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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1986 Joseph Phelps Insignia94RPThis surprisingly rich, dark garnet-colored Insignia displays notes of cedarwood, tobacco leaf, black currants, graphite and damp earth. Medium to full-bodied with remarkable densi..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $359.00 -
1987 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard96JG(Cabernet Sauvignon “Martha’s Vineyard”- Heitz Wine Cellars) The 1987 Martha’s Vineyard hails back to the time when the labels stated 13.5 percent alcohol, ..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $529.00 -
1987 Silverado Napa Cabernet Sauvignon92WSSmooth, ripe and harmonious, with layers of black cherry, plum, currant and anise, finishing with a smooth texture and a long, lingering aftertaste.--1987 California Cabernet horiz..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $239.00 -
1995 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon97RPA blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, and the last wine made by Pam Starr at Rombauer Vineyards, the 1995 offers worthy competition to the magnificent 1994, whic..." Learn MoreAs low as $289.00 -
1996 Pahlmeyer Merlot97RPThe 1996 Merlot (3,000 cases) is a worthy rival. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, this blend of 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc tips the scales at a heady 14.6% alcohol. Could it b..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $249.00 -
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 Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate98RPThere are 10,200 cases of the remarkable 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. Opaque purple-colored with a dense, chewy, full-bodied personality, it displays abundant cassis, mineral, a..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $1,399.00 -
1997 Opus One100DECJumps out of the glass, another one that stands out among the very best in the line-up; intense, well integrated flavours, blackberry, menthol, black olive, spiced rosemary and liq..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $690.00 -
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 -
1999 Pahlmeyer Merlot94WSA mouthful of wine that packs in lots of rich, deep, plush and concentrated flavors, with tiers of currant, blackberry, raspberry and wild berry fruit. Well-integrated tannins smoo..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $175.00 -
2003 Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon100RPA perfect effort is the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Keyes Vineyard from Howell Mountain. There are 524 cases of this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Its extraordinary perfume of graphite, spr..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $359.00 -
2007 Abreu Cappella97RPDeep garnet in color with a touch of purple, the 2007 Cappella Proprietary Red needs just a little coaxing to begin, but it soon opens out with flamboyant crème de cassis, m..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $449.00 -
2007 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon98RPThe flagship wine, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard 29 Estate, is an extraordinary effort. Performing even better than it did last year from barrel, this 100% Cabernet Sauvigno..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $539.00 -
2008 Cain Five96JSPlenty of spicy dried berries, iodine and light earth. Bark and lead pencil, too. Medium to full body and firm, polished tannins. Savory, so complex and long. 61% cabernet sauvigno..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $125.00 -
2009 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon97AGThe 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is one of the great wines of the vintage. It brings together gorgeous aromatics, juicy, expressive red fruit and silky tannins. Now seem..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $679.00 -
2010 Futo98AGThe flagship 2010 Futo is rich, deep and implosive. Layers of dark red fruit, mocha, licorice, spices and leather all flesh out in a dark, brooding wine loaded with class and perso..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $635.00 -
2010 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard96AGNot surprisingly, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard is the least expressive of these wines. At the same time, so much of its appeal is in its tightly-coiled energy and ..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $279.00 -
2010 Martinelli Vellutini Ranch Zinfandel92WSThis is dense and quite ripe, but backs it up with great intensity and structure. Aromas of blackberry pie and fresh cracked pepper lead to fleshy black cherry, licorice and carame..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $58.95 -
2012 Ovid Hexameter96AGThe 2012 Hexameter is radiant, supple and wonderfully expressive. Lifted and nuanced, with sweet red berry fruit, cinnamon, mint, cedar and new leather. A wine of precision and nua..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $235.00 -
2013 Calera de Villiers Vineyard Mt Harlan Pinot Noir95AGThe 2013 Pinot Noir de Villiers Vineyard is intense, pure and brilliant. Dark red cherry, blood orange, lavender, mint, star anise and wild flowers give the de Villiers an exotic e..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $99.00 -
2013 Calera Mills Vineyard Mt. Harlan Pinot Noir95RPJensen's 2013 Pinot Noir Mills Vineyard is a beauty! It possesses a medium ruby color and sumptuous notes of mulled cherries, raspberries, dusty earth, spice box and wild herbs. Me..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $99.00 -
2013 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Trailer Vineyard100DECThe Dunns' Trailer Vineyard, perched high on Howell Mountain at around 2,100 ft, was planted in 1972 with a low-yielding selection Cabernet Sauvignon and finally replanted after th..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $599.00 -
2013 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard96WEFrom Tom and Martha May's famous, organically farmed site in the heart of the appellation, this is a blockbuster vintage of the 100% varietal wine, immaculately structured and full..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $279.00 -
2013 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard100JDWhile the Pinot Noir lags behind its 2012 counterpart, the same can’t be said about the 2013 Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard. Utter perfection in wine, this awesome beauty boas..." Learn MoreFormats Available:As low as $799.00
