92
Gloria Ferrer 2010 Anniversary Cuvée Carneros 12.5% $40
This new wine delivers enormous QPR. The Gloria Ferrer wines always have, but this wine really outdoes itself! A blend of 14 lots of exclusively first press juice, this 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay cuvée is aged on its lees in bottle for five and a half long years. Given 2010 was one of the coolest growing seasons on record, it may have needed that much time to round out. The wine certainly took advantage of this opportunity to mature, and the wine is astonishingly good. It is packed with a mineral-driven savoriness at its dense and flavorful core. It tastes of Braeburn apple skins and toasted hazelnuts. Though ready to drink, this should hold well thanks to its excellent intensity. This is incredibly classy!
Drink: 2017-20

90
WindVane 2015 Chardonnay Carneros Estate Grown 14.5% $40
This wine pours into the glass a sparkling bright yellow tinged with gold. It is a pure and relatively crisp Chardonnay with underlying aromas of buttered and honey-drizzled toasted brioche. It is a bolder, assertive style of Chardonnay with ample fruit whose gracefully integrated acidity keeps it nicely aligned. It tastes of succulent yellow pears dusted with cinnamon and yellow plum-topped custard tartlets. A hint of bitter almond slides in on the medium finish. 1,800 cases produced.
Drink: 2017-19

89
WindVane 2015 Pinot Noir Carneros Estate Grown 14.5% $35
This is a crowd pleaser for its overt fruit appeal and gentle (relatively, for California Pinot Noir) price tag. The black plums and dark cherries scented with licorice are highly typical of Sonoma, as is the wine’s viscous and unctuous palate feel. Toasty oak (46% of the wine was aged in new oak for nine months) overtakes the fruit on the moderate finish. That should integrate in time, and there’s no rush to drink this. Made exclusively of free-run juice, this wine has good concentration to evolve over the coming years. 1,300 cases produced.
Drink: 2017-21