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Carneros Wines

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Clos Pegase 2002 Graveyard Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Carneros)

Editors' Choice

Price $60

This shows crisp acids and fine balance. It’s huge in blackberry and cherry fruit, but has the structural integrity and finesse that, quite simply, make it a very great Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now–2015. — S.H. (5/1/2007)

Shafer 2009 Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay (Carneros)

Editors' Choice
Online Exclusive

Price $48

Enthusiast 100 2011

Score Chasers: USA 2011

Shafer consistently produces one of the biggest, fruitiest Chardonnays in California, and yet the wine remains balanced and interesting. The 2009 Red Shoulder Ranch is gigantic in pineapples, pears, mangoes, tangerines and honey, yet so minerally and crisp that somehow it finishes dry. — S.H. (10/1/2011)

Etude 2005 Heirloom Pinot Noir (Carneros)

Price $90

Etude’s Heirloom bottling is vintage-driven, and the 2005 is a great wine. It’s a powerhouse that in its youth is full-bodied and almost heavy. It shows massive flavors of red currants, cherry pie filling, cola, figs and spices that taste like they were baked into a dessert pastry, except that the finish is thoroughly dry. What’s hard to communicate is the wine’s… — S.H. (12/1/2008)

Etude 2005 Deer Camp Pinot Noir (Carneros)

Cellar Selection

Price $60

This is one for the cellar. Dry and savory, it shows powerfully ripe blackberry, cherry, cassis and coffee flavors that have been well oaked, and the silky, elegant texture of Pinot Noir. But there’s a youthful tightness that withholds the wine’s tender heart. Best after 2008, and will develop for an additional 6 to 10 years. — S.H. (2/1/2008)

Ramey 1996 Chardonnay (Carneros)

Price $65

A fabulous first Chardonnay under his own name by winemaker David Ramey (previously of Chalk Hill, Matanzas Creek, Dominus and elsewhere). Smoky and intriguing fruit. Rich mouthfeel, beautiful texture and balance. Very flavorful, but more than that, it shows tremendous nuance and subtlety. Sensuous and profound. — W.E. (11/15/1999)

Gloria Ferrer 1999 Carneros Cuvée Sparkling (Carneros)

Editors' Choice

Price $50

This late-disgorged wine has been released at the age of 11 years. It’s a beautiful wine, notable especially for the ultrafine feeling of the mousse, or bubbles. So refined and silky. Rich too are the flavors, in limes, strawberries, toasty lees and minerals. A spectacular sparkling wine that has many years of development ahead. — S.H. (12/15/2010)

Vine Cliff 2008 Proprietress Reserve Chardonnay (Carneros)

Online Exclusive

Price $60

It’s easy to get ripe fruit in California and then plaster it in oak, but what’s so difficult to achieve is the crisp, minerally structure this wine displays. It’s rich in pineapple cream, Key lime pie, Meyer lemon sorbet, golden mango and vanilla oak flavors, but achieves balanced elegance with crisp acidity and a wonderful stony purity. Only 349 cases produced. — S.H. (12/15/2010)

Gloria Ferrer 2000 Carneros Cuvée Sparkling (Carneros)

Price $50

Score Chasers: USA 2011

The winery held back this brut-style wine for eleven years. Even at this great age, the wine tastes young and vibrant in acidity, with rich strawberry, orange, lime and yeast flavors, finished with sweet vanilla. Tastes beautiful now, but extraordinary as it is, it should gain traction over the next ten years. — S.H. (12/15/2011)

Most Reviewed Producers [All]

A By Acacia Abandon Abiouness Acacia Adastra Ambullneo Anaba Ancien Andretti Angel's Secret Arger-Martucci Artesa Audubon Cellars B.R. Cohn Barnett Beaulieu Vineyard Benessere Bennett Lane Benziger Beringer Bighorn Bonneau Bouchaine Broadway Vineyards Buccio Buena Vista Cakebread Cale Cameron Hughes Campion Carmenet Carneros Creek Carneros della Notte Carneros Highway Carrefour Carter Casa Carneros Castle Castle Rock Ceja Chandon Charles Creek Charles Krug Chateau St. Jean CL Cline Clos du Val Clos Pegase Codorníu Napa Conn Creek Conn Valley Crescendo Crichton Hall Cuvaison Dalton David Bruce Dawn's Dream Deerfield Ranch Derbes Diamond Oaks Diamond Oaks de Maniar Domaine Carneros Domaine Chandon Domaine Danica Donum Estate Dunnewood Edgewood Educated Guess Egret Ehlers Grove Eno Eric K. James Etude Ferrari-Carano Fisher Fleur de California Flora Springs Four Sons FoxRidge Franciscan Frank Family Gary Farrell Gatos Locos Geyser Peak Gloria Ferrer Gofessel Grgich Hills Harrington Hartford Hartford Court Hartwell Havens HdV Hideaway Creek Highway 12 Hill Family Estate Hocus Pocus Home Hill Horse & Plow Hyde Vineyard Imagery Isabel Mondavi Jacella Jacuzzi Jeff Gordon John Anthony Joseph Phelps Kazmer & Blaise Kent Rasmussen Kinter Collins Knights Bridge Kopriva La Crema Laird Larry Hyde and Sons Laurier Leaping Lizard Ledson Leto Leveroni Liparita Long Vineyards Lost Canyon Luke Donald Lutea M. Cosentino MacRostie Madonna Madonna Estate Madonna Estate - Mont St. John Mahoney Marcelina Marshall Martin Ray Mayo Mayro-Murdick McKenzie-Mueller Merryvale Mi Sueño Molnar Family Mountain View Myriad Cellars Nickel & Nickel Olabisi One Hope Orbis Park Lane Patz & Hall Peter Franus Peters Family Pine Ridge Provenance Vineyards Quivet Cellars Ramey Ramsay Reynolds Reynolds Family Winery Richardson Robert Craig Robert James Lynch Robert Mondavi Robert Sinskey Robert Stemmler Robledo Roche Roessler RouteStock Cellars Rudd Rutherford Hill Saintsbury Salmon Creek San Sakana Schug Sean Minor Sebastiani Selene Senders Sequoia Grove Shafer Shipwreck Shooting Star Signaterra Benziger Signorello Silver Spur Silverado Simi Solaris Sonoma Creek Sonoma-Loeb Spelletich Cellars St. Clement Starkey's Court Steele Stein Family Sterling Stomping Girl Stratton Lummis Talisman Tin Barn Toad Hall Tria Trinitas Truchard V. Sattui Valerie's Vineyard Valley of the Moon Verotto Verve Viansa Vie Winery Villa del Monte Vine Cliff Voss Waterstone Whetstone Whitehall Lane Wine Spots Work X ZD

2008 Solsticio

A big wine that handles its 15.3% abv. Smells of pastry, earth and soft…

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