Reviews

Medium ruby purple in color, the 2014 Zinfandel Arpad's Selection is scented of dried mulberries, prunes, blackberry preserves and fruitcake with a waft of dusty earth. Big, beautiful and full-bodied, it offers tons of dried berry and spice box flavors with a good amount of velvety tannins and lively acid to support, finishing with excellent persistence.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 The Founder has a pronounced nose of baked blackberries, blueberry preserves, dried plums and spice cake with hints of cigar boxes and pencil lead. Full-bodied, rich and opulent in the mouth, it has a solid frame of ripe grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and layered. The oak is still quite prominent at this youthful stage, but it has all of the hallmarks of a wine built for long cellaring and will benefit from 5 to 7 years in bottle prior to drinking.

Very good deep, healthy red. The most floral of these 2014s, conveying lovely perfumed lift to the aromas of black fruits, spices and honeysuckle. Communicates wonderful ripeness and detail without any impression of heaviness or weight. Really superb energy here, no doubt partly due to the vinification with 80% whole clusters. Most impressive today on the very long, fine-grained finish, where the savory red fruit and blackberry flavors build slowly and linger long. This should be long-lived.

Clean and focused, showing black cherry, toast and spice aromas and flavors. The tannins are firm and integrated as this cruises to a lingering, spicy aftertaste. 

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. A regal nose leads off with aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, forest floor, spice and toast. Plush and full-bodied in the mouth with accommodating tannic backbone, offering layers of black raspberry, blackberry and plum fruits accented with spice and dark chocolate. Almost too much of a good thing. Classy, with good acidity lifting the fruit load, finishing uncommonly long and generous. Best to lock this wine away for a few years.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Both savory and fruity on the nose, exhibiting aromas of cherry, dried herbs, wet mulch and a hint of tobacco. Very charming in the mouth, with expansive flavors of black cherry, savory herbs and tobacco robed in modest tannins. A silky smooth texture attracts, and the wine has commendable harmony, finishing with cherry and citric flavors.

Drawn from two ridgeline vineyards in western Green Valley, as well as a cool valley-floor site near Freestone, this trades the foggy, wind-swept intensity of far-coast fruit for a more supple, gentle, inland expression that still feels cool. Its silky red-cherry flavor carries an appetizing herbal edge in texture that feels satiny and effortless. It’s delicious and ready to drink. 

Brian Maloney makes this pinot noir primarily from three vineyards in the cool Sebastopol Hills, sites defined by thin soils, steep slopes and windy weather. This feels like the quintessence of Russian River Valley fruit: a lush, satiny, perfectly formed red cherry flavor that goes on and on, presenting the region’s richness with admirable subtlety. A day of air only clarifies its refinement, bringing out a deliciously crunch, near-mineral freshness — think wild cherry skin. It may take on more complexity with four or five years of age but it’s hard to resist right now. 

From a cold, foggy hillside vineyard in the southwestern corner of the Russian River Valley, this seems a bit burly at first, its vintage-driven warmth and oak spice meeting crunchy minerality. Then, bright acidity pushes its hearty yellow pear and butternut squash flavors toward a salty, marine briskness. It’s intense, substantial, fresh chardonnay; you could decant it now or age it a few years before pouring it with sweet, earthy miso-glazed black cod.

Editors’ Choice.

This impressive wine is made in larger quantities than many of the producer’s single-vineyard designates, sourced from throughout the appellation. It shines in spritzy, vibrant acidity that supports a medium-bodied frame of lemon zest, kumquat and plenty of length, dotted in touches of nutmeg.