Hello and welcome to this week’s 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 couple of interesting non-alocholic sparkling wines from the folks Bolle Drinks Ltd., a British company that uses a secondary fermentation process to get their non-alcoholic wines to have a bit more of that wine-like quality. I’d say it works fairly well. I didn’t love these wines, but I have yet to find a non-alcoholic wine I love. These were definitely tolerable, however, and better than most I’ve tried.

The Donum Estate sent through their newest rosé of Pinot Noir, and it was a lean and bright expression of Pinot that was perhaps just slightly on the austere side for me, but definitely crisp and refreshing.

I also received a handful of wines from Lucia Vineyards, a project by the Pisoni Family in the Santa Lucia Highlands. They sent through their Estate Cuvées of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as their Soberanes Vineyard bottlings of each. I preferred the Soberanes wines, and the Pinot in particular, which offers a pretty cherry and raspberry profile.

Winemaker Rosemary Cakebread sent along the 2023 Grenache from her Gallica Wines label, which was a lovely expression of the grape, lush and bright, with juicy strawberry fruit, balanced by more savory tones that add complexity and depth.

I was lucky enough to get a big box of wines from Ridge Vineyards last week, so I’m going to be reviewing all their recent releases this week and next. This week I’m recommending their Three Valleys red blend, their Estate Cabernet (which some people call the Baby Monte Bello), their Lytton Springs field blend, and their only-ocassionally-bottled Lytton Estate Petite Sirah. All the wines are worthy of attention, but the Cabernet and Lytton Springs bottlings were standouts, with the latter being positively fantastic.

Last but not least, I can recommend the Cabernet Franc from the Maremma-based Tenuta Casadei, which produces a wide range of certified organic IGT wines farmed with biodynamic techniques about 18 kilometers from the ocean on the west coast of Tuscany. Their Cabernet Franc is wonderfully juicy and built to age well.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

NV Bolle “Blanc de Blancs” Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine, USA
Light yellow-gold in the glass with coarse bubbles, this wine smells of sea air, lemon peel, and a hint of sweet brioche. In the mouth, lightly sweet flavors of lemon and apple have a nice bright tanginess to them, and soft, prickly mousse. Slightly sweeter than I would like, but definitely wine-like in flavor and body. Very good acidity. Less than 0.5% alcohol. Contains 2.8g sugar. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $38. click to buy.

NV Bolle “Rosé” Non-Alcoholic Rosé Sparkling Wine, USA
Pale peachy pink in color, this wine smells of citrus peel, cherries, and a hint of sea air. In the mouth, a soft mousse delivers faintly sweet flavors of berries, apples, and a touch of wet chalkboard. There’s a nice tangy quality to the finish. Comes across as less sweet than its sibling bottling, even though it has more sugar. Very good acidity. Less than 0.5% alcohol. Contains 3g sugar. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $30.

2024 Donum Rosé of Pinot Noir, Carneros, Sonoma, California
Palest peachy pink in the glass, this wine smells of citrus peel, berries, and dried herbs. In the mouth, dried herbs, tart raspberries, and raspberry leaf have a very savory quality to them, with a hint of salinity, as citrus peel and redcurrant notes linger in the finish with a touch of bitterness. Excellent acidity. Whole-cluster pressed and then fermented with ambient yeasts in neutral oak. Aged for 3 months on the lees. 12% alcohol. 900 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $50.

2023 Lucia Vineyards “Estate Cuvée” Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon curd, grapefruit, and a hint of butterscotch. In the mouth, lemon curd, butterscotch, and roasted nut flavors have a nice silky texture and very good acidity. A hint of bitterness lingers in the finish. Fermented with ambient yeasts in 40% new French oak, where the wine then ages for 12 months. 14.1% alcohol. 708 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2023 Lucia Vineyards “Soberanes Vineyard” Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California
Light gold in the glass with a hint of green, this wine smells of lemon curd, lemon zest, and vanilla. In the mouth, bright and zippy flavors of lemon curd, pineapple, and lemon zest mix with pink grapefruit flesh and pith. Excellent acidity gives this wine a nice vibrancy. Faintly bitter notes of nut skin linger in the finish. Fermented with ambient yeasts in 30% new French oak, where the wine then ages for 17 months before bottling. 14.1% alcohol. 210 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $65. click to buy.

2023 Lucia Vineyards “Estate Cuvée” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of ripe cherry fruit and a hint of black cherries. In the mouth, cherry and black cherry flavors mix with dried herbs and a hint of cola as bright acidity keeps things fresh and gauzy tannins coat the mouth. Fermented with ambient yeasts and 18% whole-cluster. Aged in 40% new French oak for 11 months. 14.2% alcohol. 2300 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2023 Lucia Vineyards “Soberanes Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet raspberries and cherries. In the mouth, ripe raspberry and cherry flavors are wrapped in ghostlike tannins as notes of dried herbs and a touch of licorice root linger in the finish. Excellent acidity keeps the ripe fruit from being too rich. Fermented with ambient yeasts. Aged in 45% new French oak for 11 months. 14.1% alcohol. 394 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $65. click to buy.

2023 Gallica “Rossi Ranch” Grenache, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of strawberries and cherries. In the mouth, powdery tannins coat the mouth as rich strawberry and dried herb flavors mix with a hint of road dust. Nice savory dried herb notes linger in the finish with just a hint of bitterness. Excellent acidity. 14.2% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2023 Ridge Vineyards “Three Valleys” Red Blend, Sonoma County, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberries, licorice, and blueberries. In the mouth, bright blackberry and blueberry flavors are juicy with excellent acidity as ghostlike tannins hang at the edge of perception and juicy hints of peach and citrus linger in the finish with the faint coconut scent of American oak. A blend of 71% Zinfandel, 16% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro and 2% Alicante Bouschet. 14.6% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2022 Ridge Vineyards “Estate – Monte Bello Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Very dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black cherries, whisky barrel, blackberries, and dried herbs. In the mouth, electric acidity makes the mouth water as flavors of black cherry, blackberries, and sweet American oak swirl on the palate. Intense in flavor but without any weight, this is a wine that will improve as the oak becomes more integrated. For now, there’s a very strong oak signature in the finish. Give this 3-5 years and watch out. Pretty damn tasty already. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, and 5% Merlot. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $95. click to buy.

2023 Ridge Vineyards “Lytton Springs” Red Blend, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of blackberries, cola, cocoa powder, and licorice. In the mouth, wonderfully juicy flavors of blackberries, dried and fresh herbs, licorice root, root beer, and blueberries swirl in a technicolor haze as faint tannins coat the mouth. Outstanding acidity, complexity, and balance. Delicious. A field blend of 76% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane, 2% Alicante Bouschet, and 1% Mataro. 14.4% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $51. click to buy.

2022 Ridge Vineyards “Lytton Estate” Petite Sirah, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma, California
Very dark purple in the glass, this wine smells of ink, blueberries, black cherries, and licorice. In the mouth, rich and intense blackberry and blueberry flavors are zingy with electric acidity that manages to keep things fresh and mouthwatering despite the inky intensity of the fruit. Lightly grippy tannins coat the mouth and stiffen slightly with time. A hint of citrus peel lingers in the finish. 14% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2022 Casadei Cabernet Franc, Tuscany, Italy
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of plums and cherries with a hint of dried mint. In the mouth, juicy plum and cherry flavors are bright with excellent acidity as powdery tannins coat the mouth and stiffen slightly over time. Notes of sweet oak linger in the finish. A couple more years of bottle age will suit this wine well. Certified organic. 14% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $41. click to buy.