VRW Daily Wine Tasting Tuesday-Thursday
Available all day during operating hours. $2

Wines featured this week: 2019 Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay and 2018 Foley Johnson Carneros Chardonnay

Wine Spectator 91
ROMBAUER Chardonnay Carneros 2019

Buttery richness to luscious spiced apple tart and baked pear flavors. Ground nutmeg lingers into the broad, plush finish with powerful toasty notes. Drink now through 2023. —Kim Marcus $38. Internet Price $34.99

2018 Foley Johnson Carneros Chardonnay

Winemaker Notes: Notes of grilled peach, pear, buttered croissant, and vanilla set the stage for a rich, and full-bodied Chardonnay. The aromas expand on the palate with mouthwatering flavors of pear, apple crisp, honeysuckle, toasted coconut, and vanilla wafer. This wine’s balance and structure coupled with its bright acidity makes it an age-worthy wine to be enjoyed for several years. $25 Our Price $12.45

Friday Wine Tasting at VRW $5/person
Friday’s Tasting, 3/12/21 (3:00 PM-5:30 PM): 2018 Lewis Reserve Napa Cab and 2018 Vine Cliff Black Label Napa Cab

2018 Lewis Reserve Napa Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: From an outstanding vintage, our 2018 Reserve Cabernet is a full-throttle bottle, packed with fruit yet balanced with a fine-tuned chassis. Showy and complex, the wine is obsidian dark, layered with black currant, berries, coffee and sweet oak spices. Fleshy on entry, the palate soars with brazen youth in a firmly framed structure that tails away with chocolaty fine-grained tannins. $175 Our Price $159.99

2018 Vine Cliff Black Label Napa Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: The 2018 Vine Cliff Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a polished, yet brooding wine, with a deep garnet hue from layers of rich fruit. On the nose, aromatics of black cherry, briar, anise, sweet pipe tobacco, dark chocolate, and brined black olives; intermingle with hints of dried green herbs and sweet oak. On the palate, fine grained tannins give way to a silky and rich texture; balanced with dark black fruits of black cherry and cassis, blackberries, Satsuma plum, black tea, and mint. The wine finishes up with a bright ribbon of red rasberry. Internet Price $75 James Suckling 93 Points

Wine Spectator 93 Points
TABLAS CREEK Patelin de Tablas Blanc Paso Robles 2019

Aromatic and complex, with a refreshing thread of acidity weaving in and out among orange blossom, almond cake and Fuji apple notes. Lemon zest and ruby grapefruit details linger on the long, expressive finish. Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne and Clairette Blanche. Drink now. 2,380 cases made.—M.W. $25 Internet Price $19.99 (Available GT)

2016 Joullian Monterey Chardonnay

Winemaker Notes: Brilliant, pale green straw-gold color. Perfumy mango, white peach, pineapple and citrus rind aromas jump out of the glass. These same tropical characteristics are reflected in a rich, fruit driven flavor profile that finishes with refreshing acidity and hints of minerality and roasted grain. $25 Our Price $17.99 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Advocate 95 Points
2018 Paul Hobbs Chardonnay Ross Station Estate

The 2018 Chardonnay Ross Station Estate opens with toast and flint, segueing to golden apple, white flowers and salted almonds. The medium-bodied, satiny palate is singing, bursting with juicy, savory flavors and finishing very long. 317 cases produced. $85 (Back in stock GT 3/11/21)

2019 The Prisoner, Half Bottle

Winemaker Notes: Features enticing aromas of Bing cherry, dark chocolate, clove, and roasted fig. Persistent flavors of ripe raspberry, boysenberry, pomegranate, and vanilla linger harmoniously for a smooth and luscious finish. THE BLEND: Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Charbono. $33/375ml. Liquidation Price $19.95/375ml (5 half bottles available at GT)

Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points
2018 Turnbull Napa Estate Cabernet

The appellation 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley would be a great buy for those looking for a terrific value in classic, impeccably made, age-worthy Cabernet under $100. Deep purple, with oustanding notes of blackcurrants, cedarwood, graphite, and leafy herbs, this medium-bodied, elegant 2018 has plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It's going to deliver loads of pleasure over the coming 15 years. $50 Internet Price $42.99 (Arrives GT 3/11/21)

Wine Advocate 94 Points
2018 Walter Hansel Cahill Lane Chardonnay

The 2018 Chardonnay Cahill Lane has very pretty scents of quince and baked apples with notes of crushed hazelnuts, beeswax and white blossoms. The medium-bodied palate is satiny and packed to the gills with concentrated, layered flavors, and it finishes long with bright freshness calling you in for another sip. 907 cases produced. $30 (Arrives GT this afternoon)

Wine Advocate 93 Points
2018 Paul Hobbs Russian River Pinot Noir

Made with about 10% whole cluster, the 2018 Pinot Noir has a medium ruby-purple color and a nose of cranberry sauce, rhubarb, tea leaves and earth with a spicy undercurrent. Medium-bodied, it's concentrated and grainy with appealing juicy fruits and a long, lifted finish. 7,612 cases produced. $65 Our Price $54.99 (Arrives GT 3/11/21)

Wine Advocate 92.5 Points
2019 Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese
Norheimer Kirschheck

The 2019 Riesling Spätlese Norheimer Kirschheck is bright and elegant yet quite reductive at this early stage. Racy- piquant and pure on the palate, with tension, grip and elegance, this is a promising Spätlese, but it is completely shut down at the moment. Tasted as a sample in Bremen, April 2020. $47 Our Price $41.99 (Arrives GT 3/11/21)

Wine Spectator 91 Points
SCHLOSSGUT DIEL Riesling Nahe Von der Nahe 2018

A lovely and expressive dry version, with a cream note that acts as a canvas for the array of citrus and orchard fruit flavors layered on top. Floral aromas add to the charm on the well-defined finish. Drink now through 2028. 168 cases imported. — AZ $23 Our Price $18.99 (Arrives GT 3/11/21)

Wine Advocate 95 Points
2017 Selbach-Oster Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese

The 2017 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese is clear and intense on the elegant and flinty nose with its crunchy and refreshing slate aromas. On the palate, this is a brilliant, salty-piquant and mouthwatering Auslese that is light, finessed, complex, tight and tensioned and really pulls forward. A great wine that will taste even better in 50 years, says Johannes Selbach. Tasted in March 2019. $42 Our Price $38.99 (Arrives GT 3/11/21)

Wine Advocate 93-95 Points
2018 Kongsgaard Napa Chardonnay

A barrel sample, the 2018 Chardonnay bursts from the glass with bold notes of warm peaches, spiced pears and applesauce with hints of candied ginger, honeycomb and lime cordial. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has electric intensity, with a refreshing line of racy acid cutting through the tightly wound stone fruit and spicy layers, finishing long and honey laced. $115

100 POINTS JEB DUNNUCK
2018 Scarecrow Rutherford Cabernet

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple in color, rolling reluctantly out of the glass with tar and earthy notes to begin, giving way to compelling notions of baked plums, warm cassis and wild blueberries plus wafts of dried sage and tilled earth. Full-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid structure of grainy tannins supporting the muscular, crunchy black fruits, finishing long and lively. Market Price $750-$1000/bottle. One 3 pack OWC available at GT early April 2021 for $2300.