California’s Under-the-Radar Stars, Washington’s Vibrant 2021s and Coming of Age in Germany: Weekly Tasting Report (Feb 14-20)

James rated some terrific quality, under-the-radar wines last week in California – a newly released old-vine Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon from a tiny producer called Grace Family Vineyards and chardonnays and pinot noirs from a Russian River family-owned winery that is a favorite within U.S. sommelier circles – not to mention two solid wines from Chile’s Errazuriz winery during his recent trip to South America.

The Grace Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley St. Helena Cornelius Grove 2021 comes from amazing old vines, some about 70 years old, planted at low density in hillsides on the west side of St. Helena. There’s a feeling of forgottenness, James said, when he walked part of the vineyards last year and gazed at the magnificence rows of the old vines. It’s part of the Heath Canyon Ranch, which apparently has been farmed by the Corbet Family since the early 1900s. The vineyard is owned by the Green family who reside in Paris while the winemaking is overseen by Napa's star Helen Keplinger.

The 2021 hillside cab is literally history in the glass and shows the unique microclimate of the hillside area. It also highlights the greatness of the 2021 vintage for Napa Valley cabernet, exhibiting an exquisite balance of intense fruit and sublime tannin quality. It’s all about great tannins in the best reds of 2021 in Napa.

This could also be said of the Continuum Napa Valley Sage Mountain Vineyard 2021, which Continuum owner and winemaker Tim Mondavi calls “quite wonderful.” It may be the most transparent red Mondavi has made at Continuum since its inception in 2005, which may be from less emphasis in petit verdot in its blend in 2021. He likes to compare it to the 2013 in quality but thinks it may have even more.

“It’s a more sophisticated 2013,” Mondavi said. “It has more nuance and elegance as well. It has the strength to live a long time and at the same time more finesse. As it ages, it will become more expressive.”

James also ventured to a new (for him) family-owned winery that specializes in single-vineyard pinots and chardonnays. It’s called Arista and is just outside of Healdsburg. The wines are very steely and pure with a fantastic balance of relatively low alcohol and phenolic ripeness. They are produced by owner Mark McWilliams and winemaker Matt Courtney.

James also tasted the new releases from Courtney under the label of Ferren and they are the essence of Sonoma Coast raciness and umami. He was happy to reacquaint himself with the Ferren label after a few great bottles years ago at a lengthy dinner at the fabled three-star Michelin restaurant French Laundry, which he still remembers because the Ferren chardonnay was the best thing about the meal.

There are also new releases from the Knights Valley vineyard Peter Michael Winery, with some splendid chardonnays in particular. The 2021 vintage is excellent for just about every grape variety in Northern California, and phenolic chardonnays with energy and tension really show off the year. Peter Michael’s single-vineyard chardonnays from mountain vineyards are distinctly different from one another and show true-to-the-terroir character.

Also, don’t miss ratings for the new releases of pinot noir and chardonnay from Chile’s Errazuriz under the Las Pizarras label. They have a fascinating flinty and minerally character to their purity of ripe fruit from the very good quality 2022 vintage. But the top-rated wine from Chile in this report is the Vik Valle de Cachapoal Vik 2021, which Senior Editor Zekun Shuai tasted during his South America trip. This is the best-ever version of the cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon blend Zekun has ever tried, with a full body, superb intensity and silky tannins that grow on the palate, showing great length that goes on for minutes. The depth is legendary.

BALANCED AND VIBRANT FROM WASHINGTON

Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt and Executive Editor Jim Gordon were in Washington over the past week, tasting a slew of wines from across the state. Many of their tastings were from 2021, a low-yielding vintage from poor fruit set and heat spikes during the growing season. But the top wines in this week's report remain balanced and vibrant. Three at the very top hail from eastern Washington's Walla Walla Valley, where both cabernet sauvignon and Rhone varietals like syrah have developed an excellent reputation over the last couple of decades.

Always one of the best syrahs in the country (and with a wonderfully memorable label), the Cayuse Vineyards Syrah Walla Walla Valley Bionic Frog 2021 is another aromatically explosive iteration, with an exciting interplay of savory, peppery components and ripe blackberry and plum fruit. “We tend to see a lot of minerality in our wines,” said resident vigneronne Elizabeth Boursier. “I think the fruit shows more in 2021."

Cayuse's other 2021 syrahs from Cailloux Vineyard, En Cerise Vineyard, En Chamberlin Vineyard and their magnum blend of their vineyards, Wallah Wallah Special #15, are all exceptionally wild and full of character.

Winemaker Brennon Leighton impressed with his array of K Vintners 2021 syrahs (see Claire’s interview with Leighton, above left). Royal City, Powerline Estate, The Beautiful, The Hidden and Phil Lane are all remarkable wines for between $40 to $150. But to top them all, and to rival the Bionic Frog, is a syrah from Yakima Valley, about 160 kilometers west of Walla Walla: the K Vintners Syrah Yakima Valley Motor City Kitty 2021. It’s electric, savory and earthy, with a seemingly unending finish.

We were also delighted by two wines made from grenache. The K Vintners Grenache Walla Walla Valley The Boy 2021 is a powerful, super smooth and soft wine full of ripe red fruit. And the Cayuse Vineyards Walla Walla Valley God Only Knows Armada Vineyard 2021, which is mostly made from grenache (God only knows the exact blend), is an effusive, woodsy and funky wine from biodynamically grown grapes, like all of Cayuse's wines. These include his Horsepower portfolio – wines that are produced from vineyards worked entirely by horses. The Horsepower Grenache Walla Walla Valley Fiddleneck Vineyard 2021 and Horsepower Syrah Walla Walla Valley Sur Echalas Vineyard 2021 are two more in particular to look out for.

And yet cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux-style wines still remain the most popular in Washington (and the U.S. as a whole). The 2021 cabernets and a red blend from a titan of Washington winemaking, Quilceda Creek, were stunning when Executive Editor Jim Gordon tasted them at the Snohomish winery with owner Paul Golitzin and winemaker Mark Kaigas (watch the interview, top right). Perhaps a shade better than the 2020s, their scores crowded right up against the 100-point mark.

Jim slightly favored the Cabernet Sauvignon Horse Heaven Hills Tchelistcheff 2021 over the three other pure cabernet sauvignons and the more affordable CVR Bordeaux-style blend. The Tchelistcheff, named for Golitzin’s great-uncle and famous California winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff, was memorable, opulent and balanced. Sourced from the estate-owned Mach One Vineyard perched on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River, it is the product of what Golitzin calls a “fast and furious” vintage.

More fantastic cabernets and cabernet-led blends came from Walla Walla-based producers L'Ecole No 41 and Leonetti Cellar, as well as Woodinville-based Betz. In particular, check out the Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Serra Pedace Vineyard and two cabernet-based blends – the Leonetti Cellar Walla Walla Valley Loess and the L’Ecole No 41 Ferguson Vineyard. They are all from the 2021 vintage. From the cooler and more elegant 2022, check out Betz's cabernet sauvignon from Red Mountain, the Heart of the Hill 2022, as well as their merlot-driven blend, the Clos de Betz 2022. Both are super-polished and well structured.

Last but not least is a chardonnay, also from the House of Smith portfolio (which includes K Vintners, B. Leighton, CasaSmith and Substance). The Sixto Chardonnay Washington State Moxee 2021 is made from 60-year-old vines at 1,500 feet elevation in the Columbia Valley, showing creamy lemon curd and buttery flavors lifted by vibrant acidity. Stay tuned for more in our upcoming Washington Report.

AN UNDERGROUND STAR COMES OF AGE

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott has been following German winemaker Stefan Winter for 20 years, ever since he was an underground star of the young winemaker movement in the Rheinhessen region, stunning everyone by getting listings at top restaurants right out of the gate. For no good reason – perhaps because he came from the relatively unknown town of Dittelsheim-Hessloch – Winter never made a big international breakthrough, but Stuart thinks that's all about to change as a result of his new and forthcoming releases.

The most spectacular of these are Winter’s first sparkling wines. His breathtaking Winter Sekt Rheinhessen Pure Brut Nature 10/18 NV has incredibly complex aromas of candied citrus, smoke and ancient apple varieties. The super mineral acidity and fine mousse on the extremely concentrated palate give it a primordial energy, while the finish is a kaleidoscopic image of saltiness and leesy complexity. It is the first German sparkling wine to receive a perfect 100 rating.

A bunch of Germany’s leading winemakers, right up to Klaus Peter Keller (an old friend of Winter), have recently entered the sparkling wine field with new, high-end products. What make Winter’s stand out is not only the perfectionism with which they have been made, but the way he has radically reinterpreted the Champagne method.

For example, his non-vintage Pure is a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir base wines from the 2008 through 2015 vintages that were matured on lees in neutral 500-liter oak casks. “I spent almost a decade collecting base wines before I even thought about bottling something," Winter explained. Pure went into the bottle in October 2018 (hence the 10/18 in the name) and was disgorged in June 2022, so, unlike most Champagnes, most of the lees contact happened in cask rather than in the bottle.

The price of Pure is well below that of prestige cuvee Champagnes of this exalted quality, but the Winter Sekt Rheinessen Grande Cuvée Brut 02/20, composed of base wines from the 2008 to 2018 vintages, is even better value. It is very compact and structured with a stunning interplay of less creaminess and chalky minerality. Together, the two are an amazing debut of a kind Stuart can see no other example of in Germany. Quantities are limited and the challenge will be getting some bottles.

Winter first attracted attention with his rich but beautifully balanced 2003 vintage dry riesling from the Leckerberg, or “tasty hill,” vineyard site. The 2021 version of this wine, and Winter’s other two GGs, are set for release in September. Although 2021 was the most challenging recent vintage, these are amazing wines – as good as those from the great 2019 vintage.

By a whisker, Stuart rates the Winter Riesling Rheinhessen Kloppberg GG 2021 the highest of the trio thanks to its extraordinary brilliance and racy precision. If you’re looking for something richer, then the Leckerberg GG delivers the mineral goods in a more Burgundian package with a pronounced lemon curd character.

How did Winter do it? Here, too, there is a “secret.” Winter recently switched to maturing his dry riesling GGs for another extra year before release, shunting up to three full years of maturation, most of that being on lees in large neutral oak casks. “I slowed down the entire winemaking process,” he said, “but of course, great attention to detail in the vineyard is also essential to reach this level.“

Now in his early 40s, Stefan Winter has reached the very top.

DRINKABILITY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

While the firmament of grenache in the McLaren Vale region of Australia always strikes a chord for Ned Goodwin MW, he believes that 2023, the third successive La Niña vintage –  following the bulletproof 2021 and the lower pHs and firmer structural carapace of 2022 – is the coolest of the triumvirate, allowing the stars to align for wines other than grenache.

Among them were the offerings of Brad and Kendra White of Camwell Wines. Brad is a fifth-generation local grape grower while Kendra is an expatriate American who shifted to the peaceful pastures in the Vale – a maritime allegiance of ancient sands and ironstones higher up, with a polyglot of sandstone, silt, clay and pockets of limestone lower down. The duo craft just 200 cases each year from bonafide sustainably farmed fruit, crafted in a solar-powered premises.

Their wines evince a commendable lo-fi energy by virtue of fruit purity and an electric cadence, each cuvee suffused with ample phenolics and minimal sulphur dioxide across the range. Although they aren’t the highest-rated of wines, “These are wines that I can drink in large drafts every day due to an eminent poise between structural attributes and fruit, all compressed into a bone of tension,” Ned said. “It is this sort of visceral esprit that defines drinkability of the highest order.”

While pet-nat may be a category languishing in certain markets, the Rosé Pétillant 2023 is exceptional for the idiom. Brad remarked that he does not disgorge, prizing the turbid lees in the bottle as a source of “textural nourishment.” As a hospitality veteran, however, he loathes fizzy wines that gush excessively when opened. He and Kendra resolve the potential for tableside calamity by deep chilling. In other words, the primary fermentation is completed in the bottle akin to methode ancien. The freshly finished wines are then chilled before dispatch, serving to flocculate the sediment but ensuring that the bead, while persistent, fails to gush.

Equally impressive are the Skin Contact Viognier 2022 and Vermentino 2022, each a briny interplay of stone fruits, salt bush and preserved lemon pucker, perfect for the local table as much as the Mediterranean one. The reds, meanwhile, have a faint air of seriousness without straying into what Ned refers to as “semi-carbonic gaga juice,” or simple expressions with confected aromas, bereft of tannins. In short, the entire range is delicious.

– James Suckling, Claire Nesbitt, Jim Gordon, Stuart Pigott and Ned Goodwin MW contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.