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 really excellent white wines, including quite notably, one of the best Chenin Blancs I’ve had from California in recent memory. Not that there are a lot of Chenin Blancs in California, mind you. This one hails from the calcareous terroir of the Sta. Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara, where the Pali Wine Co. has ensured that the region’s chilly, mineral qualities really shine in this wine.

Sticking with the topic of crackling acidity and minerality, I’ve got a standing ovation for the latest vintage of Vermentino from Troon Vineyard in Southern Oregon. Their version of this grape is one of my favorites in the US, and I think the 2023 vintage might be their best yet. It’s vivacious, snappy, and oh-so-gulpable.

Most of the time, when we think about Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige, we think about crisp, lean, and straightforwardly steely. And while the venerable Alois Lageder certainly makes their share of those wines, they also apparently make a skin-contact version that has a lovely complex character in addition to being refreshing. It also happens to be Demeter-certified Biodynamic, for those interested in such things.

Next, I’ve got two single-vineyard Chardonnays from The DONUM Estate, graced with a slice of the Ai Wei-Wei Zodiac artwork that represents one of the estate’s many pieces of environmental art. Of these two Chardonnays, I prefer the Carneros version by only a slim margin. Both are tasty expressions of the grape.

Winemaker Kenneth Juhasz and his wife Laura founded Auteur Wines in 2003. I remember tasting their wines at public tastings like Pinot Days in the late 2000s, but then they seemed to drop off the radar a bit. Getting a couple of bottles in the mail recently was like seeing an old acquaintance again after a long while. Both their Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are worth seeking out as classic expressions of their type.

Smith-Story Wines is the passion-turned-livelihood of Alison and her husband Eric Story. I first knew Ali as a wine blogger from Texas, and have watched her journey as she and her husband moved to California, started their Smith Story brand, and continue to push it and themselves towards excellence. With the addition of Katy Wilson as winemaker over the last decade, their wines have really started to sing. The two Pinot Noirs I got this week, their Filigreen Farm and The Boonies are both great expressions of the Anderson Valley.

Ryan Beauregard’s great-grandparents were among the pioneers of modern winegrowing in the Santa Cruz Mountains, establishing Beauregard Vineyards in 1945 in the area that (thanks to Ryan’s dad, Jim) would become the Ben Lomond Mountain AVA, the only sub-AVA of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Today, Ryan oversees the family estate and makes the wine, including the two estate wines I tasted this week, his Beauregard Ranch Pinot Noir and the Beauregard Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the two, I prefer the Pinot, which has a classic cranberry character.

Last but not least I’ve got a couple of really delicious wines to recommend from Delfino Farms, who make wine under the Edio Vineyards brand in El Dorado County amongst the Sierra Foothills. I’ve really enjoyed the work of this family-run operation, and these latest wines are no exception. The “Frank’s Blend” of Mourvèdre and Syrah has a wonderful boysenberry character, and their “Estate Blend” straight Mourvèdre, has the kind of mouthwatering savory and saline character that makes it almost impossible to put down. If you’re unfamiliar with the brand I suggest you check out these high-elevation wines.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2023 Pali Wine Co. “Pali Vineyard” Chenin Blanc, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of pear and pear skin. In the mouth, wonderfully bright grapefruit and crabapple flavors are so tangy and piquant that they make the mouth water. Faintly saline, with a lovely silky texture and startling acidity. Fantastic. Fermented with ambient yeasts in neutral oak, where the wine ages for another 4 months before bottling. 12.5% alcohol. 129 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2023 Troon Vineyard Vermentino, Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon, Oregon
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of pears and white flowers. In the mouth, gorgeously saline pear and floral flavors have a crystalline brightness and wonderful stony minerality. Extremely delicious, to the point of being gulpable. Demeter-certified Biodynamic. Gold regenerative organic certified. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $32. click to buy.

2022 Alois Lageder “Porer” Pinot Grigio, Mitterberg IGT, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Pale amber in the glass suggesting some skin contact, this wine smells of wet leaves, citrus peel, and apricots. In the mouth, juicy apricot and dried herb flavors mix with dried citrus peel and baked apples. Crisp acidity and nice silky texture with a hint of chalky grip that lingers with a touch of candied orange peel in the finish. Grown at 790 feet of elevation. Demeter-certified Biodynamic. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $32. click to buy.

2022 The DONUM Estate “Single Vineyard – Year of the Tiger” Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Pale gold in color, this wine smells of toasted oak and lemon peel. In the mouth, toasted oak and lemon peel mix with lemon pith and pink grapefruit, with the oak lingering through the finish with a chalky texture. Excellent acidity but the wood sticks out a bit much. Aged 16 months in 69% new French oak. 319 cases made. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $75.

2022 The DONUM Estate “Single Vineyard – Year of the Tiger” Chardonnay, Carneros, Sonoma, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith, toasted nuts, and a hint of butterscotch. In the mouth, sweet oak, vanilla, and lemon curd flavors mix with a hint of pineapple as excellent acidity keeps things bright and fresh. Notes of lemon peel linger in the finish. Aged 16 months in 53% new French oak. 448 cases made. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $75. click to buy.

2022 Auteur Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of candied lemon peel and pink grapefruit. In the mouth, wonderfully bright and juicy flavors of lemon peel and lemon pith bring in a faint bit of lemon-curd creaminess but also crackling stony minerality and a hint of salinity. Zingy and mouthwatering. Whole-cluster pressed and then fermented with ambient yeasts. Aged 11 months in 25% new French oak. 13% alcohol. 392 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2022 Auteur Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherries and raspberries. In the mouth, raspberry and cranberry flavors have a bright juiciness thanks to excellent acidity as faint, gauzy tannins coat the mouth, and notes of citrus peel linger in the finish. Hints of dried herbs and a touch of forest floor emerge with time. Fermented with ambient yeasts. Aged 11 months in 35% new French oak. 14% alcohol. 621 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $60.

2022 Smith Story Wine Cellars “Filigreen Farm” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of raspberry and dried flowers. In the mouth, lovely cherry and raspberry flavors are wrapped in dusty tannins that coat the mouth, as excellent acidity and notes of chopped green herbs keep things fresh and brisk on the palate. There’s a candied cherry note at the core of this wine that is very pretty. 13% alcohol. 275 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $64. click to buy.

2021 Smith Story Wine Cellars “The Boonies – Helluva Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Medium garnet in color with hints of ruby, this wine smells of raspberries, forest floor, and flowers. In the mouth, beautifully bright raspberry and cherry flavors mix with cranberries and dried herbs as fine-grained, mouth-coating tannins disperse like a cloud of chalk dust. Excellent acidity and herbal freshness, with notes of sour cherry in the finish. 13.9% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $70. click to buy.

2022 Beauregard Vineyards “Estate” Pinot Noir, Ben Lomond Mountain, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Medium garnet in the glass with ruby highlights, this wine smells of raspberry and cranberry fruit. In the mouth, cranberry and raspberry notes mix with a touch of sweet oak as dried herbs and citrus peel join the mix. Excellent acidity and faint, gauzy tannins round out a very complete package. Pretty. Grown at 1802 feet of elevation. 12.5% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: around 9. Cost: $68. click to buy.

2021 Beauregard Vineyards “Beauregard Ranch” Cabernet Sauvignon, Ben Lomond Mountain, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of bing and black cherries and plums. In the mouth, bright black cherry and plum flavors are bright with juicy acidity and wrapped in a micro-fleece blanket of tannins that gain weight and a little dryness with time. Some alcoholic heat rises in the finish with notes of cola. Good acidity but a bit high-octane. Grown at 1802 feet of elevation. 15.2% alcohol. Comes in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.54 kg when full. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $85. click to buy.

2022 Edio Vineyards “Frank’s Blend” Red Blend, El Dorado, Sierra Foothills, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of mulberries and blueberries. In the mouth, herbal notes of mulberry and huckleberry have a silky texture and very good acidity as hints of dried herbs and citrus peel linger in the finish. Ghostly tannins hang at the edge of perception. There’s a faint savory salinity to this wine that makes it very appealing. A blend of 54% Mourvèdre and 46% Syrah grown at 2800 feet of elevation. Aged for 22 months in 33% new French oak. 13.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $62.

2023 Edio Vineyards “Estate Blend” Mourvèdre, El Dorado, Sierra Foothills, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of dried flowers and boysenberries with a hint of meatiness. In the mouth, faintly salty flavors of boysenberry, raspberry, sour cherry, and chopped green herbs are deliciously bright thanks to excellent acidity which leaves the cheeks tight as notes of citrus peel linger with a hint of pink Himalayan salt in the finish. Lithe, juicy, and very delicious. Grown at 2800 feet of elevation at a 45% slope. Aged for 11 months in 32% new French oak. 13.8% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $42.