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Leverage Trajectory 2015

Leverage Trajectory 2015

A polished GSM from Leverage, the 2015 Trajectory is a blend of 43% Grenache, 39% Syrah, and 18% Mourvedre. It unfurls slowly, revealing layers of plums and blackberry reduction sauce, sweet tobacco, cigarillo, spice, marjoram, and milk chocolate. On the palate, it’s not at all heavy. Beautifully lifted fruit is couched in fine tannins, deftly […]

Baileyana Stone Egg Chardonnay 2016

Baileyana Stone Egg Chardonnay 2016

Baileyana’s 2016 Stone Egg Chardonnay is the perfect balance of opulence and restraint. Enveloping aromas of apricot, peach pit, apple blossom, and dried lemon verbena spring from the glass. Luscious and full in the mouth, it’s brimming with stone fruit—fermentation and aging in a concrete egg has further graced this Edna Valley Chardonnay with dimension and a […]

Murrieta’s Well Dry Rosé 2016

Murrieta's Well Dry Rosé 2016

Rosé for Valentines Day? Yes, why not. The 2016 Murrieta’s Well Dry Rosé is an excellent candidate. Composed of 55% estate-grown Grenache and 45% Counoise, it’s a pretty shade of orangey-pink salmon and delivers lifted aromas of bruised peach, Queen Anne’s cherries, melon, baking spice.Medium-bodied and crisp, the palate is awash in red berries and […]

Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2015

Robert Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2015

A suffusion of smokey minerals, creme brûlée, toasted coconut flake, mandarin and grilled pineapple. Talbott’s 2015 Kali Hart Chardonnay is made from the winery’s Sleepy Hollow estate vineyard, a hillside parcel that is relatively close to the Pacific Ocean—where cool maritime breezes lend a moderating effect. The effect of this microclimate on the palate is […]

Murrieta’s Well The Whip 2015

Murrieta's Well The Whip White Blend 2015

“Murietta’s Well is a partnership between Philip Wente and Sergio Traverso, the two revitalized the estate and gravity flow winery in 1990 and released The Spur and The Whip in 2010 to commemorate the winery’s 20th anniversary. A blend of 33% Sauvignon Blanc, 24% Semillon, 21% Chardonnay, and 12% Orange Muscat, the 2015 Whip is […]

Murrieta’s Well The Spur 2014

Murrieta's Well The Spur Red Blend 2014

Better on the second day, I recommend decanting on opening — a ripe blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petite Sirah, 18% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, and 6% Cabernet Franc from Livermore Valley — the 2014 Murietta’s Well ‘The Spur’ opens with notes of blueberry, black raspberry, black cherry, and blackcurrants couched in dark layers […]

Gallo Signature Series Pinot Noir 2013

Ernest & Julio Gallo Signature Series Pinot Noir 2013

I prefer Gallo’s Signature Series Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir with some age on it—the 2013 offers up a bouquet of that is more dark fruited than red. Blackberries at peak ripeness, a touch of black cherry, vanilla and cola precede a wine that is swathed in fine, velvety tannins. This is a richer, more […]

Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2014

Robert Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2014

An excellent value to be found in this estate grown, Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay. The site lies just thirteen miles from Carmel Bay, along the northern edge of the valley—planted in 1982, in Corton-Charlemagne Chardonnay clone vines, it’s a wine that delivers subtle, layered flavors of smokey baked yellow apples, figs, and lemon torte strike […]

Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Blanc 2016

Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Blanc 2016

Tablas Creek has long been one of my favorite Paso Robles producers. From the care they put into their vineyards—biodynamic farming, noisy sheep, a rambunctious trio of winery dogs, and a resident shepherd—the good folks at Tablas turn out elegant wines that are nuanced, superbly balanced and long aging. For the price, they’re just that […]

Vina Robles WHITE 4 2016

Vina Robles WHITE 4 2016

A prosaic blend of Viognier 45%, Sauvignon Blanc 27%, Verdelho 17%, and Vermentino 11%, the 2016 Vina Robles WHITE4 opens with soft tones of lemon drop and candied orange peel. There is too a slinky herbal undercurrent—but it’s diffuse and hard to tease out from this wines mineral foundation. Medium bodied, with a burst of […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com