple French appellations, Californian winemakers put their own unique spin on the wine, making it feel like a unique, standalone piece, rather than a derivative.
A New World region rises to join its viticultural forebears. Its meteoric rise to fame has been nothing short of stunning, and today California can compete with the world’s most prominent wine regions.
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1987 Dominus96RPThere were 6,500 cases produced of this classic example of Dominus. It is one of the great wines of the vintage in a year when a handful of California producers made profound Caber..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $2,049.00 -
1990 Opus One96WSDramatic, with its ripe, rich, plush core of exotic currant, anise, cedar, vanilla and berry notes that are enormously complex on the finish. Delicious.--Opus One vertical. Drink n..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $485.00 -
1990 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon94RPThis wine is just beginning to drink spectacularly well. The rustic, big, thick 1990 is Californian in its orientation. It is loaded with flavor, but the tannin is coarser when com..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $1,325.00 -
1990 Dominus98RPThis spectacularly complex, rich wine magically combines the finest elements of Napa Valley (strength, ripeness, and full body) with those of Bordeaux (finesse, elegance, and compl..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $2,899.00 -
1994 Abreu96WSMassive, rich and deeply flavored, packed with complex currant, mineral, spice, sage and cedary oak flavors and chewy but polished tannins. This one will require some patience. Bes..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $259.00 -
1995 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon95RPA blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc, the 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa has turned out even better than the 1994. It possesses a more saturated ruby/purple color,..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $165.00 -
1995 Abreu97VMDavid Abreu's 1995 Madrona Ranch was breathtaking. It burst from the glass with tremendous length and layers of voluptuous, ripe fruit. Though still a youngster, the 1995 was immen..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $225.00 -
1995 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red96RPPahlmeyer's proprietary red table wine tends to be Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated (usually 80-85%) with small portions of Malbec, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. The 1995 P..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $479.00 -
1995 Joseph Phelps Insignia98RPA wine of great intensity and richness, it displays classic notes of licorice, barbecue smoke, creme de cassis, cedarwood and forest floor. Full-bodied with sensational purity, a m..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $289.00 -
1995 Dominus94DECThe 1995 Dominus is very much cut from the same cloth as the 1994, with a deep bouquet of baked black cherry, cassis, truffle and rich loamy soil, and a full-bodied, powerful and r..." Learn MoreAs low as $249.00 -
As low as $1,799.00 -
1996 Dominus95RPThe 1996 Dominus, a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot, tips the scales at 14.2% alcohol. Although this offering lacks the power, i..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $285.00 -
1996 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon94RPThe saturated purple-colored 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard offers an attractive nose of black fruits intermixed with toast, minerals, subtle tar, and wood smoke. Full-bod..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $219.00 -
1997 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon98RPThe 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon has to be one of the great buys left for profound Napa Cabernet. He’s done the aging for you, and of course the wine is still an adolescent in ter..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $845.00 -
1997 Caymus Special Selection94W&SNo written review provided. | 94 W&S..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $299.00 -
1997 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red98RPThe finest proprietary red produced by Pahlmeyer to date is their 1997 (a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and the rest Petit-Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec). Produ..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $589.00 -
1997 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon93WEEarthy, meaty and spicy-it's what Napa Cabernet is supposed to be. Perfectly balanced, smooth and totally correct, it has cherry and chocolate in spades and lots of grip. In the en..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $159.00 -
1997 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon92+VMFull ruby-red. Expressive nose combines black raspberry, currant, black cherry, chocolate, tobacco and sandalwood. Lush and sweet but fresh, with a firm edge of acidity giving shap..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $649.00 -
1997 Dominus95VMSaturated ruby-red. Multidimensional nose offers a panoply of scents: black plum, currant, leather, smoked meat, cigar ash, lead pencil, sandalwood, dark chocolate, licorice, brown..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $319.00 -
1997 Abreu100RPAs I reported last year, the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch is a perfect Cabernet Sauvignon. It has been in bottle for over a year, and this wine, like all the others, has e..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $565.00 -
1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia100RPAn inky/plum/purple color is accompanied by a stunning bouquet of violets, charcoal, creme de cassis and a hint of toast. Prodigious when it hits the palate with a full-bodied expa..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $995.00 -
1998 Bryant Family93RPThe 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill is a fine wine. While it does not reveal much weight, it is a dense plum/purple-colored, big, thick, concentrated effort. Evolved aromas ..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $349.00 -
1998 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon92RPThe 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard was bottled earlier than usual as this vintage is not as massive or concentrated as its predecessors. To my palate, the 1998 is good, al..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $165.00 -
1999 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon97WSRich, earthy, decadent aromas are intense and enormously concentrated, with sharply focused, currant, pencil lead, mineral, sage and dusty berry flavors that offer uncommon depth a..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $989.00 -
1999 Abreu93RPThe 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch (90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Merlot) exhibits a saturated purple color in addition to a gorgeous bouquet of espresso..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $219.00