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 past week included a bunch of recent releases from Ernest Vineyards, a project of husband-and-wife team Todd Gottula and Erin Brooks. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve known and been friends with both since before their winemaking days, when Todd became a client of my marketing agency in San Francisco. As a result, I’ve watched Ernest Vineyards go from being the germ of an idea to being a full-fledged, life-consuming passion project for Todd and Erin. Gottula can’t quite quit his tech-exec day job yet, but Brooks has made Ernest her full-time focus for a while, a position required all the more now that they have graduated from merely leasing vineyards and buying grapes to owning their own vineyard on a hill above the tiny town of Freestone.

In 2018, Brooks brought on winemaker Joseph Ryan and his (prodigious) talent has been instrumental in taking the Ernest wines to the next level. Indeed, the latest releases from Ernest are the best I’ve ever tasted from this brand, and now place them firmly in the upper-echelons of producers from the Sonoma Coast.

Gottula is a Burgundy nut, so it’s no surprise that Ernest would now be making a fresh and bright Aligoté from what is (for now) the only source of the grape in Sonoma County. However, that parenthetical might clue you into the fact that Gottula and Brooks have planted some on their property outside of Freestone, so you can expect some Sonoma Coast Aligoté in the future. Their Chardonnays are pithy and bright and quite tasty, with an occasional saline note in the best of them.

I was recently introduced to LOLA Wines while exploring the current state of California Chenin Blanc, which I did for my monthly column at JancisRobinson.Com this week. LOLA, a wine brand started by Seth Cripe and Rafaela Costa, makes a wide range of wines from around Napa and Sonoma, including a bunch of small-lot bottlings of less-than-common grape varieties. Their Albariño possesses a spot-on varietal character and great steely acidity, their Cunoise is a crunchy saline-berry concoction, and their air-dried “Straw Wine” of Muscat is quite unusual in character with just the barest hint of sweetness.

It’s been some time since I tasted the efforts of winemaker Leo Hansen at Leo Steen Wines but having gotten a few of his new releases I’m reminded just how much I admire his low-intervention, high-acid approach to winemaking. His Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is positively Burgundian in quality, his Cabernet Franc a study in beautiful aromatics and savory notes, and his Red Table Wine a fun, crunchy bottle of glou-glou.

Lastly, I’ve got a couple of Italians to recommend. The Poliziano bottling from Maremma is a Tuscan Cabernet with a bit of coastal influence, with some fairly stiff tannins that need a little time in the bottle yet, while the softer Montepulciano from Garofoli is a bit more approachable with its leathery and herbal character. Both have lovely freshness.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2022 Ernest Vineyards Aligoté, Bennett Valley, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of grapefruit pith and pomelo. Tangy, bright flavors of lemon curd, greengage plum, and finger limes are zippy with excellent acidity with a nice silky texture. Hints of pastry cream linger in the finish. Spends 15 months in neutral puncheons. 11% alcohol. From the sole source of Aligoté in Sonoma County. Score: around 9. Cost: $38. click to buy.

2021 Ernest Vineyards “Estate – Freestone Valley” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale gold in the glass with a hint of green, this wine smells of white flowers, wet chalkboard, and lemon pith. Wonderfully floral vanilla and white flowers mix with lemon juice and lemon oil. Fantastic silky texture and wonderful filigreed acidity. Aged for 15 months in 30% new puncheons. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $58.

2022 Ernest Vineyards Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon oil and lime pith mixed with pink grapefruit. Faintly saline flavors of lemon pith, white flowers, and a hint of pastry cream mix with a touch of star fruit in the finish. Excellent acidity. Spends 9 months in 25% new oak and then 6 weeks in stainless before bottling. 12% alcohol. 1800 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2022 Ernest Vineyards “Freestone-Occidental” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of slightly flinty lemon pith and lemon oil. Vanilla cream and lemon pith mix with slightly softer acidity and notes of star fruit. A light chalky sensation lingers in the finish. A blend of two vineyard sites aged for 15 months in 30% new puncheon. 12.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $58.

2023 Ernest Vineyards Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith and grapefruit pith. Zingy grapefruit and lemon pith flavors mix with pomelo and a hint of green apple skin as fantastic acidity makes the wine vibrate on the palate. Lean, even slightly steely. Spends 9 months in 25% new oak and then 6 weeks in stainless before bottling. 12% alcohol. 1800 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $40. To be released in 2025.

2023 LOLA Wines “The Artisanal Series” Albariño, St. Helena, Napa, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of wet chalkboard and lemon pith. Zingy tangy lemon peel and pomelo flavors are electric with bright acidity and mouthwatering notes of salinity and orange oil. Stony, bright, and delicious. 11.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2022 LOLA Wines “The Artisanal Series – Straw Wine – Dry” Muscat, Calistoga, Napa, California
Light amber in color, this wine smells of baked spiced apples and honey. Faintly sweet flavors of apple pie mix with a touch of sarsaparilla and baking spices. Perfectly autumnal, with a faint nutty, pear-skin bitterness in the finish. Very unusual but quite pleasant in its own way. 13% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $70.

2023 LOLA Wines “The Artisanal Series” Cunoise, Yountville, Napa, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of struck match and blueberries. Crunchy acidity makes flavors of plums, plum skin, and boysenberries bright and citrusy. Chalky tannins coat the mouth and notes of berries and citrus peel linger in the finish. Lovely acidity, a little salinity, and a stony underbelly make for a mouthwatering package. 13% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $65. click to buy.

2021 Leo Steen Wines “Filigreen Farms” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of aromatic herbs and raspberries. Raspberry fruit has a faint resinous quality to it, as chalky tannins coat the mouth and notes of candied redcurrant and dried herbs linger in the finish. Excellent acidity and balance, with just a hint of salinity that keeps things mouthwatering. 12.5% alcohol. 150 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $65. click to buy.

2022 Leo Steen Wines “Red Table Wine – Casa Verde” Red Blend, Redwood Valley, Mendocino, California
Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine smells of boysenberry and huckleberries with notes of wet pavement. The wine is expansive and tingly on the palate, with chalky stony tannins that coat the mouth, and stony, crunchy fruit flavors ranging from boysenberry to plum to candied blueberry. A dusty herbal dryness runs through it all. Made in a glou-glou style with excellent acidity. An old vine field blend dominated by Carignan, Grenache, French Colombard, with some Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon carbonically macerated and then foot trodden. Aged in a combination of neutral oak and steel. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 11% alcohol. 285 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $24. click to buy.

2022 Leo Steen Wines “Ascona Vineyard” Cabernet Franc, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
An opaque, dark garnet in color, this wine smells of wet chalkboard, black plum, wet earth, and chopped green herbs. Plum and black cherry fruit flavors are wrapped in a fine-grained fist of stony tannins that coat the mouth. Fantastic acidity makes for a brisk freshness as herbs and crushed nuts mix with the dark brooding fruit. Notes of salty green herbs linger in the finish along with black plum and plum skin. A little tight at the moment, but very compelling. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $43. click to buy.

2019 Poliziano “Mandrone di Lohsa” Cabernet Sauvignon, Tuscany, Italy
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, blackcurrant, and leather. Cherry and leather flavors mix with dried herbs and cigar box notes as muscular tannins coat the mouth and begin to dry the palate. Excellent acidity adds freshness and lift, but this is a wine that still needs a little time. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $55. click to buy.

2019 Garofoli “Grosso Agontano – Riserva” Montepulciano, Conero, Marche, Italy
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of well-worn leather, cherry, and earth. Leather and cherry flavors are wrapped in a fleecy blanket of tannins as notes of orange peel and dried herbs brighten with the juicy acidity. The tannins flex their muscles and squeeze with time, leaving dried herbs and leather on the finish. Excellent acidity. 14% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $34. click to buy.