Strong Signals from Bordeaux, Carneros Precision and Oregon Chardonnay Depth

The final week of December brought a focused but revealing close to the year’s tastings, drawing from a broader pool of 440 notes and anchored by a small group of wines that stood out for clarity, balance and intent. The common thread was not scale or ambition but precision, whether in Napa Valley, Oregon or Bordeaux.

This week also marks the beginning of weekly tasting notes from Bordeaux. Early results point to the strengths of the 2023 vintage, which delivered both reds and whites, dry and sweet, with notable weight yet freshness, helped by a higher crop level than the more concentrated and drier 2022. The Château La Fleur-Pétrus Pomerol 2023 (98 points) offers a clear preview of what’s to come, both in future Weekly Tasting Reports and in the broader vintage assessment to follow.

The most striking wine of the week came from Napa Valley’s Carneros, where the perfect-scoring Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard Comandante 2023 shows how complete this site can be in the right hands. The wine combines depth and quiet power with an underlying calm, its structure carrying the wine rather than calling attention to it. It stands among the most complete California wines of the vintage tasted so far.

Close behind was another expression from the same vineyard, the Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard 2023 (99 points), which leans slightly more toward tension and mineral drive while retaining the same sense of proportion.

Hyde de Villaine also appeared across several reds, offering a useful contrast in style. The Cabernet Sauvignon Carrillo 2022 emphasizes restraint over Napa Valley weight, while the Pinot Noir Ygnacia 2023 and the Syrah Californio Hyde Vineyard 2022 show savory detail and freshness rather than overt ripeness. Together, these 97-point wines reinforce the estate’s consistent voice across varieties.

France made a smaller but meaningful showing in the report. The Château La Fleur-Pétrus 2023 delivers a Pomerol of polish and depth without excess, its structure firm but integrated. In Bordeaux more broadly, several 95-point wines filled out the picture, including the Château Laroque St.-Emilion 2022, a retaste, and the Bernard Magrez Grand Cru Mes 5 Pépites 2018. Both are wines that lean on balance and maturity rather than power. The whites also performed well, with the Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey Bordeaux Blanc 2022 and Château Duhart-Milon Rothschild Bordeaux Blanc 2024 (both 95-pointers) showing freshness and clarity.

New releases from Bishop Rey Vignobles also appeared this week, including two reds and one white. These wines come from Northern California wine merchant Shaun Bishop of the Bay Area’s JJ Buckley, sourced from small vineyard holdings in Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux. The focus is on single vineyards and parcels, with a style that favors pristine, fruit-forward winemaking.

Oregon helps form the backbone of this report, particularly in chardonnay. The Bethel Heights Chardonnay Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills High Wire 2023 (97 points) is right at the top, followed by a deep bench of wines at 96 and 95 points that underscore the consistency of the Eola-Amity Hills. Evening Land, Big Table Farm, Nicolas Jay, Walter Scott and X Novo all contributed chardonnays built on precision, texture and site expression. The Nicolas Jay Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Spirit Hill Vineyard 2023 (96 points) and Walter Scott Chardonnay Koosah Vineyard 2023 (96 points) stand out for their quiet intensity.

Pinot noir from Oregon and California round out the highlights. Merry Edwards delivered a strong set of Russian River Valley bottlings, led by the 2023 Warrens’ Hill pinot noir (97 points), while Adelsheim’s 2022 pinot noirs from the Bryan Creek and Laurel Leaf vineyards (both 95 points) reflect a more restrained, site-driven approach.

Also worth your time are Roederer Estate’s Anderson Valley sparklers, the L’Ermitage Brut 2019 and the late-disgorged 2007 (both 97 points),  which combines maturity with lift.

– James Suckling, Ryan Montgomery and Courtney Humiston contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. 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.

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