Tasting Highlights’ wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors’ most recent ratings—including scores and full tasting notes—to WineSpectator.com members.
Sometimes, the word ‘value’ in wine conjures connotations of marginal grocery store offerings with bargain-bin prices. But the world of wine is vast, and there are plenty of genuinely high quality bottlings to be found for solid prices—if you know where to look. This week’s Tasting Highlights serves as a primer on recently reviewed quality wines, including Pinot Noir from Carneros, Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Merlot and more, all priced between $11 and $35.
Pinot Noir has a reputation for fetching high prices thanks to its 20-year run of popularity, high viticultural and winemaking costs, and the prevalence of expensive single-vineyard bottlings. Yet one way to keep costs down is to combine vineyards and make a regional blend, as Alma de Cattleya has done, achieving the top score of this group. Winemaker Bibiana González Rave focuses primarily on Russian River Valley vineyards, as well as sites from the Sonoma Coast, for this 2023 bottling, which features fresh damson plum and bitter cherry notes with a silky, refined finish. Similarly, Acacia spotlights Carneros for its friendly style with mulling spice and savory hints and a gently toasted finish.
This lineup also includes the sleek Margerum M5 Santa Barbara County 2023 and the plush and generous St. Francis Merlot Sonoma County 2022. Read on to get our scores and full expert tasting notes for all ten of these West Coast values!
Tasting Highlights’ wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors’ most recent ratings—including scores and full tasting notes—to WineSpectator.com members.
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