Vinography Unboxed: Week of 9/6/26

Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up on my doorstep asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have arrived recently.

This week I received a couple of wines from Shared Notes Wines, the Sauvignon Blanc-focused project by the wife-and-husband winemaking team of Bibiana Gonzalez Rave and Jeff Pisoni. I’m reviewing both of the wines they make under that brand this week, and both are excellent, with the caveat that their packaging in big, heavy bottles is effectively a big middle finger to the environment. There’s just no reason to package wines like this in bottles that literally weigh more than the wine they contain. Jeff and Bibiana should know better. OK, off of my soapbox, I think I prefer the straight Sauvignon Blanc to their blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, at least in the 2025 vintage. I love that both are harvested to result in lean, snappy wines that still have some herbaceous qualities in addition to their sunny fruit. Not everyone will be on board with paying nearly $100 for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, but those who are will find these wines enjoyable.

Chateau Montelena sent through their Sauvignon Blanc as well, and it seemed rather subdued in comparison to the Shared Notes wines, though it is also half the price.

This week I’m reviewing the Cuvée Esme Ann Chenin Blanc from Las Jaras Wines, which is one of my favorite California Chenins for its reductive, snappy, mouthwatering qualities. The fruit comes from the Junius Vineyard (formerly known as Norgard) in Mendocino County and is barrel-fermented and aged in oak, followed by 9 months in stainless steel.

This week I’m also reviewing another batch of wines from Geographic Wines, a project based in Portugal focused on making wines from many of the country’s different wine regions. This week I enjoyed their white blend from old vines in the Douro as well as their old vine red blend of more than 45 grape varieties from the same place. Sadly, these wines aren’t well distributed outside of Europe, so no buying links to offer to my readers for these. Also, the brand’s website is broken, so I can’t even give you somewhere to learn more about them.

I’ve got a couple of old-vine Zinfandels to recommend this week, from Limerick Lane Cellars, whose Marquis Zinfandel comes from a number of storied old-vine Zinfandel vineyards around Sonoma County and has a tremendous juicy lift with little trace of its substantial alcohol levels.

The 2023 Ridge Lytton Springs is a perennial favorite of mine for its complexity, impressive ageworthiness, and just generally mouthwatering offering of blue and black fruits. The 2023 vintage is an impressive edition of this wine that will likely be great for decades.

Speaking of the 2023 vintage, it also did good things for Tierra Roja wines in Napa’s Oakville AVA, where proprietor Linda Neal farms just over 4 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. Neal worked as a vineyard manager for others in Napa for many years before deciding to focus exclusively on her own property. She makes just a single wine from the plot each year, and the 2023 vintage is certainly one of the best that winemaker Benoit Touquette has made for her.

The name Giacomo Borgogno is well known in Italy’s Piedmont region for having made Barolo since 1761, making it the oldest continuously operating producer in the region. As in many European countries, Italian wines are subject to tasting panels before they are approved to carry the Barolo DOCG designation. In 2005, Borgogno submitted two cask samples to the tasting commission, and one was rejected for not seeming typical in color, despite being made exactly the same as the one that had been accepted. In protest, Borgogno declassified the wine, and No Name Langhe Nebbiolo was born, bearing the designation “a protest label” against…