Another Shining Moment in Napa, Germany’s Dry White Delights and Tuscan Precision

August proved bountiful for the JamesSuckling.com tasting team, who uncovered a whopping 15 wines that scored 100 or 99 points, ranging from German rieslings and pinot noirs to Napa Valley chardonnays and Australian shiraz.

Our lone perfect scorer from Napa came from what is looking like an exciting vintage – 2023, which was a long, cool growing season that produced a large quantity of excellent, balanced and fresh-tasting chardonnays and a few early-release, outstanding reds, according to Executive Editor Jim Gordon. The Kistler Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2023 reflects these qualities in spades, with its brilliant balance and freshness marked by a notable mineral streak alongside lime, chalk, sea breeze and grilled apple flavors.

Another Sonoma County winery, DuMOL, also coaxed the best out their grapes in 2023 with their voluminous, creamy and distinctive DuMOL Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2023.

For 2023 Napa Valley reds, Relic Cellars’ early releases provide a sneak preview of potentially great cabernet sauvignons to come from all across Napa. Owners Mike Hirby and Schatzi Throckmorton uncorked three particularly appealing examples.

Their Relic Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Calistoga Kenefick Ranch Block 7 2023 is huge, powerful but beautifully polished; the Relic Napa Valley Calistoga Atmos 2023 is made from cabernet sauvignon with 12 percent petit verdot, and tastes pure, luxurious and structured but delicious; and equally impressive yet more cool and elegant is the Relic Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Stags Leap District Husic Vineyard 2023.

And Jim and Associate Editor Ryan Montgomery uncovered even more high-quality wines from Napa’s 2022 vintage – the “heat dome” year, when unprecedented high temperatures lasted for a week in Napa Valley at harvest time, reaching 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) at Jim’s house in the city of Napa. The wines, Jim said, are a testament to the skill and sacrifice of grape growers and winemakers who went all out to avert disaster during nightmarish harvest conditions.

Realm Cellars in the Stags Leap District, which rejected a full one-third of the cabernet sauvignon grapes from their prized Houyi Vineyard on Pritchard Hill due to shriveling of the berries and cooking of the juice inside them, still managed to make the delicious, deep and elegant Realm Cellars Napa Valley Farella Vineyard 2022, while their Realm Cellars Napa Valley Hartwell XX 2022 shows firm tannins, creme de cassis and graphite flavors, and is the most muscular of their 2022s.

2023 also produced some terrific wines from Oregon, starting with an astounding dry riesling, the Brooks Riesling Willamette Valley Cahiers 2023, which “dazzles with its floral beauty and mineral mystery” according to Senior Editor Stuart Pigott.

Two pinot noirs from Brooks also stood out – the incredibly subtle Brooks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Cahiers 2023 and more structured and compact Brooks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Rastaban 2023.

Germany's Dry White Delights

Out of our five perfect-scoring wines for the month, four came from Germany: three rieslings and one pinot noir, with three of these from the country’s Rheinhessen region and the other from the Pfalz.

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott found an incredible range of 2024 dry rieslings from the latter region, led by the famous estate of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, where Stuart tasted with winemaker Nicola Libelli and director Steffen Brahner. Their Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Pfalz Kirchenstück GC 2024 was the pinnacle, Stuart said – “a perfect wine of enormous depth and concentration that also came with a lightness of touch.” Easier to find and almost as good was exciting and profound Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Pfalz Pechstein GC 2024.

The two perfect dry whites Stuart tasted in the Rheinhessen region say everything about the 2024 vintage there. Both of them come from the so-called Roter Hang, or "Red Slope" – a string of steep vineyards between the small towns of Nierstein and Nackenheim on the left bank of the Rhine.

The Kühling-Gillot Riesling Rheinhessen Rothenberg Wurzelecht GG 2024 is a very daring expression of this red slate terroir, Stuart said, with incredible spiciness, flint and smoke character.

For Klaus-Peter, Julia and Felix Keller of the Keller winery, the perfect dry white of 2024 also comes from the Roter Hang. The Keller Riesling Rheinhessen Pettenthal GG 2024 has incredible smoky minerality, pink grapefruit, rose hip and wild berry flavors cascading over your palate. And no less amazing than this duo, and the best red wine that the Kellers have ever made, is the perfect-scoring Keller Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Zellertal am Schwarzen Herrgott GG 2023. This fabulously perfumed and precise pinot noir “feels as weightless as a cloud in spite of its enormous concentration,” Stuart said.

At  Müller-Catoir in the Pfalz, meanwhile, Stuart found a shining example of a winery seeing success with its late-harvest wines, as exemplified in the incredibly compact Müller-Catoir Rieslaner Pfalz Beerenauslese EL 2024, which marries huge flavors of dried apricots, mangoes and papayas alongside gigantic freshness.

And in the Nahe region, Stuart encountered a tremendous late-release wine in the Gut Hermannsberg Riesling Nahe Kupfergrube GG Reserve 2020, which he said “has dangerous freshness and enormous smoky and spicy flavors on a super-concentrated, sleek palate,” while at the renowned Donnhoff winery, which neighbors Gut Hermannsberg, the Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Spätlese 2024 is a “great masterpiece” that marries spring-like lightness with awesome density so that they’re inseparable right through the extraordinary long finish.

Tuscan Precision

Tuscan wines stood out in our Italian tastings in August, with Bolgheri and Suvereto offerings dominating through their ability to deliver character and identity.

The wines of 2023 from both places show striking balance, freshness and, where downy mildew was managed during the rainy year, excellent tannins. “A very balanced vintage,” said Stefano Frascolla of Tua Rita, adding that scattered rains throughout the summer relieved cabernet and sangiovese from water stress and preserved acidity. The Tua Rita Toscana Redigaffi 2023 was right at the top of our Italian ratings. It’s a precise wine with subtle notes of black olive, bramble berry, sandalwood and iodine, its tannins stretch seamlessly across the palate with focus and finesse.

Equally striking is the Michele Satta Bolgheri Superiore Piastraia 2023, the first in the estate’s history to drop sangiovese in favor of cabernet franc. It’s more of a restrained wine that shows velvety tannins and freshness – the traditional Bolgheri signature. It won’t be released until 2026, however.

Among current releases, the Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore 2022 stands out for its elegance: delicate butter and milk chocolate notes over cassis, cherries, violets and clove, with the fragrance of merlot and a sweet tobacco finish.

In Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the 2023 vintage was complicated by a rainy spring and heavy downy mildew pressure, but it produced surprisingly well-balanced wines marked by superb minerality. The Jermann Venezia-Giulia Capo Martino 2023 combines malvasia and ribolla gialla in a strikingly aromatic wine with honeysuckle and other white flowers, dried lemons and Korean pear. It shows the region’s typical energy without sacrificing fruit complexity.

From the same producer comes a distinctly territorial interpretation of chardonnay in the Venezia Giulia Where Dreams Have No End 2023. Laden with caramel and honey on the nose and palate, it adds biscuits, dried lemon and mango, all framed by a freshness that gives the wine structure and vitality.

And from Campania, Taurasi remains a standout for its powerful and concentrated aglianico wines, such as the opulent Mastroberardino Campania Taurasi Riserva Naturalis Historia Riserva 2018, which is very deep with aromas of Mediterranean herbs, myrtle, smoke, ash, wild dark fruit and meat. Aging has softened its edges, revealing a full-bodied palate, condensed tannins and crisp acidity – aglianico’s signature in this region.

Fresh and Elegant from Portugal

Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade and Staff Writer Courtney Humiston tasted some exceptional white wines throughout Portugal during their trip there this summer, when they sampled both the 2023 and 2024 vintages and found them fresh, elegant and balanced.

Anselmo Mendes in Vinho Verde showcased the range that alvarinho has beyond its reputation for simple, high-acid, slightly spritzy wines. His super fresh Alvarinho Vinho Verde Monção e Melgaço Curtimenta 2023 gains depth, texture and aromatics from 24 hours on the skins, while his rich and salty Parcela Única 2021, which is fermented and aged in new French barrels, is a rich and full-bodied wine with incredible length.

Loureiro, a lesser-known grape variety from Vinho Verde, also made a strong showing, with the Márcio Lopes Loureiro Vinho Verde Pequeños Rebentos Vinhas Velhas 2023, aged in Puligny barrels, an elegant and chiseled example with lovely phenolic tension.

In Douro, we found that the best white wines are coming from high-elevation plateaus where there is greater diurnal shift and more granitic soils compared with the blue schist of the valley. Here, the native rabigato grape thrives.

Winemaker Luis Seabra said they typically harvest their white grapes in October, which is especially good for late-ripening varieties like rabigato. His Luis Seabra Douro Branco Xisto Ilimitado 2024 stands out for balancing remarkable freshness with satisfying richness and concentration.

High-Altitude Malbec

From the Southern Hemisphere, Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade found a terrific, high-altitude malbec from Francisco Puga y Familia in the Calchaqui Valleys. The Malbec Altos Valles Calchaquíes Las Carreras Molinos 2022, grown at 2,590 meters on granitic soils, is a powerful wine that channels the intensity of mountain light and extreme elevation, according to Jacobo. Structured yet precise, it shows focused tannins and linear acidity – all you’d expect from an energetic, high-altitude expression.

And from San Juan’s Calingasta Valley came a delicate, refined expression of grenache: the Bodega Los Dragones Valle de Calingasta El Pedrazal 2022. From a young vineyard planted at around 1,650 meters, the wine is aged in a combination of concrete eggs and 500-liter neutral French oak, resulting in the sort of purity and transparency only a mountain wine can show.

Meanwhile, the consistently brilliant El Enemigo Cabernet Franc Gran Enemigo Single Vineyard El Cepillo delivered again in the 2022 vintage. It’s always one of the  finest expressions of cabernet franc from Argentina, with the latest iteration “an angular, distinctive expression full of personality,” according to Jacobo

Finally, Associate Editor Ryan Montgomery was in his homeland, Australia to taste the wines from some of the world's oldest vineyards, starting at Tyrrell’s Wines in Hunter Valley, where fifth-generation winemaker Chris Tyrrell presided over the release of the latest shiraz bottlings from their “Sacred Sites” series of wines

The best of these was the Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley Old Patch 2024, from a vineyard planted in 1867. Ryan summed up this wine in one word: “Wow,” describing it as powerful and minerally, with length, structure and purity, giving an old-vine texture and fine, gravelly tannins.

Unlike the brooding and savory Old Patch, the Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley 8 Acres 2024 offers a brighter, more lifted profile, Ryan, said. This one is “all about aromatic lift and perfume, with a mid-weight palate, fine tannins and a textured yet subtly restrained mouthfeel,” he said.

– Vince Morkri, Editor-in-Chief

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. 

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