Rioja’s Single-Vineyard Wonders, Consistently Napa and a Super Tuscan State of Mind: June 2026 Tasting Report

The June tastings by the JamesSuckling.com team encompassed more than 2,000 wines from nine countries, with the standout bottles from Rioja, Napa and Sonoma in California, Italy and Argentina. Although it was the rare month with 100-pointers, a few offerings butted right up against the plateau of perfection.

One of these beauts was a compelling single-vineyard expression from Rioja – a category that  has increasingly become one of the region’s strengths. Many of these vineyards are now being rediscovered and bottled separately instead of being used for cooperative blends.

The Bodegas Artuke Rioja El Escolladero 2024, by Arturo de Miguel in Baños de Ebro (99 points) comes from an impeccably maintained vineyard planted with approximately 83 percent tempranillo and 17 percent graciano on the border between the villages of Ábalos and Samaniego. As de Miguel noted, "the best vineyard is the one that has been well cared for by the same person for 40 years," which is precisely the case here. The floral and aromatic Bodegas Artuke Rioja La Condenada 2024 (98) is equally special, Jacobo said, although more fluid and ethereal in profile.

Right behind the two offerings from Artuke were La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 2016 (97), which is made from 90 percent tempranillo and 10 percent graciano and “remains a classically elegant expression of Rioja,” according to Jacobo, as well as the precise and chalky Cuentaviñas Rioja Los Yelsones 2023 (97), which is sourced from a single parcel in the lieu-dit of La Rad in San Vicente de la Sonsierra.

Consistently Napa

Our top wines in June from California included more than a few standouts from Napa’s sterling 2023 vintage and Coastal California’s 2023 and 2024 vintages, which have been outstanding for wineries seeking freshness and terroir distinction from marginal climates.

Besides being perhaps the top vintage of the past decade, Napa’s 2023 vintage is notable for its consistency, and there is no more consistent producer than Tim Mondavi at Continuum, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary bottling of his Continuum Napa Valley Sage Mountain Vineyard (99). The 2023 version shows all the clarity and freshness of the vintage but is still mountainous in nature while capturing the optimal moment at picking. “Expect this wine to be celebrated for decades to come,” was James’ comment on it. And Dalla Valle once again underscored the pedigree of eastern Oakville with another of their outstanding cabernet sauvignons, the Dalla Valle Napa Valley Maya 2023 (99).

The MacDonald family, meanwhile, continues to reinforce its reputation as one of Napa Valley’s benchmark producers with the velvety and “simply legendary” MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville 2023 (99). “Graeme MacDonald’s wines remain among the purest expressions of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, and this wine backs that up to the hilt,” James said of it.

The Louis M. Martini winery also checked in with an awesome cabernet sauvignon, the terrific, polished, pure Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Lot No. 1 2023 (98), while their Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder 2023 (98) has the intensity of a Pauillac – intricate, firm and laced with fine tannins.

Although Shafer Vineyards, in Napa’s Stags Leap District, has gone through a personnel transition, with a new owner three years ago and a new CEO this year, winemaker Elias Fernandez has been a steady hand at the wheel, producing two particularly memorable new releases: the cool, composed and velvety Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Stags Leap District Hillside Select 2023 (98) as well as the elegant yet spicy Shafer Vineyards Napa Valley Relentless 2023 (98), which is named for Fernandez’s drive toward perfection.

Amici, meanwhile, made standout wines from its sites in both Napa and Sonoma County, with the legendary vineyards of Hyde and Heintz giving us two terrific chardonnays in the Amici Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2024 (97) and Amici Chardonnay Sonoma County Russian River Valley Charles Heintz Vineyard 2024 (98).

Also from Sonoma, the remarkably balanced  Wayfarer Pinot Noir Sonoma County Fort Ross-Seaview The Traveler 2024 (99) was the top-rated pinot noir in June, while a syrah from Arnot-Roberts on West Sonoma Coast, the Arnot-Roberts' Que Syrah 2024 (97) is downright electric. “In case you've lost your faith in syrah, this will certainly restore it,” according to Staff Writer and Taster Courtney Humiston.

Super Tuscan State of Mine

James, Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli and Tastings Operation Manager Andrii Stetsiuk tasted hundreds of Tuscan wines in June at our tasting office in Il Borro. According to Aldo, the challenging 2023 vintage in the Tuscan sub-region of Bolgheri revealed both the skills of the region’s finest producers and the extraordinary suitability of the territory for great wine.

The year also highlighted one weakness and one strength in the wines themselves: some samples showed a more diluted mid-palate, yet the clear advantage across much of the vintage is the presence of half a degree to a full degree less alcohol than usual. The 2023 growing year was marked by climatic complexity, requiring extensive, costly and highly refined vineyard work, but the wines are mostly supple and fresh, with soft tannins and impressive complexity, reaching extraordinary levels in the finest examples.

Tops among these was the cool and complex Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Superiore Sassicaia 2023 (99) which once again confirmed its stature, The wine is “a very clear and distinctive Sassicaia with true character of the estate,” James said of it.

Below the Sassicaia were three other extraordinary Bolgheri wines. The Masseto Toscana 2023 (98) is a gem of grace, meaty and balsamic with a mix of plums and cassis enhanced by graphite minerality, while the Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 2023 (98) is a restrained and complex wine, showing aromas of cloves, graphite, bark, Mediterranean scrub and dark yet fresh bramble fruit. And from the hills of Bibbona came the dark and powerful Tenuta di Biserno Toscana Colle Mezzano di Biserno 2023 (98) – a wine whose tannins are so velvety they’re almost silky.

We also settled into some other superb Super Tuscans as we considered when they category is suffering an identity crisis of sorts as warmer vintages come into play and wreak havoc with growing seasons. Their saving grace, Aldo said, is that producers have learned to lean into the unmistakable influence of the sea to continue to craft worthy offerings.

This was evident at the vast Castello del Terriccio estate, whose flagship wine, the Lupicaia, has been built around cabernet sauvignon with a small proportion of petit verdot and crafted under the experienced hand of Carlo Ferrini. Although past vintages have achieved cult status, their new iteration, the Castello del Terriccio Toscana Lupicaia 2021 (99) is in a league of its own. It’s “a gem of intensity and Mediterranean style; full-bodied and velvety with elegant tannins alongside refreshing acidity, and drinkable now due to its finesse although it’s peak is about 10 years away,” according to Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli.

The Duemani Cabernet Franc Costa Toscana 2023 (97), meanwhile, is restrained and elegant, showing spicy dried eucalyptus, mint and vibrant, mature bramble fruit with a whiff of cedar. The long, well-woven finish is reminiscent of blond tobacco. Balance and elegance also define the Monteverro Toscana 2023 (98), still on the Tuscan coast but much farther south. Here, too, the wine has clearly benefited from the cooler, lighter 2023 growing season.

Meanwhile, Tuscany’s white wines continue to gather momentum, led by the rediscovery of Trebbiano Toscano. One of the finest examples is Luca Sanjust’s Petrolo Trebbiano Toscana Bòggina B 2024 (97), which is particularly compelling in the delicate 2024 vintage. James called it “one of Italy’s best whites,” and this shows in its aromas of honeysuckle, lavender, chalk, salt and dried lemons, as well as some apples and orange blossoms.

'Super-Rendition' Malbec Cobos

Senior Editor Zekun Shuai was on a tasting trip through Argentina during most of June, visiting dozens of producers and getting through hundreds of the Andean country’s latest releases.

James was the one who kicked off our Argentina tastings, however, when he met with Paul Hobbs at Hobbs’ Sonoma office and tasted the 25th-anniversary bottling of the Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza Cobos, from a project he started in 1998 in Lujan de Cuyo. This is a more floral expression than his usual opulent cabernets, with a less-is-more feel that marries freshness and tension. "A super rendition of this wine,” was James’ comment on it.

Zekun followed up on James’ tasting with Hobbs by meeting with Viña Cobos winemaker Diana Fornasero in Mendoza to conduct a small vertical tasting of the Malbec Mendoza Cobos and see how the wine has evolved over the years. In the 2023 vintage, 56 percent of the grapes used in the wine came from a select portion of their Chañares vineyard in Los Arboles in the Uco Valley; 40 percent came from the Hobbs Estate in Lujan de Cuyo and 4 percent came from their almost century-old malbec vines in the Zingaretti vineyard in Villa Bastias.

The harvest started Feb. 25 and lasted until March 11, and the wine was aged for 18 months in barrels, including 54 percent new oak. The result is a wine that shows riper but more refined primary fruit and freshness, and the tannins remain super fine and polished, showing lots of silkiness and depth at the same time. You’ll have many more Argentine wines to look forward to in a few weeks when we publish our annual Argentina Tasting Report, so stay tuned!

– 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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