California Wine Advisors

This best barrel selection from Celia Welch offers extravagant ripe blackberry and cassis fruit lead to alluring notes of dark cocoa and almonds on the lush mid-palate. Boldly exotic spice and blueberry pie flavors culminate with a prodigious finish highlighted by fresh tannins to enjoy (decanting recommended) now through the next 20 years. This is...

Dark, dense, and unapologetically powerful, the 2022 Estate Cabernet delivers rare finesse. The first impression is all ripe blackberries, dark cherry, and milk chocolate, wrapped in a structure of tight, sculpted tannins that hint at enormous long-term potential. As it opens, savory herbs, iron, and a profound minerality give this wine an unmistakably brawny character....

Wow! The cashmere-like texture reminds us of the best Harlan and Hundred Acre releases that we’ve sampled. Intensely satisfying hints of inky dark fruit (currants, plums, blackberry) combine with opulent notes of dark chocolate and pipe tobacco. The mind-bending finish features luxuriously creamy new oak and espresso guaranteed to dazzle now (decanting recommended) through 2030....

A Cabernet of opulence and precision, Fayard has delivered a masterpiece from the Martinez vineyard next to Ovid on Pritchard Hill. On the nose, it unfurls with an luxurious bouquet of juicy, ripe blackberry and cassis intertwined with subtle herbs and citrus zest that adds lift and brightness. The fleshy, velvety texture delivers a vibrant...

It doesn’t get any better than 2005 Levy & McClellan Cabernet Sauvignon, which is just entering its ideal drinking window. An utterly vivid, breathtaking wine, the 2005 is built like a thoroughbred with perfect balance and overall sense of harmony that may be savored tonight or anytime over TWENTY years. The opaque purple/onyx color is...

A thrilling, hedonistic Napa powerhouse that absolutely explodes from the glass with crème de cassis, blackberry compote, sweet red cherry, graphite, and scorched earth. In true To Kalon fashion, the fruit possesses an almost surreal level of concentration and intensity, yet what makes this wine so captivating is the way its massive scale is wrapped...

Deep, dark, and powerful, yet wrapped in a remarkably velvety texture that elevates its old-school soul into something irresistibly modern. Layers of ripe red fruits and baking spice immediately grab you, gaining nuance as the wine opens, while a firm, finely structured finish stretches out for minutes. While dense and big on the palate, this...

This new release is a dazzling beauty; a truly sublime, silky-smooth Cabernet Sauvingon that is a candidate for boutique wine of the vintage from Napa’s celebrated 2021 harvest. Ethereal layers of dark fruit glide effortlessly across the palate, framed by awe-inspiring tannins and subtle hints of Cohiba cigar and black olive tapenade that echo gracefully...

Velvety and rich yet almost ethereal, this wine impresses from the first sip with ripe, nearly sweet fruit framed by soft tannins and a supple medium body. Aromas of blackberry and espresso lead into layers of leather, thyme, and graphite, with a flash of blood orange and a whisper of tobacco. The finish lingers with...

A vivid, magenta-hue introduces the new Barbour Cabernet that showcases the style of craftsmanship usually reserved for far pricier bottlings; hardly surprising given the pedigree of its famed winemaker and meticulous viticulturalist. It’s intensely saturated with black cherry and blackberry fruit, accented by savory herbs, baking spice, cocoa, and a polished, dark-chocolate richness. While deeply...