Tantara

Sort By:

Tantara 2004 Evelyn Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Editors' Choice

Price $80

Stunning. Just magnificent. This is from Tantara’s little Bien Nacido block. It achieves wonderfully ripe fruit flavors with clean, balancing tannins and acids to produce the utmost California cool-climate Pinot Noir. Cherries, raspberries, cola, rich new oak and Asian spice flavors all flood the palate, wrapped into a dramatic silky, velvety texture. This is great… — S.H. (12/31/2006)

points

Tantara 2007 Talley Rincon Chardonnay (Arroyo Grande Valley)

Online Exclusive

Price $38

Massively rich, with pronounced, sweet, smoky oak flavors and a rich vein of tart, creamy lees highlighting the underlying fruity ripeness. Shows flavors of grilled pineapples, tropical mangoes and pears, balanced with crisp acids. Tremendously delicious and compelling. — S.H. (8/1/2010)

points

Tantara 2004 Bien Nacido Vineyard Old Vine Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $45

This is a brilliant wine that defines Bien Nacido, the coast, and California Pinot Noir. There were worries about the heat, but somehow this has ended up balanced, dry and classically elegant, maybe because of vine age; they’re now 36-years- old. Impresses for the power of its cherry pie filling, mocha, rum and cola and spicebox flavors that finish dry and complex… — S.H. (12/31/2006)

points

Tantara 2008 Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley)

Online Exclusive

Price $38

Superrich, ripe and flamboyant, if not particularly subtle. Dazzles for its tsunami of grilled pineapple custard, pear tart, golden mango and Key lime pie richness, accented with sweetly, caramelized oak, and brightened with brisk acidity. A racy, decadent crowd pleaser. — S.H. (8/1/2010)

points

Tantara 2004 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands)

Editors' Choice

Price $60

Here’s a big, in-your-face Pinot Noir, offering up a blast of superripe fruit, almost Grenache-like in thick, soft red cherry flavors, complexed with sweet licorice, cola, mocha and spicy, vanilla oak. It’s a roller coaster palate experience, a thrill every second, yet somehow maintains a silky, Pinotesque delicacy. Great wine. — S.H. (12/31/2006)

points

Tantara 2006 Evelyn Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $90

Young and full-bodied, with a pie-filling wealth of cherries, raspberries, sassafras, orange peel, cinnamon, pepper and sandalwood. Dazzles with richness, a food group of its own. Yet balanced and elegant. Calls for a great steak, and should age well through 2012. — S.H. (10/1/2009)

points

Tantara 2000 Talley Vineyard Chardonnay (Arroyo Grande Valley)

Price $30

An astonishingly rich and complex wine. Lush, ripe, primary fruit flavors of peaches, pears and tropical fruits are spiced with fine toasted oak and accompanying notes of char. Lees provide mealy, creamy tastes and a rich, milky texture. Brilliant and strong now, and will improve through 2003. — S.H. (12/15/2002)

points

Tantara 2004 Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $33

There’s a rich streak of mineral that undergirds tremendous ripe tropical fruit, along with crisp acidity and a good amount of smoky oak that’s perfectly integrated with the rich fruit. Tremendous extract and weight and a long, impressive finish make this wine addictively good. — S.H. (8/1/2006)

Most Reviewed Designations

Ashley's Vineyard Bien Nacido Bien Nacido Vineyard Dierberg Vineyard Evelyn Garys' Vineyard La Colline Vineyard Pisoni Vineyard Rio Vista Vineyard Solomon Hills Vineyard Talley Rincon

Most Reviewed Varietals

Chardonnay Pinot Noir Syrah

2007 Trump Brut SP Reserve

Rich and luscious scents of baked apple, dried pineapple, honeyed…

(Sponsored)