This week’s TOP 7!

This week we have 7 wines that stood out to us! We loved them so much we just had to share them with you as soon as we could. We hope you find something interesting on this list and will make these some of your favorite wines too!

2012 Ramey ‘Pedregal’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Wine Spectrum 97, Robert Parker 97+: As usual, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Pedregal Vineyard is a great wine (a 650-case blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Petit Verdot). This sexy, full-throttle, opaque purple-colored 2012 boasts fabulous concentration along with copious notes of pen ink, blueberries, blackberries, and hints of graphite and espresso bean. Deep, full-bodied and multidimensional, this sensational Cabernet should drink well for 20-25 years.

2012 Ramey ‘Annum’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Wine Spectrum 96, Robert Parker 96: From a vineyard in the Oakville Corridor, just below Dalla Valle, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Annum (950 cases) is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc. It boasts an opaque purple color as well as copious aromas of licorice, smoked meats, camphor, graphite and oodles of crème de cassis and coffee beans. Full-bodied with sweet tannin and a dramatic, ostentatious personality, it should drink well for 15-20 years.

2012 Ramey ‘Ritchie Vineyard’ Chardonnay, Russian River Valley

Wine Spectrum 94+ Antonio Galloni 94+: The 2012 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is the most opulent and also the most nuanced of these wines. Almonds, matchstick, hazelnuts, tangerine peel, savory herbs and mint are all super-expressive in the glass. Hints of tropical fruit develop in the glass, adding to the wine’s sense of exoticism as the flavors build to a finish imbued with a Chassagne-like oiliness and sense of viscosity.

Wine Enthusiast 97: This wine is deliciously elegant yet decadently rich in all the right ways, from a prime, longtime vineyard source planted to vines over 40 years old. Honeyed apple comes to the fore amid lush, formidable layers of complexity and high-minded pursuit, never getting bogged down, the minerality perfectly pitched and the oak fully integrated. 

2013 Ferren ‘Silver Eagle Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Wine Spectrum 94: The 2013 Ferren ‘Silver Eagle Vineyard’ Pinot Noir is a deep magenta color. The nose is incredibly fragrant, floral and earthy, with brambly black cherries, blood orange and anise aromas. The mouthfeel is rich, fresh and pure. Enticing flavors of bing cherries, plum, clove, and fresh tea lead to a long, clean finish. A wonderful balance of ripe fruit, acidity and tannic structure. 

Ferren is a winery dedicated to tiny lots of artisanally made single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot noir wines from the far Sonoma Coast of California. Each of the vineyards in the portfolio is a jewel of the true Coast, has been hand picked based on its potential of producing profound, age-worthy wines, and is farmed to the highest standards of sustainability and wine quality.

Winemaker Matt Courtney founded Ferren with old friend David Wherritt after an eight-year apprenticeship with Helen Turley at Marcassin Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. The wines are made using traditional Burgundian methods without fining or filtration, and fermentations are carried out exclusively by native flora that arrive on the grapes from the vineyards.

2013 Lewis Cellars ‘Alec’s Blend’, Napa Valley

Wine Spectrum 94: There’s no Alice Cooper in his iTunes library, but Alec is 18 – and he likes it!  For his college Freshman year send-off we blended 60% Syrah, 22% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon – a power trio of guitar, bass and drums that rocks harder than any vintage in recent memory.  Super ripe blackberry, vanilla blueberry, mocha and oak spices gain presence and steadily push the volume past 10.  Tons of ripe, hedonistic fruit brings big stage presence while handsomely hewn tannins add drive and keep this wall of sound distortion free.

2013 Domaine La Croix Saint-Laurent ‘Le Grand Chemarin’ Sancerre

Wine Spectrum 93: Light yellow in color. Nose of white flowers and stone fruits. Fleshy and silky in the mouth, with flavors of red plums, clove, cinnamon, and licorice. The finish is long and pure, with silky tannins that are built to age. A beautiful, balanced wine from 55 year old vines planted in granite and clay soils. Just 75 cases imported. 

Since the early 19th century, the Domaine la Croix Saint-Laurent’s proprietor’s passion for winemaking has been passed from one generation to the next. Joel and Sylvie Cirotte and their son Fabien, embody this passion today. The estate is nestled among rolling hills, in the winemaking village of Bue, just a few kilometers from Sancerre toward Bourges. The 23 acre property benefits from a southwestern exposure and a unique microclimate, due to its altitude and proximity to the Loire River. The vineyards of Bue are amongst the very best of the Sancerre AOC. 

2013 Domaine Chavy-Chouet ‘La Taupe’ Bourgogne Rouge

Wine Spectrum 92+: A translucent ruby color, this Bourgogne is savory on the nose, with underbrush, garrigue and red fruits. Midweight on the palate, it is clean and fresh, with flavors of red berries, tarragon and orange. From a single parcel of 70 year old vines in Pommard, it is 100% de-stemmed, and aged eight months in five and six year old barrels.