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 excellent wines, but also some wines that are super interesting as well.

Let’s start with two Chardonnays, one from the oldest vineyard in Australia’s state of Victoria, Yering Station, established in 1838. The “Little Yering” line of wines is the estate’s regional, value-focused line of wines, and for about $20, many will find lots to like in this screwcapped Chardonnay.

The other Chardonnay, from the Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! hails from the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is producing some of the most exciting Chardonnays in California these days. While I’m speaking extradimensionally, I should note the skin-contact Semillon that winemaker Hardy Wallace has made from Bedrock, one of California’s most historic vineyard sites. With 45 days of skin contact, it’s a lovely orange wine—characterful and fresh. Wallace also sent along a Barbera from the venerable Shake Ridge Ranch in Amador County that is worth savoring now, but will improve with a few years in the bottle.

Trestle Thirty-One is a little boutique winery established in the Finger Lakes by the well-known Napa winemaker Nova Cadamatre and her husband Brian. Nova is the first female American winemaker to earn the Master of Wine title and has spent time as a winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery, Schrader, To Kalon Vineyard Company, and The Prisoner Wine Company, among others. I’m recommending their faintly sweet demi-sec Riesling and their pale and nervy rosé this week.

One of the trends I’m most thankful for in the world of wine has got to be the return to making the grape Pinot Gris as a true gris wine, which is to say giving it a bit of skin contact. This technique can elevate what might be a plain, or even insipid wine to something far more interesting and exciting. The Pinot Gris I tasted this week from Big Table Farm in Oregon is a perfect example of how charming such a wine can be.

Folded Hills Ranch and Winery serves as the home for Kim and Andrew Busch and their family. Bush is a scion of the Anheuser Busch family who brought the world Budweiser beer. The two have a lovely property in the Santa Ynez Valley, and have superstar winemaker Angela Osborne making their wines for them (Osborne recently returned to that position after a 4-year hiatus). I’m recommending two of their wines this week, their first harvest of Grenache Blanc from their estate vineyards which they’ve called simply their Estate White, as well as a Grenache from their estate vineyards named after the Busch family’s ancestral farm in Missouri.

Last but not least, I can recommend a Malbec from Luigi Bosca, a long-standing producer from Argentina’s Mendoza region. Leoncio Arizu established Luigi Bosca in 1901, and it has been run by his descendants ever since. Their “Insignia” Malbec is their value-priced wine, and it delivers great quality for under $20.

Tasting Notes

2022 Yering Station “Little Yering” Chardonnay, Victoria, Australia
Palest greenish gold in color, this wine smells of lemon zest, pastry cream, and a hint of yellow herbs. In the mouth, crisp flavors of lemon peel and a touch of green pepper mix with grapefruit and unripe apple. Very good acidity. 12.6% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $22. click to buy.

2023 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “Mariana’s Vineyard” Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Light greenish gold in hue, this wine smells of lemon curd and lemon zest. In the mouth, bright flavors of lemon curd, grapefruit pith, and lemon zest have a nice floral high note and silky texture. Very good acidity, though I might ask for more. Clean and tasty. 13.6% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $. click to buy.

2022 Trestle Thirty-One “Demi-Sec” Riesling, Finger Lakes, New York
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of pear and tangerines. In the mouth, faintly sweet flavors of Asian pear and citrus peel are layered over a touch of honeysuckle. A nice stony underbelly lingers in the finish. 12% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $32. click to buy.

2017 Folded Hills “Estate White Wine” Grenache Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Light gold in color, this wine smells of apples, lemon, and white flowers with just the tiniest hint of diesel. In the mouth, juicy flavors of apple and pear mix with lemon pith and a faint herbal bitterness. Notes of sarsaparilla linger in the finish with bitter citrus. Excellent acidity and a faint salinity. Aging beautifully. 14.2% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $78.

2023 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “Bedrock” Semillon, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma, California
Light amber-orange in the glass, this wine smells of candied orange peel, chamomile, and vanilla. In the mouth, the wine has a very Creamsicle quality, with candied orange, white flowers, vanilla, and a hint of apricot and pear. Decent acidity and a faint tannic grip. Fresh and juicy. Gets 45 days of skin contact. 11.9% alcohol. 95 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $47.

2023 Trestle Thirty-One Rosé, Finger Lakes, New York
Palest pink in the glass, this wine smells of cherry and citrus peel. In the mouth, unripe strawberries, crabapples, and rosehip flavors have a citrusy bite, with a light chalky texture underneath the fruit. Very good acidity. 12% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $24.

2023 Big Table Farm Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon
An alluring pale coppery pink in the glass, this wine smells of berries and flowers. In the mouth, crabapples and berries mix with citrus pith and dried herbs while juicy acidity keeps the saliva flowing as the wine moves across the palate. Wonderfully bright and herbal, with some fresh herbs joining the dried as the wine finishes. Excellent. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $38. click to buy.

2023 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! “Shake Ridge Ranch” Barbera, Amador County, Sierra Foothills, California
A dark hazy purple in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries and boysenberries and dried herbs. In the mouth, muscular tannins coat the mouth as black cherry and sour cherry fruit flavors are shot through with orange zest and dried herbs. The tannins slightly dry the mouth, but that is offset by the juiciness of the fruit and the zippy acidity. This is a wine that I think will benefit from a couple of years in the bottle. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45.

2018 Folded Hills “Grant Vineyard” Grenache, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Light ruby in the glass, this wine smells of strawberries and sour cherries dusted with dried flowers. In the mouth, sour cherry and strawberry flavors are shot through with dried herbs and a touch of dried citrus peel. Gauzy tannins coat the mouth as a stony quality pervades the finish. 14.1% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $50.

2022 Luigi Bosca “Insignia” Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries and orange peel. In the mouth, blueberry and black cherry flavors are shot through with orange peel and dried herbs. Powdery tannins coat the mouth as fresh green herbs linger with citrus peel in the finish. Excellent acidity. 14.4% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $18. click to buy.