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 bunch of California wines, including a number of white wines from Anderson Valley, the little winegrowing paradise tucked over the hills in Mendocino County.

I always enjoy the wines of Foursight Wines in Anderson Valley, so I was happy to taste their 2022 Sauvignon Blanc this week, which offers A bright lemon and golden apple profile backed by a nice minerality.

Winemaker Ross Cobb is better-known for his extraordinary Pinot Noirs, but he’s been making Riesling for a number of years, including from the Vonarburg vineyard in Anderson Valley. The 2021 vintage, with a couple of years of bottle age is showing a touch of the mature aromas you get from an aged riesling, but otherwise has a lovely freshness.

Navarro Vineyards is one of California’s old-school producers who have been making honest, high-quality wines the same for decades without regard for changing fashions. They are also one of the pioneers of the white Alsatian grape varieties that have come to call Anderson Valley home over the years. I tasted three of their wines this week, including their Riesling, their dry Gewürztraminer, and their Edelzwicker, a white blend that is my favorite of the three. All are excellent values.

The Breggo Cellars brand went away for a while, after it sold its winery to FEL 2009, but the brand recently was purchased back by its original owner, so you’re going to start seeing Breggo wines on the market again. Their 2022 Gewürztraminer is aromatic and rich.

That same owner runs Lichen Estate, which makes an excellent white Pinot Noir, harvested slightly early and then pressed directly to tank. It’s got that wonderful tension between berry and citrus flavors that make still white Pinot Noir such an alluring wine.

Speaking of white Pinot, I’ve always enjoyed the PinoTrio wine from Pennyroyal Farm, which is a blend of the three Pinots (Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris). The combination ends up being more than the sum of its parts, and it’s a cracking deal for 30 bucks a bottle.

Lastly, let’s medidate for a moment over the steely, lean, energetic Chardonnay from LIOCO Wines who pick the Skycrest vineyard early to make their zippy, mineral-driven bottling that will likely age beautifully if you’re willing to wait for it.

Moving on to red wines, I’ve got three excellent bottles from young winemaker Jesse Katz, of Aperture Cellars this week. While I’m not a fan of the weight of his bottles, I’m definitely a fan of his winemaking, which walks a line between power and grace that proves dangerously compelling. His winery was built next to an old vineyard planted in 1912. After a few years of selling the grapes, Katz decided to bottle it as a field blend, and it has proved quite tasty. The 2021 version is nuanced and juicy with a shimmering mix of flavors.

Katz is well-known for his work with Cabernet Sauvignon, and his “Soil Specific” Cabernet from Sonoma County is a great example of why. Rich fruit is backed by fantastically bright acidity and incredibly supple tannins.

If Katz is well-known for his work with Cabernet, he’s all but revered for his work with Malbec under his Devil Proof Vineyards label, where he crafts the most highly-regarded Malbecs in California. This week I’m sharing my notes on his 2021 rendition from Rockpile Ridge, which has a toned, athletic power that is extremely compelling, managing that elusive trick of being rich without heaviness. It’s a blockbuster of a wine, from a stellar vintage.

Tasting Notes

2022 Foursight “Charles Vineyard” Sauvignon Blanc, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon and unripe apples. In the mouth, lemon rind and lemon pith mix with a hint of golden apple. Crisp and bright with good acidity and a faint chalky texture in the finish. 12.4% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $32.

2021 Cobb Wines “Vonarburg Vineyard” Riesling, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of green apple, Asian pear, mandarin oil, and a hint of candle wax. In the mouth, tangy Asian pear and unripe apple flavors mix with a touch of citrus pith. Filigreed acidity sneaks up on the palate, building over time. Pretty. 13% alcohol. 110 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $47. click to buy.

2023 Navarro Vineyards “Deep End” Riesling, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of mandarin zest and Asian pears. In the mouth, bright Asian pear, citrus zest, and citrus pith flavors have a lovely brightness thanks to fantastic acidity. Picture-perfect varietal expression here, with a nice stony underbelly. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $21.

2023 Navarro Vineyards “Edelzwicker” White Blend, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of lychee and orange peel. In the mouth, Asian pear, lychee, and orange peel flavors have just the barest hint of sweetness, along with crackling acidity. Delicious. A blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer. 13.4% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $21. click to buy.

2022 Navarro Vineyards “Estate Dry” Gewürztraminer, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of orange peel and orange blossoms. In the mouth, candied orange peel, pomelo pith, and other citrus zest flavors are wonderfully crisp and dry, with very good acidity and stony minerality. Not a hint of sweetness here, just aromatic goodness. 13.7% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $28. click to buy.

2022 Breggo Cellars Gewürztraminer, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of lychee and orange peel. In the mouth, silky flavors of orange peel and Asian pear have slightly softer acidity than I would like. Pretty aromatics though. 13.8% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $32.

2023 Lichen “Noir – White Pinot” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Palest straw in the glass, this wine smells of orange peel and a hint of raspberries. In the mouth, raspberry and citrus peel flavors have a nice silky texture and bright juicy acidity. A good example of why white wine made from Pinot Noir is so compelling. 12.1% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2023 Pennyroyal Farm “PinoTrio” White Blend, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Palest gold in the glass to the point of being near colorless, this wine smells of pears, unripe apples, and citrus pith. In the mouth, bright and crisp apple, pear, and lemon pith flavors have a wonderful bright zing to them thanks to fantastic acidity. Wonderful wet chalkboard minerality lingers in the finish with a chalky texture. Excellent. A blend of 40% Pinot Blanc, 40% Pinot Noir, and 20% Pinot Gris. 13.7% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $31. click to buy.

2021 LIOCO “Skycrest” Chardonnay, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon oil, orange peel, and pomelo pith. In the mouth, lean and bright lemon zest and lemon pith flavors mix with grapefruit and a hint of vanilla. Crisp and zippy, with a nice wet pavement minerality that lingers with a chalky texture in the finish. Barrel fermented with native yeasts in neutral oak. Aged for 10 months in oak and six in steel. No fining or filtering. 13.1% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $63. click to buy.

2021 Aperture Cellars “Estate Vineyard” Red Blend, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of blackberry, blueberry, licorice, and macerated strawberries. In the mouth, blackberry, strawberry, black cherry, and chopped herbs are draped in a faint gauzy throw of tannins. Very good acidity leaves hints of herbs and plum skin in the finish. A blend of Zinfandel, Carignan, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Sémillon, Cabernet Franc, and a few other varieties planted in 1912. Ages for 16 months in a mix of first- and second-use French oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14.2% alcohol. Comes in a nasty heavy bottle weighing 1.74 kg when full. Score: around 9. Cost: $90.

2021 Aperture Cellars “Soil Specific” Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, California
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry and cola. In the mouth, wonderfully juicy black cherry, cola, and blackcurrant flavors have a powdery tannic texture and fantastically bright acidity. Lightly grippy tannins stiffen slightly over time, but are fine-grained and supple, coating the mouth and letting the fruit do its work. Juicy and delicious. 14.6% alcohol. Comes in a nasty, heavy bottle weighing 1.79 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $75. click to buy.

2021 Devil Proof “Rockpile Ridge” Malbec, Rockpile, Sonoma, California
Inky, opaque purple in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries and black cherries. In the mouth, supple, powdery tannins wrap around a core of blueberry, black cherry, tobacco, and earth. The tannins gain substance and stiffness with time, but remain incredibly fine-grained. Excellent acidity keeps things fresh, but make no mistake, this is a muscular, brawny wine that just happens to have perfect tone and not an ounce of body fat. Notes of black tea linger in the finish. 14.8% alcohol. Comes in a nasty heavy bottle weighing 1.74 kg when full. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $348. click to buy.