Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up on my doorstep 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 arrived recently.

Let’s start off this week with a couple of wines from Spanish winemaker Pepe Ravenotos, who has rehabilitated an old farm named Can Sumoi in the Penedes region of Spain, and from which he is making wonderfully fresh, low-intervention wines. This week I’m recommending his lean and stony Xarel-lo and the energetic berry-driven blend of Grenache (or Garnatxa as they call it there) and Sumoll, an ancient indigenous variety so rare that it isn’t on the list of approved varieties for the Penedes region, hence that wine’s simple Spanish appellation.

Napa winemaker Rosemary Cakebread sent me some wines from her Gallica brand this week, including her Albariño from Lodi, and her just-released new wine, a Chenin Blanc from Napa. Both are quite tasty, with both energy and balance, but I find myself returning to the Albariño for its sheer steely zestiness.

Riesling is celebrating something of a birthday this year, 591 years-young if you must know, and so, some folks in Germany sent me some Rieslings, including the Gimmeldinger Kapellenberg Trocken bottling from Wiengut A. Christmann, who has been making Riesling since Riesling was 363 years old (1798). It’s a lean, stony example of the form for anyone who appreciates that side of the grape.

I also got two wines from winemaker Bibiana González Rave’s Cattleya Wines project. Rave, trained as a winemaker in France, hails from Colombia and has named her wine project after one of the orchid species that grows in the highland forests of her home country. This week, she sent me her Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both of which lean towards the richer, riper end of the spectrum, for those looking for a glass full of fruit.

The folks at Two Shepherds wines also sent along some new releases this past week, including their perennially tasty Picpol and skin-fermented Pinot Gris, as well as their first bottling ever of Gamay Noir. All three are made in the typical, clean, low-intervention style, and I can recommend all of them highly, though my favorite is the Pinot Gris, which will make any orange wine lover smile.

Last, but not least, I received the latest vintage release from Silver Oak Cellars, which needs no introduction for most wine lovers. Their 2021 Cabernet from Napa is a refined expression of one of my favorite vintages in recent memory. Fans of Silver Oak will certainly find this vintage to their liking.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2025 Can Sumoi Xarel-lo, Penedes, Spain
Palest gold in color, this wine smells of orange oil, citrus pith, and wet chalkboard. In the mouth, orange peel, pomelo pith, and wet chalkboard flavors have a lean, stony quality as excellent acidity keeps things mouthwatering and crisp. Bright and delicious with just a hint of green herbs in the finish. Destemmed and then fermented with ambient yeasts with malolactic conversion blocked, 80% in steel tanks and 20% in concrete with twice weekly battonage for three weeks. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $23. click to buy.

2025 Gallica “Terra Alta Vineyard” Albariño, Clements Hills, Lodi, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of green apple and lime zest. In the mouth, steely lime zest and lime pith flavors mix with green apple skin and wet chalkboard minerality. Crisp and bright and very tasty with a hint of salinity in the finish. Organically farmed. 13% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2025 Gallica “Ryan’s Vineyard” Chenin Blanc, Oak Knoll District, Napa County, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of pears, pear skin, white flowers, and grapefruit pith. In the mouth, silky pear and grapefruit flavors have a sneaky acidity that creeps up on you as notes of pear skin, citrus pith, and white flowers linger in the finish. Very pretty. Organically farmed. 12.2% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $58. click to buy.

2023 A. Christmann “Gimmeldinger Kapellenberg Erste Lage Trocken” Riesling, Pfalz, Germany
Pale yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of struck flint, citrus pith, and orange zest. In the mouth, crisp, bright orange peel and unripe pear flavors mix with a sourish crabapple and a hint of dried herbs as stony minerality crackles along with excellent acidity. Leans towards the austere side of things. Fermented with ambient yeasts in a combination of old barrels and stainless steel. 12% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2024 Cattleya Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Pale gold in color, this wine smells of lemon peel, melted butter, and lemon curd. In the mouth, lemon curd and pineapple flavors mix with lemon juice, browned butter, and a hint of phenolic bitterness. Crisp with very good acidity and a nice, silky body. Notes of butter and toasted oak linger in the finish. 14% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $65.

2024 Two Shepherds “Windmill Vineyard – Pig Pool” Picpoul Blanc, Dunnigan Hills, California
Pale straw in color, this wine smells of Asian pear, citrus zest, wet pavement, and dried hay. In the mouth, bright citrusy grapefruit and pear-skin flavors mix with yellow herbs and dried grass with a hint of lanolin. Excellent acidity. Certified organic fruit. Fermented with ambient yeasts, then aged in 40% stainless steel, 60% neutral oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 10.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $28. click to buy.

2025 Two Shepherds “Clarbec Vineyard – Skin Fermented Ramato” Pinot Gris, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California
Palest ruby with orange highlights, this wine smells of peaches, plums, and strawberries. In the mouth, juicy berry and citrus peel flavors mix with a hint of flowers and hibiscus as bright, juicy acidity keeps things vibrant and delicious. There’s a faint tannic texture to the wine, which adds complexity as herbs and dried flowers emerge in the finish. 12.1% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $30. click to buy.

2024 Two Shepherds Gamay Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Light blood red in the glass, this wine smells of dried flowers, blood oranges, and strawberries. In the mouth, vaguely meaty flavors of berries and blood orange mix with dried herbs and dried flowers. Faint gauzy tannins coat the mouth, and a note of Chinese prune candy lingers in the finish. Excellent acidity. Organically farmed grapes. Fermented with ambient yeasts. Aged for 10 months in neutral French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 12.2% alcohol. 50 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $44.

2024 Cattleya Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet cherry and cranberry fruit. In the mouth, cherry and cranberry fruit have a bright candied purity and aromatic sweetness as notes of vanilla and cherry linger in the finish. Fine tannins stay gauzy and supple. Comes across as a bit confectionery. 14% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $65.

2024 Can Sumoi “Garnatxa Sumoll” Red Blend, Spain
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of mulberries and balsamic-macerated strawberries. In the mouth, that balsamic strawberry flavor continues with notes of earth, dried herbs, and dried flowers. There’s a bright purple boysenberry note in the finish. Excellent acidity and faint gauzy tannins add energy and texture. A blend of Grenache and Sumoll destemmed and fermented with ambient yeasts in stainless steel. Aged for 9 months in 80% stainless steel, 20% neutral oak. 13% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $26. click to buy.

2021 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Napa County, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, pipe tobacco, and mocha. In the mouth, black cherry, mocha, licorice, and pipe tobacco notes are wrapped in fine, fleecy tannins that gain stiffness over time. Notes of coconut and whiskey barrel linger in the finish along with cherry and mocha. Very good acidity. Nicely balanced, but a bit wood-influenced for my taste. 14.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $158. click to buy.