Robert Mondavi has done it again – or rather, his enduring vision has. The man himself died in 2008, at 94, more than four decades after a falling-out with his brother pushed him to leave the family’s Charles Krug winery and start his own – a move considered radical, verging on foolhardy, to some in Napa Valley at the time.

Six decades later, the same instinct is on display again, this time backed by a far bigger check.

Robert Mondavi Winery has reopened its original Oakville estate after a three-year renovation that owner Constellation Brands calls the most significant transformation of the property since it was founded in 1966. That’s not an overstatement.

The doors officially opened on 20 April 2026, timed to the winery’s 60th anniversary. Constellation has not confirmed the final cost, but industry estimates have put the investment at around US$200 million.

I attended the opening celebration, capped off with a humble performance by Grammy–winning singer-songwriter John Legend, and came away with one clear impression: even with hundreds of guests moving through the property that night, the redesigned space retained a cozy, upscale intimacy that is difficult to engineer at such scale.

In the weeks around the event, I also interviewed the winery’s key figures separately – head winemaker Kurtis Ogasawara, winemaker emerita Geneviève Janssens, director of vineyard operations Blake Wood and brand marketing director Peggy Hemphill – and became the first wine critic to taste with Ogasawara inside the new cellar.

A wine cellar built for precision and site expression

The new To Kalon Cellar introduces optical sorting, gravity-flow systems, temperature-controlled fermentation vessels and rooms for warming or cooling barrels, allowing for smaller, more precise lots from the estate’s 178-hectare portion of To Kalon Vineyard, which gained CCOF organic certification in 2023.

This fancy new winery is missing one big thing (well, a few big things): the 16-ton oak vats that were used for more than three decades to ferment and age Mondavi’s top Cabernets, including lots from To Kalon.

They were repurposed into the wooden ceilings throughout the facility.

‘We’ve added smaller stainless steel and concrete tanks to be able to isolate vineyard blocks and sections at ideal ripeness’, Ogasawara said. ‘Our goal is to push ourselves every vintage and continue to make wines that stand beside the greatest in the world’.

The cellar also puts production on display for visitors, he added, and has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vineyard: ‘Guests can see harvest activities firsthand and get a better understanding of what it takes to craft wines.’

To Kalon Vineyard itself is undergoing a renovation of sorts. ‘We are replanting a portion of the vineyard this year, about four percent’, said Blake Wood, director of vineyard operations.

‘We’ve replanted a bit more than one-third of the vineyard in the past decade now, focusing on highlighting the various micro-terroirs’.

Individual stars

The To Kalon grapes are now split across four labels under the Constellation umbrella: Robert Mondavi Winery, Schrader Cellars and Double Diamond (both led by winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown), and To Kalon Vineyard Company (Tony Biagi).

Each operates independently, with its own picking decisions.

‘There are blocks that are exclusive to one another and some blocks that we share’, Ogasawara said. ‘We taste each other’s wines and share different perspectives to ensure we are staying on top of our game’.

Janssens, who trained under Robert Mondavi himself, still sits in on blending. ‘Geneviève joins blending sessions to give her thoughts and holds us accountable’, Ogasawara said.

‘It's amazing to have her experience and palate in the room to ensure we are following what Robert Mondavi had intended’.

Architecturally, the project, led by Aidlin Darling Design with interiors by BAMO, preserves architect Cliff May's original arch and tower while adding a new hospitality wing: the light-filled Vineyard Room and terraces for most guests, the restored Tower Library and Barrel Room for private tastings, and the new To Kalon Collective tasting room.

Outside, a linear water feature echoes the valley’s old agricultural aqueducts, and landscaping by Surfacedesign folds the property into its surroundings so thoroughly that indoors and outdoors barely feel separate.

Tasting fees don’t break the bank

Perhaps the smartest innovation is in the decision not to charge extortionist fees to visitors in a region where entry-level tastings often carry luxury price tags and fees can range from $85 to $300.

For the Mondavi wines, Hemphill explained: ‘Our tasting experiences range from $60 to $150 per person. We also welcome walk-in guests for any of our experiences, as availability allows’.

The signature culinary offering, The Mondavi Table, is a three-course, family-style, wine-and-food pairing for $95 per person – notably affordable for a chef-driven, estate menu in Napa Valley today.

‘We believe true luxury is defined by the quality of the experience, not by exclusivity’, Hemphill said.

The To Kalon Collective is the newest experiential room, where the focus is entirely on the iconic vineyard rather than a single producer and private tastings cost $180 to $195.

‘Most people only ever experience [To Kalon Vineyard] through a single producer or a single wine,’ Hemphill said.

‘The To Kalon Collective brings together wines sourced from To Kalon Vineyard, including Robert Mondavi Winery alongside Schrader Cellars, Double Diamond and the To Kalon Vineyard Company, to tell a broader story about place’.

The idea, she explained, is to provide context – showing how vineyard blocks, farming and winemaking philosophy shape different wines from one renowned vineyard.

Blending winemaking and culture

When pressed again about the renovation costs, Hemphill shifts the focus of the question: ‘For us, it’s about creating an exceptional experience for our guests that can continue to raise the bar for hospitality here in Napa, much the way Robert Mondavi did when he first opened this winery’.

That’s the point. Yes, they ‘want this winery to continue to stand the test of time’, and yes, they want to ‘honour our legacy’, and yes, they want to ‘deliver against the values and vision under which the winery was founded’, and all that marketing speak.

But the real reason – even if they can’t express it themselves – is that they want people to come back to Napa and have an experience that creates real memories, without walking away wondering if they spent too much money.

Pointedly, the reopening comes during a challenging moment for the wine world, with an ongoing barrage of reports about falling consumption and industry layoffs, amplified by anecdotal conversations re-hashing those doom-and-gloom stories.

‘I flatly reject the idea that wine culture is heading for extinction’, said Hemphill. ‘What we are witnessing right now isn’t a funeral; it’s a massive cultural evolution. The next generation of consumers doesn’t want the stuffy, velvet-rope exclusivity of the past. They want authenticity, values that align with their own, and incredible, unpretentious experiences’.

The reopening is meant to make Mondavi ‘that loudspeaker for Napa’ again, she said, by ‘blending world-class winemaking with contemporary [wine] culture.’

Passing the winemaking baton

Another momentous shift for Robert Mondavi Winery is the passing of the torch to winemaker Kurtis Ogasawara, who is not only one of the nicest people you’ll meet in Napa Valley, but one of the most humble.

Ogasawara has spent more than a decade working in the cellars alongside Janssens, who was named director of production at Opus One in 1989 and director of winemaking at Mondavi in 1997.

‘He understands that a great winemaker doesn’t try to force their own signature onto a legendary terroir’, Janssens says of Ogasawara, ‘but rather listens to the land to bring out its purest elegance and power. There is no one more deeply rooted in our winemaking philosophy than Kurtis to lead us forward’.

Tasting with Ogasawara in the new cellar gave me a front-row seat to his frame of mind. Yes, he has big shoes to fill. Huge shoes, in fact. But he’s more than ready – confident and sure of himself.

And, to extract a new era of wines from Mondavi’s grape sources, he has a new cellar full of shiny new tanks and concrete vats designed to emphasise fruit – or, more fittingly, place.

‘I see it as continuing the mission to create wines that stand beside the greatest in the world’, Ogasawara said.

‘I have worked with and learned from some of Napa Valley’s best winemakers, from Geneviève Janssens and Andy Erickson to Thomas Brown and Tony Biagi. I promise to never settle and keep pushing to see what else we can accomplish’.

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Oregon and Washington helped lead the United States to its best performance ever at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) in 2026, with an Oregon Pinot Noir earning one of only 50 Best in Show medals awarded globally. In addition, a Washington winery claimed its second consecutive Platinum award – the second vintage in a row that its Cabernet Franc has notched that honour.

The Awards helped solidify the reputations of two established Pacific Northwest appellations in particular, as their wines showed ‘a strong level of consistency’, according to Oregon-based DWWA Panel Judge Bree Stock MW. ‘Oregon’s best Pinot Noirs were very compelling, particularly from established Willamette Valley sub-AVAs such as Dundee Hills, where the wines showed aromatic definition, layered spice and the capacity to age’.

The Washington wine submissions showed ‘real strength and perform well, with Walla Walla Valley standing out for Cabernet Franc and Syrah that has depth, savoury complexity and a clear regional voice’, Stock added. ‘Royal Slope Riesling was another bright point’.

Oregon excellence: Pinot Noir, Cabernet and white wines

Domaine Serene, one of Oregon’s top producers, took home Best in Show – given to just 0.3% of the nearly 17,000 wines tasted in 2026 – for its 2023 Aspect Pinot Noir. The wine is sourced from the winery’s highest-elevation estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills, one of Willamette Valley’s prime winegrowing appellations. In fact, every one of the previous three Best in Show winners from Oregon (in the 2016, 2020 and 2023 competitions) has been a Pinot Noir from Dundee Hills.

The judges gave Aspect a score of 97 points, noting its ‘impressive craftsmanship’, ‘outstanding fruit’, supple palate and ‘textbook Dundee Hills aromatics of cherry cola and sassafras’. Domaine Serene also earned a Gold medal and 96 points for its ‘seductive’ 2023 Grace Vineyard Pinot Noir, a single-vineyard bottling from its Evenstad Estate, as well as Silver medals for three other Pinot Noirs and two sparkling wines.

To be recognised with a collection of medals ‘is deeply meaningful to our entire vineyard and winemaking team’, said Michael Fay, Domaine Serene’s vice president of winemaking and viticulture. ‘These awards reflect our commitment to wines expressing the character of the Dundee Hills and Willamette Valley while representing the world-class quality Oregon brings to Pinot Noir and sparkling wine. This recognition gives us an important opportunity to introduce more consumers to our wines and the remarkable region we are proud to call home’.

Another 2023 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, an ‘elegant’ and ‘stylish’ selection from Alexana’s sustainably farmed estate vineyard, won a Platinum medal, scoring 97 points. ‘I see it as a high water mark for us,’ said general manager Jeff Lewis.

‘It’s the coalescence of so many things’ – including the work of new head winemaker Tresider Burns, new director of viticulture Drew Herman, the estate’s conversion to organic farming and a shift in winemaking approach.

Being recognised as ‘one of the great wines of the world’, Lewis added, ‘is a validation of the direction in which our team – in terms of farming and winemaking – had been evolving after 20 years, continuing to push ourselves in a really meaningful way to make wines of unique personalities that express what we feel is so special about Alexana and the Dundee Hills’.

Oregon wineries also collected three other Gold medals, for a total of four, including for Amaterra’s excitingly complex 2022 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (96 points) and Watermill’s rich, supple 2021 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (95) from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater in Walla Walla Valley, where Bordeaux varieties and Syrah thrive. And bhn’s compelling, layered, off-dry Oregon Riesling 2023 (95) became the first orange wine from the state to receive Gold at DWWA.

In all, the state racked up 72 medals, a new high.

Washington wine winners: Walla Walla and Wahluke Slope reds

Washington winery Echolands earned a Platinum for its ‘lush,’ ‘harmonious’ 2023 Blue Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Franc (97), from one of the coolest sites on the Washington side of Walla Walla Valley. This follows the same wine’s Platinum success last year for the 2022 vintage – quite an achievement for a winery that was founded in 2018 and released its first wines in 2020.

‘The Walla Walla AVA is an incredible place in the world to grow winegrapes’, said Echolands winemaker and general manager Brian Rudin. ‘There is a great diversity of options for winemakers: the higher-elevation, cooler and silt-laden slopes are a sweet spot for Bordeaux varieties, especially when aromatics and elegant textures are the goal’.

The state also saw its strongest-ever Gold medal performance in 2026, with five diverse wines achieving that honour. ‘Washington State continued to have a strong showing with their characteristic powerful styles of wine,’ said James Tidwell MS, DWWA Regional Chair for the USA and Central America. Its medal total for the year came to 46.

While most of the Washington winners were red wines, Echolands’ harmonious 2024 Frenchman Hills Vineyard Block 1 Riesling (96) became the first Gold medal winner from the Royal Slope AVA. ‘We’ve always revered these two vineyards [Blue Mountain and Frenchman Hills] as the best-suited sites in Washington for their respective varieties’, commented Rudin.

UpWest’s 2023 Syrah (95) secured another first: Gold for Washington’s Wahluke Slope appellation.

Two Washington icons also took home Gold. L’Ecole No. 41 demonstrated the benefit of working with a suite of mature vineyards with its 2022 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (95), from vines averaging more than 20 years old. That was just one of its four medals. Like Echolands, Spring Valley Vineyards put Cabernet Franc in the foreground in its 2023 Uriah (96), a blend with 40% Merlot, also from Walla Walla Valley.

Walla Walla’s parallel strength with red Rhône varieties was on display in the robust, meaty Francisca’s Vineyard Syrah 2023 (95) from Hoquetus Wine Co., a tiny producer with a wide range of wines, from Riesling to Roussanne and Nouveau-style Syrah to amphora-fermented Mencía.

Decanter’s annual awards: a guide to global wine standouts

Launched in 2004, DWWA is widely regarded as the global benchmark for wine quality based on its rigorous tasting process, its international reach and the expertise of its judges (245 of them in 2026, more than one-third of them Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers). ‘With so many choices available, consumers often look for reassurance when selecting a bottle, and the DWWA medals help simplify the decision’, commented DWWA Co-Chair Ronan Sayburn MS.

Twenty-three years on, DWWA has become the world’s largest wine competition, awarding medals in five tiers: the 50 Best in Show, then Platinum and Gold (all scoring 95+ points), followed by Silver and Bronze.

In 2026, US wines won a total of 466 DWWA medals – nearly double the country’s previous highest tally. With two Best in Show wines, five Platinum and 32 Gold (one in the Top 35 Value Golds list), this is the biggest haul of top-tier medals the country has brought in at the competition.

Although California, Oregon and Washington continue to dominate, Texas took home its first Gold medals, while Virginia and Pennsylvania both achieved their third consecutive years with Gold medals. Wineries in Massachusetts, Missouri, Colorado and North Carolina claimed Silver medals.

The full list of 2026 winners from around the world can be found at awards.decanter.com.

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Washington is a winemakers’ playground. Unburdened by strict rules, they can freely experiment with grape varieties, wine styles, vine-growing practices and blends to produce some of the most impressive wines in the US.

Here, Rhône varieties such as Syrah are transformed into wines that don’t mimic their predecessors, but rather express their own regional character or follow winemakers’ unbridled imaginations.

‘You’re free to make your own wine the way you choose,’ says Brian Rudin, winemaker and general manager of Echolands Winery, a two-time Decanter World Wine Awards Platinum winner that also makes multiple Syrah bottlings.

‘You don’t need to make it the way your grandparents did.’

Syrah has been a leader among these experiments since it was planted in Washington 40 years ago, with a rapidly developing range of styles true to the terroirs of the Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain AVA and beyond.

The grape variety appeals to winemakers and wine lovers for creating approachable, food-friendly wines with ripe fruit flavours, complexity and general lushness.

The rise of Washington Syrah

‘Syrah can be a good introductory wine to newcomers – and we certainly need newcomers – but, at the same time, satisfy the needs of the most advanced wine aficionado,’ says Dick Boushey, a pioneering Washington grapegrower.

‘Syrah’s diversity and adaptability are its strengths. Syrah can take the increased heat that we have seen up and down the West Coast. So, it is a variety that is sustainable for the future.’

The first Washington Syrah plantings are credited to Mike Sauer and his family in 1986, in their Red Willow Vineyard in Yakima Valley.

By contrast, Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced to the state in 1941, with Merlot following in 1965, according to the Washington State Wine Commission, bringing the state renown with bottlings from the likes of Leonetti Cellars and Quilceda Creek.

However, Syrah is now a close competitor with Merlot for the second most-planted red variety, with more than 6,300 hectares to Cabernet’s 19,400+ hectares.

Besides being bottled as a single-varietal wine, Syrah is also used in many blends with other Rhône varieties or Cabernet, a decisive factor in its growth.

Producers such as Columbia Winery and now-closed McCrea Cellars encouraged the early plantings of Syrah, while the bold, modern wines from the likes of K Vintners and Cayuse Vineyards helped put Washington Syrah on the radar of a wider range of wine drinkers.

How Washington Syrah styles differ by region

Washington’s major wine regions yield several distinctive styles of Syrah, according to Boushey.

In the warmer parts of the broad Columbia Valley AVA, the wines tend to be inky, ripe and dark – similar to bold California wines.

In cooler areas, like the foothills of Yakima Valley, the wines show more acidity, savoury notes and lower alcohol levels.

In southeastern Walla Walla Valley, where the AVA spreads across the border between Washington and Oregon, Syrah has become the signature variety of The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater.

Here, the cobblestone-filled soils become the main story, leading to wines with signature notes of earth, meat, iodine and herbs.

‘The radiant heat from the exposed basalt stones contributes greatly to the profile that Rocks wines carry,’ says Trey Busch, winemaker of Sleight of Hands Cellars, a Washington winery that owns Stoney Vines Vineyard in The Rocks. (Because the district falls entirely within Oregon, many Washington wineries end up making wines from both states.)

Busch continues: ‘The vines spend more time "shut down" during the hottest days, preserving energy and simply surviving in such a harsh climate. The vine roots also go extremely deep since there is not much soil or moisture-holding capacity.’

How Washington Syrah styles are shaped in the vineyard

Straddling the windswept ridgeline of Red Mountain, WeatherEye Vineyards makes its own Syrah and provides fruit to wineries such as Liminal and MTN/ART.

There, vineyard manager Ryan Johnson has been fine-tuning the viticulture to coax out Syrah’s best qualities. Working with a little less than three hectares of the 16-hectare vineyard planted with Syrah, he became one of the few Washington growers to use the échalas system, with each vine is trained on its own tall stake.

Since Red Mountain is hot, windy and dry, Ryan increased the vine density, creating more natural shade to protect the fruit. As a result, he gets complex, singular wines from this site.

‘Syrah is very site-driven and also very strongly influenced viticulturally,’ Johnson explains. ‘You can farm it conventionally, you can grow it like Cabernet, you can treat it in the cellar like generic reds, and you'll get a generic red wine. But if you match the right training system, the right terroir and the right clone, and then manage your irrigation and nutrition at the highest level, you’ll get that ultimate expression.’

Responding to current market demands, more young Washington winemakers are turning towards lighter wines, Syrah included.

Since 2019, Kelsey Albro Itämeri of Itä Wines has been picking the fruit she sources from Les Collines Vineyard in southeastern Walla Walla very early to avoid overripeness.

That way she doesn’t need to make water or acid additions to adjust the alcohol level and balance of the wines. As a result, Itä Syrah comes in at only 12% abv, with low levels of tannins.

‘If you want to taste the place, Syrah does an excellent job of doing that,’ says Itämeri.

‘It is also delicious. It’s a little bit wild and a little feral and has some magnetism to it. It’s not just fruity. It is also savoury. It has the edge. It makes you think. As people grow in their love of wine, they don’t just want a fruit bomb, they want a wine that is interesting.’

11 Washington-made Syrahs to try

Wine selection and tasting notes by Gwendolyn Elliott

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Auction bidders vied for a piece of American history as Christie's hosted an online auction in Los Angeles featuring lots from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, one of the California wineries that shot to fame in the the Judgement of Paris tasting 50 years ago.

A bottle of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon 'SLV' 1973 sold for $22,500 (£16,724), including buyer's premium, far outpacing a pre-sale high estimate of $6,000.

Christie's said that's a record price for the 1973 vintage of this Napa Valley wine, famous for outshining top red Bordeaux in the 1976 tasting organised by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher.

Results helped to put California on the world wine map after a first report by George Taber in Time magazine, under the Judgement of Paris headline.

'We were delighted with today’s world record price for one of America’s truly historic wines,' said Chris Munro, Christie's head of wine, Americas, after the auction finished on 15 July.

Among other lots in the auction, 12 bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon SLV 1974 sold for $13,750 (high estimate: $5,000). A nine-litre 'Salmanazar' bottle of the 2023 vintage, along with a private tasting, tour and dinner, fetched $4,000 (e: $4,000 – $5,000).

Objects that 'made America'

Following this year’s anniversary celebrations, there will be 19 bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon SLV 1973 left at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, said a Christie’s spokesperson.

One bottle is preserved in the Smithsonian collection of American historical artefacts – donated by the late winemaker Warren Winiarski, alongside another of California's famous Judgement wines: Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay.

In 2013, Smithsonian named this duo among the ‘101 objects that made America’.

Juan Muñoz-Oca, estates director at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, said the recent Christie's auction result is 'a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of the 1973 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon and the vision of our founder, Warren Winiarski'.

Judgement wines surface for 50th anniversary

This year's 50th anniversary of the Judgement tasting has put a new spotlight on the wines involved.

A joint-lot offered by Montelena and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars at this year’s Auction Napa Valley charity event on 6 June featured one bottle each of the wineries' 1973 'Judgement' vintage.

The lot, which also included other wines, estate visits, a bespoke winemaking experience and one-year winery club memberships, sold for $110,000, said charity auction cohost Sotheby’s.

Looking further back, in March 2022, Heritage Auctions sold a bottle of the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon SLV 1973 for $12,300 – a record auction price for the wine at the time.

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The cool breath of February blows gently, swaying the Spanish moss draped across the arms of a live oak.

A small group has gathered at the Green-Meldrim House, a historic home in Savannah, Georgia.

Gas lanterns cast a warm glow across the threshold as we step inside the 1853 gothic revival style manor for an after-hours tour called Potable Gold.

The docent, an affable yet studious man in his mid-60s, hands us each a glass of cut crystal filled with liquid the hue of the afternoon sun. We take a sip of ambrosia, then follow him into the parlour to hear about Madeira parties in the southern states.

Madeira held a special position in the social lives of early Americans, the docent says as we take seats around a mahogany table. He offers a second pour of wine.

Candlelight flickers as we imagine men in similar rooms across the East Coast drinking the afternoon away.

The drink of a future President

For nearly 200 years, Madeira reigned as the favoured drink of the political elite. Perhaps no one embodied that national devotion more than George Washington.

Though 18th-century invoices rarely listed grape names, Washington was clear about what wine he liked.

In a 1763 letter to his island suppliers, Washington requested ‘a rich oily wine,’ which could only come from the inclusion of Malmsey (Malvasia).

Correspondence and ledgers, shared publicly on the National Archives’ Founders Online, detail Washington’s regular purchases.

An account of expenses as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army logs his purchase of 108 bottles of Madeira on a single day in October 1775. Washington prosecuted a revolution without letting his supply run dry.

If Madeira could win a war, it would be the toast of victory. Every Founder filled a cup to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, 1776.

How Madeira became America’s wine

Madeira’s grip on America began with the island’s geography and a quirk of British law. Sitting at the nexus of the Atlantic trade winds, Madeira offered a logical provisioning stop for merchant ships headed west for the Indies and New World.

The island’s producers loaded pipes of Madeira into ship holds as ballast. Long voyages through the tropics left an unusual imprint. Heat, oxygen, and the constant rocking of the ship ‘cooked’ the wine into a new oxidised style that Americans soon loved.

A second economic advantage came from the British Parliament. Dating to the 1660s, the Navigation Acts required European goods bound for American colonies to pass through British ports on British ships.

Madeira, whether an oversight or not, eluded the provision by virtue of location. The exemption allowed Madeira to flow freely to the colonies. Bartholomew Broadbent, of the import company Broadbent Selections, believes it may have been ‘America’s first tax loophole'.

Exuberance for Madeira stretched up and down the eastern seaboard. However, the ‘south had a unique love affair with the wine,’ writes Emanuel Berk of the Rare Wine Co. Berk ranks among the foremost authorities on Madeira, having spent decades documenting its American history.

North-South divide

‘The Southern elite’s leisurely way of life allowed for liberal indulgence,’ he writes in his booklet Antebellum Nectar.

Charleston, the wealthiest city in the colonies, was thought to possess the only ‘true leisure-class society,’ admired by 18th- and 19th-century Northerners who welcomed invitations to festive repasts.

Such affairs started mid-afternoon and lasted through the evening, as hosts showed off their collections as both social currency and lubrication.

Curiously, tastes in Madeira differed between the south and the north. Casks rarely bore the name of the producer, and final style decisions fell to the buyer.

Collectors in the Northeast transferred their wine from cask to glass demijohn for extended ageing, while Southerners bottled directly from cask within a year or two of receipt, explains Berk.

The low country Carolina taste for lighter, drier wines, against the sweeter palate of the North, bred a snobbish conviction that ‘the Yankees never understood the wine,’ says Berk.

Madeira on the decline

The Madeira of the early republic bears little resemblance to the wine today. Before the 1850s, producers shipped Madeira within two or three years of the vintage.

The wine had a paler hue and tasted ‘dry and incredibly vibrant,’ says Berk.

Two crises would change that. In 1851 the powdery mildew oidium struck island vineyards, cutting production by 80%. Phylloxera followed in 1872, crippling growers for two decades.

As harvests shrank, producers held the wine in barrels. The longer time in wood gave Madeira a dark colour and nutty, caramel depth.

‘Post-Oidium, Madeira just fundamentally changed,’ says Berk. ‘It became this much more powerful, concentrated wine.’

Concurrently, the American market faded. Champagne, especially popular in Charleston, became the wine of celebration.

Then the Civil War erased the Southern market overnight. Cocktail culture poached some remaining enthusiasts before Prohibition shut the door.

By the 1920s, a wine that had defined American taste had all but vanished.

A modern revival

In 1989, Broadbent set out to reintroduce Madeira to America. Before his San Francisco tasting, few restaurants in the country served it, among them Bern’s in Tampa, known for its legendary cellar.

He poured 19 wines going back to 1845. ‘Despite a very jaded wine trade, we had a massive turn out of about 300 people,’ he says. Within a week, city restaurants sought Madeira for their wine lists.

He dealt in old vintages, including an 1845 Cossart Gordon he sold for around $60 a bottle. ‘I actually got criticised for doing my job too well,’ he says, after selling 100 cases to one buyer. That wine now fetches about $3,000/bottle.

Given the wine’s prominent position in early America, how did the country forget that connection?

Broadbent put the question to a guest in one of his seminars, a schoolteacher who offered an answer. American textbooks, she said, stripped every reference to alcohol. The Founders’ wine had been edited out of national memory.

Around the same time, Berk started Rare Wine Co. after he chanced upon hundreds of cases of 19th-century Madeira from a London merchant unloading them at a deep discount.

As he sold through that stock, he conceived of a new project. He partnered with Ricardo Freitas of Barbeito to develop the Historic Series, paying homage to the regional palates of the past, from the driest Charleston Sercial to the sweetest New York Malmsey.

Despite interest, Madeira remains far from enjoying a market comeback. While Broadbent sees the 250th story circulating, he credits tourism as a significant driver of interest.

‘Portugal has become a major tourist destination. Madeira is already swamped with tourists but within maybe four years it will be as packed as the Amalfi Coast.

'Fifteen years ago, I received maybe two people a year telling me they wanted to go to Madeira. Today I am contacted at least once a week,’ says Broadbent.

A visit to the source

While both importers sell older vintages, drinkers chasing a taste of history will find the island itself the richest ground.

Pereira D’Oliveira in Funchal, imported by Rare Wine Co., has aged wines in cask since 1850. The tasting room display of 19th-century selections provides eye candy for giddy oenophiles.

At Blandy’s, where the family’s wine lodge dates to 1824, guests can visit the museum before tasting vintages dating back to 1920.

‘It’s amazing to think how over 200 years ago, they were making wines with much more limited resources, but are also so legendary,’ says Chris Blandy, Chairman of Blandy’s Madeira.

Freitas, however, may be the island’s most forward-looking producer precisely because he looks to the past. He makes drier, more delicate wines, closer to what crossed the Atlantic in pipes than to wines made in the 20th century.

This year, Rare Wine Co. released its Declaration of Independence Madeira to mark the 250th anniversary of that seminal American moment.

Blended to reflect historical tastes, it's a wine that might have fuelled a long afternoon in a Lowcountry parlour – or an American revolution.

Madeira and America: a shared history in 10 wines

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After being walloped by what he called a ‘cosmic brick’ – a lifelong love of Pinot Noir from Burgundy – David Lett embarked on a quest to see where else, if anywhere else, this fickle grape could reach the same pinnacle of quality.

His search led him to Oregon’s Willamette Valley and, in 1965, he established the region’s first plantings of Pinot Noir.

The connection between Burgundy and Pinot’s new promised land, once merely cosmic, was now concrete.

We last reported on the France-Willamette Valley connection in 2019 and, as you might expect, much has changed.

Here’s the latest, along with reviews of 10 noteworthy Oregon wines from French-owned wineries.

New French investments and appointments: Beaux Frères and Ponzi

The famous Beaux Frères winery, founded by Michael G Etzel in the 1980s, was acquired in 2017 by French firm Maisons & Domaines Henriot.

In 2022, Henriot merged with Artémis Domaines, the fine-wine hegemon behind Bordeaux first growth Château Latour and Burgundy grand cru Clos de Tart.

Big changes ensued. Mikey (Michael D) Etzel, who had taken over winemaking duties from his father in 2017, remains Beaux Frères’ CEO and technical director, but has passed the winemaker title to Evening Land alumnus Damien Lapuyade.

Don’t let the French surname fool you: Lapuyade is a strapping American, born and raised in Napa Valley.

Lapuyade revels in the resources that Artémis provides. ‘It opens the door to all these prestigious domaines that have centuries of experience farming and growing grapes and making world-class wine,’ he says.

‘The transfer of knowledge, the cross-pollination – it’s an amazing opportunity.’

Pioneering winery Ponzi Vineyards, which was acquired by Champagne Bollinger in 2021, also looks different at the top.

Jean-Baptiste (JB) Rivail, a sharp-dressed Frenchman raised in the Rhône Valley, is now CEO of the estate, which had been headed by a Ponzi family member since its founding in 1970.

Rivail, whose own family has a nearly two-century history in the wine business, arrived with Bollinger’s checkbook and license to use it.

‘The trust they put in us is just unbelievable,’ he says. Translation: What Ponzi needs, Ponzi gets.

This is a welcome change for Max Bruening, the Ponzi veteran who inherited the winemaker role from Luisa Ponzi in 2024.

‘I didn't know what CapEx was!’ he says, noting how, before Bollinger, the winery had to make tough maintenance and investment tradeoffs.

Growing resources

Now, Ponzi has a $500,000 Bucher sorting line, new stainless steel and concrete tanks, more land, and a consulting contract with Italy-based vine consultants Simonit & Sirch, who work with elites like Burgundy’s Domaine Leroy.

‘The knowledge here in Oregon has been built on great people and cross-collaboration,’ Rivail says. ‘But international investors come with things you know are working in other regions.’

Some locals welcome the outside capital. ‘It validates everything we've been working for,’ says Josh Bergström, a homegrown Oregon vintner who studied in France and is married to a Burgundian.

‘It lends gravitas to the region, to the pioneers who knew Pinot could be great here. With other beverages taking [wine’s] market share, we need families who have been around for generations on our side.’

Not everyone is enthused. 'Neutral at best' is how independent winemaker Saul Mutchnick of Championship Bottle describes the overall effect of outside money on the Willamette Valley.

Though he acknowledges the important role such investments have played in establishing the region, Mutchnick laments how small labels often lose access to prime vineyard sites when moneyed interests move in.

He cites the Koosah Vineyard (purchased by Résonance Wines, which is owned by French stalwart Louis Jadot) and Bunker Hill Vineyard (Lingua Franca/Constellation Brands) as examples.

A two-way street: Burgundy also benefits

Burgundy has long been the world’s Pinot Noir lodestar and, at one time, inexperienced Willamette Valley vintners were eager to glean any knowledge they could from their winemaking idols. But these days, the knowledge flows both ways.

‘When we travel to Burgundy now, there’s a sense of collegiality that I don’t think used to exist,’ says Lapuyade. ‘There seems to be this mutual respect, where they’re asking as many questions to Oregon winemakers on what’s working and what’s not working.’

Véronique Boss-Drouhin, head winemaker for both Domaine Drouhin Oregon and Maison Joseph Drouhin, says the family’s Burgundy team is inspired by their Willamette Valley counterparts, noting events like the annual Oregon Pinot Camp. ‘Burgundy should have done that years ago!’

For Louis Jadot, Résonance serves as a model for effective customer relations; in 2027, the winery will host a cruise through Burgundy for its clients.

Naturally, the trip will include a visit to Jadot, and Résonance winemaker Guillaume Large will be on board.

‘How you make somebody fall in love with the wines and the brand and the story isn't through leading with the sales pitch,’ says Taylor Theis, the winery’s director of consumer sales and marketing,

Oregon Chardonnay rising: New project Atomique3

Chardonnay is on a tear in the Willamette Valley, and many vintners trace its success to Dominique Lafon, who came from Burgundy in 2007 as consulting winemaker for Evening Land.

‘He started bringing some cultural practices on how to translate this terroir,’ says Mikey Etzel, showing the locals when to pick (earlier) and how much fruit to extract (less).

Atomique3, a superb Chardonnay-only Willamette Valley label launched in the 2021 vintage, bears the influence of another Burgundy legend: Meursault’s Jean-Marc Roulot.

Atomique3’s principals – Felipe Ramirez, a Chilean who earned his Master’s degree in Montpellier in the south of France, and renowned soil expert Pedro Parra – recruited Roulot to consult.

Atomique3’s four core Chardonnays are based on soil type, which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows Parra, who has built a career on soil and even authored a book about it.

Ramirez, who drives around the Willamette Valley with chunks of basalt on the dashboard of his truck, is no less obsessed.

‘The only thing that never changes is the soil,’ he says. ‘The weather changes every year, people change, decisions change. The plans change. But the soil – you need thousands of years to see those changes.’

The Hills are still hot: Résonance, Drouhin and Nicolas-Jay

In 2022, Résonance expanded to the Eola-Amity Hills, purchasing the outstanding Koosah Vineyard, a former Christmas tree farm planted with vines in 2016.

This acquisition doubled Résonance’s Chardonnay holdings, and it now bottles a single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the site.

The same year, Domaine Drouhin purchased Methven Family Vineyards, adding to the Eola-Amity Hills presence it established in 2013, when the family purchased Roserock Vineyard (which it has now spun into the Roserock label).

The 80-acre Methven property has 30 acres of vines, but the move was largely logistical: Methven is a 15-minute drive from Roserock, which lacks a dedicated production facility.

With an existing winery, water, power and ample space, Methven ticked all the boxes. ‘We were blessed to find this place,’ says Boss-Drouhin.

The facility is now known as Roserock North, and the winemaker there is French-born Drouhin veteran Isabelle DuTartre, Boss-Drouhin’s lifelong friend and her partner in Caballus Wines, which also makes Willamette Pinot Noir.

In the Dundee Hills, Nicolas-Jay, the partnership between Jean-Nicolas Méo and Jay Boberg, acquired a 52-acre site on the AVA’s north side in 2019.

They planted 25 acres of vines and renovated the property’s barn into a production winery and tasting room. In 2026, Noah Roberts was named production winemaker.

An Oregon wine legend bids adieu

Laurent Montalieu, who came to Oregon from Bordeaux in 1988, established himself as a juggernaut over the next three-plus decades.

In 2003, he founded NW Wine Company, the Willamette Valley’s first custom-crush facility – although he prefers the term ‘custom winegrowing,’ which he believes better captures the company’s range.

Over the years, NW Wine Company grew to encompass brands like Hyland Estates and Domaine Loubejac. In 2021, Montalieu sold it in what was the largest transaction in Oregon wine history.

He retired from NW Wine Company in 2024 but is still on the board, and French-born Anne Sery is now director of winemaking.

Montalieu also remains owner and winemaker at Soléna Estate, which he founded in 2000 and named after his daughter, Soléna Andrus Montalieu.

One day the winery will be hers, but it’s hard to imagine her father sitting idle in Oregon. Says Montalieu, ‘I will never retire from Soléna’.

10 fantastique Oregon wines with a French Connection

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No stranger to sweltering New York summers, Sydney Fusto finds relief in zesty, high-acid wines. 'You want something that’s going to really wake up your palate and get your saliva moving, and the key is really fresh, zippy acidity,' she says.

With regards to seasonal food pairings, Fusto shares her love of Sauvignon Blanc, especially when sipped with citrus, cilantro, or anything with a hint of spice (think ceviche, crudo, and other raw bar favorites). If grilled meats and veggies are on the menu, she looks to darker-hued rosés and chillable reds, especially those made from Grenache, Gamay, and other high-acid varieties.

For crisp summer produce, crunchy pickled veggies, or when she’s really not sure what she’s in the mood for, Fusto usually lands on easy-drinking bubbles.

'When I don’t know what to drink, I reach for something sparkling,' she says, highlighting the versatile and spunky personality of Prosecco.

From budget-friendly bubbly to refreshing whites, rosés and chillable reds, Fusto’s following bottle recommendations promise to keep you satiated all summer long.

Fusto's five wines to sip this summer

Sommariva Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Superiore Brut NV

'When it's 100+ F in New York and I'm sticking to my clothes, I am not looking to think too hard, ball out, or show off–I want bubbles that are easy-going, juicy and straightforward,' she says. The answer? An ice-cold bottle of high-quality Prosecco, particularly the Superiore Brut NV from Sommariva. 'It has the lip-smacking tart juiciness of a fresh Granny Smith apple, delicate white floral aromas and zingy acidity to keep everything playful and bright,' Fusto says. 'Think of it like the sparkling equivalent of a refreshing glass of lemonade. It’s so pleasurable, you could drink it all day long–no need to be super cerebral about this.'

Dog Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024

In the words of Fusto, haters need not apply here. 'Sauvignon Blanc is "that girl" and always will be,' she says, citing the signature herbaceousness and distinct citrus notes synonymous with wines made from it. Additionally, Fusto notes that Sauvignon Blanc-based wines typically have high acidity, making them perfect for summer fare, as well as cracking open and sipping solo on a hot day. 'I’ve been drinking Dog Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc nonstop, and I even pour it by the glass at Manhatta – yes, I said New Zealand,' she says, highlighting the wine’s unique, savory curry leaf and Thai basil aromas, as well as its long, salty finish. 'It’s a showstopper,' she affirms.

Tiberio Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo 2023

Rosé and summer go hand in hand, and for Fusto, Tiberio Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo 2023 has become a go-to. Crafted entirely from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grape, this vibrantly colored wine oozes with flavors of pomegranate, sour cherry, blood orange, and Mediterranean herbs–though don’t let its dark hue fool you. Contrary to the numerous myths surrounding rosé, darker-hued bottles don’t mean sweet or heavy. 'The wine is lifted and drinkable like a white, but has more stuffing and concentration than a lighter, less extracted rosé style,' she says. 'I highly recommend it with barbecue.'

Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol 2024

During her time at Cote, Fusto discovered her passion for pairing rosé and grilled meats, especially less rich cuts. 'I used to be more or less indifferent to rosé, as I would typically reach for a chilled red if I wanted some substance; however, I’ve since come to enjoy the summer spoils of a juicy grilled skirt or hangar steak with a darker, more full-bodied rosé,' she says, emphasizing that textured, fuller-bodied expressions produced with a bit more extraction – like Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol 2024 – work best here. Crafted from a Mourvèdre-dominant blend, the wine’s structured body and complex notes of red fruits, juicy citrus, and salty sea air come to life when paired with equally savory summer meats.

Domaine Giacometti 'Sempre Cuntenu' 2024

Come warm weather months, Fusto reveals that Manhatta’s customers can’t get enough of chillable reds, though not all bottles are created equal. 'A chillable red wine should have a higher acidity-to-tannin profile (or softer tannins in general) and a fruit-forward, juicy flavor profile,' she says. While Beaujolais is a classic option, she’s been reaching for light Corsican reds made from the Sciacarello grape. 'This bottle offers a great bang for your buck and absolutely sings with a chill,' she says, stating that wine has become a non-negotiable fridge staple for her. 'It's great with food, it's great alone. Sempre Cuntenu literally translates to "happy wine" in the Corsican dialect, and I couldn't agree more.'

Summer is made for exploration

Above all, Fusto states that summer is one of the best times to experiment with regions and varieties, thanks to the season’s light-hearted, laid-back nature.

Currently, she’s diving deeper into the wine regions of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as the appellations of coastal California. 'There are a ton of premium producers in these areas, and you’re also going to get a lot more value for your money,' she says. 'Trust me, there are so many bangers to be found at solid entry points.'

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Humans have a strange predilection for new, young, unblemished things.

In viticulture, economics tends to reward a focus on productivity and efficiency. Visually, this is easy to recognise: uniform rows, immaculate canopies and vines farmed for quick returns.

‘A young vineyard reminds me of an army, where everyone looks the same, trained for a mission,’ says Tegan Passalacqua, director of winemaking at Turley Wine Cellars and the winemaker behind his own label, Sandlands, in California, two brands with an explicit focus on historic vineyards.

In a recent conversation with Passalacqua, he reached for a copy of Scottish-American naturalist and writer John Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierra, where Muir writes about his observations on pines and how, while young trees are ‘very straight and regular in form,’ by 50 to 100 years they ‘begin to acquire individuality, so that no two are alike in their prime or old age.’

Old vines, Passalacqua says, do the same. Each grows to express something different from where it is planted, which, among other reasons, is what makes old vines matter and the very thing modern winegrowing was built to erase.

‘That’s the difference between agriculture and agribusiness,’ he says.

Not just the romance

The case for old vines isn't only about romance. Science is slowly supporting the claim that they can produce higher-quality wines with greater aromatic complexity and phenolic structure.

In the United States, old vines are also a living record of American wine history: the field blends planted by immigrants; the vines that survived phylloxera and Prohibition; the foundational plantings that helped establish whole regions.

Still, there’s no legal definition of ‘old vine’ in the US. The Historic Vineyard Society draws its line at 50 years for currently producing California vineyards, with at least one-third of productive vines traceable to the original planting.

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine defines an old grapevine as at least 35 years old. Either way, there isn't much left – America has only a thin and shrinking stock of truly old vineyards, and almost nothing protecting them beyond the goodwill, stubbornness and love of their growers.

Passalacqua sees old vines as a kind of measuring stick. ‘One of the important factors of old vines is they're very educational,’ he says.

‘There's something the farmers and winemakers can learn from them that you might not learn as easily from young vines.’

He also argues that much of the winemaking that exploded in the 1990s in America was built to meet a specific market demand rather than to explore terroir, and that mindset still lingers in much of the industry.

‘Modern winemakers and modern wine drinkers know what they want it to taste like,’ he says.

‘They're not embracing the character of the site. But with old vines, it's really hard not to.’

Not automatically better, but...

In a different conversation, Shauna Rosenblum, winemaker at Ridge Vineyards' Lytton Springs estate, where vines are over a century old, says old vines have ‘soul.’

It isn't only poetry. If you take Ridge’s old Zinfandel vines, interplanted with Petite Sirah, Carignane, Mataro and other varieties, the wines have a character that comes not from a single grape or uniform ripeness but from the tension of a historic field blend.

Rosenblum also notes the resilience older vines can develop. At Ridge, Rosenblum has watched century-old vines test positive for a disease like red blotch and simply carry on – ripening, producing – while the same virus forces young vines out of the ground.

'When you taste younger vines planted in the '90s next to old vines from 1901, there's more to it,' she says.

The vines that have come through something, in her opinion, are the more interesting ones, like people shaped by hardship and 'in it for the long run.'

Old vines are not automatically better, but time can offer something you can't manufacture: identity. And that happens to be what a lot of younger drinkers now say they want – specificity, unusual grapes, a wine with a story rather than a target flavour.

‘When you first begin your wine journey, do you care that you're drinking old vines?’ asks Rosenblum. ‘Maybe not, but then you taste the difference.’

A growing number of American winemakers are betting their reputations on old vineyards.

Labels like Bedrock, Desire Lines and Sandlands have built devoted followings, producing serious wines from grapes most drinkers couldn't name a decade ago.

They're not only preserving old vines but also perhaps teaching a generation to look beyond famous varieties and taste what old vines offer.

The eight wines below offer an entry point into dynamic and delicious bottles from old-vine vineyards in California, where most of America's old-vine acreage is planted.

Eight US wines from old vines

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Amid a sea of bad news for the wine industry, the white wine category is having a moment.

According to the 2025 SVB State of the U.S. Wine Industry report, white wine has positive growth rates by volume and now has better sales growth rates than red wine.

Similarly, data from WSWA’s SipSource revealed that, despite a broader market decline, multiple white wine categories demonstrated modest growth.

For a wine region like Paso Robles on California's Central Coast, where only 15% of the grapes planted are white, this is pertinent news.

But, despite the region being known for big, bombastic red wines, a quiet few are putting out quality white wines that are fresh, interesting, and challenging the status quo.

Going their own way

'When I started to make wine, people said to me that to succeed, you have to make red wine,' says Nancy Ulloa, owner and winemaker of Ulloa Cellars, a white wine-focused brand.

Fresh whites might not come to mind in Paso, which is notorious for its high temperatures.

This was especially apparent during the 2022 vintage, when a relentless 10-day heat spike over 40 degrees Celsius dominated the region at harvest time.

If grapes (especially white) were not picked before this spike, quality suffered. And, being so well-known for full-bodied red wines, there was historically little stylistic demand for white wines, let alone fresh ones.

Still, Paso producers are finding ways to craft wines of this style. It comes down to grape varieties, picking decisions, and winemaking technique.

Stephy Terrizzi, viticulturist and co-owner of Giornata, says: 'We make picking decisions for white grapes based more on pH than brix levels. Lower-pH grapes (meaning higher acidity) will have fresher qualities and be more zippy on the palate. In the cellar, we do not add malolactic bacteria and currently use only stainless steel and amphora for fermenting and ageing.'

Ulloa relies upon pick times, different vessels, lees stirring, and varying combinations of yeast per lot.

Working together

These approaches are leading to notable success with white wines in Paso. Giornata, with a focus on Italian varieties, is currently producing more white wines than red wines.

Dave McGee, winemaker at Monochrome, a white wine-only winery, says: 'Many customers come to our door because they are excited to try something different and new. They mention they have a stash of reds at home, but no whites.'

He also talks about Paso’s evolving culinary scene, which includes two Michelin-starred restaurants.

'White wines often pair better with the elegant, nuanced courses being offered by the top new restaurants than do the traditional big Paso reds,' he adds.

Rhône variety-focused Tablas Creek has been a pioneer in the 'lighter side' of Paso Robles since its inception in 1989, with its Patelin Blanc and Esprit Blanc consistently earning both critical acclaim and commercial success over the years.

Now, says Terrizzi: 'Paso Robles winemakers have put thought and energy into making more serious white wines that are complex and sometimes age-worthy, like Fiano and Chenin Blanc.'

McGee agrees that: 'More winemakers are now putting the same level of effort, passion, and attention to detail into their whites that they had previously reserved only for their top reds.'

And as consumer trends shift, this new-found focus is paying off.

10 fresh, summer white wines from Paso Robles

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If there's one cuvée every Champagne lover dreams of tasting at least once in their life, it's Salon. So imagine the chance to taste not one, but five vintages of this legendary wine, produced only 45 times since the house was founded in 1905.

And what an opportunity to enjoy these five wines alongside five more Blanc de Blancs cuvées from Champagne Delamotte, Salon's sister house.

This was the exclusive opportunity afforded some 80 lucky attendees who got tickets to this sold-out masterclass – the first one of the day at the 2026 Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York City, held on Saturday 6 June in the beautiful surrounds of the Manhatta on the 60th floor.

Scroll down for notes and scores of the 10 Salon and Delamotte Champagnes at the DFWE NYC 2026 masterclass

Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs NV (magnum)

Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs 2018 (magnum)

Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs 2014 (magnum)

Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs 2012 (magnum)

Delamotte, Collection Blanc de Blancs 2008 (magnum)

Salon, Cuvée S, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2015

Salon, Cuvée S, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2013

Salon, Cuvée S, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2012

Salon, Cuvée S, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2007

Salon, Cuvée S, Edition 2020, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 1997

Sister houses with distinct identities

Hosted by Cristian Rimoldi, the export director for both Delamotte and Salon, which have been part of the Laurent-Perrier group since 1988, this rare and exceptional tasting was a deep-dive into the complex and nuanced language of Chardonnay and the grands crus of the Côte des Blancs through the lens of these iconic sister houses

Through 10 remarkable and defining expressions of these outstanding terroirs, Rimoldi illustrated the commonalities between the two house’s approaches, as well as their distinct identities.

As background for the attendees, Rimoldi explained that the same technical teams are in charge of both houses, from viticulture to marketing. This allows for a nuanced understanding of the Chardonnay profile – from both owned and purchased vineyard plots – and subsequent decisions, particularly regarding the decision to release vintage cuvées.

For both houses, the wines are vinified in stainless steel tanks, but each has a different regimen regarding malolactic fermentation. It is done at Delamotte, while it is not encouraged – indeed prevented – at Salon, in order to preserve the delicate tension of the grape variety and terroir.

The dosage, made with cane sugar, is determined on a case-by-case basis, yet ranges between five grams per litre and 7.5g/L, with the exception of late disgorgements (Delamotte's Collection cuvée, and the ‘editions’ for Salon), which are brut nature, the extended bottling time providing the desired balance on the palate without the addition of sugar.

Champagne Delamotte

The first part of the tasting focused on Delamotte. One of the oldest houses in the Champagne region, founded in 1760, it specialises in Chardonnay, the grape variety at the heart of its four cuvées, where the average age of the vines is 40 years.

Champagne Delamotte also has HVE certification, which verifies its commitment to sustainable viticulture, and is moving towards organic farming trials

While it draws on the exceptional terroir of Mesnil-sur-Oger, Delamotte's philosophy, as Rimoldi told his audience, is the blending of the great crus of the Côte des Blancs. For the Blanc de Blancs NV, Avize and Oger are added to Mesnil, and for the pair of Blanc de Blancs Vintage cuvées, it is the three aforementioned crus plus Chouilly, Oiry, and Cramant.

‘We are the only house offering a blend of all six crus of the Côte,’ he emphasised. Added from 2008 onwards, Chouilly and Oiry ‘bring acidity, but also a structure similar to that of a Pinot Noir’.

The Blanc de Blancs NV is designed to be approachable, with the base vintage joined by 30% of reserve wine from the two preceding vintages, a 48-month aging period, and a more ‘inclusive’ dosage of around 7g/L.

The vintage cuvées, meanwhile, are crafted for complexity and ageing potential, and are undoubtedly the flagship of the house – albeit a discreet flagship, noted Rimoldi, often overlooked or little known by Côte des Blancs enthusiasts.

Contrasting vintage profiles

This was confirmed by comparative tastings of the 2018, 2014, and 2012 vintages. Their distinct identities were clearly identifiable – the ripeness of the 2018, the cool tension of the 2014, and the robust structure of the 2012 – especially since they were tasted in magnums. (They, like all 10 wines in the tasting, were aged under screwcap).

‘In terms of pH and ripeness, 2018 is similar to 1982,’ said Rimoldi when the topic of climate change was raised, along with its potential impact on a style as intense as Delamotte and Salon.

‘We need to take a step back and look at cycles,’ he explained. ‘We are obviously very aware of this issue. One advantage, however, is the improved health of the grapes compared to harvests that were previously very late and more complicated.

‘And we are fortunate to be on exceptional chalky terroirs with their water reserves, which are so important for the vines.’

The fact that the 2014 and 2012 were also in a period of post-disgorgement development highlighted the contrasting profiles of these vintages, both in terms of volume and aromas.

The comparison became even more interesting with the 2008 Collection. Delamotte offers late disgorgements for its Brut Vintage (dating back to 1964) as well as its Blanc de Blancs (1970, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2008).

Disgorged and then aged for barely a year, with no added dosage, the 2008 had the aromatic profile of a great Chardonnay, but with surprising power and density for a Côte des Blancs wine. A wine showing that Delamotte's vintage Blanc de Blancs is a benchmark, offering real value for money.

Champagne Salon

The second part of the tasting was devoted to the truly unique Salon Champagne. While its aesthetic – a single terroir (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger), a single vintage, a single grape variety – is no longer particularly striking today, Rimoldi reminded attendees that ‘Aimé Salon, a great lover of Burgundy, had this idea in 1905!’

Moving from the magnum format of the five Delamotte wines to the 75cl format for Salon – as well as going from the mature, brut nature 2008 Delamotte Collection to a young 2015 Salon, required particular concentration from the guests and was a true exercise for the palate.

But Rimoldi started with this latest vintage release followed by 2013, 2012, 2007, and 1997 in its 'second edition' version from 2020.

‘There is only one disgorgement when we release a vintage, and we do not indicate the date on the bottle,’ he told the masterclass.

‘However, we have decided to offer late disgorgements which we call Editions, in which case the disgorgement dates are mentioned. In terms of dosage, we are still around 5g/L to 7g/L grams, as for Delamotte, except for these late disgorgements, which are brut nature, as for Delamotte Collection.’

Making history

Only 45 vintages of Salon have been released since 1905 – 37 during the 20th century, but already eight since 2000.

Symbolic of the climatic consequences, 2015 was a sunny vintage so required less bottling time than 2014. This vintage has needed a longer time on the lees (tirage) and is still ageing ‘at a glacial pace’.

This is only the second time in Salon’s history it has made a non-chronological release. And once 2014 is out, it will also be only the second time that four consecutive Salon vintages (2012-13-14-15) will have been made, after the quadrilogy of 1946-47-48-49.Undoubtedly, the 2015 benefited from the water-retaining quality of the Mesnil chalk, mitigating the stress experienced by the vines in other Champagne areas, which can lead to vegetal bitterness on the palate.

The 2013 and 2012 vintages were remarkable examples of the Salon style, but very different profiles: 2012 with its mature, slightly more evolved structure, and 2013 with its crisp, chiselled freshness.

Salon has a reputation for closing up after a few years in the bottle and then reopening. This seems to be more the case with 2012 than 2013. The 2007, with a profile similar to the 2014, also benefited from a longer tirage period (11 years compared to the average of nine), and is now at its peak, deserving its nickname of ‘shining light’.

The masterclass concluded with a truly great 1997 (edition 2020), aged for 23 years and with no added dosage. Confirming again the importance of lees in defining texture and revealing density, the wine is surprisingly expressive.

Champagne Delamotte and Salon masterclass: 10 Blanc de Blancs cuvées

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By the time the Continental Congress formally approved the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, winemaking in North America already had a relatively long and uneven history.

The earliest attempts date back to the early decades of European settlement and involved experiments with native grape species.

Typically characterised by high acidity, lower sugar levels, and distinctive flavour profiles, these native grapes produced wines markedly different from their European counterparts, prompting repeated (and often unsuccessful) attempts to establish plantings of Vitis vinifera imported from the Old World.

One of the most notable of such attempts was undertaken by Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and passionate wine enthusiast, who planted European grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at his Monticello estate in Virginia.

Despite more than three decades of stubborn experimentation, Jefferson never succeeded in producing a reliable vintage from these vines.

Vitis vinifera’s failures in North America were long attributed to factors such as unfavourable climate, soil conditions, or poor vineyard practices, but a far more significant element at play was likely the presence of phylloxera.

This microscopic root-feeding pest native to North America that would later decimate European vineyards once inadvertently introduced there in the 19th century.

More substantial viticultural progress came with the arrival of Franciscan missionaries in the American southwest, who cultivated the Mission grape, a variety imported from Spain – via Mexico – and later identified as Listán Prieto.

This grape became the foundation of California’s early wine industry, demonstrating the region’s capacity for sustained viticulture.

Indeed, while wine production expanded across the United States, it was California that laid the groundwork for what would become the epicentre of American winemaking, driven in large part by European immigrants bringing both technical expertise and commercial ambition.

Among them were Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian who established Buena Vista in Sonoma in 1857, and German immigrant Charles Krug who founded his namesake winery in Napa Valley in 1861.

Prohibition: Time for a reset

As Europe grappled with the devastation of phylloxera towards the end of the 19th century, the United States was laying the groundwork for a constitutional alcohol ban.

Nationwide prohibition officially began in January 1920. Its impact on American wine was immediate and severe.

Most commercial wineries ceased operations altogether, bringing what had so far been a growing and increasingly ambitious industry to an abrupt halt.

Wine production, however, did not disappear entirely. Wineries such as Beaulieu Vineyard and Beringer were able to survive the dry years by producing sacramental wine for religious institutions.

At the same time, a legal loophole created a parallel informal economy centred around domestic winemaking, particularly in immigrant-heavy urban areas like New York, Chicago, and Boston.

By the time Prohibition was repealed in December 1933, only a small fraction of America’s wineries were still operational.

The industry’s entire commercial infrastructure – vineyards, distribution networks, oenological expertise, and consumer culture – had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.

California Chablis, jug wine and post-Prohibition rebirth

For much of post-Prohibition America, wine was primarily an inexpensive intoxicant, often sweet, and produced in ‘Port’ or ‘Sherry’-style expressions that bore little resemblance to their Old World counterparts.

Yet, beneath these high mass-market volumes, some producers began investing seriously in quality and in the long-term potential of American wine.

One of the most transformative moments came in 1938 with the arrival of Russian-born winemaker André Tchelistcheff at Napa’s Beaulieu Vineyard.

Widely regarded as one of the founding architects of modern Californian wine, Tchelistcheff introduced a new level of scientific rigour and technical precision to viticulture and winemaking, drawing heavily on European high standards while adapting practices to Californian conditions.

Through direct mentorship and broader industry influence, Tchelistcheff helped shape a new generation of winemakers, including figures such as Robert Mondavi, Warren Winiarski of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and Miljenko ‘Mike’ Grgich of Grgich Hills, who would play defining roles in the rise of modern American wine.

Robert Mondavi, in particular, proved instrumental in reshaping the narrative surrounding Californian wine.

Rather than relying on (then common) European-inspired names such as ‘California Chablis’ or ‘Napa Burgundy’, he championed varietal labelling, placing grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay front and centre.

Mondavi also promoted wine as part of a broader cultural lifestyle connected to gastronomy, music, art, and conviviality, helping (re)position it as an aspirational product rather than a merely functional one.

By the 1970s, the United States was producing wines capable of competing with the world’s finest.

British wine merchant Steven Spurrier was sufficiently convinced of such progress that, in 1976, he organised a blind tasting in Paris pitting leading Californian wines against some of France’s most prestigious labels.

The outcome of what would become known as the Judgment of Paris stunned the audience, the jury, and the industry as a whole: Californian wines triumphed in both the white and red categories, defeating celebrated Burgundies and Bordeaux.

The tasting marked a watershed moment for American wine, securing its place on the global fine wine map and fundamentally altering international perceptions of what the country was capable of bottling.

Napa Cab and The Critics

In the years that followed this landmark moment, Californian winemaking increasingly shifted towards a style defined by power, ripeness, and opulence, producing wines marked by intense fruit concentration, elevated alcohol levels, deep extraction, and generous use of new French oak.

This evolution was strongly shaped by the rise of influential critic Robert Parker Jr, who tended to favour this bold, ripe stylistic approach, rewarding it with higher marks in his influential 100-point scoring system.

This philosophy gradually spread beyond California, in a phenomenon referred to, sometimes critically, as Parkerisation.

From Bordeaux to Tuscany and Rioja, producers increasingly embraced riper fruit, softer tannins, later harvesting, and more assertive oak regimes.

They often sought input from influential international consultants such as Michel Rolland, in pursuit of the high critic scores they felt could elevate reputation, demand, and revenues almost overnight.

As the 20th century drew to a close, the United States had entered an entirely new phase of its wine history.

No longer a country merely striving to prove its legitimacy to the global wine establishment, it had become one of the principal forces shaping its direction, aesthetics, and economic dynamics.

A multi-layered landscape

Modern American wine is a remarkably nuanced landscape, one that mirrors the equally complex history of the country itself and the multitude of cultures, migrations, and traditions that shaped its social fabric.

California continues to dominate both production volume and the premium sector, but has become far more stylistically diverse than the blockbuster Cabernet stereotype often associated with it.

Powerful Napa Cab still occupies a central place in the state’s identity, yet California today produces an extraordinary range of styles, from refined coastal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to Mediterranean varieties such as Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan, and Vermentino.

Zinfandel (arguably America’s most emblematic grape) is also being reinterpreted in more nuanced and site-specific ways.

Meanwhile, fellow West Coast states have, over the past few decades, firmly joined the race for quality wine production.

Oregon has established itself as a leading cool-climate region, particularly for elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while Washington State has earned acclaim for structured Cabernet Sauvignon, Rhône varieties, and vibrant Riesling.

On the East Coast, New York’s Finger Lakes region has steadily built a reputation for refined, high-acid, cool-climate wines, particularly Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

Centuries after Thomas Jefferson’s failed experiments, Virginia has also finally found its winemaking identity, acclaimed for Cabernet Franc and Viognier, grapes well suited to the state’s humid continental climate (though producers are successfully working across a wide range of styles and varieties).

Beyond these, quality wine is produced in almost every American state, from the Mediterranean varieties of Texas to the cool, fresh, and unexpectedly refined whites of Michigan.

Across the country, winemakers now express a striking diversity of approaches and philosophies, with an increasing emphasis on regional identity over homogenised stylistic consistency.

The story of American wine may have begun as a matter of trial and – significant – error, but in the span of a semiquincentennial it has morphed into a deliberate, confident, and increasingly self-assured expression of place, as diverse and expansive as the country itself.

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While cooler-climate regions in the US, such as Oregon’s Willamette Valley, are better known for sparkling wine, a growing cohort of Washington state winemakers have been producing fizz worthy of fireworks.

The state’s principal appellation, the Columbia Valley, is larger than the country of Belgium and a growing region of extreme diversity.

Across its microclimates, sub-appellations, and high-elevation vineyards, traditional sparkling varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir seem to grow as well as the human talent required to transform those grapes into premium wines.

As US wine drinkers prepare to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday on the Fourth of July, here are five reasons to consider a bottle of Washington state fizz for the festivities.

Five sparklingly good reasons to choose Washington state fizz for your Fourth festivities

1. A range of prices puts Washington bubbly in reach of most buyers

Entry-level, traditional-method bottles from established Yakima-based producers such as Treveri start below $20. Newer upstart brand Tirriddis prices its value House line at just over $20 a bottle.

Gabriel Crowell, co-founder and director of winemaking at Tirriddis in Prosser, attributes this competitive edge to the state’s established agricultural infrastructure and what he calls the ‘pursuit of flavor’.

‘What makes sparkling so unique is that you have the option of flavor, but you have the possibility of being able to actually produce enough cases to get a traditional-method Pinot Gris to St Louis, Missouri.’

2. Cool-climate varieties are grown with success across the state

‘I’m always looking for the coolest spots,’ says Chris Sherry, who crafts traditional-method sparkling wines for his brand Elentone in the Woodinville wine district north of Seattle.

He sources fruit from higher-elevation vineyards within the rugged Columbia Gorge.

His preferred sites, such as Celilo on Underwood Mountain and nearby Rainmaker in White Salmon, are further west in the Gorge appellation.

These areas are closer to maritime influences from the Pacific Ocean, and benefit from more moderated temperatures as well as an extended growing season.

‘It just helps things ripen a bit more evenly,’ says Sherry.

3. Styles are suited to every taste

From natural, low-intervention styles, to extended lees ageing, or bottlings made using non-traditional grape varieties, there is something for everyone on Washington’s sparkling spectrum.

Grosgrain winemaker Matt Austin, who helped popularize pet-nat (pétillant naturel) in the state with his Red Mountain Lemberger, now produces a traditional-method wine from the variety, albeit in a largely hands-off style.

‘We still make that wine in a fairly natural way, with no fining, filtration, or cold stabilization, to keep it a little more wild and textural,’ Austin says.

4. Washington fizz is fantastically food friendly

Picnic salads, corn on the cob, burgers, barbecue: few wines are better with a variety of traditional cookout foods than Washington’s many high-acid bubblies.

In Walla Walla, Kinhaven winemaker Kasey Davenport suggests seafood with her fizz, The Four Stars.

‘We love it with oysters, Dungeness crab pasta salad, or a lobster roll.’

5. You can toast to the promise of a brighter tomorrow (like a State official)

Second-generation winemaker Christian Grieb of Treveri in Wapato, Washington, says his brand’s Blanc de Blancs Brut Zero has made its way to the nation’s capital more than once.

‘We’ve been served at the State Department on several occasions,’ Grieb says.

‘We love its mission, which is American diplomacy through American food and wine.’

10 great Washington state sparkling wines to try

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Costco's buying weight gives it access to everything from blue-chip Napa Valley estates to little-known labels sourced from coveted vineyards, and some great-value offerings we explore below.

We're all bargain hunters at heart. I might be the worst among you.

Because of my job, most of the 3,500-plus wines I taste each year are sent to me as samples.

So when it comes time to actually put my own money behind my recommendations, I'm keen to achieve three things.

The first is easy: I set my sights on a wine I know will be absolutely delicious. So delicious, in fact, that I can't rest until the bottle is empty.

The second is provenance. Where will this wine I'm buying come from? The winery itself? A retail shop? Online? A restaurant wine list?

Whatever the case, I need to know that the bottle has been properly cared for and protected from heat damage or years spent standing upright.

Finally, the price must match the quality.

I'll pay $100 for a Chardonnay. I'll spend more on Cabernet Sauvignon. I'll turn a blind eye to what I spend on Pinot Noir and Champagne.

But every now and then, I volunteer to battle the crowds for household essentials at my local Costco just so I can peruse the wine selection for a screaming deal of a wine, somewhere south of $50. Ideally, well south.

Inevitably, what happens is I’ll find those sub-$50, or sub-$25 deals, but on more occasions than I’d like to admit, I've walked out positively giddy over what I spent on bottles of Dom Pérignon, Cristal, and Château Pontet-Canet. Just as giddy over the six bottles of $12.99 Napa Sauvignon Blanc I bought.

Sworn to secrecy

Then there are the Napa Valley bargains that I know perhaps a little too much about — particularly the fruit sources.

All too often, when a producer is pouring a wine they believe will eventually land in a Costco bin, they'll quietly hint at the coveted vineyard source behind it, usually protected by a non-disclosure agreement.

My eyes nearly pop out of my head when I hear the price.

"Wait. That fruit, in that bottle, costs under $30? Under $20?"

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone," is often the follow-up from the winemaker, vintner, or broker.

"Well, let me know when it hits the shelves," is usually my curt response.

This happens a lot in Napa Valley. There's simply too much of a good thing.

Great vineyards produce more fruit than the market can always absorb, and that fruit often finds its way into private labels or special bottlings made exclusively for Costco.

After all, Costco currently operates 923 warehouses, including 633 in the United States.

With that kind of nationwide footprint, they can buy at scale, creating ample opportunities for Costco to strike bargains it can pass along to consumers.

That even goes for some of Napa’s iconic labels that end up in the bins—blue-chip estates that even I’ve spotted at my local Costco in Novato, California, including a three-pack of Screaming Eagle, bottles of Opus One, and Shafer.

Or wines crafted by 100-point winemakers such as Thomas Rivers Brown (see the Caterwaul on my list below) and Benoit Touquette (Teeter-Totter).

So here's my suggestion: head to your local Costco and ask for the person who manages the wine inventory.

If you get them on the floor, tell them what styles of wine you typically enjoy and ask them to point you toward one of the best Napa bargains currently in the store.

The bottles on this list are wines I've found in Costco locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

That doesn't mean you'll find every one of them at your local warehouse, and even if you do, they may not be there for long.

For now, see if you can get your hands on these eight bargains at a Costco near you. Happy hunting.

Cristaldi's Eight Napa value picks at Costco

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There's no shortage of great Pinot Noir in the world.

Obviously it all starts with Burgundy. But, equally, there are a lot more countries and regions getting their due now too.

Everywhere from New Zealand and Australia to Germany, South Africa – and the US, especially Oregon's Willamette Valley and Sonoma in California.

And as Burgundy is increasingly out of reach for most wine drinkers, these other sources of high-quality Pinot are really coming into their own.

There are exciting things happening all around, but I want to focus in particular on Sonoma.

And what I can tell you is that Sonoma not only delivers excellent Pinots but does so in a range of styles.

While this caters for many palates, it also makes Sonoma difficult to understand. But that’s precisely its appeal.

That Sonoma is large is hardly breaking news. Less obvious is how much more clearly its differences have come into focus over the past two decades, as a growing number of the county’s producers have become a lot more invested in showing just how little sense a one-size-fits-all idea of Pinot Noir makes at this scale.

Shifting styles

There has been a gradual move away from making wines that follow imported styles to a commitment to sustainable farming suited to each site.

In the cellar, there’s often a more deliberate touch, less interventionist in some cases.

The idea is not terribly complicated: a healthy, expressive vineyard plus less new oak and other manipulations means winemakers can be a lot more confident in letting the wines reflect where they come from.

Ensuring fruit is not picked overripe, and the increased use of whole bunches in fermentations to enhance freshness has also been a turning point.

Within the 19 AVAs of Sonoma, you’ll see anything from cold and fog-bound coastal vineyards to dramatic high-elevation mountain sites, warm inland pockets, windy corridors, and a remarkable variety of soils and geologic formations.

There are differences so nuanced they can sometimes be noticed just a mile apart by producers sharing the same fence line.

Which might explain the growing thirst for vineyard-designated Sonoma Pinot bottlings.

In the glass, Sonoma Pinot serves a palate looking for saline, savoury, and almost electrically tense wines, as well as generous, plush, and fruit-forward ones, through to darker and more structured versions, and a lot more in between.

Cast assumptions aside

In any case, long-held assumptions about what Sonoma Pinot Noir should taste like are worth revisiting, as the wine styles and identities are as diverse as the county is large.

That seems to serve an eclectic market quite well, with consumers always on the hunt for different things, making Pinot a ‘democratic’ grape in Sonoma.

The same region that produces wines to make collectors queue for allocations each season, also produces bottles that are just easy and delicious.

'West Sonoma Coast producers tend to draw wine collectors and more intellectually curious drinkers,' says Alex Sarovich, sommelier and wine educator.

'When it’s juicy, fruit-driven, and not overly tannic, Pinot Noir is a really good grape for easing people into the drier styles of wine,' she adds.

Trying to make a list in this context feels daunting. The wines selected here are excellent – among the best Sonoma has to offer right now – but they are not the full picture.

No list of 10 bottles could hope to capture a region this large, but together they offer a glimpse into what makes Sonoma such a compelling place to explore through Pinot Noir: a collection of exciting and often contrasting expressions.

10 Sonoma Pinot Noirs

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The final masterclass of the day at the 2026 Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York began at 4pm.

Despite a full day of tasting already behind them, attendees packed the room for a retrospective look at Heitz Cellar hosted by Master Sommelier Carlton McCoy, president and CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates, which owns this benchmark Napa Valley winery, among others.

The lineup of wines spanned nearly five decades, and guests were encouraged to taste while McCoy and I discussed the history of this iconic producer.

One of the more interesting topics was how little the winemaking itself has changed over the decades.

McCoy explained that Heitz continues to ferment its Cabernet Sauvignons in large neutral wooden tanks, blocks malolactic fermentation in the reds, and ages wines in large oak foudres.

The objective, he said, is to preserve freshness and 'express site character above all'.

While some American oak was used in the first few decades of Heitz’s founding, today, it’s French.

Scroll down for notes and scores of the 10 Heitz Cellar wines at the DFWE NYC 2026 masterclass

Heitz Cellar, Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 1979

Heitz Cellar, Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 1985

Heitz Cellar, Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 2010

Heitz Cellar, Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 2021

Heitz Cellar, Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford 1999

Heitz Cellar, Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford 2013

Heitz Cellar, Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford 2021

Heitz Cellar, Linda Falls Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain 2015

Heitz Cellar, Linda Falls Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain 2016

Heitz Cellar, Linda Falls Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain 2021

Standouts from the line up

It was a rare opportunity for Masterclass attendees to experience mature and current Heitz releases side by side, including the 1979 and 1985 Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons.

I've tasted the 1979 Martha's Vineyard on three separate occasions, and it continues to impress for its freshness, complexity, and unmistakable aromatic profile.

The bay laurel, mint, and eucalyptus notes that have become synonymous with the wine remain remarkably vivid nearly 50 years after harvest.

Two of the three oldest wines stood out on the day: the aforementioned 1979 Martha's Vineyard as well as the 1999 Trailside Vineyard.

The 1985 Martha's Vineyard, poured from magnum, showed a touch of cellar funk on the nose, but broadened beautifully across the palate.

The younger wines were equally compelling, though still firmly in their developmental phase.

Martha's Vineyard

Located in Oakville, Martha's Vineyard remains one of Napa Valley's most famous Cabernet Sauvignon sites.

When founder Joe Heitz first put ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ on the label of his 1966 bottling, it was the first time in Napa that the name of a site appeared on a wine label.

Martha's Vineyard takes its name from Martha May, the wife of vineyard owner and grape-grower Tom May.

The Mays purchased the Oakville property in the early 1960s. The roughly 34-acre (13.7ha) vineyard is known for producing wines marked by freshness, structure, and the distinctive bay laurel and eucalyptus character that has become its hallmark (eucalyptus trees line the perimeter).

While the fruit from Martha’s was exclusively sold to Heitz for decades, McCoy revealed that, for the first time in the vineyard's history, Heitz will not purchase the entire crop from Martha's Vineyard.

'I'm excited to see what other producers do with this exceptional fruit,' he said.

Trailside Vineyard

Purchased by Heitz in 1984, Trailside Vineyard is planted to 85 acres (35.3ha) in the Rutherford AVA, divided into 16 distinct blocks, based on a diversity of soil types, of gravelly loam and clay-loam.

The site is farmed organically, with biodynamic inputs. Several Cabernet Sauvignon clones are planted, along with Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Musque clones.

Trailside often shows a rusticity and dusty mineral character of red fruits, plus notes of sage, dried herbs, and fine tannins.

The 1999 Trailside, from a small, concentrated crop, showed the power and intensity possible from the site. Judging the wine on colour alone, you would think it was produced in the last five years.

The flavours, though, were so profoundly layered with loamy earth and tobacco nuances, along with the site’s characteristic freshness, that, save for those emerging secondary notes, it was almost hard to believe the wine was 27 years old.

Linda Falls Vineyard

Linda Falls represents Heitz's mountain-expression Cabernet Sauvignon.

Purchased and planted in 2002, at 1,500 feet (457m) elevation on Howell Mountain near the Linda Falls Preserve (a popular hiking destination with locals), only seven acres of the 42-acre (16.9ha) property are planted to vines.

The volcanic soils and higher elevation produce a markedly different profile from the valley-floor vineyards.

Dark fruit, conifer accents, crushed-stone minerality, and a firmer, more robust tannic structure define the wine, marked by the freshness so characteristic of Heitz and perfectly in place with the wines, thanks to the deft cellar work of winemaker Brittany Sherwood.

The library vintages across all three vineyard sites tasted in this Decanter Masterclass offered a compelling look at the longevity of Heitz Cellar’s iconic Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

Heitz Cellar masterclass: Five decades, back to 1979

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Dana Nigro is an experienced wine journalist based in New Jersey, with extensive knowledge of, and contacts in, the North American wine industry.

She will work closely with Decanter's network of correspondents and contributors to deliver authoritative reporting, expert analysis and trusted wine recommendations for Decanter's global audience.

'I am thrilled to be joining Decanter, a brand I have long admired for its rich legacy, trusted expertise and commitment to providing consumers with reliable, timely wine education and buying advice,' said Nigro.

'I look forward to working with Decanter's talented team of editors and correspondents to build on its strong presence across North America, showcasing the diversity of the wine scenes in the US, Canada and Mexico, while bringing the latest developments in the region to Decanter's global audience and introducing even more North American readers to the brand's award-winning content, events and experiences.'

Jonny Sullens, Managing Director of Decanter, added: 'Dana understands both the traditions that make wine journalism valuable and the evolving ways audiences discover and engage with content today.

'North America remains one of the most dynamic and influential wine regions in the world, and Dana's extensive network, reporting experience, and passion for the subject make her exceptionally well positioned to lead Decanter's coverage.'

Jonathan Cristaldi, who served in an ambassadorial role as Acting North America Regional Editor from April until Nigro’s appointment, remains as Decanter’s Napa Valley correspondent, a position he has held since 2021.

Riesling, sustainability… and scuba diving

Nigro spent more than 25 years with Wine Spectator in New York City, where she started as news editor, then became a senior editor for the magazine and the digital managing editor – responsible for the website, social media and apps.

She fell in love with wine while studying magazine journalism in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region, where she took advantage of the excellent wine program at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

As a result, one of her passions is Riesling. Another is sustainability in wine – from the vineyard soil to the winery buildings to the bottles (and boxes).

While reporting on US wine, Nigro reported on major developments, such as the battle to legalize direct shipping up through the US Supreme Court decision in Granholm v Heald, the rise of women in California’s wine industry, and the evolution of West Coast winegrowing from its early sustainability certifications to its movement toward regenerative farming.

Before her wine career, she worked at a fine-dining restaurant, served as a reporter covering local news and the international travel industry, and taught scuba diving.

Nigro can be contacted at teamusa@decanter.com

Winemakers are trained to think in grapes and, almost always, only grapes. Most will spend their entire careers relentlessly working within that single medium, fully aware that the craft is both exciting and unforgiving.

‘In wine, you get one harvest a year. Maybe 50 in a lifetime if you’re lucky,’ says Nick Gislason, winemaker at Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley’s Oakville AVA, who has taken on beer as another pillar of his creative outlet.

The built-in limits of winemaking, including the once-a-year window to make decisions in the cellar that will define an entire vintage, don’t exist in the same way in other beverage crafts.

Beer, for example, operates on an ongoing production cycle rather than a single seasonal window, with far more room to adjust and repeat in real time.

‘[Beer] makes you better at fermentation, because we’re working with yeast every single day,’ says Gislason. Even if the grains are harvested seasonally, like grapes, beer doesn’t unfold in a single moment. One batch is fermenting while another is being brewed.

An advantage over wine, he recognises, but one that makes it a complementary craft. ‘You learn how to manage air, temperature and timing in a more dynamic way. That absolutely feeds back into winemaking.’

From grape to grain: Hanabi Lager Co

Gislason created Hanabi, a small lager-focused beer label, around 2015.

For him, beer is not a side project, but another way of thinking through the same questions: how to grow grains for flavour, how to work with fermentation, how far one is willing to push risk in pursuit of something truly high quality.

Hanabi is an absurdly serious label. Unlike most brewers, Gislason is also a farmer, and he applies the same seriousness in viticulture as to grains, farming each variety differently, paying growers regardless of yield, going as far as reintroducing an ancient, almost extinct barley used in the first-ever Pilsners as Hanabi's flagship.

'For us, flavour is number one – even if the grain costs four times more or yields less,’ he says.

The label found its first audience among wine drinkers and sommeliers – The French Laundry and Single Thread, both Michelin-starred restaurants in northern California, were early placements – where Gislason's wine background likely carried weight.

These days, however, most of its consumers (it is distributed in six different states in the US and exported to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Japan, Taiwan and China, about 25% of its total production) are serious beer drinkers who, as he notes, ‘often have no connection to wine’.

'Beer and wine, to me, are like different instruments. Like in music, you can play to people in a wider way if you use more than just one instrument.'

Reaching a wider audience

Dan Petroski of Massican, in Napa’s St Helena, also went on to play a whole new set of instruments to reach a wider audience.

Over the course of a decade, he explored making vermouth, beer and even gin alongside his wines, building by 2019 what he called 'world Massican': a universe he wanted to open to everybody, 'not just people who love white wine'.

The vermouth came to be almost as an accident, a result of wine barrels that didn't make the final blend: juice with nowhere to go. 'You cover the flaws. You aromatise it, sweeten it, fortify it,' Petroski says. His own version of ‘when life gives you lemons’…

'I then started to build this picture of myself as the guy who knew everything about aromatising alcohol beverages,' he says.

An earnest vision. But Petroski hadn't fully anticipated how separate the concert halls were. Wine, beer and spirits, it turns out, don't share the same road to the consumer.

At the time, managing three distribution networks proved one too many for a producer like Massican. The vermouth program ended in 2022. The beer and the gin did, too.

Since then, the brand has been acquired by Gallo (2023), and the infrastructure roadblock may no longer exist, so Petroski hasn't ruled out a return: 'I love the idea of doing it again,' he says – especially now, as 'the world is drinking slightly differently'.

Vermouth, however, remains very much alive at Matthiasson Wines in Napa Valley, where Steve and Jill Matthiasson have produced their farmhouse-style version since 2011 — now distributed across the US and exported to several countries, with Japan as its largest market.

While the couple had long been fascinated by apéritifs, their vermouth also began with a wine that fermented too far. Instead of discarding it, they transformed it using botanicals, fruit and bitters grown on their property.

In many ways, it feels connected to how they think about farming and wine — just another way of telling the same story.

Whiskey and wine

At Jackson Family Wines, which owns dozens of wineries and operates its own distribution channel, the infrastructure problem doesn't exist.

With Regal, one of California's largest wine distributors – an unusual position in a system designed to keep producers and distributors apart – the company operates on both tiers.

'Having the ability to represent high-quality spirits does serve a commercial or strategic purpose,' says Christopher Jackson of Stonestreet Wines in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, which produces Stonestreet Bourbon within the Jackson Family portfolio. 'I think it's smart to talk to the consumer across multiple different beverage platforms.'

The company released two bourbons in the past two years: Stonestreet, in 2024, which it sees as a more accessible whiskey, and Mt Brave in 2025: a cask-strength, vintage-dated expression made with collectors in mind.

For Mt Brave in Napa’s Mt Veeder, winemaker Chris Carpenter approaches whiskey blending the same way he does his wines.

‘A lot of the blending is layering flavours so none are lost, but they accentuate one another,’ Carpenter says.

‘When I'm matching different wine lots to the barrels, I’m thinking about how that barrel is going to contribute to the expression of wine. I'm thinking about those same things when I'm putting these whiskeys together.’

There's a longer game, by design, being played about how credibility travels in both directions here: a wine drinker who trusts Carpenter's palate has a reason to try the bourbon, while a bourbon drinker who respects the whiskey might feel compelled to try the wines.

Blurring boundaries

Tequila, too, has begun attracting the attention of prominent winemakers.

Bordelais consultant Philippe Melka recently released the first batch of a new tequila project, Felicente, in partnership with Vincent Garry, a veteran in the barrel business, after becoming fascinated by what he describes as a moment in the category that reminded him of California wine in the 1990s: smaller producers experimenting, challenging industrial styles, and trying to redefine quality.

Still in its early stages, the project focuses on organically farmed, high-elevation agave and uses winemaking techniques to produce three styles of tequila, currently distributed across Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, and California, with plans to expand starting next year.

It’s another sign of how fluid the boundaries between premium beverage categories have become.

Learning curves

But not every beyond-wine project is driven by commercial strategy. In a more modest way, Jamie Kutch added a new line to his Kutch Wines portfolio to address a byproduct problem: wine lees that, if dumped carelessly, could poison rivers and streams.

'It clogs up and kills the fish,' he says. 'This is a sustainable way to use them.'

Kutch distills a brandy from Pinot Noir lees, aged five years in neutral Chardonnay barrels. He makes just 90 bottles a year, sold out each release, including for at least one customer who has never bought his wine.

Winemakers usually don't set out to be anything other than winemakers, and most consumers don't turn to a winery looking for anything other than wine either.

But when something else appears, it often carries the same level of care – sometimes more – than most standalone products across other beverage categories.

Winemaking standards don't end with grapes. And it turns out the exchange goes both ways. 'Every time I'm in a new project, I learn something that I bring back to my primary project,' says Chris Carpenter.

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Against the backdrop of New York City’s iconic skyline, more than 600 fine wine enthusiasts joined 52 renowned producers at Decanter’s flagship Fine Wine Encounter (DFWE) making this the most successful edition of the event to date.

Held on the 60th floor of Manhatta in Manhattan’s Financial District, the event brought together wine lovers and industry leaders for a rare opportunity to taste some of the world’s most iconic wines.

Set against a breathtaking setting, this year’s DWWA Winners’ Bar showcased 28 top-scoring wines, highlighting the very pinnacle of global winemaking.

The selection featured wines awarded 95 points and above, including Gold, Platinum and Best in Show winners from the 2025 competition. The line-up showcased the breadth of today’s fine wine landscape, from established classics in Italy, France and Spain to outstanding examples of their style from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and beyond.

Four out of the 50 Best in Show winners from Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 were featured at the Winners’ Bar and were amongst the guests' favourites. The line-up included the 97-point Barons de Rothschild Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV, Clos du Val, Cabernet Franc, Stags Leap District, California, United States 2022 and Italians Diego Morra, Del Comune di Verduno, Barolo 2021 and Donnafugata, Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria 2023.

More highlights included five Platinum medal winners, each scoring 97 points from Spain, France and South Africa and US presenting.

The event also included a fantastic lunch option with a pairing sponsored by Eola Amity Hills and Château Sideraut, an excellent opportunity for the guests to continue to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere that embedded the event.

The Encounter also featured three sold-out masterclasses led by Salon & Delamotte Champagne, leading Super Tuscan producers and Napa Valley pioneer Heitz Cellar, offering guests a deeper insight into some of the wine world’s most celebrated names.

The celebrations continued into the evening with an intimate VIP reception for producers and invited guests that enjoyed Champagne from Laurent-Perrier alongside canapés, charcuterie, artisan cheeses and dark chocolate truffles, providing a fitting finale to the day.

See below for the full list of DWWA 2025 top-scoring wines sampled at the DWWA Winner’s bar on the day:

Sparkling 

• Terre del Cima, Extra Dry, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore, Veneto, Italy 2023
  Gold, 95 points
• No.1 Family Estate, Cuvée Methode Traditionelle, Marlborough, New Zealand NV
  Gold, 95 points
• Barons De Rothschild, Blanc De Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV
  Gold, 95 points

White

• Adegas Valmiñor, Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain 2024
  Platinum, 97 points
• Eudald Massana Noya, Avi Ton Organic Xarel·lo, Penedès, Spain 2021
  Gold, 95 points
• Rohe, Sauvignon Blanc, Rapaura, Marlborough, New Zealand 2024
  Gold, 96 points
• Sother, Château De Malessert 1er Grand Cru Chasselas, La Côte, Vaud, Switzerland 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Early Mountain, Petit Manseng, Virginia, United States 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Castelfeder, Family Reserve Kreuzweg Chardonnay, Alto Adige / Südtirol Riserva, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy 2021
  Gold, 95 points
• Ambar Estate, Lustral Chardonnay, Dundee Hills, Oregon, United States 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Vignaioli Contra' Soarda, Vignasilan, Breganze, Veneto, Italy 2017
  Gold, 95 points

Red

• Khachen Wines, Areni, Vayots Dzor, Armenia 2023
  Gold, 95 points
• Bodegas Y Viñedos Verum, Ilusioverum Cdvin Garnacha, Rioja, Spain 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Bodegas y Viñedos Luis Saenz, Ana Sáenz, Crianza, Rioja, Spain 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Alvarez-Alfaro, Selección De Familia, Rioja, Spain 2020
  Platinum, 97 points
• Domaine Sarrabelle, In Vinum, Gaillac, Southwest France, France 2019
  Platinum, 97 points
• Hasher Family, Batrachella Pinotage, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Walker Bay, South Africa 2022
  Platinum, 97 points
• Château Romanin, Le Coeur, Les Baux-de-Provence, Provence, France 2019
  Gold, 97 points
• Clos du Val, Cabernet Franc, Stags Leap District, California, United States 2022
  Best in Show, 97 points
• Echolands Winery, Blue Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Walla Walla Valley, Washington State, United States 2022
  Platinum, 97 points
• Diego Morra, Del Comune Di Verduno, Barolo, Piedmont, Italy 2021
  Best in Show, 97 points
• Watermill, Hallowed Stones Syrah, Oregon, United States 2021
  Gold, 95 points
• Samā Cellars, Bhūmi Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Washington State, United States 2022
  Gold, 95 points
• Ernie Els, Proprietor's Blend, Helderberg, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2022
  Gold, 96 points
• Avinodos, Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, California, United States 2019
  Gold, 95 points

Sweet and fortified 

• Donnafugata, Ben Ryé, Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy 2023
  Gold, 97 points
• Tenuta Roletto, Passito, Erbaluce di Caluso, Piedmont, Italy 2013
  Gold, 95 points
• Curatolo Arini 1875, 10 Years Old, Marsala Superiore Riserva, Sicily, Italy NV
  Gold, 96 points

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The hottest ticket in the Big Apple this past Saturday wasn’t on Broadway, or even a prime seat at a sports bar to watch the New York Knicks take a 2-0 lead in the NBA finals series.

Those in the know – all 500 of them – were 60 floors up at Manhatta for the fifth annual Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York City (DFWE NYC).

Now firmly established as Manhattan’s greatest world wine event, this Empire State iteration of Decanter’s renowned global events series brought together a Grand Tasting of 30 Gold, Platinum and Best in Show medal-winners from the Decanter World Wine Awards as well as more than 200 premium wines from 55 producers.

Our star-studded line up of Masterclasses featured Salon & Delamotte Champagnes, SuperTuscans and Heitz Cellar, while the unique experience of dining with world-class producers themselves ensured our exclusive Winemakers' Lunches sold out almost instantly.

With panoramic views of the city skyline and across New York Harbor to the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Tasting room is the heart of the event, where each of the 50 stands was invited to showcase one special wine, either an old vintage or a large-format bottle – and often both – to share with guests.

Guests tasted throughout the day using glassware from Riedel, a fitting partner for an event celebrating fine wine, where presentation and tasting conditions are an important part of the experience.

Highlights of DFWE NYC 2026 included the Eola-Amilty Hills table, which welcomed several winery principals from this Willamette Valley AVA in Oregon, and similar regional tables from both Switzerland and Castilla y Léon in Spain.

In-depth tastings of icon wines

Away from the buzz and bustle of the Grand Tasting, our Masterclass room – with spectacular dual-aspect vistas – offered 75 attendees in each of three sold-out sessions the chance for a more in-depth look at a producer, region or wine style, with a guided tasting of eight to 10 exclusive cuvées, presented by renowned experts.

To start the day on a sparkling note, Cristian Rimoldi of sister Champagne houses Salon and Delamotte, along with Master Sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, took a deep dive into the world of Blanc de Blancs, tasting five cuvées each from these very different properties, back to Salon 1997.

Next, one of Decanter’s key Italian wine specialists, Michaela Morris, and Decanter’s Italy Editor, James Button, joined forces to present eight SuperTuscans – two each from leading producers Antinori, Isole e Olena, Fontodi and Bibi Graetz – to show the evolution of styles and approaches of these iconic IGTs.

Ending DFWE NYC 2026 on a historic note, Master Sommelier and Heitz Cellar CEO Carlton McCoy was joined by Decanter’s Napa correspondent Jonathan Cristaldi to take guests through 10 Heitz Cellar Cabernets through the decades, including the 1985 and 1979 vintages from Martha’s Vineyard.

Read all about it: Full masterclass reports from DFWE NYC 2026

• Salon & Delamotte
• Super Tuscans
• Heitz Cellar

Meet the winemakers in person

Apart from the wines, of course, the biggest drawcard to all Decanter Fine Wine Encounters is the chance for attendees to speak with the winemakers and winery owners themselves.

And what better way than to sit down for an intimate meal with them, sharing three exclusive bottles at our Decanter Winemakers' Lunches.

This year Dr Laura Catena, fourth-generation winemaker and Managing Director of Catena Zapata in Argentina hosted an oversubscribed lunch for seven lucky guests, who enjoyed her Adrianna Vineyard White Bones Chardonnay 2023, Argentino Malbec 2005 and the icon Nicolás Catena Zapata 2004 in magnum.

Katie Vogt, winemaker at Pahlmeyer in Napa Valley, hosted the other sell-out lunch for six guests, alongside Decanter's Napa expert Jonathan Cristaldi. She poured her Savoir Faire Chardonnay 2024, Right Bank 2023 and Pièce de Résistance 2023.

In the Grand Tasting, several other winemakers and owners generously took time out of their busy schedules to fly over for the DFWE NYC 2026, pour wines and chat at length with guests.

We thank, and look forward to seeing again: Louise Grillet (Veuve Clicquot), Olive Hamilton Russell (Hamilton Russell Oregon), Luke Evnin (Annulus Cellars), Jeff Mangahas (Williams Selyem), Dan Petroski (Massican), Adam Lowy (Cloudsley Cellars), Emma Garner (Thirty Bench), Gabriel Mustakis (San Pedro), Zvonimir Jurkovic (Poderi Luigi Einaudi), Alberto Moretti Cuseri (Tenuta Sette Ponti) and Rodrigo Costa (Taboadella).

Revisit the wines discovered

One of the pleasures of DFWE is the opportunity to taste wines that are often difficult to find in one place. For guests looking to revisit a favourite bottle from the day, premium wine retailer Millesima has curated a dedicated Decanter Fine Wine Encounter collection featuring a selection of wines showcased at the event.

The collection is designed to make it easier for attendees to source memorable wines encountered during the Grand Tasting and masterclasses. As an additional benefit, there's also access to a limited-time offer through the collection.

Browse the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter collection at Millesima here.

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Julia Rose Hoyle and Kelby James Russell are too busy for pinch-me moments.

The pair launched their Finger Lakes-based winery, Apollo’s Praise, in 2023 and are deep in the work.

Partners in life and love, they’ve got their hands full, from farming to fermenting, bottling to selling.

‘We’re working phenomenally hard on the back end because we recognise that we’ve been given the chance to help push the Finger Lakes forward,’ explains Russell.

With a charge like that, there is little time to pause – even when the praise is good.

Within three months of launching, inventory sold out, and scores reached up to 98-points, which is among the highest the region has received to date.

The duo keeps moving, popping up across the US and internationally as they introduce a brand that has brought a fresh new energy to Finger Lakes wine.

Finding Apollo

'Thus, then combining, hands and hearts joining, sing we in harmony Apollo’s praise. Here ev’ry gen’rous sentiment awaking, music inspiring unity and joy. Each social pleasure giving and partaking, glee and good humour our hours employ.'

These are the lyrics of ‘Glorious Apollo’, the 18th-century glee written by composer Samuel Webbe. They end every quarterly zine designed by Hoyle for Apollo’s Praise.

Russell first encountered Glorious Apollo at Harvard College, where he studied Orchestra Management and sang in the Glee Club.

His admission to the Ivy League school felt like a one-way ticket from his small Finger Lakes hometown that he’d eagerly been awaiting.

While there, he won a fellowship to study food in Italy.

‘I went for the mortadella,’ he laughs. To stretch the funding, Russell found lodging in exchange for work at a ‘quirky castle’ surrounded by vineyards.

‘It was a romantic spot. I fell in love with the lifestyle, got the wine bug, and decided – to my shock – to move back home and get into wine.’

A few hundred miles away, Hoyle traded northern Pennsylvania for Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

She picked up seasonal work in the tasting room at Fox Run Vineyards, but found herself fascinated by winemaking: ‘I wanted to learn more about this product that there’s no firm answer on – I wanted to know more all the time.’

Russell arrived at Fox Run two weeks after Hoyle, dressed for an interview, only to be handed a shovel on what would become his first day of harvest.

He and Hoyle quickly fell for the industry, the region, and eventually for each other.

As their careers progressed, each traveled across hemispheres, gaining experience by chasing harvests while staying connected through handwritten notes.

While in Paris in 2012, they eloped.

Building Lahoma

Through all their travels, the Finger Lakes kept pulling them home.

‘There was a lot of interesting energy and evolution happening. It was still a real underdog of a region, and to be here was a choice,’ explains Russell, who settled as lead winemaker for Red Newt Cellars on Seneca Lake.

Hoyle took the reins of winemaking at Hosmer Winery on Cayuga.

‘There’s an excitement you can’t replicate going to a region that already has the accolades,’ he continues.

‘Getting to demonstrate and earn those accolades for an underdog region is really enriching.’

Hoyle shares the ambition: ‘I want to make the best wines of the region. That is the end goal.’

Their work is heavily influenced by Austria and Germany, especially the idea of Grosses Gewächs, given they both work with distinguished vineyards.

Russell’s work at Red Newt introduced him to Ken and Harlan Fulkerson, the original farmers behind Lahoma Vineyards.

Once planted with apples, pears, peaches, and cherries, the celebrated vineyard is now 22.2ha of vinifera and hybrid grapes, including Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Grüner Veltliner, Chardonnay, and the first commercial planting of Scheurebe in New York.

High on a knoll

Within the parcel sits a notable 0.8ha plot of land named The Knoll, known for its rare sandstone soils and unique expression in the glass.

Russell has sourced fruit from this block for over a decade, crafting structured, muscular, and textural Rieslings that earned him a devoted following.

As the wines gained traction, so did the property, with Russell proudly touring the vines with journalists and buyers.

The Fulkersons quietly took note and secretly designated Russell and Hoyle as a potential succession plan.

The offer came in 2022 when Russell called the Fulkersons in search of Chardonnay. There was none, but they had a counteroffer: the farm itself.

Hoyle, who calls herself Russell’s co-conspirator, could see his vision: ‘At the end of the day, the deep trust we have for one another is what’s guided a lot of our decisions.’

They closed on the property in April 2023.

A frosty beginning

Within a month of closing, an unprecedented frost decimated half their crop. It was a once-in-50-year event.

Russell couldn’t sleep as temperatures dipped overnight. He got to the farm at sunrise to find the Fulkersons already there.

‘The plan was to sell 95% of the crop, and keep a few tons to tinker with. But, we knew we had to start a winery and make a new business plan to save the farm.’

They were more than ready. They already had the name. They had the label artist, Christi Lopez, whom Hoyle found on Instagram and bookmarked for this moment.

And, they quickly learned the region had their backs: neighbors offered unclaimed fruit, and Harlan Fulkerson even personally advocated for them at the bank, noting that you can’t predict the weather.

‘You can’t do it alone,’ Hoyle smiles. That winter, Apollo’s Praise launched their Wine & Glee Club and Skurnik Wines added the brand to their portfolio – the first and only brand contracted without a tasting.

The wines posted some of the highest scores in the region. Within three months, their inventory was completely sold out.

A warmer future ahead

Three years in, and the Apollo’s Praise team remains busy. They’ve since purchased the 1850s farmhouse next door, which houses their offices, a hosting space, and a seasonal Airbnb.

In the cellar, Russell and Hoyle operate on a 60/40 split, respectively – each producing their own wines that work in concert across the full portfolio.

‘We did not want to work together–especially in production,’ laughs Russell, though they have one exception: a single wine called Lovejoy: a blend of Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, and Riesling grown on The Knoll.

They’ve also built a company culture that reflects everything ‘Glorious Apollo’ promises. Alongside Hoyle’s joyful zines are Russell’s inspired music pairings on the back of every label.

General Manager Sarah Tuttle leads a small team that they call smart and quirky. Staff are given room to be fully themselves.

‘Sometimes it seems very crazy that the universe just lets us do this,’ says Tuttle.

That permission is not accidental, but deliberate. ‘I have an open door to anyone who wants to work hard. I’ll give people a shot because a lot of people wouldn’t do that for me,’ says Hoyle.

‘It’s important to get new voices at the table every time.’

Russell sees the same opportunity through the wine itself: ‘How do you get more people to love wine? It’s a really simple answer. Make exciting wine at a price point people can afford.’

Three tiers of wines are currently offered, ranging from approachable offerings under £20 to small-production single-vineyard bottlings that can command £100 and above.

From the outside looking in, Apollo’s Praise is more than a winery. It is the culmination of Hoyle and Russell’s hard work and preparation for this particular moment.

From chasing harvests and trading handwritten letters, to starting a brand authentic in its representation of the duo, it all folds into something that feels less like a business plan and more like a calling.

As the lyrics of Glorious Apollo go, they are giving and partaking in equal measure – and it seems the Finger Lakes are singing back.

Apollo's Praise wines

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An opaque, intriguing history

America’s oldest vineyards are a sight to behold.

Marked by gnarled old vines planted in the 1880s, often by Italian immigrants, they provide a palpable sense of history in this so-called New World.

Many of them are field blends, the common practice at the time – a melange that may include Alicante Bouschet, Palomino, Carignan, Mataro, Syrah or Petite Sirah.

The Old Patch at Ridge’s Lytton Springs estate, first planted in 1882, includes 24 different grape varieties. The foundation, though, of these old sites is almost always Zinfandel.

‘The Dickerson vineyard in Napa was planted in the 1920s, and it’s 100% Zinfandel,’ Joel Peterson, ‘the Godfather of Zin’, tells me, while we’re standing in his old-vine Sonoma site, Bedrock vineyard.

‘The very old vineyards, like this one or Old Hill, are a mix of more than 20 varieties.

They were some of the first vineyards planted after phylloxera (both during the 1880s), so they really leaned on an old way of doing things.’

Once thought to be native to the US, Zinfandel’s origins have long been muddied.

For many years, it was believed to be closely related to the Italian variety Primitivo, maybe hailing from Puglia.

However, DNA testing at the University of California, Davis, chased its origins across the Adriatic to the coast of Croatia.

It turns out that not only are California’s long-standing signature variety and Primitivo genetically identical, but both of those grapes are also genetically identical to Dalmatia’s Crljenak Kaštelanski (also known as Tribidrag).

Peaks and valleys

The notion of quality in Zinfandel has also had a tumultuous history, particularly recently. It was the original American fine wine.

Early California bottlings of Zinfandel were sold from trains on the east coast and they made waves at the Paris Exposition of 1889.

Over time, though, its reputation has waned, owing in many ways to the great commercial success of White Zinfandel (the inexpensive, typically not dry ‘blush’-style rosés) and a lingering reputation and perhaps unfair stereotyping as a one-dimensional wine of bombast, high alcohol and little else.

‘Somewhere in the 14%-15% range is where the variety hits its stride,’ Peterson instructs. ‘There it has acid, edge and spice without the unfortunate gloopy, overripe character.’

Through all of that, it remains California’s third most planted variety, behind Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

Joel’s son Morgan Twain-Peterson MW is at the forefront in efforts to preserve many of northern California’s old-vine sites.

His commitment to forward-thinking viticulture, regenerative and organic practices, and a fresh take on the wine his father made famous, are evident in the brilliance and site clarity of his Bedrock wines.

Thanks to folks such as Twain-Peterson, Tegan Passalacqua at Turley and the team at ArnotRoberts, old-vine Zinfandel is resurgent.

While America’s fine wine regions are often left referencing their Old World counterparts, Zinfandel offers something uniquely, historically American, in spite of its Adriatic origins.

Pursehouse's pick of America's most enticing Zinfandel

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US winemakers demonstrated their strength in depth at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) in 2025, with a host of top medals for delicious styles produced in a wide range of growing areas.

California led the way with 143 medals, including two coveted Best in Show accolades (below) – for Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines respectively.

While the Golden State’s winemakers again demonstrated their prowess – nearly 50 years after the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting – DWWA 2025 also saw strong performances across the US.

Washington state and Oregon increased their total medal hauls year-on-year, led by mouth-watering Platinum and Gold winners.

Other states continued their rise to prominence, too. Virginia followed a first-ever Gold medal at DWWA 2024 with another Gold in 2025, for a Petit Manseng white wine (see opposite).

DWWA’s rigorous judging process, underpinned by leading experts, helps ensure wine lovers can explore the dynamic US wine landscape with confidence.

Best in Show

Clos du Val, Estate Cabernet Franc, Stags Leap District, California 2022

Best in Show, 97 points
US$130 closduval.com
Here’s the second pure Cabernet Franc wine in this year’s Top 50 Best in Show. The lesson is the same from both: this variety can enchant and inspire, but only if its tendency to dryness in warmer climates is seen off, and its fruit qualities express both ample ripeness while retaining poised and perfumed flesh. This Napa example is a show-stopper: opaque black in colour, with a carnival of scent in which spice, flowers and damsons mingle with carefully schooled abandon. On the palate, the wine has splendid depth and width, just as its Cabernet Sauvignon offspring so often does in Napa; the difference is a lightness of touch here, an aerial grace, and a lithe ease of line to the tannins; the acidity remains tenderly supportive. Rarely does a wine from Stag’s Leap leap so gracefully; the result is memorably drinkable. Alcohol 15%

Kenwood, Six Ridges Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, California 2021

Best in Show, 97 points
US$17-$25 Widely available
We’re thrilled to see a wine from Alexander Valley join the nine California red-wine peers that have already featured in our Best in Show selection. This distinctive zone clearly offers Cabernet of significantly different style to Napa: amply fleshed, yes, but with a savoury, mountain wildness to that flesh, and with a different acid emphasis. The blend here, with its seasoning of Petite Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, surely also plays a role in lending this wine its intriguing complexities. It’s black-red in colour, with open, affably fruity aromas lent depth by a dry-forest warmth; on the palate the wine has both breadth and depth as well as a compelling inner sweetness. The acidity is low but soft, while plump tannins with that distinctive savoury nuance bring the wine resolution and balance. Alc 14.5%

California

Cupere, Faces, Sonoma Coast 2022

Platinum, 97 points
US$65 Grand Cru Custom Crush
Rich, ripe aromas of yellow pear and apple, charry oak. Gorgeously creamy, sleek, oozing panache and charm. Utterly delicious, with bright acidity, a finely tuned texture and a candied citrus finish that lasts and lasts. Alc 13.2%

Maple & Ash, Chardonnay, Central Valley 2023

Gold, 95 points
@mapleashwines
Full of white nectarine, apricot, yellow apple and pear fruits with flinty inflections. Ample creamy oak, counterbalancing limey acidity and a cleansing, mineral finish. Alc 13.5%

Exprimere, Mia Pinot Noir, Sta Rita Hills 2022

Gold, 95 points
US$74 exprimere.wine
Sparky red berry fruit with a sweet overlay of cherry vanilla aromatics. Robust and expressive, with glossy tannins and focused acidity. Finishes long and savoury. Alc 14.2%

New Clairvaux Vineyard, Petite Sirah, Tehama County 2022

Gold, 95 points
newclairvauxvineyard.com
Captivating, inky blue fruit, sweet tobacco and violet are joined on the palate by wonderful chocolate oak flavours. Structured and full, with fine-grained tannins and brisk acidity. Alc 14.1%

Washington state

Echolands, Blue Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Walla Walla Valley 2022

Platinum, 97 points
US$50-$60 Elliott Bay Distributing Co, Medium Plus
Black cherry, berry and plum with an earthy, herbaceous tone. Appetising, with lustrous tannins, juicy acidity and a smoky finish. Alc 13.8%

L’Ecole No41, Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley 2022

Gold, 95 points
US$35-$54 Widely available
A sophisticated display of blackcurrant, cedar and graphite fragrance, with an array of sleek tannins, a silky texture and delectable spicy lift on the finish. Alc 14.5%

Samā Cellars, Bhūmi Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2022

Gold, 95 points
US$62 samacellars.com
Ample plum, blackberry and raspberry with herbaceous and violet nuances, coupled with tobacco notes, vibrant acidity and fine tannins. Textured and meaty, long and harmonious. Alc 13.6%

Spring Valley Vineyard, Uriah Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley 2022

Gold, 95 points
US$65 springvalleyvineyard.com, Total Wine & More
Plush blackberry, violet and notes of graphite and tobacco flow liberally across the nose and palate, encased in a refined tannic structure. Long and savoury. Alc 14.5%

Oregon

Domaine Serene, Yamhill Cuvée Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2022

Platinum, 97 points
US$60-$85 Widely available
Crunchy red cherry and raspberry fruit with generous, sweet, oaky spice that unfurls and weaves around the supple tannins and texture. Bristling acidity and a lengthy finish. Alc 13.8%

Ambar Estate, Lustral Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2022

Gold, 95 points
US$230/magnum ambarestate.com
Distinctive custard apple, ripe pear and peach fruit is joined by a dusting of creamy hazelnut oak. Smooth acidity and luxuriously lasting length. Alc 13%

Watermill, Hallowed Stones Syrah, Rocks District, Walla Walla Valley 2021

Gold, 95 points
US$50-$55 Medium Plus, watermillwinery.com
Violet florals, ripe blueberry and plum engage seamlessly with a smoked meat and black olive core. Generous and open. A peppery finish. Alc 13.9%

Virginia

Early Mountain, Petit Manseng 2022

Gold, 95 points
earlymountain.com
Richly flavoured and gastronomically textured. Honeyed ripe apple, fresh peach and perfumed herbal notes enlivened by zingy acidity and a bright mineral finish. Fabulous. Alc 13.9%

Search all DWWA 2025 winners

Readers should bear in mind that the 2023 growing season offered Napa producers the luxury of time: a long, relatively mild growing season with extended hang time for grapes and above-average yields – the kind of year that’s being widely described as ‘the vintage of a lifetime’.

And while official narratives can be rhapsodic, a more straightforward description might be that 2023 represents the ideal Napa Valley vintage: a year when the vines had everything they needed without the pressure of damaging heat or rain.

Many 2023s will end up among the era’s greats, but a small percentage of wines bear surprising lightness, likely a result of overcropping and extraction choices that over-taxed the tannins, leading to dilution.

I’ll add that there is also a compelling argument that the denser, more inherently concentrated 2021s may give the 2023s a run for their money, even if only long-term cellaring will settle the matter.

Rain at the right time

Nevertheless, the stage was set for an exceptional vintage, with winter rains helping ensure the vines were in a really good place to kick off the year, with good moisture in the soil.

More than 457mm of rain fell across Napa Valley between October and December of 2022 – double the typical amount.

Another 324mm fell in January, 121mm in February, followed by 249mm in March, just before bud break.

Temperatures from December 2022 through the end of March 2023 hovered between 10°C and 18°C in the daytime, dipping to 2°-7°C at night.

That coolness held consistent from spring through summer and into harvest. Daytime highs ranged from the low to mid-20s°C from June through October, with only one day over 38°C in early July.

Peak highs reached about 36°C just a few times between August and October. Most notably, September was unusually cool, with no days above 32°C, meaning growers had to be extra patient, hopeful for an Indian summer with no rain.

Thankfully, nothing beyond a centimetre or so of rain fell in October.

Canopy management

Rombauer Vineyards’ Richie Allen recalls a cold spring, with bud burst quite delayed, which put back flowering and pushed harvest out several weeks into late October and early November.

‘It never got quite warm, and we thought it was going to be another 2010 or 2011, with tons of rain and everything not getting ripe,’ he says.

Instead, Mother Nature was kind. Orin Swift’s Dave Phinney said 2023 reminds him of 1997 in Napa when there was ‘no weather pressure or rush to free up fermentation tanks’.

Nickel & Nickel winemaker Joe Harden says: ‘It was a dream for winemakers. If you managed your canopy, kept enough leaves to the end to maintain dappled sunlight, you got polished, silky tannins and supreme elegance, and it was incredibly welcome after the hot, challenging 2022 vintage.’

‘Abundant’ and ‘friendly’ are the two words that describe the 2023 vintage for Dominus Estate owner Christian Moueix.

‘If you have good growth, you let the ends of the vines grow to get out excess growth and arrive at a certain balance in terms of the size of the canopy,’ he says.

‘In every berry, you have all of the universe of the vintage, and you want each berry to get over the finish line.’

Too much of a good thing

For some, bigger canopies are welcome and easier to maintain. ‘I knew early on that there was a decent amount of fruit,’ recalls Arkenstone’s Sam Kaplan, ‘and I saw cooler days, so crop adjustment was the storyline of the season.’

Consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown agrees that mitigating crop load was essential to success.

‘If there’s a downside to 2023, it was a big crop year, and if you had a site that couldn’t handle that size of crop, there would be dilution in the wines if you didn’t thin,’ he says.

‘Berries never shrivelled in 2023,’ meaning fruit concentration couldn’t come from selective raisining – it was all about reducing the number of bunches appropriately.

Indeed, during the four months I spent visiting producers and eventually tasting more than 600 wines, I found that just 10% of wines or so felt somewhat diluted, lacking the structured, ripe tannins I’d expected to find in abundance across all wines.

And while certainly pleasant, they lacked the integrity of the vintage and resulted in my lowest-scoring wines (having said that, low scores were very rare, likely because of the calibre of producers who presented wines).

Marcus Notaro of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars says that as late as September, there were ‘some lingering green berries through veraison, so you needed extra-long hang time’.

He adds: ‘For us, we had a nice combination of ripe grapes – not super-sugar-loaded grapes, because of the coolness, but the length of time let us get the tannins to a nice, ripe level.’

Jonathan's wines of the vintage

• Kinsman Eades Anjea, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Yountville) (100)
• Dalla Valle Vineyards, MDV Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (100)
• O'Shaughnessy Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (99)
• La Pelle Wines Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (100)
• Monsieur Etain (by Scarecrow) Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Rutherford) (98)
• Merryvale Profile Napa Valley (St Helena) (98)
• Robert Mondavi Winery 60th Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (98)
• The Debate Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
• Bryant Estate Bryant Family Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (99)
• Freemark Abbey Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Rutherford) (98)
• Cathiard Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (100)
• Facets Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (95)
• JCB Surrealist Napa Valley (97)
• Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Calistoga) (96)
• Nickel & Nickel Winery, Element 28, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon (99)

Back to the old ways

Over and over, during the many weeks I spent tasting at wineries, winemakers across the valley commented on the psychological shift required after 2022.

‘We felt deeply scarred by the 2022 vintage,’ said Brown. ‘We had a really wet winter, so there was plenty of groundwater, and we had a pretty big fruit set, and we just kept holding our breath for bad things to come, and they never came. You had to learn to be patient again. You had to pay attention to tannin maturity because if you harvested any grapes too early, you’d be harvesting unripe tannins.’

Jason Moulton, winemaker for Whitehall Lane, was reminded of 2016, when ‘the crop load was heavier, but you had perfect [flavour and tannin] extraction during fermentation, to the point that you’re not forcing a post-ferment protocol to extract more’.

Michael Scholz, vice president of winemaking and vineyards for St Supéry, noted that the moderate temperatures ‘allowed vines to keep working through the season without stopping for any heat spells’, thereby aiding both ‘flavour and phenolic development, giving us great flavours, ripe tannins that were not big and not so aggressive, and above all, vibrancy and freshness in the wines’.

‘We learned that tannins and colour are heat sensitive, and when we don’t have those issues, we have darker-coloured wines with beautifully fine-grained, resolved tannins,’ said Freemark Abbey winemaker Kristy Melton.

Cathiard Vineyard winemaker Justine Labbe echoed that sentiment, noting, ‘we had integrated tannins right after fermentation’, a structural factor that has clearly played out even with time in bottle.

For Sullivan Rutherford Estate winemaker Jeff Cole: ‘This vintage felt like the way Napa Valley operated years ago, when you weren’t thinking about picking Cabernet in September.’

Luc Morlet of Morlet Family Vineyards, was reminded of the excellent 2016s, which benefited from rains that finally ended the drought years of 2013-2015.

‘The wines have energy and freshness that will make them a true vanguard that we’ll be able to cellar for multiple decades.’

Cristaldi’s pick of the top 2023 Napa Cabernets to buy – and to keep

The wines below includes a representative selection scored between 93-100 points. For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

Related articles

The wines for short-term pleasure

For the most part, the 2023 Cabernets are built for a long life.

However, they are also immensely joyful, easy to drink, and expressive in their youth, thanks to the long growing season, which produced refined tannins that are already well integrated at this early stage.

I combed through my notes to find those wines that speak most clearly of pure deliciousness—the kind that are very hard to put down.

This short list highlights some of my easy-drinking, enjoy-now favourites, though they should drink beautifully over the next three to seven years.

• Schrader Cellars Old Sparky To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
• Argot Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (97)
• To Kalon Vineyard Company HWC Napa Valley (Oakville) (98)
• Tres Perlas Barber Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (98)
• Fait-Main Wines Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (97)
• Castello di Amorosa Manley Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Rutherford) (93)
• B Cellars Star Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Rutherford)
• Clos du Val Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Stags Leap District) (94)
• Desiree Wine Company Out of Sight Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (93)
• Coronet Wines Lady Liberty Vineyard, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (95)

The wines with mid-term appeal

We’re moving into wines you may be tempted to drink right away, but which will benefit from additional time in bottle.

So when that shipment arrives, do your best to hold off – or buy enough that you can pop a cork now and hold the rest for a few more years before diving in.

These wines possess immensely powerful, chewy tannins, and while they soften with a solid four to six hours of decanting, you really owe it to yourself to tuck them away until the tannins integrate further and the drinking experience becomes pure enjoyment.

• Morlet Family Vineyards Cœur de Vallée Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
• Nickel & Nickel Winery Element 28, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (99)
• Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (99)
• Pott Wine Incubo Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (99)
• Rudd Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (99)
• Venge Vineyards DLCV Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (99)
• Bure Family Wines Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (98)
• Burgess Quartz Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (98)
• Dominus Napa Valley (98)
• Vine Hill Ranch VHR, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (98)

The wines for long-term reward

And now we arrive at the pièce de résistance – the moment de vérité. The wines that follow are the true heavyweights of the vintage: deep, structured, and destined for long lives in the cellar.

Even where there is surprising early charm, these wines possess the structural hallmarks of longevity: a firm tannic backbone, a vibrant spine of acidity, judicious use of oak, and layers of flavours and spice that unfold with complexity and precision.

Not all the usual Napa icons appear here, either—several newcomers have earned their place, signalling brands to watch and collect over the coming years.

And because the 2023 vintage produced such a wealth of cellar-worthy Cabernets, be sure to see the section on wines to buy for your grandchildren for additional long-haul candidates.

• Pahlmeyer Pièce de Résistance Napa Valley (100)
• AXR AxR1 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (100)
• Harbison Estate Horseshoe Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
• Keplinger Wines Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
• CADE Winery Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Howell Mountain) (99)
• Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (99)
• Pilcrow Granite Lake Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Howell Mountain) (99)
• Estate 8 Iconic AVA Mt Veeder, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (99)
• Favia Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (99)
• Simon Family Estate Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (100)
• Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Freemark Abbey Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Rutherford) (98)
• Julien Fayard Wines Sleeping Lady Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon (Yountville) (97)
• Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (98)
• Gamble Estates Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (99)

For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

More from this report

Buying a fantastic bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from an exceptional vintage, while ‘on a budget’, may require a bit of a mental recalibration.

Most of us think of budget-buys as great bottles under $30 or $40 per bottle.

And while those exist, certainly in supermarkets and many retail shops, for most high-end producers of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, you have to approach buying on a budget with the mindset that somewhere between $50 and $100 is more the norm.

Here are a few reasons why: The cost of grapes alone is formidable.

The California Grape Crush Report cites a 2023 weighted average of over $8,770 per ton of Napa County Cabernet Sauvignon, before barrels, bottle, labour, and sales even enter the frame.

Bear in mind that one ton of grapes amounts to roughly 150 gallons of wine, or about 60 cases (720 bottles).

Factoring in additional production costs means that you’re looking at a per-bottle price of around $85 and up.

But The Valley’s best grapes cost winemakers between $15,000-$60,000, per ton. And these costs trickle down to the bottle price, which has been steadily trickling up since the early 2010s.

Meanwhile, broader Napa Valley pricetags have climbed too – the average basic tasting fee ranges between $40 and $100+ per person.

Tightening the lens

So, here’s the practical takeaway from my 2023 Napa Cabernet taste-through.

While the median price per bottle of all the Napa Cabs I tasted is around $150, a solid value-play would steer us into the under‑$100 lane.

So, I tightened the lens again to $85‑and‑under (around 70 wines total), and then chose the best bottles on quality, not just thrift.

What emerges is a consistent pattern: the best values tend to be broadly sourced Napa Valley blends rather than single-vineyard wines or those bearing a single appellation on the label.

They come from largely tried and true producers who have extensive holdings or long-term grape contracts that allow them to source from multiple sites throughout the valley to create harmonious blends that, simply put, don’t break the Napa Valley bank.

20 featured 2023 Napa Cabernets at $85 and under

1. St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (91, $63)
2. Black Stallion Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (92, $35)
3. Argot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (93, $75)
4. The Vice, The House, Cabernet Sauvignon, Batch #181, Napa Valley (94, $36 )
5. Charles Krug, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $40)
6. Raymond Vineyards, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $50)
7. Force & Grace, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $55)
8. Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (94, $55)
9. Ashes & Diamonds, Cabernet Sauvignon, No. 2, Napa Valley (97, $70)
10. Materra, Cunat Family Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $72)
11. Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $75)
12. Cliff Lede, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $80)
13. Rombauer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $80)
14. Jax Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, Napa Valley, (94, $80)
15. Merryvale, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $82)
16. Mi Sueño Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (94, $85)
17. Burgess, Contadina Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (95, $50)
18. Blackbird Vineyards, Arise Red Wine Napa Valley (95, $60)
19. Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (95, $80)
20. Louis M. Martini, The Gryphon Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (97, $85)

For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

More from this report

For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 100-points

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 99-points

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 98-points

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 97-points

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 96-points

Napa Valley 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons: 95-points

More from this report

Spend enough time outside the wine industry and a curious pattern emerges: almost no one thinks about buying wine to open decades from now.

Among the parents of my daughter’s friends and most people I meet outside professional wine circles, the idea rarely even comes up.

Wine is something to drink tonight, maybe this weekend, perhaps next year – but 20 or 30 years down the road? That seems almost unimaginable.

Part of the hesitation is practical. Many people assume that aging wine requires a wine cellar.

In reality, all it takes is a thoughtful purchase and a cool, dark place to store a bottle properly. If you want to make the effort truly worthwhile, look for wines in large formats – magnums, double magnums, or even larger.

These bottles age more gracefully because the ullage (volume of air to liquid) is so small, making oxidation even slower, while the flavors and textures evolve more slowly and beautifully over time.

Buy a bottle from the birth year of your grandchild, store it carefully, and hold onto it for two decades or more.

But don’t wait 20 years to tell the story. When your grandchild is eight or nine years old, show them the bottle and explain why you bought it.

Tell them about the people who grew the grapes and the place where the wine was made.

Explain that wine is simply fermented grape juice that – if all goes well – transforms with time into something extraordinary.

The joy of old bottles

One day, perhaps at a wedding, an anniversary, the purchase of a first home, or another milestone worth celebrating, that bottle will be opened.

The cork will ease out, the wine will swirl in the glass, and the aromas will rise: savory, expressive, captivating. The flavours will be layered and complex, the textures deep and hauntingly delicious.

That is the gift of aged wine—the taste of something remarkable shared at a moment that matters.

I would not have understood this myself had it not been for the family I married into.

My wife’s parents quietly held onto special bottles for decades, keeping them at proper cellar temperature until the right occasions arrived.

When we married, they brought some of those bottles out, and the experience added a certain magic to the evening.

I can still remember one in particular: a bottle of 1982 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Carte Or Brut we enjoyed over dinner at Gary Danko in San Francisco in 2008 (a 26-year-old Champagne!).

The wine had turned a deep golden hue, the bubbles were fine and persistent, and the aromas exploded from the glass – toasted hazelnuts, truffle, and something wonderfully savoury and complex.

I remember the elegance of my soon-to-be bride, her joy and joie de vivre, and the pride her mother took in sharing a bottle she had patiently saved for years.

That is what a well-chosen bottle can do. It captures time, preserves a story, and waits quietly for a moment when life deserves to be celebrated.

I hope you consider creating that kind of memory for your children or grandchildren.

To help you get started, here are a few 2023 vintage wines worth buying – ideally in large format – and setting aside for the future.

18 Napa Valley 2023 Cabernets to cellar

1. Dalla Valle Vineyards, MDV Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (100)
2. Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
3. Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Spring Mountain) (100)
4. The Debate Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
5. Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (100)
6. Ad Vivum Sleeping Lady Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Yountville) (99)
7. Bond Pluribus Red Wine Napa Valley (99)
8. Cliff Lede Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (99)
9. Colgin Cellars IX Estate Red Napa Valley (99)
10. Louis M. Martini Bruadair Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (99)
11. O'Shaughnessy Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (99)
12. Annulus Cellars Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville) (99)
13. Stony Hill Côte Rouge Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Spring Mountain) (99)
14. Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (98)
15. Corison Winery Sunbasket Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (St Helena) (98)
16. William Selyem Beckstoffer Vineyard To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
17. Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Mt Veeder) (98)
18. Impensata Las Posadas Vineyard Proprietary Red Napa Valley (Howell Mountain) (97)

For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

More from this report

In past vintage reports, we have published separate features highlighting select Napa Valley sub-appellations – often eight or so of the valley’s 17 nested AVAs – typically focusing on those regions that submitted enough wines to warrant deeper exploration.

This year, with the 2023s, we are taking a slightly different approach, highlighting the 'Stars of the AVAs' in a single list, again guided by the regions with the strongest representation in submissions.

These are wines worth seeking out because they capture, in crisp detail, the defining characteristics of their respective appellations.

Top Coombsville 2023 Cabernets

Coombsville is situated at the southern end of Napa Valley, and among the coolest of the sub-AVAs, strongly influenced by marine air and fog drifting in from San Pablo Bay.

The best Cabernet examples tend to be dark-fruited yet bright and energetic, with lifted aromatics, ultra-fine tannins, and a sense of tension and length that distinguishes the wines of this windswept corner of the valley.

• Favia Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• La Pelle Wines Ceniza Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Paul Hobbs Nathan Coombs Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Rewa Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• AXR Bennett Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (97)

Top Stags Leap District 2023 Cabernets

Vines in the Stags Leap District AVA are planted from near valley floor elevations up to about 123 metres, with the craggy, exposed palisades of Stags Leap rising dramatically above the region.

The wines are often defined by finely sculpted tannins with a polished, fine-grained texture, supported by a typically volcanic mineral edge alongside red-fruit notes and warm spice nuances.

• Cliff Lede Poetry Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars SLV Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Robert Mondavi Winery WH Vineyard, The Estates Cabernet Sauvignon (96)
• Chimney Rock Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (94)
• Lithology Steltzner Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (96)

Top Oakville 2023 Cabernets

Cabernet Sauvignons from Oakville characteristically deliver concentration and depth, layered with complex aromas, flavours, and textures.

The best examples combine muscular structure with a sense of poise and refinement, achieving a balance between power and perfumed elegance that has made the AVA synonymous with some of Napa Valley’s most celebrated wines.

• Amici Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100)
• Harbison Estate Horseshoe Cabernet Sauvignon (100)
• Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (100)
• Dalla Valle Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (99)
• TOR Wines Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (99)

Top Rutherford 2023 Cabernets

Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the benchlands and ancient riverbeds of Rutherford often expresses the hallmark 'Rutherford dust', a quality evident both aromatically and on the palate.

This signature character can appear as dusty earth, dried rose petal, or unsweetened cocoa powder, lending savoury nuance to wines that typically show generous fruit and structured tannins.

• Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon (99)
• Dana Estates Helms Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon (99)
• J.H. Wheeler Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon (97)
• St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery Rutheford Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (96)
• Whitehall Lane Winery Millennium MM Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (96)

Top Mount Veeder 2023 Cabernets

High on the western Mayacamas range, Mount Veeder’s steep slopes and rugged terrain produce some of Napa Valley’s most structured mountain Cabernets.

The wines typically display powerful, muscular tannins and a deep forest-berry profile, underscored by earthy woodland notes and a spectrum of blue- to black-fruited intensity.

A distinctive graphite-like minerality often runs through the best examples, giving the wines both gravity and lift.

• Pott Wine Incubo Cabernet Sauvignon (99)
• Lokoya Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Pilcrow Archer & Byrd Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Hess Collection 'The Lion' Cabernet Sauvignon (97)

Top St. Helena 2023 Cabernets

Situated near the narrow 'hourglass' point of Napa Valley, the St. Helena AVA tends to experience warmer daytime temperatures and relatively limited wind flow.

The resulting wines often show a ripe, dense fruit profile with generous texture, yet without angular tannins, offering a plush, approachable expression of Cabernet Sauvignon.

• B Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100)
• Stewart Cellars NOMAD Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (97)
• Rombauer Stice Lane Cabernet Sauvignon (96)
• Patria A. Price Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (96)
• Whitehall Lane Winery Leonardini Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (95)

Top Howell Mountain 2023 Cabernets

Perched above the fog line, Howell Mountain encompasses an array of slopes, rolling hills, and diverse microclimates.

Its well-draining, rocky soils encourage small berries and concentrated fruit.

The wines are known for their formidable tannic structure, often presenting a broad, textured mid-palate supported by excellent fruit concentration and a distinctive mineral elegance.

• Arkenstone Estate Red (100)
• Salty Goats Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon (99)
• La Jota Vineyard Co Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Sylvan Lake Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (98)
• Moone Tsai Wines Hillside Blend Red Wine (97)

Top Calistoga 2023 Cabernets

At the northernmost end of Napa Valley, Calistoga sits at the foot of Mount St. Helena, nestled between the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges.

The AVA is typically warmer during the summer months than most other parts of the valley, allowing tannins to ripen fully.

The best wines offer ample mouthfeel and complexity while maintaining balance, delivering richness without excessive heaviness or over-concentration.

• Hourglass Bluelne Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (97)
• Donelan Cabernet Sauvignon (97)
• Venge Vineyards Igneous Cabernet Sauvignon (96)
• Baldacci Family Vineyards Stella Knight Vineyard (94)
• Davies Vineyards Oliven Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (94)

For all of Jonathan Cristaldi's scores from the vintage, click here.

More from this report

A visit to the Opus One website reveals the slogan: ‘Two families. One Vision’.

Which somewhat reminds one of the opening lyrics to Queen’s 1986 hit, It’s a kind of Magic:

‘One dream, one soul

‘One prize, one goal

‘One golden glance of what should be

‘It's a kind of magic’

Joking aside, Opus One was very much a pioneer in its fusion of classic Bordeaux and upstart Napa Valley winemaking heritage.

Born of a collaboration between Baron Philip de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild and Robert Mondavi, it was meant to harness the potential of the ‘New World’ with the know-how of the ‘Old’.

Furthermore, it was based around not just the Bordeaux blend but also the idea of the Bordeaux estate, a winery surrounded by its own vines in a single appellation/American Viticultural Area (AVA).

This was unlike a common model used in Napa Valley, both then and now, of buying grapes from across multiple sites/AVAs.

The pair had begun discussing the project in the early 1970s after a meeting in Hawaii. The first wine, the 1979 vintage, was released in 1984 and a dedicated winery in Oakville was opened in 1991.

The wine was priced high right from the start, and quickly became a marker of the swelling tide of ‘icon’ and ‘cult’ wines beginning to emerge from various corners of North and South America in this period.

With its French connections, however, Opus One was one of the rare few to have widespread distribution beyond the US.

As such, it remains one of the Napa Valley labels most non-American fine wine enthusiasts will know best.

Secondary market overview

Looking back over the winery’s last 10 releases, it’s worth pointing out the glaring omission of the 2020 vintage.

This is not an error! After the devastating forest fires in the region in 2020, Opus One decided not to release any wines from that vintage due to smoke taint issues.

The winery’s output in terms of both scores and prices remain incredibly consistent. A case of 12 bottles costs just under £3,000 on average, with an average score from Decanter of 97-points.

This compares favourably with some of the leading Bordeaux estates that have been examined so far.

The average score is the same as Château Cheval Blanc and Château Haut-Brion, and it’s considerably cheaper on average than all of the First Growths and Cheval Blanc.

Fine wine marketplace Liv-ex includes Opus One in its ‘California 50’ index. Like so many other indices, it is far from the peak it attained in 2022.

However, among all the other wines in the index (Harlan, Screaming Eagle, Ridge Monte Bello and Dominus), it is the vintages of Opus One that have seen the most gains over the past year.

Opus One vintages

For any buyer looking to add Opus One to their collection, an obvious starting point would be the 2022 vintage.

A solid 97-points from two Decanter critics – Georgie Hindle and Jonathan Cristaldi – it is also the cheapest vintage currently available, with a Market Price of £2,590 (12x75) according to Liv-ex.

Two older vintages may also be of interest. The trio of 2018, 2019 and 2021 yielded three vintages Decanter rated 98-points across the board.

However, the 2018 is currently available at a discount of around £100 per dozen versus the other two, a neat little discount for a wine called ‘striking, elegant and precise’ by Hindle.

Curious buyers may want to not hang around. The wine recently gained 4.2% month-on-month according to Liv-ex. Maybe others have spotted the gap too?

It feels odd to say that there’s a 2013 vintage rated 100-points. But while that particular vintage was rather less than legendary in Bordeaux, it was one of the all-time greats in Napa.

Opus One’s 2013 is striking enough to have earned it a triple-digit score from Jane Anson.

At a tasting in 2019 when she described it thus: ‘Dark deep rosemary spice and black olive paste deepens the flavours through the mid-palate and you just have to hang on as this goes spiralling through, drawing the flavours out to a lengthy finish.’

And at £3,050 per dozen, it does not command a serious premium over other available vintages either.

The 2012 vintage was equally famous and, of the two, is currently the more expensive (though its Decanter score is only 97-points).

Like the 2018 though, the 2013 gained 4.2% MoM according to Liv-ex, meaning it may be a vintage drawing attention again.

And finally, it will be interesting to see the price of Opus One 2023 when it's released through La Place de Bordeaux this autumn.

Rated 98-points by Jonathan Cristaldi in his recent review of the vintage, a price equal to or even below that of the 2022 would surely make it an attractive proposition?

Opus One: Selected tasting notes

Related articles

The buzz for Napa Valley’s 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon wines began circulating during the 2025 Premiere Napa Valley Barrel Auction.

I recall several producers belting the phrase ‘over the moon ecstatic,’ and gushing over the ‘plentiful tannins’ and ‘bright, grippy acidity’ that seemed to mark the wines in their early maturing phase.

Hardly anyone I spoke to had harvested Cabernet grapes in September—certainly unusual if we look back over historical picking dates from the last decade.

In 2023, most began harvesting in October and continued well into November.

Early on, the Napa Valley Vintners promoted 2023 as ‘the Vintage of a Lifetime.’

My own verdict, after tasting more than 600 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons from the year, is that the phrase, while catchy, may not quite capture the deeper truth of the season.

A more accurate description might be that 2023 represents the ideal Napa Valley vintage: a year when the vines had everything they needed – including time itself, without the pressure of damaging heat or rain.

Heavy winter rains replenished soils depleted by several drought years, placing vines in a strong physiological position as the growing season began.

Soils rich in moisture and microbial life provided vines with the resources to produce healthy canopies and excellent fruit set.

Once the season began, Napa Valley experienced something increasingly rare – stability in the weather, with moderate temperatures throughout spring and summer, and well into harvest time.

As Michael Scholz, Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards of St. Supéry, observed, these moderate conditions allowed flavour and phenolic development to progress together, yielding wines with, ‘great flavours, ripe tannins, and above all vibrancy and freshness'.

The finished wines possess deep crimson colours, yet striking luminosity, layered fruit purity, and silky, finely structured tannins supported by vibrant acids and graphite-tinged minerality.

Managing yields

If there is any criticism of Mother Nature in 2023, it is that September might have benefited from a handful of warmer days.

A brief stretch of additional heat could have accelerated ripening by roughly a week or ten days and pushed the vintage into truly historic territory.

Even so, growers across the valley widely described the year as a dream scenario.

Nickel & Nickel winemaker Joe Harden called it ‘a dream for winemakers,’ noting that careful canopy management yielded polished, silky tannins and remarkable elegance in the finished wines.

Of course, a great growing season does not guarantee great wine. What winemakers do with the fruit ultimately determines whether a vintage lives up to its potential.

In 2023, vineyard management was critical. The abundant water and healthy canopies led to generous yields, meaning producers who failed to thin crops risked dilution in the finished wines.

As I tasted through hundreds of wines, only a small percentage showed signs of that kind of lightness.

The overwhelming majority displayed the structure, freshness, and depth expected of a great Napa year.

What is perhaps most exciting is how 2023 will sit alongside the extraordinary 2021 vintage.

A compelling duo

The wines of 2021 are dense, inky, and powerfully structured – born of a shorter growing season with reduced yields and vines combating hydric stress.

By contrast, the 2023s lean towards a brighter, fresher profile, are almost relaxed, yet framed by equally powerful tannins that are so extremely fine-grained they are already seamlessly integrated, making for incredibly easy enjoyment.

For collectors and traders of high-end Napa Cabernet, that pairing is particularly intriguing.

The muscular grandeur of 2021 and the poised elegance of 2023 will likely age on parallel trajectories for decades.

If the wines evolve as expected, the coming years may see these two vintages spoken of together as defining benchmarks of the modern Napa Valley era.

Together, they may form one of Napa Valley’s most compelling back-to-back collector vintages.

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The 1976 Judgement of Paris is credited with putting American wine on the map internationally, but a century earlier, a forgotten milestone put New York wine on the world’s stage.

In 1873, a Finger Lakes sparkling wine took home gold at a competition in Vienna – the first American bubbly to win an international medal.

The wine was crafted from Catawba grapes by Pleasant Valley Wine Company on Keuka Lake, U.S. Bonded Winery No. 1.

The victory caused quite a stir back home in the Empire State. In 1871, the winery’s founder, Charles Champlin, sent a case to the Boston wine connoisseur, Marshall P. Wilder, who declared it the ‘The Great Champagne of the Western World’.

Pleasant Valley quickly earned the nickname ‘Great Western’, and its shipping records from the late 19th century show it was a supplier to numerous prestigious east coast establishments such as S.S. Pierce, Macy’s, Park & Tilford, Palmer House of Chicago, and Parker House of Boston.

Origin story

‘[American hybrid] grapes like Delaware played such an important role in our region’s early sparkling wines,’ explains Erin McMurrough of Little Clover Wine Company, a micro-winery in the Finger Lakes offering traditional method style Riesling, Delaware, and Cayuga White.

‘These grapes are naturally suited to traditional-method sparkling wine: they hold bright acidity, develop beautiful aromatics at lower sugars, and create wines with freshness and energy,’ she continues.

‘I never questioned whether they could make serious sparkling wine; I only wondered whether people would be open to revisiting these varieties in a new, yet historically rooted, way.’

McMurrough’s wines have become cult favourites since launching in 2023.

She says: ‘I see Little Clover as both a nod to our roots and a reminder that New York doesn't need to imitate other regions to make world-class sparkling wine. We have our own story to tell.’

New York’s rich history of sparkling wine dates back more than 150 years. The fame of local sparkling wines from the Finger Lakes was such that from 1870 to 1945 it adopted the postmark ‘Rheims, N.Y.’.

The vinifera revolution

Though prohibition was crippling to the wine industry, the region’s strong associations with sparkling wines remained.

Renowned winegrowers and makers immigrated to Long Island and the Finger Lakes in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Guy Deveaux of Moët et Chandon and Mumm Napa, and Charles Fournier of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.

‘Our sparkling programme began with the 1985 vintage under my grandfather, Willy Frank,’ says Meaghan Frank, fourth-generation General Manager at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery on Keuka Lake.

The winery began in 1958 as an experiment between Charles Fournier and Frank’s great-grandfather, Konstantin.

Willy Frank’s deep commitment to traditional method wines, classically made with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, meant he was the first producer to successfully plant Vitis vinifera in Finger Lakes, proving it was possible and leading to a new wave of still and sparkling wines made with vinifera varieties.

‘At the time, he labelled the wines “Finger Lakes Champagne” because he was intent on legitimising both vinifera and sparkling wine production in the region,’ Frank continues.

Although EU-USA labelling agreements mean it is still allowed to use the term, the winery prefers to list 'traditional method' on its labels out of respect for the venerable Champagne region.

Diverse sparkling offerings

As interest in New York sparkling increases, so do the state’s offerings: with traditional and tank method wines, Pét Nat (pétillant naturel also known as ancestral method), and everything in between.

You’ll even find a sparkling Albariño in the Hudson Valley and sparkling rosé ice wine in the Lake Erie AVA.

‘I guess the reason is “why not?”. I'm a scientist. I like challenges,’ says Johnson Estate Winery winemaker Jeff Murphy.

Like his counterparts statewide, Murphy is a true New Yorker, unafraid to push the limits of cool-climate wines, sparkling especially, and not back down from something others might think is too difficult.

‘Long cool summers and crisp falls ripen aromatics and flavour components at lower sugar levels, providing an ideal sparkling base,’ he says of the state’s conditions.

After decades of testing and measuring itself against European benchmarks, New York’s persistence has arrived at something more valuable than validation: an identity of its own.

When you open a bottle of New York sparkling, you’re experiencing deep roots – and a very bright future.

Empire State of fizz

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One hot summer day in early September 2021, I was helping Early Mountain Vineyards with the harvest.

We were processing Petit Manseng grapes and winemaker Ben Jordan wanted to show me something he and assistant winemaker Maya Hood White were working on.

He walked up to an old shipping container and opened the large heavy doors. Inside were mats and tables, with more Petit Manseng lined up on the mats.

I had read about this in my wine studies. In Italy, it is known as ‘appassimento’ where grapes are picked early to maintain their acidity, then dried ventilated rooms to concentrate the sugars.

I had never seen it done in Virginia, but Petit Manseng’s naturally high acidity made this an interesting experiment.

Innovations like these are common at Early Mountain. Today, they have an award-winning method known as ‘perpetual lees stirring’.

This was a creation of Maya Hood White, now the head winemaker at the winery.

The winery has one barrel, known as the ‘perpetual lees barrel’, which was started in 2017. The lees, spent yeast cells from fermentation, remain in the barrel every year.

Using the lees impacts more depth and savoury complexity to the younger wines. As of 2026, there are nine total vintages in the barrel. And the team has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

‘I want to be doing this for 100 years. We’re actually starting another perpetual programme to build on the volume’, said Jon Ruel, President of Early Mountain.

‘The cells are constantly breaking down and regenerating, so you don't know exactly how much of any one vintage is in there, but it gives the wine a unique personality,’ added Hood White.

While they were not the first winery to bring the grape to the state, they are a pivotal part of the grape’s position among white varieties.

Early success with Petit Manseng

Petit Manseng was first planted in Virginia by Dr. Tony Wolf of Virginia Tech University in 1987.

Dennis Horton of Horton Vineyards planted the grape just two years later in 1989 after working with wine consultant Alan Kinne. The grape thrived almost immediately.

Shannon Horton, the daughter of Dennis and current general manager of the winery, explained: ‘Alan said: “It has thick skins, loose clusters. We need that for humidity. It's like a natural rot repellent.” And Dad [Dennis] said: "Okay, let's put it in”.’

Horton eventually won the renowned Virginia Governor’s Cup in 2019 for its Petit Manseng, a rare win for a white wine.

Though Horton was technically the first winery to plant the grape, Shannon credits Virginia wine pioneer Michael Shaps for the inspiration behind their dry expression of the wine.

Shaps recalled: ‘Horton was doing the off-dry style, I took it to dry, and then Early Mountain really honed in on promoting that and featuring it.

'Early Mountain developed its Petit Manseng after making it here at my facility. It’s been fantastic to see the industry evolve over my 32 years here.’

Today, more than 179 acres (72 hectares) of Petit Manseng are planted across the state.

It is the second most planted white grape, and the third-highest planting of the grape worldwide.

The case for Petit Manseng as Virginia’s signature grape

Early Mountain took the baton for Petit Manseng from Horton and Shaps at its inception.

The winery has since become a symbol for why the grape could be a signature for the state.

Everyone starts with excitement for Petit Manseng as a near-perfect match for the climate here.

‘The looser clusters, thicker skins, its natural resistance to disease, along with the ability to maintain acidity in a region with warm nights is viticulturally compelling,’ noted Early Mountain's Ruel.

Horton added: ‘The other thing about the grape that makes it built for Virginia weather is that it can take rain and not change its chemistry. It will hold its sugars, it will hold its acid. It’s a very resilient variety for our climate.’

Since then, wineries have recognised the grape as a clear favourite. More than 60 wineries, nearly 20% of all wineries in the state, have Petit Manseng available.

In the most recent Governor’s Cup , the 34 bottles of Petit Manseng received medals.

The state remains focused on the customer as well. The team at Early Mountain discussed how customers are often looking for new interesting wines, and Petit Manseng is perfect for that.

Shaps also discussed the tasting room experience and how it is the primary selling mechanism for the state, no matter what grape we are focused on.

Newcomers in the state have also taken up the grape’s cause. Woodbrook Farm Vineyard planted its first vines in 2022 and was recognised in this year’s Governor’s Cup case for its 2024 Petit Manseng.

Novella Wines, a low-intervention label based in Monticello, kicked off its brand with a 100% Petit Manseng.

These wineries prove that Petit Manseng is no longer a successful experiment but a way to express Virginia’s voice in the industry.

Virginia Petit Manseng: 7 to try

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Decanter meets Kyle MacLachlan

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San Francisco is a relatively small city, fondly referred to as ‘7x7’ for its roughly 49 square miles (127 square kilometres). Yet for such a small area, the City by the Bay is big on wine.

It makes sense, being the closest urban zone to much of California’s most famous wine regions.

A visit brings the opportunity to taste varied wine offerings, inevitably focused on local producers, as well as the chance to investigate the exciting, boundary-pushing culinary landscape that has steadily kept San Francisco in focus.

Here are 10 super spots to savour.

Fresh faces

Palm City

4055 Irving Street

A respite from the bustling central city, Palm City is in the quiet Outer Sunset neighbourhood, sister spot to Bar Jabroni in the Lower Haight.

The open-beamed, one-room space is simple, with chunky, round wooden tables under large, woven basket pendant lampshades and a dark, L-shaped counter.

A vintage photo booth sits in the corner and several bright yellow tables are set outside. Shelves of wine to go (or you can enjoy there for a $15 corkage fee) are priced from a $23 Txakoli up to almost $300.

The by-the-glass list, with three or four selections of each category, skews natural, mostly from France and Spain, plus a handful of local wines, like the 2024 Picpoul-Chenin Vini Jabroni collab with the Les Lunes Wines label based nearby, their house wine.

By far the most popular things to eat are the giant hoagies, especially the Italian American with nduja sauce. Al Green on the stereo on a Wednesday at noon made for a chill lunchtime.

DON'T MISS: Any of the hoagie sandwiches.

Gigi’s

299 Divisadero Street

Far from standard, Gigi’s is a new wine bar and bottle shop in the fun Divisadero neighbourhood, featuring chef Tu David Phu’s food, lovingly inflected with his Vietnamese-American heritage.

The space is small and intimate, but with diverse seating options, including a communal table, numerous window-side stools, cosy burgundy banquettes and a row of chairs at the main bar.

Dark burgundy walls, plants and wood accents add a sultry vibe. The small by-the-glass selections change three to four times per week, allowing for constant exploration and discovery.

The wine list is designed to be playful and accessibly priced, with most bottles offered at $50-$100. The Made in the USA section has some stars, such as the 2023 Ruth Lewandowski, Naomi Grenache Gris.

And of course, all of the wines selected by general manager Madison Michael are intended to pair beautifully with the food’s Asian flavours.

The signature dish at Gigi’s, and the one you’ll see all over the internet, is the wagyu hot dog. It’s cheeky, and it’s meant to be – an homage to the Costco hot dog that was a childhood treat for the chef.

DON’T MISS: Anything in the menu’s seafood section, or the Happy Hour ‘Bump and a Shot’ of sparkling wine and a spoonful of Tsar Nicoulai Baerii caviar.

Bar Gemini

2845 18th Street

This Mission District wine bar pulls you in like a hug. The space, while small, is lovely and glowing, with round light fixtures, flickering lamps and booths with honey-toned wood bench seats.

Dark green walls and a long, L-shaped bar with leather seats add to the cozy atmosphere. It also smells good, like butter browning, thanks to the small team of cooks crafting bar bites.

The food has been curated by chef Brandon Rice from nearby Ernest, a sophisticated New American restaurant that’s much harder to get into than this place. Nibble on the wide selection of tinned seafood and dippy things, all served in ceramic bowls, while sipping on something from the thorough natural wine list (one of the co-owners also heads up local wine label Subject to Change).

The owners also run Gemini Bottle Co (now being rebranded Gemini Bottle & Market), a wine shop a few blocks away, in case you’d like to grab a bottle of any of the interesting selections on offer, such as Stagiaire’s Don’t Tell Mom sparkling red.

DON’T MISS: Sweet, smoky curried spiced nuts or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Key Klub

850 Bush Street

Opened by the folks behind the beloved Bodega SF, Key Klub is a party. Located in Nob Hill, the moody red-lit ‘drinkery’ fills two levels with booming music and piñatas.

Huge paper-lantern lampshades hang from the ceiling above a copper bar with a view of the 15 wall taps of mostly local beer.

But natural wine is certainly a draw, too, with cool selections by the glass and extremely fun tasting notes. ‘All gas, no brakes, side show’ describes the Weingut Fritz Haag Riesling.

Equally fun is to do a few Key Bumps of rotating vermouth for $6 – maybe buy one for the bar staff, too. The food menu consists of robust dishes such as crab cake arancini and mushroom poutine fries.

DON’T MISS: Oozing, spicy eggplant parmesan sticks with San Marzano dip; French toast with duck liver mousse.

Get schooled

Ungrafted

2419 3rd Street

For an added educational layer to your wine enjoyment, head to Ungrafted in the quiet area known as Dogpatch.

This neighbourhood is seeing more and more culinary enhancements spring up, with a large concentration of wine-leaning spots for such a small zone. In fact, you could make Dogpatch a wine destination if you wanted, with visits to the Domaine SF wine shop, La Fromagerie cheese shop and an outpost of the popular Souvla chain, which features a Greek-centric wine bar.

But Ungrafted has been here since 2018, opened by husband and wife Master Sommeliers Chris Gaither and Rebecca Fineman, with the goal of creating a community space and wine education centre. It’s a wine bar, restaurant, wine shop and wine club, with bi-weekly classes, workshops and weekly blind tastings.

The all-sommelier staff will guide you through the diverse, global wine list (plus a big bottle list of around 600) with multiple by-the-glass options, plus sake and beer.

Cocktails with vermouth, Sherry or wine as the base are also available, such as a classic Champagne cocktail with bitters.

The large, warehouse-type space has a copper-topped bar, French bistro tablescapes and white walls with golden vine trunk murals.

DON’T MISS: A fried chicken sandwich or the mixed mushroom toast with whipped cheese and pickled daikon radish.

Bin 415

950 Mason Street

While San Francisco is chock full of places to enjoy wine, it’s also close to several notable California wine regions, so if time allows during your trip, you could enjoy a full vineyard immersion less than two hours from the city.

Bin 415 – a tasting room and tour operator located within the historic Fairmont Hotel on top of Nob Hill – is the answer. They offer special tastings of wines from nearby Napa and Sonoma, the bottles sourced directly from the wineries based on longstanding relationships with founder Michael Lagau.

Entry-level, walk-in tastings are just $25, with pours of the newest selections in the shop. From there, a variety of alternate tastings are available, or you can arrange full excursions to wine country.

The tasting room is an alluring space nestled among the boutiques and art galleries in the lobby level of the hotel.

Furthermore, the iconic Fairmont itself is an ideal place to stay when visiting the city. Historic black and white photos adorn the halls, majestic marble columns tower in the lobby and the basement-level Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is the place for tiki drinks (rum-forward tropical cocktails) when you’ve maxed out your wine palate.

DON’T MISS: A curated, guided tasting experience or an excursion to Sonoma wineries.

San Francisco Champagne Society

1097 Howard Street

Bill Marci, owner of the San Francisco Champagne Society, is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a true Champagne lover.

Spend five minutes with him and you’ll quickly understand that his dedication to discovering and showcasing grower producers and family-owned vineyards is personal for him – a real hobby turned career.

So for a deep dive, head to this reservation-only Champagne lounge in SoMa (South of Market), which offers a few tiers of tastings, featuring unique selections sourced through Marci’s personal relationships and allocations from small producer lists.

Several add-ons are available, as well as a very informative comparative glassware tasting. Marci calls his glassware his ‘tools’ and is very specific about what he serves in which glass. Some of his own comprehensive education occurred during the Covid lockdown, when he tasted 100 bottles of Champagne in 100 days.

DON’T MISS: The ‘Champagne face mask’ experience from a wide, open-mouthed wine glass; the French cheese pairing add-on.

Food first: San Francisco restaurants

Saison

178 Townsend Street

Saison is a restaurant for wine lovers. With two Michelin stars under chef Richard Lee, the openhearth cooking is, of course, unforgettable. But the wine pairings are more than just notable, too, with an extremely thorough cellar and special attention to Burgundy.

There’s not much signage or fanfare upon arrival at this SoMa (South of Market) location, with a subtle entrance in a red-brick building, but stepping inside, you’re enveloped in a wood smoke-scented, lodge-like atmosphere, especially in the barside salon area, which is loungy, with brick walls, leather stools and booths adorned with furry pillows.

Two astounding tasting menus are on offer and the entire restaurant bustles with the energy of culinary purpose.

Also worth visiting is the new Saison Cellar & Wine Bar, just a short walk away, which was opened by Saison Hospitality co-founder and winemaker Mark Bright in 2024.

DON’T MISS: The full tasting menu with the matched wine flight.

Verjus

550 Washington Street

A popular bistro, opened by acclaimed chef couple Michael and Lindsay Tusk in 2019 (then closed for four years, with a new iteration opening in late 2024), Verjus is inspired by the lively atmosphere of Parisian cave à mangers (wine shop restaurants) and skews French in every way.

The lengthy, mainly French wine list features very thorough Champagne and Burgundy sections, priced as high as $1,800 for a 2015 Kenjiro Kagami Sonorite du Vent Chardonnay.

There are also a handful of cocktails on offer, courtesy of Thad Vogler of Bar Agricole. Try the Bijou with Nebbiolo vermouth.

The menu is posted on a back-lit cinema marquee-style board above the open kitchen that reflects off the high-gloss red lacquered ceiling. It’s partly in French, so be sure to get your translations ready.

Wall shelves are full of bottles and a long communal table set in the middle of the space is always packed.

DON’T MISS: Rolled omelette au Boursin and the custardy, bruleed Pain Purdue with vanilla gelato. Lunch on Saturdays.

Bar Brucato

275 South Van Ness Avenue

While technically more spirit-forward than wine-forward, Bar Brucato is worthy of a mention on this list. Founded by Sierra and James Clark in 2021, Brucato Spirits is centred around producing California amari (Italian herbal liqueurs), using local ingredients and promoting a sense of place.

Their amari, gin and kumquat liquors are all distilled onsite in their Mission District distillery, with the new Bar Brucato situated upstairs, featuring drinks crafted from their products and memorable food, made with similar intentions.

The cocktail program is directed by Leila Malikyar, who has put together an approachable menu for all, even non-drinkers.

The effervescent section, which will appeal to those seeking lighter, more wine-centric beverages, features the Angel Island, with blood orange aperitif and Lambrusco, and the Treasure Island, with Cava – bright and tart, akin to an Aperol spritz.

The tight wine list, with nothing above $90, is mostly California selections, with a few Italian sparklers.

DON’T MISS: Baked-to-order piada bread with house-cultured cacio e pepe butter; spicy lamb meatballs with almond anchovy sauce.

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Sonoma County is huge - more than 4,000km2, stretching from the Pacific coast to the mountains. It’s twice the size of its next-door neighbour Napa Valley, and larger than the state of Rhode Island.

You would think that such a wide geographical range would translate into diversity in its wines. And it does.

Yet the conversation about Chardonnay here keeps recycling the same two talking points: the buttery-oaky California stereotype and austere, overly restrained wines.

Ironically, given this duopoly of opinion, Chardonnay is considered by winemakers to be a ‘blank canvas’ – malleable enough to be shaped in the cellar, but capable of deeply expressing terroir.

A Chardonnay that tastes saline and sharp on the West Sonoma Coast turns richer and rounder 15km inland in Russian River.

Mountain sites add structure due to the elevation and tension from rocky soils, while wines from San Pablo Bay-cooled Los Carneros tend toward softer textures and freshness.

With more than 20 sub-appellations in the county, that’s not even close to the full picture.

Listening to the terroir

But expressing such a range hasn’t always been the focus. ‘There’s been a shift in the last 10 years,’ says Kristina Shideler, winemaker at Stonestreet Wines in Healdsburg.

The change isn’t just technical – less oak, lower alcohol, more restraint – it’s philosophical.

‘There is now a willingness among Sonoma County producers to let their sites dictate the style,’ says Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards.

This meaningful change has brought a sharper focus on single vineyards, the incredible diversity of the region’s soils and farming practices that are more attuned to the land.

‘We have more soil types than all of France, plus an extreme variety of microclimates,’ says Hirsch.

Has the message broken through? ‘I still hear people say, “I don’t like California Chardonnay, but I like yours”,’ Hirsch admits.

Even if some of the stigma lingers, Sonoma’s diversity has never been clearer. And the wines have never tasted better.

Shideler is confident: ‘Get over everything that you think about Sonoma Chardonnay. We’re in a new wave.’

Sonoma Chardonnay: 20 top picks to explore today

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New York’s vibrant hospitality scene was celebrated last week at the Star Wine List of the Year 2026 awards. The event recognised the city’s leading restaurants and wine bars across 13 categories, highlighting the venues currently setting the benchmark for cellar depth, by-the-glass creativity and expert service.

Winners across the 10 international categories will now advance to compete at the Star Wine List of the Year Global Final, taking place in Sweden this June, hosted by Terra Skåne.

The awards were judged by a high-profile panel of industry experts, including Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Doug Frost, ASI Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa and the Middle East 2024 Mikk Parre, and renowned New York sommelier Yannick Benjamin, also a Decanter World Wine Awards judge.

Top cellars and by-the-glass innovators

Among the leading Gold Star winners was 2-Michelin starred restaurant Atera, which collected top honours for its extensive and meticulously curated cellar programme. Meanwhile, Benoit New York was recognised for the strength and diversity of its by-the-glass offering, proving that great wine doesn't always require pulling a cork on a full bottle.

Chambers was also highly celebrated, securing (for a third year) the Gold Star for the Sustainability Prize, a category of growing importance to both trade and consumers. Brooklyn wine destination The Four Horsemen featured prominently among the winners as well, underlining its continued influence on New York’s contemporary, low-intervention wine scene.

Other notable venues recognised across the awards included newcomer Saint Urban, New York institution Peasant and Coqodaq for its sparkling wine selection, alongside more regional category winners.

The results reflect the sheer breadth of wine experiences now available across the city, ranging from destination fine-dining restaurants to more compact, sommelier-led neighbourhood wine bars.

The diversity on offer is epitomised by Special Jury Prize winner Noreetuh, a modern Hawaiian restaurant in the East Village, offering wine lovers something out of the ordinary.

Precision and personality

In comments published alongside the awards, the judges highlighted both the rigorous quality and the distinct personality of the winning lists.

Alongside a strong foundation in classic regions and producers, 'New York reveals a dynamic and confident wine culture, where sommeliers embrace individuality, championing lesser-known regions and low-intervention wines with conviction,''said Parre.

Reflecting on the strength of the city's wine offerings, Frost MS MW added: 'New York does not starve for big wine lists, filled with the names of wines most of us can only dream of drinking, much less buying.'

For consumers, the awards offer a timely snapshot of where to drink wine well in New York right now, whether searching for classic fine wine vintages, grower Champagne, emerging regions or adventurous tasting flights.

A global wine hub

The Star Wine List results reinforce New York’s position as a global epicentre for fine wine, arriving just ahead of next month’s Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York.

Taking place in Manhattan, the event will see top producers from around the world gather for exclusive tastings and masterclasses. Among the experts involved, award-winner Chamber's Pascaline Lepeltier will co-host a sold out masterclass with Champagne Salon & Delamotte.

A full list of winners and categories is available via Star Wine List.

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At the table with Carlton McCoy MS

Carlton McCoy has spent decades immersed in the world of fine wine – from restaurant floors and cellars to overseeing some of Napa Valley and Bordeaux’s most prestigious estates.

Now, ahead of a special Heitz Cellar masterclass at Decanter's Fine Wine Encounter in New York on 6 June, McCoy sat down with Decanter to discuss how Napa Cabernet is changing, why collectors should rethink old assumptions around aging and what makes mature Napa wines such compelling bottles at the table today.

Join Carlton McCoy for a one-of-a-kind tasting of Heitz Cellar wines, including rare library vintages dating back to 1979 at Decanter Fine Wine Encounter New York on 6 June.

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Arguably, no wine region – not Bordeaux, not Burgundy, not even Champagne – has pursued luxury as deliberately as Napa Valley.

When winemaker Ivo Jeramaz arrived from Croatia in 1986 to work alongside his uncle, Miljenko ‘Mike’ Grgich, Napa was a quieter, humbler and unmistakably agrarian place.

In the decades that followed, the region was transformed, he recalls.

An influx of outside capital ushered in showpiece wineries with chandeliered tasting rooms. The hot pursuit of 100-point scores introduced cult wines and tightly held allocations.

‘Napa became a very exclusive place,’ says Jeramaz – a region, and wines, defined by luxury, polish and power.

The model worked for a while, he says, but today it’s clear that it’s under strain.

Inflexion point

Signs pointing to an unprecedented market correction are unavoidable across Napa Valley.

Wine sales have slowed, leaving excess inventory in their wake. Layoffs and facility closures have become regular and climate volatility is an operational constant.

Confidence levels at Napa wineries are among the lowest of any major US wine region, according to a recent survey by Silicon Valley Bank.

At every turn, there’s talk of a reset – a new era for Napa framed in terms such as authenticity and accessibility.

Wineries are leaning into storytelling and digital outreach. Wine tastings are being recast as wellness experiences.

But beneath the tactical adjustments, there are signs of a deeper, more structural shift emerging, too.

In a region that has largely exhausted conventional markers of luxury, a more durable expression of prestige may lie in the vineyard itself.

Prestige reconsidered

For many growers, this recalibration begins with a correction of the narrative.

Annie Favia, the viticulturist and co-owner of Favia Wines, recoils slightly when I suggest that Napa can, at times, resemble a Disneyland for wine lovers.

‘Napa has this very shiny veneer,’ she says, ‘but underneath it, it’s always been about farming.’

The valley’s agricultural core, she argues, may have been overshadowed by a commercially sexier narrative of luxury, but its backbone, built on family-run estates and generational stewardship, never disappeared.

For Favia and her husband, winemaker Andy Erickson (of Screaming Eagle and Dalla Valle fame), farming has always come first.

Since 2012, they’ve produced wine from organic vineyards certified by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), incorporating biodynamic and regenerative principles.

‘We’ve had our heads down, working towards this goal for over three decades,’ Favia says.

What feels different now, Erickson suggests, is the growing momentum around those principles. ‘[Now] we have a chance to be a voice in a new chapter for Napa,’ he says.

At Vine Hill Ranch, a heritage estate situated on the slopes of the Mayacamas mountain range in Oakville, Bruce Phillips (pictured, above) – whose family has grown wine grapes there since the late 1950s – poses the idea similarly. What if Napa’s new luxury was rooted in a grower movement?

It’s a question that points to Champagne as a reference – a reorientation of currency away from grandes maisons and brand marketing, and toward wines crafted by growers, site expression and generational stewardship of land and community.

These recalibrations align with broader cultural currents. The rise of quiet luxury in fashion, for example, displaced logos and overt displays of wealth with a renewed reverence for craft, origin and sustainability.

In Napa, sustainability has similarly emerged as a marker of changing value systems.

Translating that impulse into a cohesive movement, however, hasn’t been easy.

A greener Napa

Among many wine-growers, there’s a shared conviction – if any wine region should take the lead on stewardship, why not Napa?

It’s one of the world’s most prestigious wine regions, with some of the highest land prices and operating budgets in the world, explains Jeramaz.

‘And yet, we’ve pretended that what we put in the soil has no bearing on wine quality,’ he says.

Grgich Hills, along with pioneers such as Neal Family Vineyards and Spottswoode Winery, were among Napa’s earliest adopters of organic viticulture and the trio are the only estates in the valley to hold silver-level Regenerative Organic Certified status, a standard that extends beyond organic regulations to include things such as soil health metrics, biodiversity benchmarks and labour protections.

Jeramaz argues that Napa should be further along, with stronger commitments to organic certification, wider adoption of regenerative practices and a full ban on synthetic herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers.

Organic certification, often considered a baseline standard for meaningful sustainability, has grown in Napa, especially in recent years.

According to CCOF data, about 12.5% of Napa Valley’s vineyard acreage is certified organic.

The Napa County Department of Agriculture reports that there were 138 certified organic wine grape growers in Napa Valley in 2024.

Yet even those numbers may understate actual practice. Napa Valley Grapegrowers estimates that the number of organic grapegrowers would double if uncertified farms practising organic methods were included.

Long-term benefits

The pursuit of sustainability rarely follows a single blueprint in Napa. Cathy Corison (pictured, above) of Corison Winery farmed organically for nearly three decades before obtaining CCOF certification in 2023, prompted largely by her daughter Grace.

‘I started farming organically long before it was fashionable,’ explains Corison, recalling a time when the label could even be viewed as a liability.

Cost and administrative burdens delayed the decision, but her daughter’s influence helped Corison to understand the greater value and recognition that certification carries, particularly for the next generation.

Also, she says, a growing sense of greenwashing in the industry – when companies use terminology related to sustainability to make misleading, vague or exaggerated claims about the supposed environmental benefits of their own operations – made the decision feel timely.

Indeed, the idea of sustainability is increasingly central to Napa’s messaging, but it’s a notoriously elastic term lacking a consistent definition or standards.

As environmental virtue begins to function as prestige currency, the absence of cohesion leaves consumers navigating a wide spectrum of approaches, often with varying shades of greenwashing.

On one hand, certifications provide invaluable benchmarks for assessing and communicating farming practices, but on the other, debate persists over which standards carry the most weight, and how much legitimacy should be afforded to vineyards operating outside formal certification.

The sheer number of certifications and competing claims from wineries can be difficult for consumers to parse, acknowledges Caleb Mosley, the executive director of Napa Valley Grapegrowers.

Yet if the shared objective is the long-term health of soils, vines and the people who work the land, ‘the certification conversation might become a little more ancillary’, he suggests.

It’s possible that even imperfect or incremental moves toward sustainability, which are often dismissed as greenwashing, may still signal a shift in values.

Long-term view

If farming is indeed becoming the new marker of luxury in Napa, Joseph Phelps Vineyards offers one of its clearest expressions.

Following its sale to luxury group LVMH’s Moët Hennessy division in 2022, the estate launched one of the valley’s most ambitious regenerative projects to date.

Unveiled in 2024, the Borgo Project represents a sweeping redesign of vineyard systems around agroecology principles.

The initiative incorporates everything from an intensive study of soil health to hydrological mapping and the creation of ecological corridors to restore biodiversity.

The plan operates on a capital-heavy, nine-year horizon before wines even reach the market.

CEO David Pearson describes the Borgo Project as ‘a new paradigm and a new basis for agriculture in Napa’, a model he hopes others in the region will follow.

Pearson is candid that he doesn’t intend to pursue third-party certification. The goal of the project, he says, was always to produce the best possible wines.

Certifications, he argues, neither guarantee that outcome nor necessarily align with the estate’s specific needs.

Building resilience

The Borgo Project underscores a reality many growers face – cost remains a significant barrier to structural change.

Regenerative certification, for example, requires paying all workers, including seasonal grape pickers, a set living wage – a minimum in Napa of roughly $36 an hour, instead of the more typical $20-$25, explains Aron Weinkauf, winemaker and vineyard manager at Spottswoode.

The upfront costs are high, acknowledges Spottswoode’s president and CEO Beth Novak (pictured, above).

‘[But] we look at it as an optimisation of profit rather than a maximisation,’ she says.

Over time, those investments amount to business resilience, Novak explains – a healthier environment, as well as longer-lived vines that require fewer inputs, less labour and ultimately, lower operating costs.

‘You make those investments because you intend to be here decades from now,’ she says.

Napa is in a tough place right now, Napa Valley Grapegrowers’ Mosley acknowledges, but it’s a reset that has offered clarity, ‘recalibrating toward people making not only positive business decisions, but positive viticultural and land-use decisions, too’.

Approaches to a greener, more resilient future for Napa will vary, as will the metrics used to assess them.

Ideally, what will endure is a fundamental shift in values and a return to farming as the region’s most credible expression of identity.

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Set up at the Kimpton Vintage Hotel in downtown Portland, I spent two days tasting the final bottled samples from nearly every lot on offer at the upcoming Willamette Valley Wine Auction (13-14 May, 2026).

I was there in my capacity as Decanter's Acting North America Regional Editor and Napa Valley Correspondent, assigning ratings and tasting notes to the auction lots.

And I realise this might be controversial. Auction lots are special blends, often culled from a single barrel or from an assemblage of the best barrels from a single vineyard site or top fruit sources.

They are bottled in 5-10 case lots, for the auction, intended to raise money for a great cause, one that usually supports the local community.

The lot is presented, paddles fly, a winning bid is announced, and these special wines disappear onto a high-end restaurant list, a fine wine retailer's shelves, or into a private cellar.

So, why rate them? Eventually, they resurface, but with nothing much about them beyond perhaps the price it sold for at auction.

I myself have been the recipient of many auction wines, and try as I may to find information on them, I usually can’t.

So, for posterity, a reference point, and to spark some conversation around rating auction wines, below are my scores and tasting notes for the 2024 vintage bottlings offered at the 2026 Willamette Valley Wine Auction.

Initial impressions of the 2024 vintage for Willamette Valley

The 2024 growing season in the Willamette Valley was, by most accounts, close to ideal.

Slow, steady ripening with bright sunny days and highs largely in the low-to-mid 20°C (70s°F), and night time temperatures dipping to the mid-10s°C (50s°F), allowed for long hang times and retention of bright, natural acidity with complex flavour development.

A brief mid-summer heat spike nudged sugars along, ripening tannin without taxing acidity.

The result is a classic Willamette profile of crunchy, ripe, vibrant fruit, modest alcohols largely in the 12.9%-13.9% range, with high natural acidity.

The Pinot Noirs are bold with firm tannic structures, the Chardonnays are striking, tension-driven, and layered, and the sparklers are bright and focused.

As one winemaker put it, this is, ‘a vintage that collectors and wine lovers will want to secure for their cellars’.

A decade of community spirit in Willamette Valley

The auction is entering its tenth year, and Executive Director Morgen McLaughlin describes it as ‘one of the Willamette Valley's most important long-term platforms, not just an annual event’.

It has allowed producers to showcase rare, small-production, library, and collaborative wines that, as McLaughlin continues, 'may not fit into a standard tasting or sales channel, giving them a way to express what makes their vineyards, winemaking, and AVA stories distinctive’.

'Just as importantly, the Auction has reinforced the collaborative spirit of the Valley.'

Over the past decade, more than $5 million has been raised to support the Willamette Valley Wineries Association's marketing, education, and brand-building programmes.

In 2025 alone, more than 80 trade bidders from 35 states and three countries participated.

This year's two-day format reflects the auction’s maturity: Day One (‘Whimsy’) welcomes collectors and consumers for an insider's look at the 2024 vintage; Day Two (‘Wonder’) is a trade-only deep dive with producers on hand.

What struck me across two days of tasting wasn't just the quality of the wines but the positive attitude of the producers behind them.

James Frey, winemaker, proprietor of Trisaetum, and prolific artist (see The James Frey Collection), described the annual auction as evidence of Willamete Valley’s, ‘strong collegial spirit’ and the ‘great group of people who still believe a rising tide lifts all boats’.

Acid-etched purity

Frey produced a sparkling wine for the auction, as did Rollin Soles of ROCO, who has been making bubbles in the valley for four decades.

I found the Willamette sparklings vivid and laser-focused, with ultra-frothy, airy mousses.

‘After 40 years, I still believe the Willamette is the finest spot in the New World for sparkling,’ Soles told me.

‘Growing above the 45th parallel means later harvests, naturally high acidity, and grapes that retain higher protein levels, which directly aids bubble retention.’

Frey added that the ultra-cool sites where Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier struggle to ripen for still wines create ideal conditions for sparkling wine.

As for the still wines: the Pinots are gorgeously pure-fruited, often nuanced by that dusty, red volcanic mineral character drawn from the region's soils, while in the whites it creates a complexity I personally couldn't get enough of.

I'm still thinking about Bethel Heights' Swan Song Chardonnay, among my highest-scoring lots, crafted from own-rooted old Wente clone vines that also produced High Wire – former North America Editor Clive Pursehouse's only 100-point wine during his entire Decanter tenure.

When I asked winemaker Ben Casteel what made those vines and site so special, his response was deeply personal: ‘That it took my father's entire career and the first 10 years of mine to produce something special is a tremendous testament to perseverance.’

At least one more vintage – a 2025 High Wire Chardonnay – is coming before, tragically, the vines succumb to phylloxera.

A note on the scores

Full auction lot scores and tasting notes are available below. They have been marked with a score range which is mentioned in the note.

The Willamette Valley Wine Auction takes place May 13-14, 2026.

To the producers and buyers: no matter my scores, each wine here is genuinely exceptional, and I hope that comes through in the tasting notes.

Top wines from this year's Willamette Valley Wine Auction

All 50+ of Jonathan's notes on the Willamette Valley Wine Auction wines can be found here.

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