Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This week included a few nice whites from around California, starting with the Sauvignon Blanc from St. Supéry in Napa, which is reliably tasty, though missing a little edge in its most recent vintage.

Winemaker Patrick Quigley started the small label Quigley Family Wines with his brother Jack and his father Jim, making tiny lots of wine from vineyards around the North Coast. They sent along two wines this week, the first, a lean and steely Chenin Blanc from the Alder Springs Vineyard in Mendocino, as well as a dark, earthy, savory Syrah from the same site.

Talley Vineyard has pioneered wine growing in the Arroyo Grande Valley in San Luis Obispo County since the early 1980s. For a long time, they were the sole winery in the region, and one of the few people convinced you could grow cool-climate grapes that far south in California. The Arroyo Grande Valley has recently been subsumed by the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA in recognition of the extreme coastal influence at play in the valley, its crisp temperatures demonstrated by the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that I tasted this week, both of which were quite nice, though the Chardonnay was particularly delicious.

Gainey Vineyard represents the 4th generation of the Gainey family to farm in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. The winery began in 1984 when Dan Gainey planted 50 acres of vines on the family’s 1800-acre ranch. Over time, the family also purchased land in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation, which is where the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that I tasted this week come from. Both are excellent values, and reliably tasty.

I’ve written before, and at length, about the wines of Roland Velich, the man behind Moric, one of my favorite wine producers on the planet. His California importer sent along the latest release of his “entry-level” Blaufränkisch, which is anything but ordinary. Like the “plain” Bourgogne Blancs made by superstar producers like Coche-Dury and Roulot, this is one heck of a bottle of wine for the price and a wonderful expression of both the Blaufränkisch grape and the place it comes from.

This week offered up a moment I’ve been waiting for with great anticipation: my first sample bottles of 2021 vintage wine from Napa superstar Cathy Corison. The 2021 vintage continues to be my favorite in decades, even as I continue to taste more 2023 wines (which are showing fantastic potential). Cathy’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc did nothing to dispel my enthusiasm for the vintage. Her Cabernet Sauvignon may be one of the best she’s ever made, though we’ll need to wait 20 years to be completely sure, as I think it will improve for at least that long. It’s truly a tremendous wine, one that deftly marries power and depth with elegance and finesse. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Lastly, William Cole Vineyards sent along a very unusual and rare wine from Napa, the second rendition of their wine called simply “Ten.” This “Chapter Two” of this wine represents 10 vintages, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2019 each aged separately and then blended into this final wine. The first time this wine was created, it represented the vintages 2000 to 2009, so this is the second iteration of the wine. You’ll have to wait another decade for the next one. I find the wine a bit too wood-influenced, but it’s an intriguing mouthful nonetheless.

Tasting Notes

2023 St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of passionfruit and guava candy. In the mouth, guava and passionfruit flavors mix with kiwi and softer-than-I’d-like acidity. Pretty, with a cut grass note in the finish. I just wish this wine had more zip. 13.5% alcohol. Napa Green Certified. Closed with a technical resin cork. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $26. click to buy.

2021 Quigley Family Wines “Alder Springs Vineyard” Chenin Blanc, Mendocino County, California
Pale straw in color, this wine smells of unripe apples and a hint of grapefruit. In the mouth, pear, winter melon, and grapefruit flavors mix with lemon pith and a stony chalky texture. Very good acidity, and overall a very lean expression of Chenin, even with three years under its belt. 13.1% alcohol. 50 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $28.

2022 Talley Vineyards Chardonnay, SLO Coast, Central Coast, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon curd and candied pink grapefruit. In the mouth, wonderfully tangy and bright flavors of lemon curd, lemon peel, and pink grapefruit have a bright salinity to them and fantastic mouthwatering acidity. Juicy, bright, and delicious, with a faint chalky grip. 13.7% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $33. click to buy.

2022 Gainey Vineyard Chardonnay, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon curd, lemon peel, and a hint of orange blossom. In the mouth, bright lemon curd and lemon peel flavors mix with decent acidity and a hint of wet pavement. Tasty, but missing some electricity. 13.9% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $24. click to buy.

2021 Gainey Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet cherry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, cherry and cranberry flavors have a smooth silkiness to them and a faint powdery tannic texture that hangs ghostly in the background as the fruit takes center stage. A hint of dried herbs emerges on the finish, along with the sweetness of new oak. 14.2% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $34. click to buy.

2022 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir, SLO Coast, Central Coast, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells faintly of meaty notes layered over raspberry and orange peel. In the mouth, raspberry and redcurrant flavors mix with a somewhat reductive, saline quality that is accompanied by brisk acidity. Notes of dried herbs and citrus peel accompany wispy, barely perceptible tannins. Excellent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.

2022 Moric Blaufrӓnkisch, Burgenland, Austria
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberries and huckleberries. In the mouth, wonderfully bright blackberry, blueberry, and huckleberry flavors are wrapped in faint powdery tannins and shot through with a deep stony minerality that lingers through the finish with hints of floral notes. Great acidity and wonderful balance. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $34. click to buy.

2021 Quigley Family Wines “Alder Springs Vineyard” Syrah, Mendocino County, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wet iron, bloody meat, flowers, and blackberry fruit. In the mouth, iodine and wet earth mix with barely salty grilled meat and dark berry flavors. Thick, muscular tannins wrap around the palate, slightly drying the mouth. Decent acidity. This wine needs some more time and will appeal to those who don’t like their Syrahs to be fruity. 13.1% alcohol. 100 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2021 Corison Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, cassis, herbs, and dark earth. In the mouth, gorgeously seamless flavors of black cherry, earth, licorice, blackcurrant, and dried flowers are wrapped in a muscular, fleecy blanket of fine-grained tannins. Fantastic acidity and incredible length, this is a wine that is going to last for decades. Poised, elegant, deep, and profound. One of the best wines Cathy has made in recent memory. 13.6% alcohol. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $125. click to buy.

2021 Corison Vineyards “Helios – Sunbasket Vineyard” Cabernet Franc, St. Helena, Napa, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, crushed nuts, and violets. In the mouth, cherry and floral flavors are wrapped in a muscular sheaf of tannins that squeezes the palate even as juicy black plum and cherry notes linger in the finish. Excellent acidity. This needs a couple of years’ of bottle aging to fully blossom. 13.9% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $125. click to buy.

MV William Cole Vineyards “Ten Chapter Two” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of chocolate-covered raisins and black cherry fruit. In the mouth, ripe cherry fruit mixes with dried cherries, raisins, chocolate, and baking spices. Grippy tannins gain muscle and slightly dry the mouth, as notes of sweet oak emerge in the finish. The multiple vintages have added layers of flavor here that are intriguing, I just wish I didn’t have to fight to taste them through the flavors of oak. Contains 10 vintages, spanning 2010 to 2019. 14.3% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $500.