Wine Advocate (95)

Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley bursts with pure cranberries, black cherries, charcuterie, loamy earth and blood orange aromas. Medium-bodied, it has pleasing graininess and bursts of freshness to support the full, ripe fruits and flavorful finish. This cuvée offers classic Russian River fruit in a very classy frame.

Exuding grace and sophistication, the Butte Bourgueil Mi Pente 2014 is an exquisite testament to traditional French winemaking. Allied with the finest Cabernet Franc grapes handpicked from the sun-kissed hills of Bourgueil in the Loire Valley, this wine is a marvel of nature and human ingenuity. Accurate craftsmanship by the astute vintner produces its signature medium-bodied elegance accompanied by intriguingly complex flavours.

Following the classic Bourgueil style, it is carefully aged for up to 24 months in wooden oak barrels to craft a remarkable bouquet providing a harmonious blend of rich dark fruits and an underlying subtly of earthy undertones. Finely balanced acidity and supple tannins add to its impressively long finish, promising prolonged pleasure.

Butte Bourgueil Mi Pente 2014 indeed captures the essence of the region and the unrivalled skills of its producer. A distinguished selection, it caters to the sophisticated palate of the discerning, experienced wine aficionado.

Jeb Dunnuck (99)

The 2021 Pinot Noir Finn pours a jeweled ruby and is sourced from two vineyards. It offers up nearly ripe, attractive smoky notes of cherry, cracked pepper, and dusty earth. Full-bodied, it’s expansive on the palate, with ripe black raspberry, pine, and anise. This needs time but is well structured and has excellent balance.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Jennifer’s Vineyard displays intense notes of grapefruit, green guava, mango and pineapple with nuances of talc, oyster shells and fresh ginger. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and super intense with tightly wound layers of citrus and tropical fruits and bags of mineral notions on the epically long finish. This needs time but should emerge from the cellar gloriously in 2-3 years! 337 cases produced.

The exquisite Kistler Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2021 is a superb embodiment of California winemaking excellence. Expertly crafted in the fertile soils of the Russian River Valley, this prestige vintage lends notes of exquisite complexity and depth that are emblematic of Kistler’s meticulous artisanal approach. An opulent medley of brambleberry fruit, underlined by a fine tannic structure, creates a richly layered and deeply satisfying palate.

Founded in 1978, Kistler Vineyards has continually risen through the ranks, establishing itself as a leading name in Californian fine wines. Employing Burgundian methods of viticulture, the team skillfully coax the grapes into revealing their full varietal character, making each bottle a testament to the terroir of the Russian River Valley.

Releasing only small quantities to ensure quality, the Kistler Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2021 captures the excellence of the terroir and heralds an unmatched vinicultural experience. Truly a wine for the discerning palate.

Wine Enthusiast (98)

From older plantings on a wide-spaced site—one the producer has worked with for some time—this wine is complicated and wild, combining rich, elegant flavors of salty sea breeze with ginger and lemon puree. Seamless and supple, it has a backbone of structure and lively acidity that pair effortlessly with the apple and pear.

Wine Enthusiast (100)

There is a beautiful meeting of the minds with this site in this winemaker's hands that it's hard not to be drawn to it year after year. The fifth single- vineyard designate from this magical place, it is spiced, bright, complex and nuanced in oak. It's just impressively seamless and full of life.

Wine Enthusiast (95)

An incredible showcase for the appellation, this combines grapes from the producer's estate Westside Farms with Dutton, Woolsey Road and Rochioli Allen, among others. Together it is broadly floral, earthy and richly integrated, with depth and complexity, the acidity vibrantly fresh.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2019 Chardonnay Woolsey Road Vineyard has singular scents of warm peaches and burnt lemon with touches of meringue, beeswax, saline and flint. The medium-bodied palate is energetic and tense at this youthful stage, its satiny texture opposed by tangy freshness, and it finishes long and flinty. It will be long lived in bottle and will benefit from 3-5 more years under cork. 624 cases were made.

Wine Advocate (94)

From low-yielding Cabernet Franc vines that average 45 years of age and root in the silex clay soils of the côte, the 2019 Bourgueil Le Grand Clos opens with a pure, fine and intense, concentrated but also aromatic and fragrant bouquet of dark and red fruits and crushed stones along with refreshing lemony and spicy notes. Round and very elegant on the palate, this is a beautifully balanced Grand Clos with a concentrated finish with tight but fine tannins and a fresh acidity that gives a positive astringency. The aftertaste is long and intense but always in balance and underlines the remarkable finesse of this wine that aged for 12 to 18 months in 400-liter tonneaux. Tasted in June 2021.

Wine Advocate (93+)

From vines averaging 45 years of age on the slopes of the Coteau and aged in oak barrels for 20 months, the 2018 Bourgueil Les Quartiers opens with a deep, intense and toasty bouquet of ripe, black berries and blackcurrants intermixed with spicy tones, cigar box and graphite. Silky, refined and fresh on the palate, this is an elegant, tight but vivacious, silky-textured Cabernet Franc with crystalline tannins and a long finish that is still oak-influenced in its flavors, but the structure, finesse and intensity and the very delicate raspberry flavor in the aftertaste indicate excellent aging potential. Personally, I prefer the crus that were partly aged in stoneware (amphorae) and also for a shorter period, whereas Les Quartiers represents the old Amirault style, before 2014.