Holiday Case

2021 vintage: 50% Barbera, 18% Dolcetto, 17.5% Bonarda, 11% Freisa, 3.5% Croatina

"If you’ve ever dreamed of moving to Italy and opening your own agriturismo or small-town trattoria, you’ve probably imagined the wine you would serve at lunch alongside your saucy tagliatelle ai funghi or tender prosciutto crudo. You want something juicy, versatile, and joyous: a red with some good acidity to complement your simple home cooking and just enough tannic spine to stand up to the dishes on your table. It needs to be light and vibrant enough to leave you with postprandial energy. You just might not have known precisely which bottle from which region it would be. Well, here it is: a Piemontese red made mostly from Barbera and its supporting cast of Bonarda, Dolcetto, and Freisa, grown in sand and limestone soils around the picturesque hillside town of Cisterna d’Asti. In contrast to the exalted Baroli made to the south, Tenuta La Pergola specializes in the humbler side of Piedmont’s wine culture, which can be every bit as satisfying. The azienda’s Monferrato Rosso is the quintessential house wine, whether it’s my apartment in the Bay Area or your future casa in Italia. It is the red to always have on hand." - Kermit Lynch Wines

"For this over-delivering Beaujolais-Villages, Jean sources organic grapes from excellent parcels around his village of Villié-Morgon as well as Lancié, Saint-Amour, and Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne, and ages the wine through an extended élevage more akin to that of his renowned Morgons than to other regional bottlings. Accordingly, the wine evolves slowly, becoming more poised and complete. Evoking pomegranate, rhubarb, and black tea, the result is a beautiful initiation to Jean’s house style, distinguished by a mesmerizing tension between depth, density, silkiness, and elegance." - Kermit Lynch Wines

Seriously this white blend is on a whole different level. It's like Kate Moss apple sauce lean, and loquat drippy juice! Like being a kid again on the hottest day of the year and you've stolen an apricot off of the kitchen counter and the skin tickles your nose when you tear into the orange flesh. - Rootdown Wines

Oohhhheee baby, This 2022 Es Okay Red Blend is just like your first crush. Enticing with with its delicate aroma of fresh rhubarb & raspberry pie straight from the oven, and baby leaves on a dewey morning. Its youthful freshness hits you with a 1, 2 punch! - Rootdown Wines

In 2023, we were offered some amazing Chardonnay grapes from three renowned Santa Barbara County vineyards. In fact, the properties involved often find themselves in 95+ point rated wines. Despite this pedigree, fruit remained unsold even as harvest approached.

We’ve never been too much into making white wine – it is a bit more precise – like baking versus cooking. But we often find ourselves in need of a white wine for winemaker dinners, at tastings, and even at home. We were torn and discussed it for several days. Ultimately, it came down to this: 2023 was a superb vintage with a long, cool growing season, the type we haven’t seen since 1999. It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.

The wine clearly reveals the character of the vintage: elegant and refreshing, featuring a delightful blend of pear, apple, and citrus flavors, with a subtle touch of grapefruit. It carries hints of freshly grated ginger, lemon balm, and a crisp sea salt minerality. The finish reveals intricate notes of fresh herbs like lemongrass, adding a layer of complexity to the experience. - Adam Lee Wine

91 Points – Billy Norris of Antonio Galloni’s Vinous

“A new joint-venture project between Adam Lee, Morét Brealynn and John Wagner, the 2023 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County is a blend of fruit from Peake Ranch, John Sebastiano and Sierra Madre. It’s loaded with bright, super-ripe red fruit, cinnamon and sweet rose petals. Lively and cheerful, this is a monster value with super-high-quality winemaking. Enjoy it over the next three to five years.”