Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up on my doorstep asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have arrived recently.
Let’s start off this week with a wonderfully tropical Sauvignon Blanc from Refugio Ranch in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. It’s got a fun hint of the green guava candies you get at some Chinese restaurants, and will make most Sav Blanc lovers very happy on a summer’s day, especially when chilled down properly.
Before Chardonnay was the next big thing from Oregon, most people thought Pinot Gris was Oregon’s great hope in the white wine department. There are still some excellent ones there, hanging out in the shadows now that the spotlight has turned to Chardonnay. Domaine Divio make a tasty one that they cheekily call Pinot Beurot, the Burgundian name for the grape.
A bit farther south in Oregon, the folks at Troon Vineyard have been busy perfecting Vermentino, which is much better than some varieties at handling the heat and drought that climate change is throwing at growers everywhere. Their rendition of the grape has great acidity and a lovely fruit profile.
I’ve got two more wines from Mascarin Vineyards to recommend this week, their Estate Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast – which has a nice waxy crispness to it – and their rosé of Pinot Noir, which has all the right flavors you want from Pinot Rosé, if perhaps slightly less acidity than ideal.
I was a bit more excited by the rosé from the folks at Minus Tide, whose Carignan Rosé from old vines in Mendocino consistently delivers racy crispness along with compelling berry and citrus peel flavors. If you like your rosé stony, savory, and electric, this one is for you.
Last week I began reviewing the latest single-vineyard Pinot Noir from Ross Cobb, and this week I’ll finish them up. I have four wines to recommend to you (highly). All demonstrate Cobb’s textbook finesse and elegance, but perhaps none so much as his Coastlands bottling, which is luminous in its herbal, berry, and citrus brightness. If you are in the market for top-end Coastal Pinot Noir, Cobb’s 2023s are worth seeking out for sure.
I personally think there is not nearly enough Gamay planted and made in California, given our predilection for and success with Pinot Noir. Apparently the folks at Presqu’ile down in Santa Barbara agree, as they’ve planted some and are making one that has a distinctly herbal character, no doubt with a decent amount of whole cluster used in its processing. If you’re into crunchy chilled reds, this one might be for you.
Finally, the folks at Spottswoode have released their latest bottling of Lyndenhurst, which I generally consider to be their slightly more approachable, early-drinking bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, in 2023, they’ve managed to make a wine that is a bit more serious than normal, and for the first time I’m recommending that instead of just opening it up and enjoying whenever, that you give it a couple of years to truly show its best.
Notes on all these below.
Tasting Notes
2025 Refugio Ranch “Tiradora” Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Palest greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers, passionfruit, and guava. In the mouth, silky flavors of guava and passionfruit are bright and tropical, with decent acidity and a nice chalky texture underneath. 14.1% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.
2025 Domaine Divio Pinot Beurot, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of pears, white flowers, and lemon pith. In the mouth, pears and white flowers mix with a hint of pastry cream as a faint chalky texture and very good acidity round out a tasty package. Pinot Beurot is the Burgundian name for Pinot Gris. 12.9% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.
2025 Troon Vineyard Vermentino, Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of rising bread dough, pears, and white flowers. In the mouth, pear and pear skin flavors mix with a hint of lemon pith and white flowers. Faintly saline in quality, with a nice stony wet-chalkboard minerality and excellent acidity. Demeter-certified biodynamic. Regenerative Organic Certified Gold. Fermented with ambient yeasts. 11.9% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $31. click to buy.
2023 Mascarin “Dalya Estate Vineyard” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale to light yellow gold in color, this wine smells of lemon curd, cooked apple, resinous herbs, and a hint of struck match. In the mouth, saline, even briny flavors of lemon peel, lemon curd, and grapefruit are bright with excellent acidity and touched with a hint of toasted nuts and baked apple. There’s a zesty, even waxy intensity to this wine that is interesting. 13.1% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $60. click to buy.
2025 Minus Tide “Trimble Ranch” Rosé of Carignan, Mendocino County, California
Pale baby pink in color, this wine smells of rosehips, rhubarb, and raspberries. In the mouth, rhubarb, chopped green herbs, and redcurrant flavors are bright and juicy with tangy acidity. There’s a light chalky quality that lingers in the finish. 13.3% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $27. click to buy.
2024 Mascarin “7 Mules Vineyard” Rosé of Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Palest peachy pink in color, this wine smells of watermelon and raspberries. In the mouth, citrus peel, watermelon rind, and faint cranberry notes are zippy with acidity and faintly chalky in texture. Decent acidity. 13.6% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $30.
2023 Cobb “Rice Spivak” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wet earth, redwood bark, cherries, and a touch of blood orange. In the mouth, fleecy tannins coat the mouth and become slightly muscular as flavors of cherries, forest floor, sour cherries, and raspberries are bright with excellent acidity. On the richer side for Cobb, but still impeccably balanced. Citrus peel and dried herbs linger in the finish with a hint of oak. 14% alcohol. 40% whole cluster. 230 cases made. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $80. click to buy.
2023 Cobb “Doc’s Ranch – Swan and Calera Selections” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of wet pavement, conifer boughs, dried herbs, and raspberries. In the mouth, powdery, gauzy tannins wrap around a core of dried herbs, citrus peel, raspberries, and road dust. There’s a chalky quality to this wine, with hints of citrus peel and oak lingering in the finish. 13% alcohol. 50% whole cluster. 150 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $100. click to buy.
2023 Cobb “Coastlands Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of conifer boughs, flowers, and sour cherries. In the mouth, saline sour cherries and raspberry flavors mix with citrus peel, dried flowers, and fine, powdery tannins. There’s a lovely freshness to the wine as well, thanks in part to excellent acidity but also thanks to a hint of chopped green herbs underneath everything. Balanced and dynamic with a lovely mix of savory and fruit. 13.2% alcohol. 500 cases made. 50% whole cluster. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $90. click to buy.
2023 Cobb “Coastlands Vineyard – Old Firs Block” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dried herbs and flowers, sour cherries, and redcurrants. In the mouth, powdery tannins coat the mouth and stiffen slightly to surround a core of raspberries and redcurrants shot through with sweet oak and citrus peel. There’s a chalky quality to this wine and the tannins dry the mouth slightly. Excellent acidity. 12.7% alcohol. 50% whole cluster. 225 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $100. click to buy.
2025 Presqu’ile Gamay, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of marijuana, chopped green cooking herbs, and blood oranges. In the mouth, blood orange and cherry flavors are shot through with bitter greens and chopped herbs. Fleecy tannins coat the top of the mouth as excellent acidity keeps things juicy. Very savory in character with herbs almost more dominant than the fruit. SIP Certified sustainable, practicing organic. Fermented in stainless steel with ambient yeasts. Aged 6 months in neutral French oak. 13% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $38.
2023 Spottswoode “Lyndenhurst” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, blackcurrant, and sweet oak. In the mouth, juicy blackcurrant and blackcurrant leaf flavors mix with black cherries and sweet oak as fleecy, supple tannins coat the mouth. Fantastic acidity offers lots of freshness, and though this is the early-drinking bottling from this vineyard, I would suggest 3 to 5 years of bottle age for optimum enjoyment. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $110. click to buy.