Smith Story Cabernet Sauvignon Pickberryis made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
This wine is an old soul. I feel closer to it than all of the wines we produce, filled with excitement to show off to the world. A rebel of sorts, a Cabernet Sauvignon that is for the curious wine drinker for sure. The 2016 is going to be a showstopper complete with an standing ovation. I can’t wait to see it on stage. Worth the wait.
Ali’s Notes: This was the vineyard I spent the most time in during the 2016 Harvest. There’s a magical view that just pulls me in mixed with an incredible assortment of vineyard rocks popping up throughout the vines. The end of the vineyard rows always had the most gorgeous blooming red roses too. I often sat under the big shade tree on top of the hillside and took it all in. I was there the morning of the pick, the vineyard workers were full of song and hustle. So much TLC was given during harvest.
Eric’s Notes: Steady and mostly uneventful growing season with a bit of midsummer spikes of heat but nothing maddening. A cool slow end of the growing season led to really pretty and balanced fruit. We did get lucky though… we had some rain come in just a few days after picking. Speaking of… the grapes were hand picked. hand sorted, destemmed and fermented in stainless steel with daily manual punch-downs. Wine was then aged in neutral Bordeaux barrels for 22 months before bottling.
It’s wildly similar to our 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon. If opening right away, decant a few hours. The wine is a little tight out of the gates but showing nice herb and pepper notes - the salty minerality shows up on the back end of the palate as it airs.
LIBRARY WINE/ LIMITED AVAILABILITY: A Cabernet Sauvignon, without question on the nose. A Cabernet true to the Smith Smith story style; cooler and dancing aromatic while having density and layers of texture. Lots of spicy red fruits up front while fresh bramble fruits bounce around the palate which is rounded out by a savory, almost cinnamon-bark spice mouthfiling finish and pretty tannin structure.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Pickberry Vineyard is the most convincing and complete of these wines from Smith Story. Deep and inky, yet very much medium in body, the 2016 has a lot to offer. Blueberry, menthol, licorice, lavender and spice meld in this supple, racy Cabernet Sauvignon. The balance of fruit, structure and freshness is terrific. This classically rendered Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon needs bottle age to truly blossom; give it a few years to be at its best. - Vinous 93 Points
Sociando Mallet Haut-Medoc is made from 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc.
Château Sociando-Mallet produces full-bodied wines with a deep, dark color. The complex bouquet is dominated by red and black fruit aromas with a touch of minerality, floral and spicy notes. Fresh, harmonious and nicely balanced in the mouth with a solid tannic structure and good acidity that promises a long aging potential. The mid-palate is pleasant with a nice density of fruit. A silky and fruity finish.
Red meat, dishes in sauce, poultry, strong goat or cow cheeses.
Solomon Hills Estate Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Solomon Hills Pinot Noir is always distinctive and singular in its ability to harness the Coastal influence of Santa Maria Valley. Earth tones alongside briar bush and blueberries contrast aromas of forest floor and fired red clay. The noticeable savory elements of cracked black pepper and teriyaki beef nicely balance ripe cherries and blackberries on the palate.
Review:
I loved the bouquet of the 2021 Pinot Noir Solomon Hills, a light ruby-hued effort with perfumed darker cherry, mulberry, leafy herb, and smoked earth nuances. It's medium-bodied, has a layered, seamless texture, integrated tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It's absolutely brilliant. Enjoy bottles over the coming decade or more.
-Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
Sonoma Bench Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Rich golden in color. Balanced oak and toast aromas transform into layers of vanilla and brioche amid pear and apple. A luscious wine on the palate; flavors progress with lime citrus, white peach and lemon curd. Texture is silky and rich with just enough firm acidity to achieve a balanced wine whose flavors linger on the palate. Enjoy now or cellar for 2 years.
Taste the tropics! Flavors and aromas of fresh cut pineapple and juicy mango make this Seasonal Selection a tropical treat. Enjoy with angel food cake or chili spiced nuts.
Love this wine with...
coconut cream pie
Made from peaches
9.5% Alcohol by Volume
13% Residual Sugar
Our Peach wine brings fresh from the orchard peach flavors and aromas to your glass. It’s the next best thing to biting into a perfectly ripe peach.
Serve chilled with spicy cheeses or your favorite dessert.
Select Wine Competition Awards:
2011 SILVER San Francisco Chronicle
2011 GOLD Florida State Fair International
2010 BRONZE Indiana
2010 SILVER Tasters Guild International
2010 BRONZE San Francisco Chronicle
Stonestreet Estate Vineyards Rockfall Cabernet Sauvignon is made from Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sourced from one of our highest elevation vineyards, the 2017 Rockfall Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon features a true wildness that expresses the rugged growing site 2,000ft above the fog line. Elegant aromas of blueberries, cassis, graphite and black tea with complex undercurrents of baking spices. This wine balances power with elegance through to its savory palate with a generous structure and ample tannins. The structure of this wine allows for many years of cellar aging to continue to bring out nuanced flavors and complexity.
Review:
The Rockfall Vineyard is between 2,000 and 2,200-feet in elevation, and the wine that originates there is powerful and concentrated in style, with robust red-fruit and mineral tones. Herbal and classic, it shows elegance and integrated oak and tannin within its context of intensity and structure. Enjoy best from 2027–2037. Virginie Boone
-Wine Enthusiast 96 Points
Sunset Hills Shenandoah Springs Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This is our first release of a clone-specific wine for Sunset Hills. The goal is to show you a specific terroir, one that year after year delivers excellent fruit quality. I chose clone 96 for its complexity both in ripening and barrel aging. During ripening, the fruit has notes of pineapple and pear with great acidity. I saw this wine as a chance to highlight not only the vineyard, but how detailed we can get in growing and making wine.
100% Chardonnay:
75% Clone 96
20% Clone 76
5% Clone 17
Notes of light honeysuckle, Asian pear, raw almond, and lemon custard. Medium body and medium acid.
This beautiful wine opens with aromas of cassis, blackberry, and earthy plum on the nose, with a touch of cedar that elegantly underlies the rich dark fruits on the nose. The wine is rich and full bodied on the palate, the acidity is supple, supporting the layers of plum, dark cherry and dusty minerality. Alongside these you have a touch of espresso bean and slight vanilla. The smooth tannins follow through to drive the finish, giving longevity to the palate.
Review: Aromas of black cherries, cassis, spice box, walnut and graphite. Firm and lengthy with a full body and compact tannin structure. Dense and wide with a chocolaty finish. - James Suckling 93 Points |
A classic balance between generous red and black fruits and firm tannins shows in this full-bodied wine as it unfolds black cherries, blackberries, oak char and black pepper. It's grippy in texture—perfect for a steak or lamb chop.
- Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
Sylvestra Malbec is made from 100% Malbec.
Very attractive ruby red color with dark tones. Aromas of black fruits, cherries and raspberries, spicy notes of red pepper.
The palate is fresh, fruity and well-balanced, with sweet and ripe tannins.
Review:
"Aromas of blackcurrant, sweet tobacco, mocha and burnt orange. It’s medium-bodied with velvety tannins. Juicy finish. Delicious now."
- James Suckling (February 2021), 90 pts
"The 2021 Malbec Sylvestra from the Uco Valley is purple in color with a diaphanous but expressive fruity nose featuring fresh plum, hints of blackberry and violet over a bed of herbs. Intense in the mouth, the polished tannins are lifted up by the juicy freshness which also injects energy and tension before the fruity finish. - Joaquín Hidalgo"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (November 2021), 90 pts
Coleraine derives its name from the Coleraine vineyard, home of John and Wendy Buck of Te Mata Estate. John’s late grandfather was born in Coleraine in Northern Ireland and the name has been maintained through the family home to the wine. Originally a single vineyard wine, from 1989 Coleraine has been an assemblage of the finest wines produced from distinct plots within Te Mata Estate’s oldest vineyards on the Havelock Hills.
Review:
We tasted this a couple of years ago. Aromas of ink, tar, blackberries, blueberries and lead pencil follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with firm and medium velvety tannins. Solid with great length and beauty. Needs time to soften but a great wine. Try after 2026.
-James Suckling 97 Points
The 2020 Coleraine is seriously structured, dark and spicy, with great concentration and gravitas. The tannins are so integrated and woven that they feel almost imperceptible. This is spicy and resinous and charry, but its fine and graphite and mineral too. Chalky tannins plume through the supple fruit. Very cool. It's exciting, plush, open weave and sensational.
-Wine Advocate 97 Points
From the most recognized Napa Valley red blend comes a distinct, new wine. Made in the same iconic style as The Prisoner Red Blend, we proudly introduce The Prisoner Cabernet Sauvignon. Redefining taste once again.
On the nose, blackberry, currant, and plum are layered with dried, crushed herbs and licorice. On the palate, cedar, vanilla, nutmeg, and toasted coconut lead as plum and dried blackberries culminate in a lush, full mouthfeel and a lengthy, balanced finish.
Chef Brett recommends pairing The Prisoner Cabernet with Grilled Ribeye or Aged Gouda Cheese.
This 100% Chardonnay blend is made from Tête de Cuvée, or first pressing of the grapes, considered superior in quality, with a high percentage of reserve wines for extra complexity, depth and richness, and a low added dosage to preserve purity and freshness.
Thibaut-Janisson Virginia Fizz is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Virginia Fizz is a fun and festive sparkling wine, great for all life’s celebrations. It is cremant style made of 100% Chardonnay. Packed with apples and peach flavors, the wine has a very creamy and smooth texture. The myriad of tiny bubbles will tickle your taste buds.
Refreshing on its own, but perfect mixed as a cocktail!
Mortet Bourgogne Passetoutgrain is mae from 60% Gamay and 40% Pinot Noir
Aged 11 months in Neutral French oak barrels.
12% ABV
Malolactic fermentation in barrel.
Slight filtration before bottling.
Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine from the region of Burgundy.
Most Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is red, although rosé wine may also be produced. Unlike other Burgundy wines, which are
primarily produced from a single grape variety, Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is essentially a cuvée of Gamay and Pinot noir.
This is a quintessential bistro wine. Fresh and fruity, displaying red and black fruit flavors. Well balanced, good structure and silky finish with excellent length. Serve slightly chilled.
Oeufs en Meurette (poached eggs served in a red wine sauce with onions and lardons).
Boeuf Bourguignon (beef cooked in red wine with carrots and patatoes).
Pizza and pasta.
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
The 2021 Titus Family Estate Reserve embodies the depth, concentration, and beauty of our Ehlers Lane vineyard with grace and elegance. A core of Blueberry, black currant, mulberry and warm coffee are rounded out with hints of lilac and maduro wrapped cigar. Inkiness in the glass gives the wine depth and length with rich finely knit tannins melting to chocolate pot de crème intensity. Crème de cassis and berry tart notes yield to espresso and rich oak on the finish as the palate endures. Enjoy 2025-2041.
Review:
Lastly, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Family Estate Reserve is based on 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec. It's a touch more focused and linear compared to the Imperatus, but I love the purity and precision in its cr me de cassis, espresso, classy oak, and spicy, floral aromatics. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with fine tannins and a seamless, layered mouthfeel, as well as ripe tannins, it's going to benefit from 2-3 years in the cellar and evolve for 15 years with ease.
-Jed Dunnuck 94 Points
The Factor is predominantly from the Gomersal and Marananga sub-regions of the Barossa, providing dense texture and richness to the palate with subtle notes of olive tapenade, saddle leather and minerals. Ripe aromas of plum and wild blackberries, olive, pepper and spice are all supported by a dark core of espresso roast, ripe blackberries and saltbush. Brooding and densely packed, this lavish wine has ample generosity to cellar for many years, where it will slowly unravel.
Review:
This is quintessential Barossa. The red dirt in the ground rises up in the glass and transports me right back there: middle summer, hot, spicy air blowing across the tops of old vines. It's evocative. This 2019 The Factor is Port-y, concentrated and savory as all hell, with charred barrels, lamb fat, black pepper, salted licorice, pomegranate molasses and aniseed. This is about as big as I can cope with and still enjoy it; it takes density and intensity to a whole new level—no surprise for the vintage, the region and the producer. A perfect storm of thunderous strength. Like staring into the abyss . . . a little bit scary, but transfixing nonetheless.
-Wine Advocate 96 Points
Toso Fragolino Rosso Spago is an aromatized drink made of wine and strawberry with fine and fruity flavors. Serve cool at 8 C. Excellent as an aperitif, with desserts as well as for cocktails or simply on its own.
This Moscato is reminiscent of honeysuckle and rose petal. The quality is equivalent to a top level Asti Spumante DOCG. Sweet sparkling wine obtained from a careful selection of the Moscato grapes. It has a pale straw yellow color with fine foam and bubbles. Tropical fruit flavors, refreshing.
Excellent to match desserts, fruit and dried pastries.
Trouillet Lebeau Pouilly Fuisse Premier Cru Pouilly 2021 is made from 100% Chardonnay.
This wine, now sold under the Premier Cru Pouilly AOC, is not new to our portfolio. This wine used to be called “Coeur de Pouilly” and it was the estate's latest Pouilly-Fuissé cuvée. Starting with the 2021 vintage, this climat is now officially classified as Premier Cru !
It comes from the best plots located in the heart of the appellation and aged in oak barrels. The wine shows a pale yellow color with deep golden highlights, an aromatic and complex nose with fruity (fresh almond, apricot) and floral (violet) notes. Powerful and fleshy in the mouth, it reveals notes of lime trees, cinnamon, honey and has a good aromatic persistence.
Enjoy it with poultry, such as Poulet de Bresse (blue-footed chicken) or with strong fish, such as pike or bass.
Échezeaux is loyal to its appellation through the finesse of its attack on the palate and its overall balance. But it's also a wine with pronounced acidity, which gives it freshness and structure and bestows upon it a sometimes austere finish.
Leindl Gruner Veltliner Eichelberg is made from 100% Gruner Veltliner.
Medium yellow green. Fine yellow apple fruit, delicate hint of quince and honey, candied orange zest, highly attractive bouquet. Juicy, good complexity, extract core sweet, silky texture, fine acidity bow, fine and salty minerality, great length, secure aging potential, a very finesse Veltliner-style.
Cold Fermentation.
Aged on the lees for 12 months in Stainless Steel tank. No Oak.