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 get the summer beach party started with the reliably delicious Sauvignon Blanc from Spottswoode Winery. Made of fruit from both Napa and Sonoma Counties, the wine offers a somewhat classic profile of Sauvignon Blanc, with lovely tropical and green apple notes, and a hint of salinity. It’s a favorite around my house.

This past week, I was also treated to a debut wine from the venerable Silver Oak Cellars in the form of the first white wine they’ve ever produced. Their 2025 Sauvignon Blanc marks a major milestone in the evolution of the Silver Oak brand. It’s got a nice profile and will likely find many fans amongst the existing customer base, but I’d love to see it get a bit racier in the future.

While we’re in Sauvignon Blanc territory, I also tasted one from a winery that I’ve never heard of, called Balsall Creek in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Founded by Jon and Lesli Owens, a couple with deep family roots in Oregon, the winery launched in 2023. They sent along a number of wines for me to taste this week, in addition to their Sauvignon Blanc, including their Estate Pinot Noir and a Gamay. But my favorite of the wines was their Chardonnay, which had a lovely lemony personality with a kiss of oak.

Also from Oregon, Finite Cellars is run by husband and wife Ben Eyer and Stephanie Bojarski. The two met in grad school and survived an engagement temporarily postponed by a harvest job in Chile for Ben, who decided to drop out of his Doctorate in Organic Chemistry and go be a winemaker instead. I tasted a couple of Pinot Noirs and a Chardonnay from them this week, and also loved their Chardonnay the most of the three, thanks in large part to the positively electric acidity it had to offer.

Let’s finish out this week with three Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa, each with its own distinct character. Far Niente crafts popular and contemporary Cabernet Sauvignons for a large fan base of customers. Their 2023 is very much in keeping with their house style, rich and full-bodied but not over the top, with a substantial helping of new French oak.

Taplin Cellars is the work of the 5th generation of Taplins to live in Napa Valley, and one of the few remaining family-run wineries with that kind of history. Their Terra 9 Cabernet Sauvignon offers an unusual combination of rich dark fruit but with a more restrained 13.9% alcohol and a fair share of new oak. I wish they’d opt for lighter bottles, as their current bottle is offensively heavy and horrible for the environment.

Lastly, my favorite of the three Cabernets I tasted this week was the 2022 vintage from Smith-Madrone up on Spring Mountain. Brothers Stu and Charlie Smith have been making classically styled wines from their hillside vineyards for more than 50 years. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that their 2022 vintage shows very little of the heat effects that characterized many other Cabernets from the same vintage. The combination of their tree-shaded hillsides and so many decades of experience meant for an elegant and very ageworthy bottling from a trickier-than-normal year.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2025 Spottswoode Winery Sauvignon Blanc, North Coast, California
Palest greenish-gold in color, this wine smells of green apple, cut grass, and a kiwifruit. In the mouth, green apple and kiwi flavors have a grassy note and a nice salinity backed by excellent acidity. Very pretty and classic in its profile. As always, reliably delicious. 14% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2025 Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc, North Coast, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of green and golden apples, lemon pith, and vanilla. In the mouth, kiwi and passionfruit flavors mix with saline green apple and a hint of vanilla, as very good acidity keeps things fresh and bright. Silky textured. Contains 8% Sauvignon Gris and 1% Sémillon. 14.2% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.

2022 Balsall Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Palest greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of candied green apples and passionfruit. In the mouth, the wine is tropical, with guava, passionfruit, and green apple flavors bright with very good acidity and backed by a light chalky texture. 13.1% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45.

2021 Balsall Creek “Estate” Chardonnay, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Pale gold in color, this wine smells of candied lemon peel, buttered sourdough toast, and a hint of orange peel. In the mouth, bright lemon peel and lemon juice flavors are juicy with excellent acidity as hints of toasted nuts and oak linger in the finish. 13.2% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $45.

2024 Finite Cellars Chardonnay, Laurelwood District, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith and wet pavement, white flowers and dried herbs. In the mouth, vibrant, even electric acidity makes flavors of lemon and pomelo pith juicy and vibrant on the palate. A hint of bitter lemon lingers in the finish with a hint of resin. 12.9% alcohol. 225 cases made. Packaged in a reusable bottle by Revino. Score: around 9. Cost: $45.

2024 Finite Cellars “RPG Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of cherries, earth, and a touch of dried herbs. In the mouth, cherry and raspberry flavors mix with raspberry leaf and chopped herbs as sweet oak rises to prominence in the finish. Very good acidity and light sandpapery tannins. 13.5% alcohol. 125 cases made. Packaged in a reusable bottle by Revino. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $65.

2024 Finite Cellars “Gemini Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberries and cherries with a hint of cola and herbs. In the mouth, cherry and raspberry notes are shot through with dried herbs and cola nut as cottony tannins coat the mouth. Very good acidity and a hint of citrus peel linger in the finish. 13% alcohol. 125 cases made. Packaged in a reusable bottle by Revino. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $65.

2021 Balsall Creek “Estate” Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherries, raspberries, and warm felt. In the mouth, cherry and raspberry fruit is wrapped in sandpapery tannins as hints of oak and dried herbs linger in the finish. Very good acidity. 13.6% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $55.

2022 Balsall Creek Gamay, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of berries, green herbs, and a hint of blood orange. In the mouth, berry and blood orange flavors mix with dried herbs as a fleecy tannic texture coats the palate. Decent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2023 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, blackberries, and tobacco leaf. In the mouth, black cherries, blackcurrant, blueberries, and licorice flavors are wrapped in muscular tannins and shot through with sweet oak and violets. Very good acidity and length. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $100. click to buy.

2023 Taplin Vineyards “Terra 9” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Inky opaque garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, prunes, and licorice. In the mouth, black cherries, cassis syrup, and chopped green herbs have very good acidity, and are wrapped in fluffy, fleecy tannins that stay supple and smooth through a long finish. Fairly rich for its modest alcohol level, but not heavy. Aged for 18 months in 60% new French oak. 13.9% alcohol. 750 cases made. The unnecessarily heavy bottle weighs 1.66 kg when full. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $75. click to buy.

2022 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District, Napa, California
Dark to very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherries, conifer boughs, chopped green herbs, and blackcurrants. In the mouth, fine powdery tannins coat the mouth and surround a core of black cherry, black currant, cola, and licorice root. Excellent acidity keeps things fresh and bouncy on the palate, and the nicely restrained alcohol helps contribute to the overall sense of freshness, a nice achievement in what was a very warm vintage. Will benefit greatly from a year or three in the bottle. 14.2% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $65. click to buy.