On deck for wine tasting next week at VRW:

James Suckling 93 Points
Tolaini Al Passo Toscana 2019

A firm, polished red with subtle blackberry, blueberry and violet aromas, as well as some cedar, following through to a full body with fresh acidity, chewy tannins and a linear finish. Needs a couple of years to open. Try after 2024. $27

2022 Cuvaison Estate Los Carneros Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker Notes: Our 2022 Estate Sauvignon Blanc exhibits a playful combination of lemon verbena, lychee, and fresh grapefruit on the nose. On the palate, the wine shimmers with bright acidity, buoyed by lime, white peach, and lemongrass with a mineral finish. Our Sauvignon Blanc is 100% fermented in stainless steel to focus the primary fruit, and mineral notes. While the wine is aged on its lees, we gently stir them to enhance the weight and richness of the mouthfeel. $28

Jeb Dunnuck 96+ Points
2021 Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir

The 2021 Pinot Noir comes entirely from the Pisoni Vineyard in the southern portion of the Santa Lucia Highlands. It was only partially destemmed and was raised in 68% new French oak. It's a truly gorgeous effort offering serious aromatics of cassis, darker raspberries, spicy oak, graphite, and crushed stone. Incredibly pure, vibrant, and precise aromatically, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a stacked mid-palate, lots of building tannins, and a great finish. This concentrated, focused, age-worthy beauty needs at least 2-3 years to integrate its structure and tannins and will evolve brilliantly over the following decade. Bravo! $110

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Taste 2021 Joel Gott 815 CA Cabernet, 2021 Precision Wine Company Method Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and 2018 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Thursday, February 8th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

James Suckling 90 Points
2021 Joel Gott 815 CA Cabernet Sauvignon

Blackcurrants, black and green olives, rosemary and some crushed walnuts on the nose. Fresh and refined, with a medium to full body and fine-grained tannins. Drink or hold. $18

2021 Precision Wine Company Method Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: THIS CABERNET SAUVIGNON EXHIBITS INTENSE AND COMPLEX AROMAS OF BLACKCURRANT, BLACKBERRY, AND DARK CHERRY NOTES. ALSO HINTS OF CEDAR, TOBACCO, VANILLA, AND CHOCOLATE. ON THE PALATE FLAVORS OF BLACKBERRY, BLACK CHERRY, AND PLUM. WITH SOME NOTES OF COCOA, COFFEE, OR MOCHA. 90% CABERNET SAUVIGNON, 10% PETIT VERDOT $45

Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
2018 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is based on 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 90% new French oak. It’s a beautiful wine that shows the vintage’s pure, elegant, yet concentrated style perfectly. Gorgeous crème de cassis, violets, blueberries, and cedar pencil notes emerge from the glass, and this beauty builds incrementally on the palate, with full-bodied richness, a lively, pure, layered texture, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It can be enjoyed any time over the coming 20-25 years. $175

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Wine Spectator 92 Points
DRY CREEK Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley 2022

Fragrant, with notes of lemon basil and lemongrass up front, showing hints of celery seed that complement the generous core of pear, peach and lemon-lime flavors. Reveals hints of tropical fruit and fresh-grated ginger on the crisp finish, where the wine gains momentum. Drink now. —M.W. $16 (Arrives GT 2/9/24)

Wine Enthusiast 91 Points
2022 Gainey Santa Ynez Sauvignon Blanc

Light in the glass but exuberant on the nose, this bottling leaps out with aromas of passionfruit, lime sorbet and cut grass, blending tropical notes with a classical profile. The palate is more grassy and lime-driven, with a wet stone minerality adding depth. $18 Our Price $13.99 (Available GT 2/9/24)

Wine Spectator 93 Points
THE HESS COLLECTION Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Allomi 2021

Boysenberry and açaí berry fruit gives this a slightly exotic profile, but it's finely stitched with apple wood, sassafras and singed anise notes to keep it honest. The polished finish lets a chaparral note chime through the flashy fruit. This should have fans for sure. Drink now through 2036. 66,186 cases made.—James Molesworth. $40 Our Price $32.95 (Available GT and VRW)

Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
2021 Luli Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

Cranberry and currant aromas are elevated with sagebrush in a charmingly rustic style on the nose of this bottling. There's a firm tension to the sip. Flavors start on a toast note before growing more tart, with cranberry, raspberry and pomegranate showing most prominently. — Matt Kettmann $30 Our Price $22.99 (Back in stock GT)

Wine Enthusiast 93
2018 Taub Family Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

Well structured and dense with fruit and oak-spice flavors, this full-bodied wine wraps significant velvety tannins around black cherries, black currant and mint notes. Perfumed with cedar and cinnamon on the nose, the wine is smooth on the midpalate and lingers on the finish $70 Our Price $64.99 (Available GT and VRW)

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Taste 2021 Staglin Salus Napa Chardonnay, 2019 Staglin Salus Napa Cabernet, 2018 Staglin Rutherford Estate Cabernet and 2019 Staglin Rutherford Estate Cabernet at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $39 per person.
Friday, February 9th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

2021 Staglin Family Salus Napa Chardonnay

Winemaker Notes: The 2021 Salus Chardonnay provides an adventure for th e senses. It welcomes with perfectly ripened citrus, delicate florals, and limestone minerality. The expressive aromas deliver baked pear tart, a hint of fresh nutmeg and twist of Meyer lemon. The palate showcases juicy apricot, brûléed white grapefruit drizzled with fir honey, and the surprising texture of silky mango. The richness of sun warmed fruit is beautifully balanced by acidity focusing the entire experience. Each sip induces a longing for another. $60

2019 Staglin Family Salus Napa Cabernet

Winemaker Notes: Welcome to High Definition Cabernet – the 2019 Salus is a generous and deliciously detailed display of exuberant dark fruits dynamically supported by a range of floral, earthy and herbaceous characters. Lifted floral notes slide into resinous rosemary underlain by tilled earth and powdered porcini mushrooms complexed with a puff of gunpowder, graphite and criollo cigar wrapper. Bursting blackcurrant and ripe raspberry deepened by crushed cacao nibs and fresh licorice root envelop the palate before sliding silkily through a delightfully delineated and lengthy exit. The hint of grip and grit on the finish portends a rewarding and delicious life for this wine. $115

Antonio Galloni, Vinous 97 Points
2018 Staglin Rutherford Estate Cabernet

Staglin's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate favors energy and tension over volume, at least at this point in its life. Bright, aromatic and sumptuous, the 2018 is fabulous right out of the gate. Inky red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal, cedar and menthol race across the palate. The 2018 is bright and focused from start to finish, with impeccable balance, well-judged oak and tons of sheer appeal. It is one of the best recent editions I can remember tasting. Winemaker Fredrik Johansson captured the magic of the 2018 vintage and put it all into the bottle. I can't wait to see how this ages. $300

Vinous 96+ Points
2019 Staglin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a rich, heady wine that is going to need a number of years to shed its baby fat and come into its own. Dark and vertical in feel, the 2019 possesses tremendous energy as well as power. Black cherry, chocolate, new leather, licorice, espresso and cloves build into the huge, resonant finish. The 2019 spent 22 months in barrel, 80% new. I would not dream of touching a bottle anytime soon. Best After 2027. $325

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Taste 2021 Hahn Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands SLH, 2022 Freestone-Occidental Pinot Noir and 2020 Chateau Buena Vista Napa Cabernet at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Saturday, February 10th. Available 12:00 noon -3:45 PM

Wine Spectator 91 Points
Hahn Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands SLH 2021

Leads with mulled cherry and plum notes, with hints of warm licorice and fruitcake, plus red tea filling in on the finish. Reveals fresh underlying acidity that extends the finish nicely. Drink now through 2026. 25,000 cases made. $30

2022 Freestone-Occidental Pinot Noir

Winemaker Notes: The 2022 Freestone-Occidental wine shares the same winemaking techniques as our vineyard designated pinot noirs. Crystalline, bright, mouthwatering, and a bit salty with a saline mineral finish, the 2022 Freestone-Occidental evokes juicy red berries and a near perfect balance of finesse and energy – of bright, primary red fruits and saline elements. It conveys outstanding precision and lift in the mouth and finishes vibrant and long with beautifully sculpted tannins. Its modest alcohol (13.3%) makes this wine a perfect complement to any meal. It is delicious now and will develop nicely in bottle. $75

James Suckling 94 Points
2020 Chateau Buena Vista Napa Cabernet

Expressive and lush nose of creamy berries, dark cherries, vanilla, cassis and sweet oak spices. Full body with fine, creamy tannins. Rich and full of generous creamy berries and an equally demonstrative and dense finish with excellent length. $45

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Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW)
1552 E. Champlain Drive, Ste 109 Fresno, CA 93720
Via Montana Center (NE Corner Shepherd and Champlain-Two doors south of Big 5) www.vintagereserve.biz 559-878-3953
Tuesday-Friday 12:00 Noon-6:00 PM
Saturday 12 Noon-4:00 PM

The Grape Tray (GT)
6023 N. Palm Avenue Fresno, CA 93704
Opus One Center (NW Corner Bullard and Palm)
www.grapetray.com 559-226-6828
Tuesday-Friday 10:30 AM-5:30 PM
Saturday 10:30 AM-4:00 PM