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 was a particularly delicious week of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay tasting.

I recently received the appellation-level wines from Rhys Vineyards, the venerable, Burgundian-inspired project by venture capitalist Kevin Harvey, launched in 2004. For the last 20 years, Harvey’s team, currently led by winemaker Jeff Brinkman, has been making particularly exciting Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, Syrahs, Chenin Blancs, and, more recently, sparkling wines in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley. Rhys’ Anderson Valley and Santa Cruz Mountain “Estate” Chardonnays are both very attractive, but I prefer the slightly edgier Santa Cruz Mountains bottling. Interestingly, my opinion flips on the Pinot Noirs, as I prefer the Anderson Valley’s purity and verve.

This week, I’ve got a few more wines to recommend from Nicolas Jay in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Their Bishop Creek single-vineyard Chardonnay is a knockout of faintly reductive, saline, electric acidity brightness, and a perfect example of why people are getting so excited about Oregon Chardonnay these days. Both their Own Rooted Pinot Noir (which comes from 39-year-old vines planted on their own roots) and their Bishop Creek Pinot Noir are elegant and compelling.

Lastly, and far from least, I’d like to draw your attention to three more new releases from winemaker Jamie Kutch, who I think is making some of the best wines of his 20-year career at the moment. All three of the single-vineyard Pinots I’m recommending this week are fantastic, but his parcel selection from Mindego Ridge is positively stupendous. These wines have an electricity matched with power and delicacy that is breathtaking. They’re not easy to get your hands on, given the limited quantities in which they are made, but they are easily the equal of many California Pinot Noirs that sell for twice their price.

That’s all for this week. Notes on all these wines follow.

Tasting Notes

2023 Rhys Vineyards “Anderson Valley Estate” Chardonnay, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Palest greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lime pith, wet chalkboard, and white flowers. In the mouth, lime and white flowers mix with lemon pith and a hint of lemon oil. There’s a lovely silky texture here, but perhaps slightly softer acidity than I would like. A stony note emerges in the finish. Delicate and pretty.12.9% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $44. click to buy.

2023 Rhys Vineyards “Santa Cruz Mountains Estate” Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Pale gold in the glass with a hint of green, this wine smells of lemon pith, lime oil, wet chalkboard, and a hint of struck flint. In the mouth, bright lemon and lime flavors mix with a hint of orange oil as stony notes linger in the finish. Juicy and lithe. 13.3% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $54. click to buy.

2023 Nicolas Jay “Bishop Creek” Chardonnay, Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of citrus oil, crushed nuts, and grapefruit pith. In the mouth, lean and stony flavors of wet chalkboard, lemon pith, and nut skin have a nice taut quality and a lovely quartz-like depth. There’s just the barest hint of salinity there as well, that lingers with wet pavement in the finish. Fermented with ambient yeasts and then aged for 15 months in French oak. 13% alcohol. 200 cases made. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $90. click to buy.

2023 Nicolas Jay “Own Rooted” Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of cranberry, raspberry, and earth. In the mouth, fine tannins hang in a haze as a core of red berries and earth flow seamlessly across the palate. Excellent acidity and lovely texture. With hints of dried flowers in the finish. Lithe, energetic, and very compelling. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $100. click to buy.

2023 Nicolas Jay “Bishop Creek” Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberry and cherry fruit. In the mouth, bright and juicy raspberry and cherry flavors have a lovely stony quality as fine-grained tannins coat the mouth, and notes of toasted oak emerge on the finish. Excellent acidity and a lovely, seamless texture. Fermented with ambient yeasts and then aged for 15 months in French oak. 13% alcohol. 525 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $110. click to buy.

2023 Rhys Vineyards “Santa Cruz Mountains Estate” Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of perfumed raspberries and sour cherries. In the mouth, raspberry and sour cherry fruit flavors are wrapped in gauzy tannins and shot through with dried herbs and a hint of flowers. Very good acidity. There’s just a hint of bitter greens in the finish. 13.9% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $54. click to buy.

2023 Rhys Vineyards “Anderson Valley Estate” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry and cranberry fruit. In the mouth, bright and smooth cranberry and cherry flavors are wrapped in exceedingly fine, gauzy tannins as notes of herbs and flowers linger in the finish. Bright and juicy, with great acidity. 13.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $49. click to buy.

2024 Kutch Winery “McDougall Ranch” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of cherry and cranberry fruit with a hint of herbs and citrus peel. In the mouth, supple, fine-grained tannins surround a core of sour cherry and redcurrant tinged with raspberry. The tannins seem to gain weight over time, as juicy berries, citrus peel, and wet pavement linger in the finish. This is the final vintage that Kutch will make from this site. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $77. click to buy. (note this vintage will not be released until later in 2026).

2024 Kutch Winery “Bohan – Graveyard Block” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of redwood bark, raspberry pastilles, flowers, and citrus peel. In the mouth, raspberries, redcurrant, pomegranate, wet earth, and crushed stone are wrapped in gauzy supple tannins with fine-grained texture. Excellent acidity, lovely persistence, and length. There’s a great freshness here and length. Outstanding.13% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $75. click to buy. (note this vintage will not be released until later in 2026).

2024 Kutch Winery “Mindego Ridge – Ridgetop” Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of flowers, cranberries, sour cherries, and green herbs. In the mouth, intense citrus acidity makes the mouth water as raspberry and redcurrant flavors mix with sour cherry, dried herbs, and a faint hint of vanilla, all of which are incredibly aromatic. Gauzy tannins have an ethereal presence in the mouth. A stunner of a wine. 13% alcohol. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $69. (Note this inaugural parcel bottling will not be released until later in 2026).