Bordeaux Blend

Renzo Cotarella, managing director of Marchesi Antinori tells me that the 2018 vintage showed very different results in the inland and hilly Chianti Classico appellation compared to the flat, sea-facing Bolgheri appellation. This... Read More

I've been tracking the increasing percentage of Cabernet Franc in the blend of this iconic Tuscan wine. The 2019 Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso is made with 25% Cabernet Franc, with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot.... Read More

MELBURY originates from a spectacular property on the slopes north of Lake Hennessey, in the hills east of Rutherford.

The name Melbury is in homage to an historic area in London, where the estate owners reside much of the year.... Read More

The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon has been our flagship wine for more than three decades. It is a benchmark for the long-lived hillside wines of the Napa Valley; full of structure and aging potential, yet seductively forward in... Read More

​The Chappellet family’s romance with Pritchard Hill started more than four decades ago when Donn and Molly Chappellet first glimpsed its magnificent hills and view of Lake Hennessy. Anyone who has visited the estate can... Read More

Large and in charge, this has a prodigious core of steeped plum, black currant and loganberry fruit flavors that show both compote and coulis aspects. While that steeps, this delivers a sturdy frame of roasted mesquite, smoldering... Read More

The deep garnet-purple shaded 2015 Lafite Rothschild is blended of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot and was matured for 20 months in new oak barrels from Tonnellerie des Domaines (their own cooperage). It is still sporting... Read More

This wine is turning out much in the style of such wonderful Petrus vintages as 1967 and 1971. Although not as outstanding as either the 1998 or 2000, it displays beautiful intensity and finesse in a more evolved style than one... Read More

The 2018 Pichon-Longueville Baron is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot, aged for 18 months in barriques, 80% new and 20% one year old. Production of the grand vin represents 50% of the harvest this year. Deep garnet-purple... Read More

The 2014s were also harvested early at Kapcsándy, largely finished before the end of September, much like 2015. The one difference is that 2015 was a tiny crop, with significantly less production than 2014, which was generous... Read More

The 2018 Cuvée Howell Mountain is gorgeous. Best of all, it will drink well early, while the Cabernets soften in the cellar. Dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, lavender, spice and leather all flesh out in the glass. The... Read More

Composed of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Spottswoode explodes from the glass with bombastic notes of crushed blackcurrants, fresh blackberries and wild blueberries... Read More