The four wines that we gave our top rating of 100 points to in February all came from California – three from Sonoma County and one from Napa. Surprisingly, only one was a cabernet sauvignon-based, the Colgin Cellars Napa Valley IX Estate 2022.
The IX Estate comes from a vineyard that was managed with precision in a year that featured a heat dome, where temperatures soared past 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 Celsius) in some valley-floor vineyards. It also helped that the vineyard sits at a higher altitude on Pritchard Hill, which experienced relatively lower temperatures that year. James compared the wine to legendary Bordeaux cabernets from extreme vintages, like the iconic 1961 Chateau Latour, saying that it’s “strikingly structured and tannic, yet light on its feet, with captivating complexity in both aroma and flavor.”
Executive Editor Jim Gordon found three perfect wines during his tastings in Sonoma – a chardonnay and pinot noir from Carlo Mondavi’s RAEN wines, as well as a beautiful cabernet franc from Vérité.