Recommendations from the Chronicle’s tasting panel.
WHITE OF THE WEEK
2016 CHARLES KRUG SAUVIGNON BLANC
Overall score: 18.9 (8.9 for quality, 10 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with three scores of 9. “Orange blossoms and lemon-lime. Floral.” My score: 9. “Bright citrus flavors. Bold. Tasty.”
Alcohol: 13.4 percent
Varietal/blend: 100 percent sauvignon blanc Winery/vineyards: Krug is Napa’s oldest winery, founded in 1861 by the then-36-yearold Charles Krug, and has been owned by the Mondavi family for more than 70 years. The fruit is all from St. Helena. The 2016 vintage was typical for Napa and, in the end, the grapes spent enough time on the vine — picking took place in mid-August — to provide wonderful aromas and vibrancy.
Winemaking: Stacy Clark, who has been in charge since 2011, ferments the juice in stainless-steel tanks. Winemaker notes: “Bright, crisp acidity … this wine is well balanced with aromas of lime and grapefruit and flavors of citrus and passionfruit.”
Critical acclaim: Wine Enthusiast awarded a score of 90. “Fresh and lively in green grass, melon and pear, this well-made wine is restrained in ripeness and body, opting to highlight its stony minerality and a touch of gravel on the texture. It finishes light and breezy.”
Pairings: Goat cheeses, green vegetables (especially asparagus), oysters, delicate fish and dishes with herbal, briny sauces
Price: $12.79 at Spec’s
RED OF THE WEEK
2015 Z. ALEXANDER BROWN UNCAGED PROPRIETARY RED
Overall score: 19 (9 for quality, 10 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with five scores of 9 or higher. “Raspberries on the nose. Full-bodied, wellbalanced.” My score: 8.8. “Sweet black fruit.”
Alcohol: 14.5 percent Varietal/blend: Zinfandel, syrah, petite sirah
Winery/vineyards: Country singer Zac Brown partnered with the Delicato Family of wines and works closely with the Black Stallion Winery in Napa Valley. The fruit is sourced from a number of prime North Coast vineyards.
Winemaking: John Killebrew put the juice through primary and malolactic fermentation in stainless-steel tanks, then aged it in a mix of French and American oak. The final blend resulted from a tasting collaboration between Killebrew and Brown.
Winemaker notes: “Dark garnet in the glass with commanding aromas of blueberry, cassis and cedar that preview a bold, mouthfilling palate stacked with concentrated layers of ripe blueberry, black cherry and baking spice. Robust and full-bodied with excellent weight in the mid-palate, this complex wine leaves a lasting impression with a smooth, round and full finish.”
Pairings: Braised short ribs served with roasted brussels sprouts and yams
Price: $16.29 at Spec’s
ALSO RECOMMENDED
2014 JUSTIN ISOSCELES
Overall score: 18 (9 for quality, 9 for value)
Our tasters: It didn’t work for one taster, but eight gave scores of 9 or higher. “Loaded with bright-red fruit.” My score: 9. “Ripe and fat. Luscious.” Alcohol: 16 percent. Justin’s flagship wine is about three-fourths cab with the rest cabernet franc and merlot. It’s all Paso Robles fruit from vineyards that were first planted in 1981. The wine was fermented in stainless-steel, open- and closed-top tanks with twice-daily pump-overs, then spent 21 months in new French oak barrels.
Price: $68.99 at Spec’s
2016 ROBERT MONDAVI FUMÉ BLANC
Overall score: 18.4 (8.9 for quality, 9.5 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with two scores of 9 or higher. “Ripe citrus notes. Zesty.” My score: 8.9. “Bracing minerality and acidity.” Alcohol: 14.5 percent. Winemaker Genevieve Janssens uses just a pinch of semilion in this Mondavi classic “for broader mouth feel and enhanced complexity.” Most of the fruit comes from the Wappo Hill Vineyard in Napa Valley, and 70 percent of the juice was barrel fermented for added richness.
Price: $18.89 at Spec’s
2016 PROVENANCE SAUVIGNON BLANC
Overall score: 18.4 (8.9 for quality, 9.5 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with three scores of at least 9. “Flavors of pear. Great mouthfeel.” My score: 9. “On the sweet side but deliciously well made.” Alcohol: 13.9 percent. There’s a little semillion and muscat in this wine from Rutherford in the heart of the Napa Valley. Fermentation took place in both stainless-steel tanks and small barrels. Bâtonage over five months of sûr lie aging contributed to its silky texture.
Price: $23.99 at wine.com
2014 PAHLMEYER PROPRIETARY RED
Overall score: 17.4 (9.4 for quality, 8 for value)
Our tasters: Gave it a unanimous recommendation with one perfect score of 10 and eight of at least 9. My score: 9.4. “A big boy. Powerful fruit. Nicely structured. Voluptuous.” Alcohol: 15 percent. The blend is mostly cabernet but includes all the Bordeaux grapes with each varietal being vinified separately in more than 50 individual lots. It’s all mountain fruit from the famed Stagecoach Vineyard and another in Rancho Chimiles. The wine aged in high-end oak barrels for 20 months.
Price: $175 from pahlmeyer.com
dale.robertson@chron.com twitter.com/sportywineguy
About our recommendations
Eight to 12 tasters, a mix of industry professionals and knowledgeable consumers, convene once per month to sample 40 to 50 wines with Dale Robertson, the Chronicle’s wine columnist. The grape varietals are identified, but the labels are covered. A 10-point scale is used, with a taster’s score of 8.5 or higher considered a recommendation. The quality score is the average of the tasters’ scores. The value score and, hence, the overall score are determined by Robertson once a wine has been selected to receive a recommendation. Value is based on the price listed.