Bright and jazzy, this is light on balance but still zingy, offering pear, pineapple and lime flavors that don't quit. Drink now.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: May 31/10]

The 2008 Pinot Gris continues their string of winners, offering notes of honeyed orange blossom, baked apple pie, and white currants. This fresh, unoaked, medium-bodied white reveals good acidity, and fills the mouth with joy. Consume it over the next year.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #187 / Feb 2010]

The 2009 Naia is 100% Verdejo with 12% of the wine fermented and aged sur lie in French oak, 88% in stainless steel. Light gold-colored, it gives up an impressive perfume of baking spices, floral notes, and pit fruits. On the palate it has surprising richness (from the lees aging and the exceptional vintage conditions), terrific concentration, and a lengthy finish. It should drink well for another 3 years.

Wine Advocate Rating: 91

[Issue: #188 / April 10]

The Verdejo grapes for the 2009 Shaya are sourced from both estate vineyards and local growers with vine age ranging from 75-112 years. The wine was barrel-fermented and aged on its lees. Medium straw-colored, if offers up an alluring aroma of baking spices, spring flowers, and peach. On the palate it has a creamy texture, vibrant acidity, and intense flavors leading to a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. It is a great value in dry, aromatic white wine that over-delivers in a big way.

Wine Advocate Rating: 91

[Issue: #188 / April 10]

Shows serious intensity of sliced apple and pear, with plenty of mineral and floral undertones. Full-bodied, offering a solid core of fruit and a bright, palate-cleansing finish. The mineral element is lovely. Drink now. 1,610 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: June 15/10]

The 2009 Botani was sourced from organically farmed 70-year-old Moscatel de Alejandria vines producing tiny yields. Thirty percent of the wine was barrel-fermented in neutral French oak, the rest in stainless steel. Medium straw-colored with a green tint, it displays a nose of mineral, spring flowers, acacia, and a hint of tropical aromas. The 2009 vintage has produced a wine with extra density and concentration. Although the aromatics suggest sweetness, the wine is dry but very fruity, refreshing, and exceptionally long. It is an outstanding value that over-delivers in a big way.

Wine Advocate Rating: 91

[Issue: #188 / April 10]

The current collection includes three white wines beginning with the 2008 Woodcutter’s Semillon. It displays an excellent nose of wax, lanolin, mineral, and melon that jumps from the glass. Smooth textured, concentrated, vibrant, and savory, this well-balanced effort will drink well for another 3-4 years.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #186 / Dec 09]

The 2009 Torrontes remains one of Argentina’s benchmarks for this variety. Sourced from 31-year-old vines in Cafayate (where the finest Torrontes grows), it displays a fragrant bouquet of spring flowers, honey, and tropical aromas. Medium-bodied and dry on the palate, it has ample fruit backed by vibrant acidity leading to a lengthy finish. Drink it over the next 2 years.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]

A beautiful white, off-dry yet vibrant and vivid, featuring apricot and peach, with underlying spice and mineral flavors. It's all balanced and well put together, with a clean finish. Drink now through 2018. 6,000 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: Feb 28/10]

Bright and refreshing, generous with its melon, apricot and mineral aromas and flavors, finishing with lime and herb notes that do not quit. Drink now. 30,000 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: Web only 2010]

The 2008 Pinot Gris Vitae Springs Vineyard has a classy perfume of baking spices, tangerine zest, and white peach. Smooth-textured and intense on the palate, this tasty effort will provide pleasure over the next 3 years. St. Innocent and owner/winemaker Mark Vlossak consistently deliver superb bang-for-the buck.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]

The 2009 Nora saw 10% of the wine fermented and aged sur lie in French oak with 90% stainless steel aged. Light gold-colored, it sports an expressive bouquet of mineral, lemon meringue, and baking spices. More concentrated than the Peitan cuvee and with greater depth, it has plenty of richness, impeccable balance, and a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. It admirably displays the high quality of the 2009 vintage in Rias Baixas.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: #188 / April 10]

A terrific wine whose slight residual sugar of 0.8% is balanced by crisp Monterey acidity that’s so firm, the wine finishes dry. Teases the palate with tangerines, Mandarin orange blossom, bosc pears, honeysuckle and vanilla, undergirded by a stony minerality.

Wine Enthusiast Rating: 90

[Issue: 08/01/09]

Few winemakers in California understand acidity better than Randall Grahm, and he provides plenty of it in this brilliantly clean, bone-dry wine. It cleanses the mouth with scoury flavors of lychee, lime, nectarine, minerals and peppery nasturtium, with a foresty, resinous quality suggesting pine cone.

Wine Enthusiast Rating: 91

[Issue: 08/01/09]

Light, bright yellow. Dusty lemon and lime pith and herbal aromas are underscored by talc and mustard seed. Tangy citrus and mineral flavors are complemented by deeper apple and pear qualities, with a kick of white pepper on the back half. The minerality dominates the finish, which is sharply focused, dry and quite persistent.

Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 90

[Issue: Mar/Apr 10]

This is light and bright, with a creamy edge to the flavors of lemon and melon, finishing with a hint of spice.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: Dec 31/09]

The 2008 Roero Arneis is an intensely mineral-driven offering laced with white peaches, flowers, almonds and smoke. This pure, crystalline Arneis offers remarkable focus and energy in a highly appealing style. These new releases from Correggia are impressive for their consistency, drinkability and varietal trueness. Even better, a number of the wines are terrific values as well.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #185 / Oct 09]

A wonderfully rewarding wine. It shows the dryness and crisp acidity you want in a savory white, and the fruit flavors, of peaches, grapefruits and green apples, are controlled and subtle. There’s just a touch of oak, which adds softness, and of creamy lees. Brilliant and distinctive. Albariño and Grenache Blanc.

Wine Enthusiast Rating: 92

[Issue: 12/15/09]

Pikes- 2009 Traditionale Riesling is light straw-colored with an enticing nose of mineral, lemon-lime, citrus, and floral notes. Ripe, exceptionally concentrated, and vibrant on the palate, it has the acid structure to evolve for 4-5 years and should drink well through 2019.

Wine Advocate Rating: 91

[Issue: #186 / Dec 09]

Light and dry, with pretty peach, green apple and star fruit aromas and flavors, persisting on the lively finish, remaining complex and vivid. Drink now through 2014. 403 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: Web only 2010]

Pale yellow. Spicy citrus and orchard fruits on the nose, with notes of fennel and white pepper adding energy. Tightly wound, focused grapefruit and lemongrass flavors are deepened by a note of bitter pear skin. The finish is taut, linear and refreshingly tangy.

Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 90

[Issue: Mar/Apr 10]

Offers a terrific combination of fresh peach and nectarine fruit and mineral. Vibrant, succulent and harmonious, with a long, mouthwatering finish and a nice savory aftertaste. Drink now through 2022. 1,500 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 91

[Issue: Nov 15/08]

Tangy, with slate augmenting apple and yuzu notes in this sleek, off-dry Riesling, which is well-proportioned, with a floral note in the aftertaste. Drink now through 2022. 250 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 90

[Issue: Dec 15/09]

Lovely, opulent aromas of apple pie, honey and peach follow through to a full body, with loads of fruit as well as abundant dried apricot and white pepper character and citrusy acidity. This is what Pinot Grigio should be. Drink now. 4,500 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 92

[Issue: June 15/10]

A fresh, stony style, with hints of green plum and green almond in reserve, while the floral, white peach and melon rind notes hold sway for now. A textbook version. Drink now through 2013. 2,400 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 91

[Issue: Feb 28/10]

Highly Recommended. Darker in color than most 2007 Sauternes, showing intense aromas of dried apricot, with toffee notes and an almost smoky character. Full-bodied and very sweet, with a full-blown dried fruit and raisin flavor. Long and superbly rich.

Wine Spectator Rating: 96

[Issue: Mar 31/10]

Lovely mango, buttered almond, quince and fig flavors glide along, while dried pineapple and orange blossom notes hang in the background. Well-embedded acidity carries it all easily on the lengthy finish. Should mellow and broaden nicely with moderate cellaring. Drink now through 2012.

Wine Spectator Rating: 92

[Issue: March 31/10]

Very pale yellow. Highly aromatic bouquet of lemongrass, lime, smoky minerals and anise, plus a hint of white pepper. Dry, focused and pure, offering mineral-laced citrus and orchard fruit flavors given grip by dusty minerals. The finish is refreshingly spicy and very persistent. This will be fleshier and deeper with a year's more bottle age.

Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 91

[Issue: Mar/Apr 10]

Fragrant and extremely spicy, with tobacco, citrus, quince, Asian pear, floral, green olive and faint smoky notes. Extremely focused and concentrated, with a fleshy texture and a long finish. Drink now through 2014. 1,061 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 92

[Issue: Aug 31/09]

A distinctive mix of candied berry, floral and citrus aromas and flavors that pick up salty, mineral notes as it glides across the palate. Lovely texture and harmony, with a tangy, savory aftertaste. Drink now through 2030. 1,000 cases made.

Wine Spectator Rating: 93

[Issue: Oct 31/08]

Fresh lime, cherry, mint, pennyroyal, honeysuckle, and apple blossom scent the Prums’ 2007 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett, which saturates the palate with cherry, lime, and liquid floral perfume while seeming to hover almost weightlessly above it. Salt, wet stone, and subtly alkaline mineral notes lend this a strikingly mineral cast, which however in no way detracts from the wine’s luscious fruit and lingering perfume, on the contrary, it helps highlight them. In the finish, incisive nips of citrus zest, and herb enhance the sense of liveliness. This and the other 2007 Prum single site Kabinett bottlings will retain their fruit and charm for at least two decades in bottle.

Wine Advocate Rating: 91

[Issue: #183 / June 09]

Weil’s 2008 Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken – sadly, the only remaining non-trocken, non-sweet wine in the estate’s line-up, and one whose continuance hangs by a thread – offers a lovely aroma of diverse flowers and herbs. Joined on a refined, delicate palate by fresh white peach over a base of stone, these contribute to a cool, restrained, yet lusciously refreshing personality typical for the Wasseros vineyard where this wine originates. Saline, crustacean notes add further savor to a long finish. At only 10.5% alcohol and 14 grams of residual sugar, I find this impeccably balanced, and you are guaranteed to discover myriad uses for it over the next 6-8 years, if not longer. Weil envisions this bottling disappearing (say it ain’t so!) – as did a Spatlese trocken that existed until this year – but also imagines his residually sweet Kabinett drying-out a bit.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #187 / Feb 2010]

Grieve's sensational 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Lovall offers abundant aromas of honeyed melon, gunflint, and citrus blossoms in an exuberant, medium-bodied, dry, fresh, well-delineated style. Enjoy this terrific Sauvignon over the next 2-3 years.

Wine Advocate Rating: 90

[Issue: #187 / Feb 2010]

Richly layered and detailed, with gorgeous almond, persimmon, golden raisin, creamed peach and mango notes that sail through the long, unctuous finish. Decadent and thoroughly delicious. Chenin Blanc. Drink now through 2012.

Wine Spectator Rating: 94

[Issue: May 15/08]

As for the white wines, the 2007 Viognier Estate appears to be the finest example of this cuvee they have yet made. The good news is that there are around 350 cases. It is not your typical blowsy Viognier, but one with strong minerality, excellent precision, and super-intense, concentrated, honeysuckle, apricot, and peach-like notes. Dazzling acid levels and the mineral component ooze throughout this wine, giving it tremendous character, personality, and complexity. I doubt it will age long as this varietal tends to oxidize quickly, but for drinking over the next several years, this is a terrific Viognier.

Wine Advocate Rating: 93

[Issue: #180 / Dec 08]

Fruit-driven aromas of apricot pit and quince, lifted by a floral element. The palate offers a rich, satiny texture with fine supporting acids. Juicy peach, mineral salts and nut oils are joined by slate on the long finish.

Int'l Wine Cellar Rating: 91

[Issue: Jan/Feb 09]

The 2005 Atlantis Fe 203-3e Roussanne Vin de Paille is a 100% Roussanne cuvee possessing 352 grams of residual sugar per liter. While it is a stunning effort, when tasted next to the two Mr. K. whites, it comes in slightly below those two out-of-this-world offerings. Incredible aromas of honeysuckle and marmalade are classic late-harvest Roussanne, and the wine�s sweet style is beautifully balanced by terrific acidity (12.5 grams of acid per liter).

Wine Advocate Rating: 97

[Issue: #177 / June 08]

The 2006 To the Rescue Roussanne Vin de Paille has 290 grams of residual sugar per liter. Despite its aging in 100% new oak, there is not a hint of wood to be found in the aromas or flavors. This remarkable sweet white exhibits abundant aromas of orange marmalade, rose petals, honeysuckle, brown sugar, and spice. It looks like 10W40 motor oil, but its ample acidity provides uplift and vibrancy to its enormously endowed, sweet personality. Who knows how long it will last, but it definitely has 15-20 years of longevity, and it may surprise us all by living for 40-50 years.

Wine Advocate Rating: 98

[Issue: #184 / Aug 09]