2014 North America

This Syrah is a careful juxtaposition between New World richness and Old World complexity and savouriness. Black olive, dark chocolate and bacon fat mingle with dark red fruits and spicy notes. The palate has ripe chewy tannins and zesty acidity that balances the concentration (and the alcohol).
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

Winemaker and owner Rod Berglund (also known as “The Rodfather” to friends) was a protegée of Joseph Swan and has been making the wines here since the late 1970s. Based in the Russian River Valley in California, Rod continues to make restrained wine in the style of Burgundy.

Light ruby in colour with some paling of the rim, this has pure and lifted red berry fruit aromas with a restraint and herbaceous note that is more commonly associated with Burgundian Pinot. The texture is silky, and the tannins fine-grained, with a supple and juicy coating. There is a spicy character that flows through the wine, which continues on the finish with a jasmine tea note. Drink now to 2028.

This wine is a bin-end, discounted by 20%.
Vivid ruby-red. Expansive, spice-accented aromas of red and blue fruit liqueur, Asian spices and candied flowers are lifted by a minerally nuance. Silky, broad and alluringly sweet in the mouth, offering sappy black raspberry, boysenberry and lavender pastille flavors that become more energetic with air. In a seamless, elegant style. A refreshing jolt of minerality adds focus and cut to the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish.
Josh Raynolds, Vinous (autumn 2017)

This wine is a bin-end, discounted by 20%.
Fog Monster is the exciting California project from Chris and Andrew Mullineux – the couple behind Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, one of South Africa’s most iconic names. Andrea is Californian, so in between harvests in the Cape and when visiting family in the US, the couple decided to start a small label – Fog Monster.

They make the wines at a custom-crush facility, working with fruit from some particularly special vineyards. The red comes from Bedrock – the same remarkable site that gives its name to the Bedrock Wine Co.. The vines were planted in the 1880s, and are a complex field blend, dominated by Zinfandel. Thanks to 50% whole-cluster, the wine is fresh and perfumed – with lifted red fruit and spice joining the core of darker fruit. The age of the vines gives the wine remarkable concentration. Layered and rich with fine-grained tannins, it builds to a long spicy finish. Drink now to 2025.

Between 70 and 100 percent whole-cluster depending on the vintage, the wine is foot-trodden before going into a traditional basket press. With natural yeasts, the wine spends 10 months in 70 percent new François Frères barrels, is then racked off its lees and then undergoes a further eight months’ ageing in barrel, then one year in bottle prior to release. At 14 percent alcohol, this Pinot is perfectly formed, with bright red fruit and rose perfume alongside well-integrated and handled tannins. There is a density that is a nod to Napa, but a measured character that is rather more “Old World” in style.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

The wines from the extremely hot drought year, 2014, were just bottled prior to my visit. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the vintage’s precociousness and front-end loaded, flattering style. It is medium to full-bodied, shows beautiful fruit purity, deep black raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, moving toward blacker berries. There is a floral characteristic, spice, and a full-bodied, lush mouthfeel with silky tannin. Drink it over the next 25 years.
Robert M. Parker, The Wine Advicate (autumn 2016)

I first encountered Flowers Chardonnay at a trade tasting a few years ago and was immediately impressed by both the depth of fruit and pure quality of the wine. The 2014 continues those initial impressions with a beautiful Chardonnay that marries Burgundian elegance with Californian fruit. Orange blossom, lime and a stony minerality combine with an almost saline note – the perfect balance between freshness and richness. Just a touch of buttered toast on the finish from the oak, which doesn’t dominate but plays a perfect supporting role. This surely ranks as one of the great Californian chardonnays. Drink 2016 -2022.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager 

A beautifully bright, pale gold colour.  The nose is enticing, full of aromas of Apple blossom, verbena with a background of wet stone, flint.  The palate is impeccably balanced, medium bodied and yet lifted by crisp, vibrant acidity.  Fresh flavours of Jazz apple, crisp pear and white fruit backed up by a hint of honeyed toast, finishing with great length.  A perfect example of what a cool Sonoma Coast Chardonnay should be. Richness, poise & balance all in one. 2016 – 2020.
Stuart Rae, Commercial Manager 

Brilliant energy from rich dense fruit and spicy floral tones on the nose. Blueberry, blackcurrant, strawberry – fresh and floral at the same time as rich, with cigar box, pepper and beautiful clove spiciness. Just a hint of something savoury underneath. The precision and purity on the palate will make you smile! Perfectly judged line of acidity to the vibrant fruit. Full bodied, powerful, and not overbearing at all, this is a joy to drink now, but will surely be at its best in another 10 years. Those that argue Cabernet is King would do well to show this to any non-believers.
Ben Grosvenor, Private Account Manager.

The 2014 S.L.V. is an exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, there’s a dense and concentrated core of dark berry fruit with notes of graphite, liquorice and menthol alongside.  Full bodied but there’s a precision and focus here, achieved via the acidity and the ultra fine, silky tannins – feels like a T-Rex on a leash. Lots of refreshing acid and mineral motes on the finish. There is a great deal to like here, will require time for everything to align, drink 2021 – 2030+.
Martyn Rolph, Fine Wine Sales Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd.