Bob Lindquist turned a one-time hobby into a full-time job when, armed with a small bank loan, he established Qupé Vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Today he produces 20,000 cases a year. Lindquist specialises in Rhône-style wines and in 2015 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhône Rangers organisation. He’s only the third to receive it, the other two being our other Californian friends – Randall Grahm (Bonny Doon) and Bob Haas (Tablas Creek).

A wonderful alternative to Chardonnay and superb food wine, this is full and rich, an extremely generous mouthful of apple, pineapple and pear. With notes of honey, nougat and vanilla, there is loads going on here, all bound together with balanced acidity. This screams “try me with shellfish”.

The 2012 Pinot Noir Laurene is a barrel selection from the cellar and in this vintage represents around 150 barrels. It is matured in 20 to 25% new oak. Arron mentioned that he has noticed more fruit coming from blocks in the eastern sector of the vineyard being selected for this blend. This has a soft bouquet with red cherries, cranberry leaf, light undergrowth notes and a touch of autumn leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine balance: intermingling red and black fruit, quite sappy in style and inducing fine salinity at the back of the mouth. This possesses a natural flow with a very appealing, Old World-influenced finish. This is very stylish and one of my picks from their current releases.
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate. 31st March 2015. 

2012 was a textbook vintage in Napa. Above average warmth and sunshine, but with no major heat spikes to damage the crop. September and October saw some fine weather allowing the Cabernets to ripen perfectly on the vine with little disease pressure. Classically Californian in style, these are rich, concentrated wines that will reward extended cellaring, all in all, a great vintage.

Inglenook was established in the top-rated Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley in 1879 by a Finnish sea captain, Gustave Niebaum. After a chequered history, which included the winery shutting down during prohibition, the estate regained its original reputation for producing very fine wine during the 1940s when it was owned by John Daniel. Now owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola he has brought on board a smorgasbord of talent in the guise of viticulturist Stephane Derenoncourt and winemaker Philippe Bascaules, from Chateau Margaux.

Ridge’s 2012 Proprietary Red Geyserville is a blend of 71% Zinfandel, 19% Carignan, 7% Petite Sirah and the rest Mourvédre and Alicante Bouchet. It exhibits a dark ruby/plum color, loads of berry fruit intermixed with earth, pepper and spice, and good freshness as well as precision. This sensual, spicy 2012 can be consumed over the next 5-6 years.
91/100 Robert M. Parker, eRobertParker.com #215 Oct 2014

Woodbridge’s vineyard tucked away near the famous Eisele Vineyard, now owned by Château Latour, produces the wine known as the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Few and Far Between Vineyard. This is another luxurious, exceptionally concentrated and loaded wine with great intensity, a multi-dimensional mouthfeel, unbelievable amounts of blackberry, cassis and blueberry fruit, crushed rock minerality, and a floral note. It is easily the most backward of the five Cabernet Sauvignons I tasted from Woodbridge in 2012. The wine is super-intense, displays plenty of tannin, but is silky and well-integrated. This wine needs at least 4-5 years of cellaring, and should keep for 30-50 years, as it promises to be one of the modern-day legends from Napa.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - The Wine Advocate, 28th Aug 2015

It is not often that I am this mesmerised by the scent of a wine, so much so that the aromatics are almost enough to satisfy.  Dark cherry, black plum, blackberries, cacao, smoke, blueberries sage, all wrapped up in fine grained oak.

Thankfully the palate is just as good, with more of the same plus dark raspberry, blackcurrant, liquorice and vanilla. The beautifully balanced acidity is super refreshing, the power is restrained and the classical elegance is apparent. This has all of the old world restrain, structure and age ability that you could desire. As one of the great Cabernet Sauvignons of America, it is certainly capable of aging for 8-15 years.
Laura Atkinson-Godwin, Private Account Manager

There is an abundance of bright cassis fruit initially on the nose, definitely an Opus signature, with charcoal and spice from the French oak mingling in the background. The palate has plenty of ripe black fruit but this is not at all overworked or overripe, showing its Bordelais pedigree. There is a streak of freshness underpinning the wine, which along with beautiful, silky tannins make this one to forget in the cellar for a decade.
Fergus Stewart - Private Account Manager

Bright in colour and swathes of Cassis, Damson and Blueberry fruit on the nose with hints of flint and mineralite in the background. A richly textured palate with an abundance of juicy dark berried fruit tempered by the sensibility of Mocha, espresso bean and smoke. The tannins are lush and melded tightly into the wine with a great acidity that gives it a beautiful lift.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

A charming, enticing and complex nose of layered cassis, damson and blueberry fruit, underpinned with a hint of graphite/tobacco and peppery exotic spice.  Full bodied on the mid palate and yet with a velvety and fluid personality, great acidity offering real lift.  Amazing palate truly emphasizing the philosophy of iron fist & velvet glove – true power versus balance and harmony. 

So well balanced and fluid now but will easily age another 20 + years. Truly cerebral, the alchemy of blending grapes from the Fay & S.L.V. vineyards in exceptional years to produce Cask 23 has truly worked, a whole that is indeed greater than the simple sum of its parts.  The flagship wine back on form, confirming its status as one of California’s best and why it outshines many a classed growth Bordeaux. 2022 – 2035+.
Stuart Rae, Private Account Manager

Stag's Leap Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably good enough to be most serious wineries top bottling as on first tasting it is hard to see where Christophe Paubert can go to improve on it. Through the wine he demonstrates the gentle yet assured touch of a true artisan with the plump, upfront fleshy fruits coupled with velvetine rose petals and a hint of pot-pouri derived in part from the oak.

Tending towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum there is still a definite red/black raspberry freshness that counterbalances the gloriously chocolatey tannins and hides a moderately dense core. A broad mouth feel from start to finish and a wine that delivers instant satisfaction. Wine craftsmanship at its highest level. Drink now to 2025.
Peter Newton, Private Account Manager