Wine from Central Coast

jebdunnuck.com, 98 points: The Mourvèdre-dominated 2016 Veracity (51% Mourvèdre, 36% Grenache, and 13% Syrah) reveals a darker ruby color as well as a sensational bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked meats, ground herbs, chocolate, and earth. With...

jebdunnuck.com, 95 points: One of the great values out there, the 2017 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers thrilling notes of white flowers, white peach, currants, and toasted bread. This ripe, sexy wine is unquestionably at the same level as the...

jebdunnuck.com, 94 points: Starting with the Chardonnays, the 2018 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills is a winner and is ideal for readers looking to understand the Sta. Rita Hills as well as the style of the wines at Brewer-Clifton. Medium gold, with a...

jebdunnuck.com, 95 points: Jonata’s Todos is always a kitchen sink blend, and the 2016 is 60% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Petite Sirah and Viognier. It has stunning notes of black...

jebdunnuck.com, 94 points: Starting with the 2018 Pinot Noir Estate Sta. Rita Hills, which comes from vines around the estate and saw 40% stems, it reveals a medium ruby hue as well as a great bouquet of ripe cherry and raspberry fruits intermixed...

Vinous, 95 points: The 2016 Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard is fabulous and also shows just how well suited parts of this site are to Syrah. Dense and pliant, with tremendous character, the 2016 has so much to say. Inky dark fruit, leather...

jebdunnuck.com, 93 points: The 2016 Pinot Noir Estate is the larger production red from this team, yet it certainly gives a good view into the quality coming from the Hilt wines. Black cherries, black raspberries, graphite, peppery herbs, and...

Wine Enthusiast, 96 points: Dense in the glass, this blend of 58% Syrah, 19% Mourvèdre, 17% Grenache and 6% Tempranillo begins with intensely smoky dark fruits as well as blackberry jam, violet, wild sage and mint. The mouthfeel is full and rich...

Wine Enthusiast, 92 points: One of the winery's most celebrated releases each year, this blend of all five major Bordeaux red varieties is an excellent showcase of Carmel Valley's class. Freshly squeezed blackberry and blackcurrant fruit meet with...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 90 points: The energy and focus that is typical of the cooler sites within the Santa Lucia Highlands comes through in the 2010 Pinot Noir Rosella’s. Dark red cherries, flowers, mint and spices are woven together nicely as the wine...

Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: Extreme amounts of cracked black pepper spice up the crumbled lilac, dark-black-plum and snappy red-currant aromas on the dynamic nose of this cool-climate bottling. There's a wild zestiness to the palate, where the...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: The 2016 Ingenuity is blended of 54% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah, 16% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache. It was made using 10% whole cluster and aged 19 months in 75% new French oak barrels and puncheons. It has a deep ruby-purple...

Vinous, 95 points: The 2018 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict is such a wonderfully complete wine that expresses all of the pedigree of this historic Sta. Rita Hills site. Sweet, perfumed aromatics and radiant fruit envelop the senses. Lemon...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: "This is my little twist on Châteauneuf-du-Pape," Paul Lato tells me. It's a 50/50 blend of Grenache and Syrah from Bien Nacido and Larner vineyards. Aged for 24 months in 45% new French oak, the 2016 Grenache/Syrah...

Vinous, 97 points: The 2017 El Desafio de Jonata is another positively stellar wine in this range. Two thousand seventeen is one of the few years in which Cabernet is so dominant. Rich and explosive, with tremendous vertical thrust, the...