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2019 Gallica ALBARIÑO CALAVERAS COUNTY | MAY 2020

"Gallica is the latest act from winemaker Rosemary Cakebread, who was the longtime winemaker for Spottswoode Winery in Napa Valley. She buys this Albariño from the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Murphys, Calif., and produces an exquisitely refreshing wine from it, showing honeydew melon, underripe peach and lime zest. Asparagus makes the wine taste a little more austere, tipping the balance away from stone fruit, closer to citrus, and also brings out a hint of sweet basil." Esther Mobley

 

2018 Gallica cabernet sauvignon | JANUARY 2020

"The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon possesses off-the-charts intensity, richness and power. Inky blue/purplish fruit and soaring aromatics show tremendous depth and complexity for a young, embryonic wine at the beginning of its life. The 2018 is quite simply a thrilling wine. It is shaping up to the one of the finest - if not the finest - Cabernet I have ever tasted from Gallica and Rosemary Cakebread. Wow!" Antonio Galloni | 95-98 pts

 

2018 Gallica cabernet FRANC | JANUARY 2020

"The 2018 Cabernet Franc is rich and deeply layered, with striking inner perfume and tons of sheer appeal. Moreover, the 2018 seems to represent a move towards greater finesse. The choices to work with fewer pumpovers and larger format oak brings out a level of nuance here that is beguiling. Of course, the personality of the year helps, too. There is so much to like." Antonio Galloni | 93-96 pts

 

2018 Gallica GRENACHE | ROSSI RANCH | SONOMA VALLEY | JANUARY 2020

"The 2018 Grenache Rossi Ranch is brisk, savory and super-expressive. Even though it was bottled just three weeks before this tasting, the Rossi Ranch is wonderfully nuanced. Of course, it will be even better in a year or two. Time in the glass brings out pretty notes of dried cherry, tobacco, cedar and dried flowers. The 25% whole clusters are present, but not overpowering here, while aging in larger-format oak really allows the purity of the fruit to come through." Antonio Galloni | 93 pts

 

2017 Gallica CABERNET SAUVIGNON | JANUARY 2020

"The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is an attractive wine that shows a more mid-weight expression of the vintage. It is also quite a bit restrained for Gallica, where the Cabernet is typically more opulent and explosive. What impresses me most about the 2017 are its savory aromatics, persistence and finesse. Readers who expect a big, rich Cabernet won't find that here. Instead, the 2017 Gallica Cabernet is the kind of wine that needs a few years in bottle to be at its best. I won't be surprised if it turns out to be even better than this note suggests." Antonio Galloni | 94+ pts

 

2017 Gallica PETITE SIRAH | JANUARY 2020

"The 2017 Petite Sirah, from Rosemary Cakebread's home vineyard in St. Helena, is outrageously beautiful. Dark and ample in the glass, with terrific richness, the 2017 offers plenty of fruit - but very little, if any, of the tannins that can make young Petite forbidding. The 2017 spent 12 months in oak and then six months in steel, which really seems to have helped to preserve fruit vibrancy." Antonio Galloni | 94 pts

 

 2016 Gallica Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Ranch Vineyard | december 2018

"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Ranch Vineyard is dense, powerful and voluptuous in the glass. Even with all of its abundant richness, the 2016 is rather shy at this stage, perhaps because of its relatively recent bottling. Inky blue and purplish berry fruit, licorice, menthol, plum and lavender open up nicely over time, as the 2016 starts to show some of its more gracious, understated style. There is so much to admire in the 2016, but it will be a few years before all of the elements are fully melded together. The 2016 is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Cabernet Franc, both from Oakville Ranch." Antonio Galloni | 96 pts

 

2015 Gallica Red Wine Oakville Ranch | March 2018

"The 2015 Red Wine Oakville Ranch Vineyard, Rosemary Cakebread's Cabernet Franc, is incredibly intriguing. It also is going to need at least a few years to soften, as the tannins are formidable at this early stage. A core of intense dark red cherry and plum fruit lies behind all of that tannin. Hints of cedar, woodsmoke, tobacco, grilled herbs and incense gradually emerge to give the wine its upper register. A dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon rounds out the blend. What a gorgeous wine this is." Antonio Galloni | 94+ pts

 

2010 Gallica cabernet sauvignon | may 2020

"Bright, medium ruby to the rim. Cassis, boysenberry, licorice and flowers on the nose. Plush, seamless and fleshy on entry, then utterly suave and mouthfilling in the middle palate, delivering fully ripe, layered, very deep flavors of dark berries, licorice and minerals complicated by coffee, mocha and dried herb nuances and lifted by a floral quality. Remarkably tactile, even full-blown, yet vibrant and delineated, finishing with substantial but plush tannins and building length. Very ripe and plush for this bottling, this wine is sweet enough to give great pleasure right now. I find it more accessible than the '09 was a year ago." Stephen Tanzer | 95 pts

 

2009 Gallica cabernet sauvignon | july 2019

"Bright, full ruby. Very ripe scents of blackberry, boysenberry, cassis, violet and cured tobacco, plus a note of licorice pastille that emerges with air. Juicy and sweet on entry, then densely packed and suave in the middle, showing excellent definition and energy to its intense flavors of red and black fruits, flowers and minerals. A hint of black pepper adds lift. Still youthfully restrained and tight, and not at all outsized, this Cabernet finishes with a firm spine of refined tannins and sneaky rising length. No corners on this beauty! My sample gained in sweetness over 48 hours without losing its freshness. This utterly seamless wine is unwinding nicely and is almost ready to drink. " Stephen Tanzer | 94 pts

 
 
 

2016 Gallica CABERNET SAUVIGNON | OAKVILLE | JANUARY 2019

"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (there’s 17% Cabernet Franc in the blend) was brought up in 42% new French oak. It offers a sensational bouquet of blackberries, black raspberries, cassis, graphite, and toasted spice, with some savory tobacco and herbal notes with time in the glass. It’s deep, full-bodied and layered, with sweet yet present tannins. Drink this concentrated, sexy Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon any time over the coming 15-20 years." Jeb Dunnuck | 96 pts

 

2015 Gallica CABERNET SAUVIGNON | OAKVILLE | December 2017

"Brought up in 60% new barrels, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon offers classic notes of lead pencil shavings, crème de cassis, white chocolate, licorice and hints of flowers. Ripe, yet pure, elegant and polished on the palate, with building tannin, it’s a gorgeous Cabernet that has everything you could want from this vintage." Jeb Dunnuck | 95+ pts

 
 

2017 cabernet SAUVIGNON Oakville | October 31, 2019

"Blended with 16% cabernet franc, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is deep garnet-purple in color and springs from the glass with expressive black currant cordial, warm plums and blueberry compote plus Indian spices, earth and lilacs with a cedar waft. The medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and packed with expressive fruit and seamless freshness, finishing long. Very impressive!" Lisa Perrotti-Brown | 96 pts

 
 

2016 cabernet SAUVIGNON Oakville | October 29, 2018

"Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is blended of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Cabernet Franc. It sings of blackcurrant cordial, blueberry pie and warm plums with touches of licorice, violets, cigar box and all spice. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the mouth with energetic fruit plus a firm, velvety frame and oodles of freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note." Lisa Perrotti-Brown | 96+ pts

 

2015 cabernet franc Oakville | October 31, 2017

"The 2015 Cabernet Franc from Gallica is a deep garnet-purple color with a nose of crushed red currants, mulberries and cherries with touches of pencil shavings, lavender, earth and bouquet garni. Full, firm and grainy with youthful, crunchy fruit and great depth, it finishes with lively lift." Lisa Perrotti-Brown | 95 pts

 

2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville | December 30, 2016

"This blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc is a beauty. Dense ruby/purple, with notes of camphor, incense, blue and black fruits and forest floor, the wine hits the palate with a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, beautiful fruit purity, integrated acidity, tannin ad an elegant, long finish. This is another example of Napa Cabernet at its quintessentially most elegant. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. " Robert M. Parker, Jr. | 94 pts

 

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon | December 2010

"And speaking of flowery wines, the 2007 Gallica (96% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) is a tiny production from a vineyard slightly above the Dalle Valle Vineyard in Oakville. Blended with 45% fruit from further south in the cooler area of Coombsville, as well as a small amount from a St. Helena vineyard. The wine aged 21 months in two-thirds new French oak and bottled without filtration. Outrageously seamless in its opulence, this fragrant, dense purple Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a glorious nose of blueberries, black currants, licorice, lead pencil shavings, and spring flowers (violets perhaps, rather than roses?). Medium to full-bodied, powerful yet elegant, fabulously pure, textured, and layered, this is wine that builds incrementally in the mouth and finishes with a resounding intensity and purity. A classic and prodigious Cabernet Sauvignon, it should drink well for 20+ years.

A new project from long-time Spottswoode winemaking assistant Rosemary Cakebread, she is off to a roaring start ---make no mistake about that. The winery name obviously has a double meaning, in that Gallica is the earliest known cultivated species of the rose, utilized in French perfumeries." Robert Parker | 99 pts

 

 

2019 “Rorick Heritage Vineyard” Albariño, Calaveras, Sierra Foothills, California

"Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of steely green apple and white flowers. In the mouth, very lean and racy green apple and lime zest flavors mix with pomelo pith and a touch of honeysuckle. One of the more varietally correct Albariños from California I’ve ever tasted. Excellent. Contains a tiny bit of Muscat Blanc. 13% alcohol. Grown at 2000 feet elevation, certified organic. " Alder Yarrow | Score between 8.5 and 9

 
 

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