Wine Region: California

(2025) This is a Californian cab in a pretty much 'fruit bomb' style, overflowing with cassis, plum and chocolate aromas and flavours. The fruit comes from Lodi, inland from the much more expensive Napa Valley area, and the wine is aged in American oak. I note that it does have a moderate 13.5% alcohol, though the richness might suggest higher, and while it might not suit the Claret-loving classicist, it offers great bangs per buck and put a smile on my face. Note that Allaboutwine has a very keen price just under £10, but only by the six-bottle case. Many independent merchants sell it by the bottle for around £11. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) From Rutherford in the Napa Valley, organically-grown Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 91% of the blend, along with Cabernet Franc, Carménère, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It spent 22 months in a complex mix of 65% New French Oak, 32% Neutral oak and 3% Terracotta Amphora. What a svelte and elegant opening, silky aromas are so polished, succulent black fruit is touched by violet and kirsch, a dark cocoa and cedar in the background. The palate follows on seamlessly, plush and intense, the tannins chocolate-smooth and the acid really juicy and fine. That extends the wine into a long, tapering finish.

(2024) Quintessa's white comes from their vineyard planted in 2002, but blends 60% Napa and 40% Sonoma fruit. The blend itself consists of 58% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Sauvignon Blanc Musqué (a fragrant clone of Sauvignon) and 10% Sémillon. Initial impression is of great succulence, ripe and juicy pear, creamy lemon curd and a hint of nettle. There is a tiny grace note of something rosemary-like. In the mouth it is supple and quite firm. It was fermented with wild yeast, and made in a combination of oak and acacia barrels, steel tanks and concrete eggs, so there is a little spice and a taut, flinty and steely character that plays beautifully against sweet mid-palate fruit with a tang of grapefruit in the finish. It is being sold en primeur at £252 per six at time of review.

(2024) From a vintage described as 'joyous' after a more difficult few years, this cuvée is a selection of the best quality Cabernet Sauvignon, with small berries and high skin-to-juice ratio. Fruit was optically sorted before a portion was fermented in new French oak barrels, the rest in stainless steel and concrete tanks. The wine was then blended with 6% Petit Verdot and aged 22 months in French oak, 95% of the barrels new. There's so much depth and lush, plump black fruit in the nose, with vanilla and spices, dark chocolate and yet a floral, violet and kirsch element that lifts the aromas too. The oak is sensitively and beautifully done. In the mouth the plush concentration of the black fruit is silky and velvet-rich, the creamy oak adding a light veneer of toast, and yet the cherry-skin bite of the acidity and dusty, very fine tannins adds savoury complexity. Really very impressive wine, which Beaulieu Vineyard suggests will cellar for 30 years. Note that this wine will not be available until September 2024.

(2024) Having first planted this variety in a coastal vineyard in Sonoma, that proved too cold to ripen this variety, even though it famously reaches it's peak in the Atlantic-influenced Galician region of Spain. It was re-planted and thrives in the Russian River Valley. Fermented with indigenous yeast and with extended time on the lees, there's a delightfully floral aspect to this - somewhere between floral and leafy, soft green herbs, firm white fruit aromas. Nicely textured, this burst with juicy citrus on the palate, but there's plenty of dazzling acidity. Something a little like green fig shows ripeness, in a fresh and delightful Albariño.

(2024) Second release of this wine, another Galician variety from the cooler northwest of Spain. A more neutral nose than the Albariño, but with more mealiness to the aromas, perhaps to do with 46% of the wine being made in concrete eggs?  That oatmeal character translates to the palate, again long lees ageing surely emphasising that. Plenty of juicy lemon and taut, crisp apple acidity. UK price and stockists to be confirmed.

(2024) Marimar says she experimented with a Tempranillo for a decade before deciding quality was right. This, with seven years under its belt, is glorious with a beautiful quality of oak from 12 months in French oak barrels, 50% new, coopered by Magreñán from the Vosges forest. It was bottled in August 2018. This has a fabulous nose, bloody and game-streaked over really ripe, deep berry fruit, a slick of chocolate underpinning. The palate has bountiful fruit, depth and texture with that touch of roasted coffee bean adding plushness. A Rioja Reserva of the highest level would stand alongside this, and it does have that extra ounce of Californian fruit intensity perhaps.

(2023) Forget the oceans of cheap 'blush' Zinfandel produced in California. This red wine grape is also capable of deep, big-scaled, full-throttle reds of which this 15.4% alcohol behemoth is one example. From old, old vines in Lodi - up to 120 years old - it is barrel fermented and aged. Inky-dark crimson, The nose is smoothly suffused with chocolate and berries, a little floral top note adding interest. In the mouth it is luscious and full. It has to be said that the alcohol is well-handled; it's there alright, adding some heat and volume, but the plushness of the fruit and lip-tingling spice and acidity is a counter-weight. Not for everyone, but if you like the sound of it, it's a wine that delivers.  

(2023)

Angeline Vineyards has the knack of producing beautifully pitched wines, that are easy and approachable, without being dumbed down or inelegant. This has a delicious character, creamy and almond, with the merest hint of flintiness and very good fruit. The palate has succulence and fruit ripeness, very good texture and a ripe, lime or orange acidity, and a long, crisp, but creamy-textured finish.

(2023) From Napa Valley's Oak Knoll district, this is a mighty Bordeaux blend that quite unusually for this region majors on Malbec (52%), plus 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Petit Verdot and 5% Merlot. It's a plush and hedonistic style, 18 months in barrels, 50% new, adding all the chocolate and cream. As well as the copious black fruit there's a delightful violet lift too, showing the floral side of Malbec, and the palate is as glossy as black silk, the ripe, sweet tannins and generous plummy acidity barely ruffling the surface of the deep pool of smooth black fruit and mocha. It's a wine that some may find too much, but it's also a glorious mouthful of archetypal Napa red.