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.

This past week I received a few new releases from Spur Road Wines, a wine project by Sam and Amanda Buckingham a couple who are assistant winemakers by day, but in their spare time revitalizing the Nozzari vineyard on the Sonoma Coast in their spare time. When they took over the vineyard, it was neglected and overgrown with blackberry bushes. Now it’s making some pretty interesting wines. They sent along their very competent and tasty white Pinot Noir along with its inverse twin, which I enjoyed but not quite as much as the blanc version. Their GFG single-vineyard bottling was also good, along with their Sonoma Coast blend. This is an interesting young label to watch, for sure.

I also received a bunch of recent releases from Waits-Mast Cellars, a project that I have watched grow from its very infancy into the established and reliably excellent producer that it is today. Jennifer Waits and Brian Mast lived in my neighborhood in San Francisco, and I would see them at the local community wine parties I threw every few months as a way of giving away wine samples. They eventually brought along a bottle they had just made at an urban custom crush facility in San Francisco, and continued to show me their increasingly serious efforts over the years. These days they employ winemaker Shalini Sekhar and source fruit from some of the top vineyards in Anderson Valley. My favorites this week were their interpretations of the Nash Mill and Oppenlander vineyards, but all four wines they sent me were delicious.

Last but not least, I got a chance to taste the latest Cabernet Sauvignon from Mayacamas Vineyards which is just being released by the winery. Their 2022 shows the estate’s characteristic restraint in ripeness and oak usage, while also nicely avoiding any signs of what was a pretty hot vintage. The wine is smooth, energetic, and wonderfully balanced. If you like old-school styling in your Cabernet Sauvignon, with potential for long ageability, Mayacamas is still a very good buy, even as it gets more expensive.

Notes on all these wines below.

Tasting Notes

2025 Spur Road “Nozzari Vineyard” White Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Palest straw to the point of being near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of cherries, citrus peel, and yellow raspberries. In the mouth, bright berry and citrus pith flavors have a nice snap to them thanks to excellent acidity. There’s a light herbal note here as well, adding complexity as the mouth waters. 12.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2024 Spur Road “Nozzari Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of cranberries, cherries, chopped green herbs, and a touch of forest floor. In the mouth, powdery, gauzy tannins drape around a core of forest floor, cranberries, raspberries, and dried herbs. There’s a hint of bitter orange peel in the finish. Excellent acidity. 13.2% alcohol. 50 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $58. click to buy.

2024 Spur Road Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in the glass with a faint haze, this wine smells of wet earth, chopped green herbs, and lettuce with a hint of berries. In the mouth, savory and earthy notes of raspberries and pomegranate seeds have a faint sawdust quality and dusty tannins. Very good acidity. A hint of sawdust and vanilla linger in the finish. 12.8% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $47.

2024 Spur Road “G.F.G. Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Light to medium garnet in color, this wine smells of wet earth, raspberries, and chopped aromatic herbs. In the mouth, raspberry and chopped herb flavors are wrapped in gauzy, powdery tannins as very good acidity keeps things fresh on the palate. Herbs and sweet oak linger in the finish. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $58.

2023 Waits-Mast Cellars “Mariah Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Mendocino Ridge, Mendocino, California
Light ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of red apple skin, raspberries, and citrus peel. In the mouth, bright raspberry and orange peel flavors are shot through with dried herbs and wrapped in gauzy, ethereal tannins. Excellent acidity, with a lovely texture. 14% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2024 Waits-Mast Cellars “Nash Mill Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of forest floor, dried flowers, and raspberries. In the mouth, raspberry and sour cherry flavors are bright and tangy with excellent acidity as ghostly tannins hang back at the edges of perception. Notes of dried herbs, flowers, and earth linger in the finish with just a hint of tangerine peel. 12.9% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $60. click to buy.

2023 Waits-Mast Cellars “Filigreen Farm” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light to medium ruby in the glass, this wine smells of chopped aromatic herbs, raspberries, cherries, and forest floor. In the mouth, cottony tannins wrap around a core of cherry and cranberry fruit as dried herbs and dried flowers linger in the finish. The tannins flex their muscles and squeeze the palate a bit. 13.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $60. click to buy.

2022 Waits-Mast Cellars “Oppenlander Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherries and cranberries with a hint of wet earth. In the mouth, gauzy tannins wrap around a core of cherry and cranberry fruit with a hint of raspberry leaf and dried flowers that linger in the finish. Excellent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2022 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder, Napa, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wet earth, conifer boughs, blackcurrant leaf, and black cherry. In the mouth, fine tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and blackcurrant shot through with chopped green herbs and potting soil. Blackcurrant and green herbs linger in the finish. Excellent acidity and very supple, restrained tannins. 14% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $185. click to buy.