Full of brambleberries, bruised cherries and rose hips with rich aromas and flavors of scorched earth, black licorice and allspice. Substantial yet lively, especially through the finish. Long, supple and structural tannins elongate, promising over a decade of easy aging. Drink or hold.

Perfumed with rose hips and hibiscus with a succulent yet chiseled mouthfeel. So long on the palate, showing pomegranate, cranberries, red tea and a pop of citrus. Amazing precision fans out with aromatic layers through the endless finish. Drink or hold.

Vibrating with an inner core of energy but supple and filigreed at the same time. There’s a distinctly Burgundian character here as crushed-rock, mineral and turmeric-powder aromas and flavors dust Meyer lemons and a kiss of white flowers through the finish. So complete. Drink or hold.

The 2024 Ovitelli Grenache is a confluence of two important elements: the first is the warm
year defined by amplitude and florals, and the second is the process of maturation,
whereby this wine is matured exclusively in concrete egg, which emphasizes the austerity
of the tannins and enhances the focus of the palate. Together, the wine looks both supple
and tightly coiled, and it bears all the hallmarks of aging impressively well over the week it
has been open, and decades into the future too. This is a super wine.

The 2014 Grenache High Sands is bloody, floral and ferruginous. The palate is sapid, ample
and wide, with great nuance. The season was hot, but the wine is energetic and fresh and
has such tannic presence in the mouth. This is a super wine. This is proof, along with the
2011 (cold and wet) that it is a mistake to write off vintages, especially in the case of a
single-vineyard wine, when one would do well to consider vintage variation merely as a lens
through which to view the vineyard DNA.

The 2015 Grenache High Sands is meaty and savory, with a core of freshness on the palate.
This is more in line with some other Grenaches I have seen outside of Yangarra this week—
i.e., perhaps is less "Yangarra-like" in its styling. But all elements of it are impressive,
especially the length of flavor. It's a sleeper, perhaps. This came from low yields and has a
low pH, and the wine looks quite like Nebbiolo in that it is structural and intense, but it is
super fine. There are notes of asphalt, petrichor and rose petals. There's an effortlessness
here that I find most beguiling. It's silky.

The 2016 High Sands Grenache was Australian wine critic James Halliday's Wine of the
Year in 2019, and it caused a stir in that it was the first time a Grenache had attracted the
accolade of Best Wine of the Year. The 2015 was named Grenache of the Year the year
prior, which caused a stir in itself. It's a wine used to these kinds of accolades, and for good
reason. Here, the wine is silky and composed, with great restraint and finesse. The tannins
coalesce at the back of the palate, and this is a beautiful wine, polished and powerful and
great. There are notes of pomegranate molasses, raspberry, blood plum, licorice, fennel
and leather

The 2018 High Sands Grenache comes from a warmer year, and almost all the red wines
made in South Australia have a powerful fruit presence that appeals to me. 2018 is perhaps
a little less complex than other vintages within that decade, but that attribute takes a back
seat to the pleasure and texture I find, almost across the board. This wine exactly typifies
the conditions of the 2018 season: it is powerful and effortless in its thrust of fruit flavor,
and I find it difficult to care that it doesn't have as many variations of "rose" or "asphalt" as,
say, the 2017, 2016 or 2015 tasted before it. It's just straight-up delicious, and it's polished
too.

I won't re-review this 2023 High Sands Grenache, as I have only just published its score and
note at the end of May 2025, but for the purpose of context in this vertical of 2012–2024,
the wine exudes all the fragrant perfume of the 2023 vintage. I like the 2023s more and
more, and I find them to be fine, firm, fragrant and finessed. What I will say is that perhaps I
undercooked the potential drinking window, which via this vertical has now revealed itself
to be around the 30-year mark. This, in the trio of cold vintages (2011, 2017, 2023), is my
preferred vintage by a margin.

Lokoya's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain combines fruit from two sites:
Rhyolite Ridge, a south-facing site at 800 feet above sea level with powdery volcanic soils,
and Wallis Vineyard, about 300 feet higher, characterized by more sedimentary rock.
Scents of crushed stone and pencil shavings accent notes of sage, bay, cassis and
blueberry on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is creamy and lush, framed by finegrained tannins and revealing great intensity and length on the finish.

A very elegant, well-balanced and silky merlot, full-bodied but sleek and complete. Aromas of cherries, raspberries, violets and cedar meet flavors of red currants, star anise, cloves and dark chocolate. Fine tannins and subtle oak spices last from the mid-palate through a lingering, delicious, cinnamon-spiced finish. The blend contains 6% malbec and 4% cabernet franc. Aged in all-new French barrels. Drinkable now and best from 2032.

Broad, mouth-filling, ripe and rich, with dark fruits like blackcurrants and blueberries on velvety tannins. A full body carries generous chocolate and dark spice flavors, showing impressive breadth and a meaty, almost chewy texture. Expands in power on the palate without losing balance, and lingers long in the finish. Made from cabernet sauvignon and lesser portions of cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. Drinkable now and best from 2032.

The 2022 Le Désir is a blend of 80% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec that matured for 16 months in 95% new French oak. It demands plenty of time in the glass before revealing pure, complex aromas of red and black cherries, tobacco, garrigue, grilled meats, soy sauce and lilac perfume, plus compelling ferrous undertones. The full-bodied palate features enveloping, detailed flavors. It has a seamless structure of velvety tannins and bright acidity and a long, layered finish. It should be long lived in the cellar.

Based on 100% Pinot Noir that was not destemmed and was aged 15 months in 100% neutral
oak barrels, the 2023 Pinot Noir Perilune is another Vosne-Romanée look-alike, offering riveting
red and black fruit, leafy herbs, underbrush, and rose petals, with that telltale iodine/marine-like
character of the appellation. It's beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, polished, and
seamless, expanding gracefully on the finish with velvety tannins. This is an absolute joy to drink
and should have 10-15 years of longevity. Drink 2025-2040.

Raised 15 months in 100% neutral oak barrels, the 2023 Chardonnay Perilune offers exotic citrus, kumquat, flower oil, and chalky, crushed stone and oyster shell nuances. Incredibly complex, medium-bodied, and layered, with beautifully integrated acidity and a clean, crisp, yet rich and lengthy finish, it's a remarkable Chardonnay in the vintage to drink over the coming decade. Drink 2025-2035.

Bright, lifted, vibrant and engaging, with lots of charm and personality. Floral, with a lovely signature of iris. Incense and cordite too. And a little spark of flint. Plump damson and bramble fruit. Maybe not quite as fresh as some vintages of this but La Muse in 2022 is sapid on the finish and very enticing nonetheless.

Reserved, powerful, super complex nose, smoky, spicy, citrus oils and juice, into stonefruit, into an earthen aspect. This is for the cellar and this is super. Aftertaste brings grapefruit and apple skins, texture, mineral, stones. Outstanding Applejack Chardonnay. Intense and pure but with layers of character. Reserved power. One of the most characterful Applejack chardonnays I’ve tasted. No new oak. It’s not exaggerated or in your face but this just has all the extras.

Ribena/blackcurrant cordial aromas laced with humus and smoked oyster from generous oak with bottle-ageing. The wine is rich and savoury, very dry tannins on the finish and nice balance, appealing length, with quite a grip of oak tannin lingering.

Smoked meats and cedar, smoked oyster, dried herbs and mossy/tobaccoey nuances; a very complex bouquet! The wine is full bodied and rich, generous and firm with elegance and a certain stern authority. There's some of the cedary character of the Trueman cabernet sauvignon of the same vintage here. An expertly put together blend that showcases what cabernet shiraz can be. A ripping wine that's destined for a long and distinguished life.

Very harmonious nose which doesn't shout either cabernet or shiraz. It's balanced and elegant, with complexity yet promising much more detail if cellared a while. The tannins are fine, firm and long, running the full length of the palate, the shiraz tannins complementing the cabernet tannins. Such an impressive wine, but will deliver even more pleasure in the future.

Lively aromas of damp spearmint, eucalyptus leaf and loamy soil give tremendous depth to
the refreshing cherry sorbet core on the nose of this bottling. A fiery acidity powers the
peppery flavors of the pallet, where brilliant red fruit and zesty mint-like sensations
converge.

This is a very intense and excellent bottling, an exemplary example of Greg Brewer's unique
style. Aromas of cherry, raspberry, thyme and bay leaf pop on the nose. The palate is
vibrant in energy and wrapped in sappy tannins that frame berry, sansho pepper and
eucalyptus leaf flavors that are refreshing and thirst-quenching.

Planted in 1982, Upper Barn is, in my opinion, one of the most distinctive Chardonnay sites in Sonoma. It’s a vineyard that naturally leans into an expressive herbal character, delivering a wine that’s unapologetically itself. The 2022 opens with a very aromatic profile: wild chamomile, lemongrass, citrus oils, and a savoury thread of mountain herbs. The palate is rich yet layered, with a nutty note reminiscent of Spanish turrón and a lift of orange water, accompanied by a gentle phenolic grip. The texture is silky with a finish that is long and lifted.

“The model here is La Jota,” says winemaker Chris Carpenter, “an approachable mountain
wine for restaurants, made from Cabernet Sauvignon—but from Mount Veeder instead of
Howell Mountain.” And that’s exactly what this wine delivers. It’s the right bottle for a
steakhouse or a night at home with your best salted, dry-aged ribeye or New York strip. It
opens with a rush of youthful, ripe black and blue fruit, layered with classic notes of
graphite and pressed wildflowers. But just as the juicy fruit washes across the palate, the
tannins rise—sooner than expected—and they soar. Not as lofty or intense as the Lokoya
wines, but still powerful and refined. There's plenty of room to enjoy this in its youth with a
good decant, and it offers more immediate pleasure than in some other vintages, thanks to
the warmth of the season and the generosity of the tannins. A great Cabernet that will age
gracefully for decades, but doesn’t require a long wait to deliver a thrilling experience.

Winemaker Chris Carpenter explains that La Jota’s wines tend to offer more generous,
approachable tannins—making them ideal for restaurant lists. That accessibility, he notes,
comes down to thoughtful decisions around clone, rootstock, and site selection. Some
vineyard blocks naturally yield softer, more inviting tannins, as opposed to dense, palateetching structures. He seeks Cabernet Sauvignon expressions that are powerful and
present, yet have a gentler texture. This blend was aged for 22 months in 77% new French
oak. The 2022 is exceptionally approachable, with generous, plump, velvety tannins that
still carry mountain intensity, but are beautifully integrated. The wine boasts a vibrant core
of juicy mulberry fruit, perfumed with notes of thyme, rosemary, and sage. It finishes with a
precise ironstone minerality and a subtle saline edge, reminiscent of pink Himalayan salt.