On deck for wine tasting next week at VRW:

Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
2019 CADE Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is pure Napa gold, offering a sensational nose of cassis and blueberry fruits as well as incredible purity in its violet, sappy herb, tobacco, and spring flower-like aromas and flavors. With full-bodied richness and depth on the palate, it has perfect tannins, a great mid-palate, and one heck of a finish. While I suspect the acidity is quite low, it holds onto a terrific sense of freshness and is just a thrilling, singular wine that would be impossible to find outside of the magical valley. Drink this beauty any time over the coming 15+ years. $275

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Taste 2023 Pahlmeyer Jayson Napa Sauvignon Blanc and 2021 Hall Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $25 per person. (Limited: We will open one bottle of each wine for this tasting)
Tuesday, September 24th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

2023 Pahlmeyer Jayson Napa Sauvignon Blanc

Winemaker Notes: The 2023 vintage offers a very pure expression of Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, a captivating balance of weight and intensity with bright, fresh acidity. Aromas of lemongrass, orange blossom, pink grapefruit, and Key lime pie are mirrored on the focused, layered palate. A dynamic interplay of ripe fruit, rich sur lie texture, and brisk acidity amplifies and extends through the mid-palate, introducing hints of white pepper and crushed rock. The finish is long and mouthwatering, the bracing high notes slowly melting into an echo of candied grapefruit peel. $45

Jeb Dunnuck 95-97 Points
2021 Hall Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall comes from a mix of sites in the valley. It's a ripe, concentrated, impressive 2021 offering lots of ripe plum and darker currant-like fruit as well as ample baking spice, leather, and dried tobacco notes. Rich and full-bodied, with ripe tannins, beautiful mid-palate density, and a great finish, this ripe, sexy, pleasure-bent beauty will also evolve gracefully. $225

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Taste 2018 Casa Emma Chianti Classico Vignalparco Riserva, 2019 Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico Riserva Berardo and 2018 G.D. Vajra Barolo Coste di Rose at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Wednesday, September 25th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

Wine Spectator 92 Points
Casa Emma Chianti Classico Vignalparco Riserva 2018

This red exhibits pure black currant and blackberry fruit, along with elements of violet, tomato leaf and iron. Quickly turns compact and lightly astringent on the finish. Best from 2024 through 2037. 1,600 cases made, 900 cases imported. $35

Wine Advocate 93 Points
Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico Riserva Berardo 2019

A certified organic wine, the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva Berardo offers bright aromas of dried cherry, forest berry, sweet spice and cinnamon. With fruit from beautiful Castelnuovo Berardenga on the southern side of the appellation, this wine shows medium-rich concentration and good texture with savory oak-driven elements. $45

Wine Advocate 94 Points
G.D. Vajra Barolo Coste di Rose 2018

With fruit from above the village of Barolo, the G.D. Vajra 2018 Barolo Coste di Rose shows a large aromatic scope and ample substance. This vineyard is characterized by very high density Diano sandstone (typical of the area), which explains the wine’s bigger sensorial impact. Its texture is velvety and smooth, and the wine offers lots of purple and red fruits with soft earth and perfumed flower. The vintage is open knit and broad in scope, perhaps lacking some of the brilliant focus you get in the cooler years. $90

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Taste 2022 Pinot Noir: Calera Central Coast, Résonance Willamette Valley and Pisoni Estate Santa Lucia Highlands at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $20 per person.
Thursday, September 26th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
2022 Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir

This priced-to-sell appellation blend gives hints of what the single-vineyard expressions can do in a more accessible manner. Aromas of pomegranate, green peppercorn and oregano decorate the nose. The palate shows baked plum and strawberry flavors as well as Calera's telltale showing of terpene-laden herbs like bay leaf and marjoram. $32

Wine Spectator 94 Points
2022 Résonance Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Fragrant raspberry and fresh violet aromas lead to elegantly layered cherry, mineral and savory tea flavors, with a silky mouthfeel that slowly builds tension on the polished finish. Drink now through 2033. 15,299 cases made. $40

Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
2022 Pisoni Estate Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

The 2022 Pinot Noir is gorgeous, and a match for any number of Grand Cru Red Burgundies, which is certainly what it brings to mind when tasting it. Sporting a deeper ruby/garnet hue as well as a stunning nose of black raspberries, darker strawberries, spring flowers, and baking spices, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a pure, layered mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a gorgeous finish. Coming from a challenging year that saw a significant Labor Day heatwave, this nevertheless does everything right. I love it today, yet it will evolve gracefully over the coming 10-15 years. $110

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Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
2021 Hess Collection Lion Tamer Napa Valley Cabernet

Polished and perfumed, this elegant wine drinks easily now but has the balance and quiet concentration to help it improve for several years. Lush black cherries, black currants and blueberries fill the palate, buoyed on moderate tannins and spiced with toast, cinnamon and cedar notes from oak barrels. Blended with 8% Malbec. $65 Our Price TBD (Available GT and VRW)

Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
2022 Roar Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard

From a cooler site in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountain appellation, the 2022 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard offers more mulberry and wild strawberry fruit as well as a beautiful core of sappy flowers, violets, and underbrush. I love its overall purity and precision, and it's medium-bodied, has ripe, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's up with the creme de la creme of the appellation, and it's going to have at least 10-12 years of prime drinking. It benefits from air if drinking any time soon. $80 (Available GT and VRW)

Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
2021 AXR Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

This 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is also brilliant, with plenty of darker cassis and currant-driven fruit to go with a full-bodied, concentrated, powerful style on the palate. It has the vintage's fresh, focused, concentrated, slightly inwards style and will evolve for 15+ years. It's another terrific effort from this team. $90 Our Price $79.99 (Available GT and VRW)

2022 Staglin Salus Napa Chardonnay

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: The 2022 Salus Chardonnay marries a complexity and refinement uncommon for the region with a dash of richness. Energetic honeysuckle and lemon zest aromatics open the experience. The first sip bursts with brightness and flavors of quince, grilled peach, lemon verbena, and subtle brioche before tastefully transitioning to a long finish of steadfast texture and composed acidity. This wine shows glimpses of the ripeness that the California sun has to offer and the restraint that we practice in the cellar. $60 (Available GT)

Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
2021 Herman Story Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard

I always love Russell's take on this vineyard and the 2021 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard is up with the best I've tasted from him. Sporting a deep purple hue as well as a gorgeous perfume of ripe red and blackberries, spring flowers, graphite, black pepper, and hints of game, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, spicy, incredibly complex style, polished tannins, and fabulous length on the finish. This ripe, blockbuster-styled Syrah stays flawlessly balanced, has polished tannins, and no hard edges. I love it today, yet it will keep for a solid decade. $78 Our Price $69.99 (Back in stock GT and VRW)

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Taste 2022 THE CALLING Chardonnay Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch, 2022 Thread Feathers Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and 2021 PAHLMEYER Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Jayson at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Friday, September 27th. Available 12:00 noon -5:45 PM

Wine Spectator 93 Points
2022 THE CALLING Chardonnay Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch

An expressive version, with generous notes of ripe tropical fruit, including papaya, grilled pineapple and mango. There's also a wonderful sense of restraint in the way the acidity and supple texture play with the flavors. Touches of vanilla shortbread, candied ginger and orange blossoms add fragrant grace notes. Drink now. —M.W. $35

2022 Thread Feathers Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes: Aromas of dusty graphite, crushed rock and dried herb linger with cocoa powder and coffee bean in this intensely concentrated, powerful, mountain-grown wine. Seamless, complex and structured, the palate offers a dense array of red and dark fruit flavors highlighted by cassis and tobacco leaf with hints of leather and blackberry compote. Soft, rich, and round, it delivers well-integrated, resolved tannin buoyed by a lively palate of bright acidity and a long-lasting finish. 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. $49

Wine Spectator 93 Points
2021 PAHLMEYER Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Jayson

Frankly ripe, offering an enticing gush of açaí, blackberry and black currant compote notes that roll through, carried by warm humus, licorice root and singed alder notes. A muscular style, this is defined, with subtle, latent energy through the finish. Best from 2025 through 2037. —J.M. $100

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Taste 2021 Frank Family Carneros Pinot Noir, 2022 Lucia Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard and 2020 Bookwalter Protagonist Conner Lee Vineyard at Vintage Reserve Wine (VRW) for $15 per person.
Saturday, September 28th. Available 12:00 noon -3:45 PM

James Suckling 92 Points
2021 Frank Family Carneros Pinot Noir

A fresh and bright pinot with sliced-strawberry, raspberry and orange-peel aromas and flavors. Medium body with fine, racy tannins and a bright and energetic finish. Drink or hold. $45

Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
2022 Lucia Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard

The 2022 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard is one of the darker, more masculine style Pinots in the lineup. Ripe black cherries, iron, roasted herbs, leather, and violet notes all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a concentrated, focused mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It needs a decant if drinking any time soon, and it should have an easy decade of prime drinking going forward. It's impressive. $80

Wine Advocate 94 Points
2020 Bookwalter Protagonist Conner Lee Vineyard

Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Syrah and Petit Verdot, the 2020 Protagonist Conner Lee Vineyard bursts from the glass with a plushy frame of fresh plums, oak and freshly opened flowers. Full-bodied, the wine achieves a beautiful harmony, exhibiting freshness and juiciness within a structured and balanced framework. Concluding with elegance and power, this gorgeous wine glides to a beautiful and succulent finish that has me craving flame-kissed chops and steaks from the grill. Just under 25,000 bottles were produced. $68

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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