California Wines

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The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is sensational. Powerful and deep, there is almost no sensation of tannin, but it’s all there. Graphite, inky dark fruit, menthol, licorice, chocolate and sage are some of the many notes that infuse the 2023 with its character and personality. This is one of the most captivating wines I have tasted from Russell Bevan.Vinous Media | 98-100 VMThe 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard has a similar inky purple/ruby hue to go with sensational aromatics of red, blue, and black fruit as well as crushed stone, iron, baking spice, and leather. This wine is dense, rich, and full-bodied, with a monster of a palate, ripe tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It’s going to require just a few years in the cellar, but this is another tour de force from Bevan.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-100 JDBevan’s 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard comes from a site in eastern Oakville, alongside the Silverado Trail. This vintage shows Ribena-like purity in its cassis aromas, plus a delicate hint of dried sage. It’s full-bodied on the palate, chunky and intense but maybe lacking a bit of finesse compared to some other years. At this level of quality that’s a quibble, as it’s concentrated and long on the finish, a super example of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink well for close to two decades.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RP

Based on 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Franc, the 2023 Ontogeny shows ripe, sexy levels of blue fruits, darker chocolate, graphite, and even a kiss of minerality. It’s full-bodied, round, lush, and layered, with sweet tannins and a pleasure-bent profile that’s hard to resist. Drink this hedonistic pleasure bomb over the coming 15+ years. As always, this is an absolute brilliant Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that more than delivers the goods. Drink 2025-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2023 Red Wine Ontogeny is bold, punchy and super expressive. A blast of super ripe dark cherry fruit/plum fruit, spice, tobacco and chocolate are all beautifully amplified. Ontogeny delivers tons of Bevan personality and character. Floral and savory overtones extend the long, polished finish. The 2023 benefits from the inclusion of a few lots that I tasted last year separately that were later added into the blend, most notably the two Cabernets from Phelan Vineyard that I reviewed from barrel.Vinous Media | 94 VM

From the Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria and aged 16 months in 65% new French oak, the 2023 Chardonnay Le Souvenir Sierra Madre Vineyard delivers Chassagne-Montrachet minerality and white flowers, with beautiful stone and citrus fruits. Medium-bodied, it has a vibrant, pure, focused mouthfeel and salty minerality on the finish. It’s another incredibly classy, pure, seamless Chardonnay from Lato that does everything right. Drink 2025-2032.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2023 Chardonnay Sierra Madre Vineyard Le Souvenir has great energy and vibrancy, marrying the reductive, flinty house style with a wash of salty acidity that enlivens the palate. Chamomile, mango, mint and sweet cream unfurl in a voluptuous, full-bodied Chardonnay with real sensuality.Vinous Media | 95 VM

A tangy and fresh wine with intense flavors of sliced apples, lemons and limes. Medium-bodied with very fine phenolics for a Wente clone chardonnay, giving it length and structure. Complex and refined. Minerally, with a botanical character almost like a gin and tonic. Dense on the mid-palate. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 97 JSA straw yellow color, the 2023 Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge offers more depth on the nose, with more polished notes of baking spice, frangipane, lemon curd, beeswax, and melon. The palate is full-bodied, with a bright and persistent spine of acidity that carves through its more supple ripe texture, it has a mouthwatering, salty finish. It’s tightly wound and needs another 6-12 months in bottle. Drink 2026-2038. For my taste, I would drink the Sonoma Coast bottling over this, but it’s certainly exceptional and impossible to deny.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDLayered and lifted, this vintage of Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge is a striking expression of its far-coast origin - a stunning estate in one of the most rugged landscapes of the West Sonoma Coast. It opens with a touch of a welcome flintiness and subtle sweet white florals. Notes of saline-dried seaweed and perfumed mandarin peel bring brightness and tension, cutting through richer tones of twice-baked almond croissant and a drizzle of honey. The palate is generous, medium to full-bodied, with a well-balanced mix of citrus and baking spices, beautifully complemented by its coastal acidity—a delicious wine with depth, energy, and clear potential to age gracefully.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECAromas of white flowers, fresh linen, apple and citrus blossom jump from the glass on the nose of this Chard. The palate is a layered and concentrated affair, with flavors of tangerine, pear, cinnamon and white flowers that expand across the finish.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEShows wonderful precision, with complementary flavors of pear, Meyer lemon, yuzu and lime sherbet. The structure is equally impressive, offering density and Himalayan sea salt notes that add an appealing grip on the finish, where aromatics of vetiver, lemon balm and lemon thyme linger. Drink now through 2038. 1,200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 94 WSThe 2023 Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge was matured in 25% new French oak puncheons. It has slowly opening aromas of peach, beeswax, orange peel and saline. The medium-bodied palate is satiny and expansive with pure flavors. Its firm, linear acidity brings it back into focus, and it has a very long, expressive finish. 1,200 cases were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

The 2023 Waterstone Cabernet Sauvignon is a bold yet refined Napa Valley classic, brimming with layers of ripe blackberry, cassis, and dark cherry wrapped in notes of espresso, dark chocolate, and cedar spice. Full-bodied and elegant, it delivers plush fruit balanced by fine-grained tannins and a long, lingering finish that speaks to both power and polish. Impressive now with decanting, yet built to age gracefully, this Cabernet is the perfect choice to elevate a special dinner.Sokolin Tasting Panel | 95 SP

Brilliant and worthy of comparison to top Pinot Noirs and Burgundies, the 2023 Pinot Noir offers a gorgeous array of red and black fruits intermixed with forest floor, dried flowers, baking spices, and leather. This medium to full-bodied Pinot Noir reveals a layered, elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. Made with 30% whole clusters and fermented in oak tanks before 11 months in 65% new French oak, it shows the softer, supple, incredibly charming style of the vintage and will drink beautifully over the coming 10-12 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JDThis always attention-grabbing bottling shows a slightly lighter shade this vintage, which sets up a very cellar-worthy experience. Juicy aromas of cherry sorbet topped with tarragon leaf make for a super inviting nose. The texturally firm palate picks up strawberry, mint and loam-caked mushroom, pairing fruit and earth expertly. Drink now-2043.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WEThe 2023 Pinot Noir Estate Cuvée is a beautiful, super-finessed wine. This year marks the first inclusion of fruit from the newest vineyard in the Pisoni/Franscioni portfolio—WindRock—which joins the typical lineup of Pisoni, Garys’ and Soberanes. The 2023 is a model of elegance. Floral-inflected notes of blood orange, lavender and sweet spices build in a broad yet focused, supple, velvety Pinot Noir. The finish lasts long beyond each sip. Everything here speaks to refinement, polish and poise.Vinous Media | 95 VM

From three vineyards in the Deep End of the Anderson Valley, it’s loaded with forest character and beautiful wild florals. Wild roses, lavender and salty notes of blood orange, sweet earth and crushed stone.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2023 Pinot Noir The Fog-Eater is made from grapes grown at high-elevation Clow Ridge and Valenti, where getting grapes ripe always has to contend with the fog, mingling spicy red fruit and citrus over a perfumed, savory, and textured palate of tremendous refinement and lasting freshness. Some whole-cluster doesn’t detract from the overall prettiness and transparency of the wine, adding just a hint of stemmy intrigue and a light-bodied joie de vivre. There’s structure and tannin but not too much. Drink now through 2033.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDAn aromatic and pretty wine with earth, wild herbs, mint and bay leaves on the nose. It’s fresh, with cleansing acidity that’s elegant and lifted. Cascading tannins in the finish. Medium-bodied. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 95 JSThe 2023 Pinot Noir The Fog-Eater is an absolute delight. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, chalk, mint and white pepper are all beautifully lifted in this understated, ethereal Pinot. Gracious and inviting, The Fog-Eater captures the restrained, nuanced side of the year in style.Vinous Media | 91 VMThe 2023 Pinot Noir “Fog Eater” from Drew Family Cellars is crafted from fruit sourced from three different northern Anderson Valley vineyards: Clow Ridge, Fashauer and Valenti Ranch. The soils here are sandstone and decomposing shale, with overnight fogs keeping evening temperatures low. The wine comes in at 13.5 percent octane in 2023 and included twenty percent whole clusters. The bouquet is bright, nicely red fruity and shows lovely transparency down to the soils, delivering notes of cherries, beetroot, fresh herb tones, gamebird, a fine base of soil, a nice touch of whole clusters, cedar and a lovely smoky topnote of distant bonfire. On the palate the wine is bright, young and full, with a good core of fruit, excellent soil inflection and grip, tangy acids, fine focus and grip and a long, nascently complex and very well balanced finish. This is going to be a fine bottle once it has softened up its tannins properly. (Drink between 2035 - 2075)John Gilman | 91+ JG

Based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot and aged 20 months in 40% new French oak, the 2023 Dominus is absolutely gorgeous, with an incredible level of purity and refinement. Cassis, graphite, crushed stone, melted crayons, and floral nuances all define the aromatics. It’s medium to full-bodied, with seamless, refined elegance, ultra-fine tannins, beautiful mid-palate depth, and outstanding length. This more charming, forward, and seductive style of Dominus will offer incredible appeal over the next 20-25 years or more. Drink 2025-2050.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2023 Dominus is a very pretty, surprisingly open-knit wine from this estate. Soft contours wrap around a core of pliant red/purplish fruit. Lavender, rose petal and gently spiced overtones caress the mid-palate and finish. I expect the 2023 will drink well with minimal cellaring, something that is rarely the case here.Vinous Media | 96 VM