94pts Wine Spectator

A flamboyant style, rich and showy but complex at the core, with black cherry, mocha espresso and spice flavors that glide toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2033. 2,291 cases made.

94pts Decanter

Pahlmeyer Merlot quickly became a Napa icon. Here, the 2022 shows off what makes it one. Mixed berries, dark fruits, flowering herbs, graphite, and a pithy finish stimulate the palate while offering generosity and plenty of structure to serve a meal as well as continue to develop in bottle.

93pts Wine Enthusiast

Pahlmeyer Merlot quickly became a Napa icon. Here, the 2023 shows off what makes it one. Mixed berries, dark fruits, flowering herbs, graphite, and a pithy finish stimulate the palate while offering generosity and plenty of structure to serve a meal as well as continue to develop in bottle. 

92pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Merlot relies more on the Waters Ranch (70%), as it has some deeper soils than Stagecoach and the irrigation at this 60-acre site may've been more efficient, according to winemaker Katie Vogt. Ripe cherries and deep loam notes lead the way, with this vintage not showing much in the way of herbal complexity on the nose. The wine is full-bodied, open-knit and velvety yet avoids any coarseness, finishing with ample length and hints of mocha.

Tasting Notes

The 2022 Pahlmeyer Merlot is generous yet structured, a dynamic interplay of intensity and vibrancy. Aromas of brambly blackberry, macerated black cherry, and wild raspberry rise from the glass, underscored by crushed peppercorn, fresh sage, and a hint of forest floor. On the palate, a rich core of dark plum and fresh fig is wrapped in plush, velvety tannins, while savory, earthy notes emerge with time: tobacco leaf, cocoa nib, and plowed earth. The finish is long and lifted, carried by the wine’s natural energy and a lingering touch of violet and warm spice. With its dark fruit core amplified in its youth, this wine will evolve beautifully over the next decade, developing further nuance and refinement.

Winemaker's Notes

We hand harvested each of our high-elevation sites in the cool of night. At the winery, the clusters were meticulously hand sorted and destemmed, with only the most perfect berries delivered to the tank. Fruit was gently and slowly extracted, spending up to 18 days on skins. Free-run juice was then collected overnight and aged separately from press cuts. We aged the wine in 82% new French oak barrels for 18 months. Select lots were carefully blended, with a touch of Malbec lending even more plushness and depth. The wine was bottled without fining or filtering in May 2024, enjoying additional bottle age before release.

Winery Story

'Nearly four decades ago, Jayson Pahlmeyer embarked on a daring journey, arriving in Napa Valley with a bold dream and shoeboxes filled with smuggled Bordeaux vine cuttings. A trial lawyer by profession, Jayson, captivated by the allure of First Growth Bordeaux, was driven by a singular ambition: to create a Napa Valley wine that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Bordeaux’s finest. “All I wanted to do was to create my own ‘California Mouton’ – a rich, powerful Napa Valley Bordeaux blend, a wine that would drop wine lovers to their knees,” he explains.

With a bit of ingenuity, Jayson and his accomplice and friend, John Caldwell, surreptitiously planted his “suitcase” clones on John’s Coombsville property in 1981. The exceptional quality of fruit in Caldwell Vineyard soon caught local attention, and by 1986, storied Napa Valley winemaker Randy Dunn – agreeing to make Jayson’s first wine in exchange for access to his fruit – crafted the debut Proprietary Red. Comprising five of the red Bordeaux varieties that Jayson had planted, the wine garnered 94 points from Robert M. Parker, Jr. upon its release and launched Pahlmeyer’s reputation for excellence.

In the late 90s, Jayson looked to the rugged mountaintops to establish his own vineyard. “My closest advisors, Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer, told me, ‘If you want to be a first-growth, you have to have your own vineyards,’” says Jayson Pahlmeyer. “I found this property in Atlas Peak, in the eastern hills of Napa Valley — an incredible parcel with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline.

After John analyzed the soil and David Abreu studied the terrain, Helen Turley spoke for all of them when she declared the site “paradisiacal.” Rocky and desolate with low vigor and good drainage, it was perfect for growing intense, expressive Bordeaux varietals. Jayson hired David Abreu to develop it, and Helen and Erin Green, Helen’s protégé and longtime Pahlmeyer winemaker, selected the clones, which included those smuggled from Bordeaux.

Today, Pahlmeyer wines are crafted through a steadfast commitment to the principles of site, discipline, and high quality of First Growth Bordeaux coupled with the signature richness, power, and depth of Napa Valley. Pahlmeyer wines are built on a foundation of extraordinary mountain vineyard sites and confident, discerning viticulture choices that demand maximum flavor intensity.'

Blend: 98% Merlot, 2% Malbec

90pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is solid, with the vintage’s upfront, ripe, expressive profile. Red and black fruits, chocolaty herbs, and incense all shine, and it's charming, forward, and medium-bodied on the palate, with tons of upfront appeal. 

Winery Notes

Single variety wines made to reflect the vineyard & vintage from which they came. Owned by Thomas Rivers Brown & Genevieve Marie Welsh.

94pts James Suckling

Savory aromas of blackcurrants, cedar, tobacco leaves and mocha. The palate is full-bodied with firmly framed tannins and balanced acidity, giving notes of blackberry bush, bark, graphite, licorice and spices. Layered black fruit has been finely integrated with a powerful undertone.

93pts Vinous

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is gorgeous in this vintage. Bright, aromatic and vibrant, this mid-weight Howell Mountain Cabernet has a ton to offer. Rose petal, lavender, crushed rocks, graphite and red/purplish fruit are beautifully delineated. This is such a pretty wine.

Absolutely textbook Howell Mountain notes of darker currants, black cherries, chocolate, bouquet garni, and leafy, herbal, forest notes all shine in Cade's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, a medium to full-bodied, ripe, nicely concentrated 2022 that has integrated tannins and acidity, terrific overall balance, and outstanding length. As opposed to many 2022s, this has solid underlying structure and depth and is a rock-solid beauty that will evolve nicely over the coming 10-12 years or more.

Winemaker Note

The 2022 vintage was an early and warm one. A heat dome hit during Labor Day, catapulting sugars—and, therefore, harvest. While some blocks fared well through the heat, others with rocky soils and low water-holding capacity had to be picked. The benefit of being at elevation was clear in 2022. CADE's vineyards did not get as hot as those on the valley floor. They were able to maintain great color and tannin, although slightly lower than average, due to the intense heat in September 2022. But, Howell Mountain always offers more tannin than they need, so having a bit less tannin naturally allowed them to ferment on the skins slightly longer than normal, while still exhibiting that classic Howell Mountain structure and mouthfeel.

Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec, 1% Merlot

96pts James Suckling

Powerful and compact with aromas of blackberry liqueur, dark plums, smoked meats, peppercorn and graphite. Full-bodied and deeply structured with dense dark fruit, savory spices and muscular tannins that build across the palate. Intense and age-worthy with a long, powerful finish. Made from 90% syrah and 10% petite sirah. Best from 2030.

95pts Vinous

The 2022 Relentless is another superb wine from Shafer in this brutally challenging year. Deep and explosive to the core, the 2022 is seriously impressive. There's a center of strength here that is palpable. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, cloves and blood orange all build into the deep, resonant finish. This is so impressive.

94pts Jeb Dunnuck

Harvested early in the heat, the 2022 Syrah Relentless (90% Syrah and 10% Petite Sirah) is ripe and juicy, with other red and black fruits, peppery herbs, violets, spice, and incense-like aromas and flavors. This richly textured, full-bodied 2022 has sweet, velvety tannins and a great finish.
Range: 92-94

93pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Still in barrel, the 2022 Relentless is a co-fermented blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Petite Sirah. It shows some of the effects of the early September heat wave in its notes of baked blackberries combined with hints of menthol and white pepper on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is silky but firm, finishing with a tart edge. Barrel Sample: 91-93

93pts Wine Spectator

Ripe and lush, this red offers ample savory elements of dried violet, cured meat and wild herbs to comple- ment the hibiscus-accented berry and plum center, while spiced chocolate notes fill out the broad finish. Syrah and Petite Sirah.

Winemaker Notes

The 2022 Relentless offers an exquisite balance of concentration with elegance. Layers of juicy black plum, wild berry compote, and black licorice exhibit complexity and tension with crushed stone, garrigue, and sage brush. Ideal ripeness and racy acidity add lift to its core. Richly pleasurable now, this vintage will evolve magnificently over the next 20 – 30 years.

Blend: 90% Syrah, 10% Petite Sirah

97pts James Suckling

Herbs, olives, currants, fine spices and touches of bergamot and tobacco on the nose. On the palate it’s juicy and fine-veined, with a medium body, very fine tannins and a super-long, filigreed finish. 81% cabernet sauvignon and 19% merlot. Such balance. Great now, but this will benefit from further aging. For those who love classic left-bank finesse and precision, this is the vintage to buy.

96pts Wine Enthusiast

This nearly 200-acre estate lies in the south of the Margaux appellation. The wine is another great success in a series of superb years. It is rich but the structure and finely textured fruit give it style and longevity. Drink the wine from 2026.
Cellar Selection

94pts Decanter

Concentrated autumnal fruit offers a hawthorny bramble of blackberry and bilberry. Big-framed, muscular tannins are joined by plenty of acidity - it's very clearly built to last and confident in its ability to reward those with patience. Matured in 50% new oak. Axel Marchal and Valerie Lavigne consult.

93pts Connoisseurs' Guide

A standout in our small sampling of Margaux and a wine that leads with fairly voluminous, spellbinding aromas of cassis, juicy black cherries, a bit of new leather and discreet oak and follows with equally rich, marvelously refined flavors of superb length. Its tannins are soft yet provide the structure required for age, and, if guaranteed to repay protracted cellaring with increasing complexity, the 2016 Giscours is so beautifully composed and well-polished as to be thoroughly satisfying after only a few more years have passed.

93pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2016 Château Giscours is fabulous stuff, offering a beautiful, complex (and classic Margaux) perfume of smoke tobacco, black currants, truffly earth, and spring flowers. Finesse-driven, medium-bodied, and seamless on the palate, it has ultra-fine tannins and no hard edges, and is already drinking beautifully. Nevertheless, it’s going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-25 years or more. The blend of the 2016 is 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot and it’s well worth a case purchase.

93pts Wine Advocate

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Giscours gives up aromas of cassis, chocolate, earth, tar, pepper and hoisin with touches of flowers and a meaty nuance. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and grainy with a great core and a long finish.

92pts Wine Spectator

This is on the darker side of the ledger, with well-melded black currant, blackberry and black cherry fruit, infused with brambly energy and allied to a graphite spine on the anise-tinged finish. Features a light woodsy echo at the very end, but there's plenty of flesh here.

Winemaker Notes

Blend: 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot

Winery Notes

Located on a beautiful 300 hectare estate, the 83 hectare Giscours vineyard is located in the famous Margaux appellation. Though the estate was first mentioned in a document dating back to 1330, it was not until 1847 that Count de Pescatore laid the cornerstone of the remarkable chateau that now overlooks the vines. Giscours' quality was confirmed by its inclusion as a Third Growth in the 1855 classification.
The estate was purchased by Nicolas Tari after World War II. He made major investments in modernizing Giscours. In 1995, Eric Albada Jelgersma acquired the right to grow vines and make wine on the estate. He continues to lavish the care and attention that are necessary to maintain Giscours' standing as a world-famous great growth.

Domaine de la Pousse d’Or has for decades been the collector’s choice for expressive, memorable wines from Burgundy’s most hallowed terroirs, and is unquestionably one of the Burgundian elite. The history of Pousse d’Or in Volnay underscores its influence throughout the ages. In 1855, the winery was part of a larger domaine that included Romanée-Conti
and Clos de Tart. In 1997, Patrick Landanger purchased the winery and its vineyards. In the mid-2000s, Landanger added an impressive collection of Côte de Nuits vineyards (from Domaine Moine-Hudelot) to his portfolio. The estate’s dedication to sustainable viticulture, following biodynamic principles, is serious. Vineyards are cared for without the use
of pesticides or herbicides and are regularly plowed.

94pts Wine Advocate

I tasted the 2014 Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva from a year that wasn't easy. Like 2013, which vintage I was able to compare this with in my earlier tasting, 2014 was also a late harvest with rain, and they also had to sort and select the grapes and ended up bottling a small quantity, 9,860 bottles instead of the usual 20,000 or so. It's a little riper than the 2013, but it feels very complete. This is a red for the long run, and I am truly impressed by its texture and the quality of the tannins. I see a jump in quality here, hopefully the direction the wines are going to develop in the future. It was bottled in May 2017 after close to 30 months in barrel.

Winemaker Notes

The nose is full of pine forest, wild herbs, and black raspberries. A smoky raspberry depth yields to herbs, roasted cherries, and lively minerality. It is a wine that is incredibly focused and long-lasting through to the finish.

Blend: 58% Tempranillo, 28% Garnacha, 11% Graciano, 3% Other Varieties

95pts Wine Spectator

Aromatic and expressive, this red features plum, cherry, leather and iron flavors, with accents of rose and woodsy underbrush. This straddles the line between power and elegance, with fine harmony and a saline aftertaste, showing fine potential.

93pts Vinous

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva opens with a darkly floral display, as a dusting of exotic spice and dried orange give way to cedar shavings and wild strawberries. It begins with a pretty inner sweetness, casting silken textures across a stream of vibrant acidity as red and blue fruits swirl throughout. The 2018 tapers off with tension as the finish comes together with savory herbs and the mouth is left watering for more, even as grippy tannins pinch at the cheeks. The La Fiorita has always been one of elegance, which this has, but what truly shines is its nervy personality.

92pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The La Fiorita 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva has dried flowers and blackcurrant with rose potpourri and autumnal leaf. The wine feels almost fragile in consistency with fine, powdery tannins and a high 15% alcohol content. It ages in large oak casks for 36 months. This is a limited release of 2,800 bottles.

95pts Tasting Panel

The combination of ferments for this complex white includes French oak, stainless steel barrels, clay amphora, and concrete and ceramic cuves. With selections of Sauvignon Musqué and Tofanelli Semillon, the aromas of pineapple, wet stone, and grapefruit zest are heady and persistent. Stark notes of white grapefruit revel within a grasp of tightwire acidity. Mediterranean herbs and ripe peach weave through rock and white flowers. Lemon verbena settles on the palate, a soothing finish after a lightning strike of vibrancy.

95pts Wilfred Wong

Recently, I attended a tasting of Stags Leap District wines in the AVA, and just like my many visits to Pessac-Léognan in Bordeaux, I came for the Cabernets but I stayed for the Sauvignon Blancs. As with my introduction to Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon with the release of the winery’s inaugural 1982 release, time has brought me to love their SBs as well as their outstanding Cabs. The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc is a show-stopper. This wine exudes aromas and flavors of piquant citrus, attractive herbs, dried olives, and fragrant spices. Match this wine with raw oysters with ponzu sauce, yuzu juice, finely chopped scallions, and a dab of grated daikon or chili. (Best Served: 2025-2031)

93pts James Suckling

So fresh, citrusy, clean and minerally. A classic style of white that blends herbaceous aromas of snap peas and thyme with lemon, grapefruit and white peach flavors. Contains 5% semillon grapes from old vines.

93pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Spottswoode's 2024 Sauvignon Blanc draws fruit from both Sonoma (57%) and Napa (43%), incorporating 6% Sémillon as well. Fermented and matured in a mix of new and used French oak, stainless steel and "other" vessels (amphora, ceramic, concrete), it's a lively wine, with white grapefruit easily combining and underpinning riper notes of fig and guava. Medium- to full-bodied, it's silky, elegant and long on the finish.

92pts Wine Spectator

White grapefruit, pomelo and fresh ginger notes are light and fresh on first impression, but the flavors and intensity grow, with lemongrass, vetiver and coriander details, plus a crystalline lemon salt element. Shows elegance on the long finish.

91pts Jeb Dunnuck

Based on 95% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Semillon (from Napa and Sonoma County) and aged in 27% new oak, the 2024 Sauvignon Blanc offers juicy citrus and hints of grapefruit intermixed with minty flowers on the nose. It's medium-bodied, plush, and supple on the palate and has a fruit-driven profile with tons of charm.

90pts Vinous

The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc is a pretty, open-knit wine that captures the generosity of the year. Pear, apricot, yellow flowers and sage are some of the notes that take shape in the glass. Floral overtones lift the finish. This is an open-knit, accessible vintage for the Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc.

Winemaker Notes

The 2023 vintage was long and temperate, and at times, blissfully cool. The resulting wine has a great balance of richness and texture and a very well delineated backbone of vibrant acidity. Aromatics and flavors of lemon, mandarin, Asian pear, and white peach with fresh, floral notes of cassis bud and lime. Very long and mouth-wateringly juicy.

Blend: 93% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Semillon

Winemaker Notes

Just from silex soils, spends 1 year in amphora. 20 mg/l sulfites just before bottling. Wonderful aromatics here with a chalky edge and lovely melon, citrus and elderflower hints. The palate has a lovely chalky character with exotic fruit, but also some freshness. Fine grained, detailed and utterly delicious. Bright and linear with some grapefruit, too.

Organic