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Sonoma Valley Wines

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Donelan 2008 Richards Family Vineyard Syrah (Sonoma Valley)

Price $90

Score Chasers: USA 2011

This is not only one of the best Syrahs of the vintage, it’s easily the greatest Syrah ever produced from Sonoma Valley. Stuns with its soft, complex, black and blue berry, teriaki beef, black pepper and sandalwood flavors. The depth is unbelievable, the length impressive. Clearly a first growth Syrah, and should develop bottle complexity for the next six years… — S.H. (6/1/2011)

Hanzell 2005 Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley)

Cellar Selection

Price $65

Few wineries in California can craft a Chard as rich, balanced and ageworthy as this. In its youth this ‘05 is flashy in lemondrop, pear and spicy anise, with a honeyed finish and crisp acidity. It’s quite addictively brilliant, a wine whose lush harmony mesmerizes the palate. But Hanzell Chards invariably age well, and this is a wine you can dependably put into… — S.H. (2/1/2008)

Hanzell 2004 Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley)

Editors' Choice

Price $65

Massive, complex, with amazing depth, an opulent, voluptuous wine of tremendous power and authority. It’s so beautiful now, you almost hesitate to cellar it, but these Hanzell Chards are built for the long haul. Positively volcanic in tropical fruit and toasty new oak, with a honeyed, caramel finish. Absolutely stunning. — S.H. (5/1/2007)

Hanzell 2005 Ambassador's 1953 Vineyard Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley)

Price $180

This very expensive release is one of the rare examples of Chardonnay that absolutely requires bottle age. Dry and leesy now, with a mineral compactness, it shows a rich core of baked peach, spiced apple, butterscotch and smoky honey. As it warms in the glass, it develops great flavor and textural complexities. Should come into its own by 2009, and improve for many… — S.H. (8/1/2008)

Longboard 2007 Late Harvest Sémillon (Sonoma Valley)

Editors' Choice

Price $35

A gorgeous dessert wine. Supersweet in honey, apricot jam, orange blossom, crème brûlée and vanilla flavors, it’s balanced with rich acidity, and finishes with a spicy touch of smoke. Compelling and addictive, this is one of the best sweet wines of the year. — S.H. (12/15/2009)

Hanzell 2004 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Valley)

Cellar Selection

Price $90

Among California’s First Growth Pinots, Hanzell’s ‘04 is marked by a full-bodied, austere density that demands time in the cellar. It’s a very dry, fairly tannic wine, rich in ripe crushed black cherry, red cherry candy, tobacco, cedar and spicebox aromas and flavors that are impeccably balanced. Really defines the terroir of the estate, and should develop well… — S.H. (2/1/2008)

Ravenswood 2007 Old Hill Single Vineyard Zinfandel (Sonoma Valley)

Price $60

You can quibble with the price, but there’s no doubt about the quality of this Zin. It’s extraordinarily deeply flavored, offering waves of wild cherries, cola, anise, molé sauce, pepper spice and sandalwood, wrapped into profoundly fine tannins, and with a long, dry finish. Drink this near-perfect Zinfandel over the next six years. — S.H. (3/1/2010)

Hanzell 2009 Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley)

Cellar Selection

Price $75

A tremendous Chardonnay. As always, the winery’s ’09 is bone dry, crisply acidic and minerally. You might call it austere at this point, with its tart finish of grapefruit. But a great Hanzell Chardonnay will improve for at least a decade, possible two, and this is a great Hanzell Chardonnay. The score reflects what the wine likely will be approximately eight years… — S.H. (2/1/2012)

Most Reviewed Producers [All]

Amapola Creek Anaba Armida Arrowood Artesa Atmosphere Audelssa Audelssa Sonoma B.R. Cohn Bartholomew Park Beltane Ranch Benziger Bonneau Brazin Bucklin Bump Wine Cellars Bush-Field Cale Cameron Hughes Canihan Carmenet Castle Charles Creek Chateau St. Jean Clarbec Cline Dane Cellars D'Argenzio David Noyes Deerfield Ranch Domaine St. George Donelan Dry Creek Vineyard Edmunds St John Elements of Sonoma Enkidu Eponymous Eric K. James Eric Ross Everett Ridge Evolve Exuberance Falcor Generations of Sonoma Geyser Peak Gloria Ferrer Godwin Grove Street Gundlach Bundschu Hanna Hannah Nicole Vineyards Hanzell Haywood Headbanger Highway 12 Homewood Hopper Creek Imagery Jacella JC Cellars Joseph Swan Vineyards Kamen Estate Keating Kendall-Jackson Kenwood Korbin Kameron Kunde La Crema Landmark Lasseter Ledson Leveroni Longboard Lookout Ridge Louis M. Martini M. Cosentino Matanzas Creek Mathis Mayo Mayo Family Mission Hardware Mission Trail Moon Mountain Vineyard Moser Scharding Muscardini Napoma Nelson Nicholson Ranch Noah Patz & Hall Pavo Peter Cellars Petroni Racchus Rancho Zabaco Ravenswood Ridge Robert Craig Robert Hunter Robledo Rodney Strong Rosenblum Saintsbury Sand Hill Saxon Brown Sbragia Schug Schweiger Sebastiani Sharp Cellars Signaterra Signaterra Benziger Sojourn Sonoma-Cutrer Spann Vineyards Spotted Owl St. Francis Steele Stephen Ross Stone Edge Farm Taj Tandem Thomas George Three Sticks Topolos Trios Two Angels Ty Caton Valley of the Moon Viansa Villa Andretti Villa Mt. Eden VJB Watkins Family Wellington Westwood Y Rousseau

2009 Rodney Strong Reserve

A lovely restaurant-style Pinot Noir, showing lots of class and elegance…

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