This big but polished wine composed of 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Sauvignon wraps its delicious, deep black cherry and blackberry flavors in silky tannins for an elegant expression overall. A full body and good persistence of the fruit create a lingering finish. — Jim Gordon

The Reserve Claret blends 72% Merlot and 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 20 months in 50% new French oak—generous aromas of spiced red plums, fig, and underbrush with lofty cedarwood. It builds with a creamy richness on the palate, and with air comes more generous red berry fruits, black cherry, and even blood orange with heady mocha notes layered amid sappy tannins. It's the Merlot that lends flesh, while the Cabernet brings heft and backbone. Yields were down 70% due to the Glass Fire.

Tasted by: Jonathan Cristaldi

The 2020 Claret Reserve is another terrific wine in this challenging vintage. It offers good depth in a slightly restrained style for this wine. Succulent dark cherry, plum, espresso, lavender and licorice open nicely. Overall, the 2020 feels a bit light in the mid-palate and a touch compact on the finish, but that is a pretty small critique in this vintage. 

-by Antonio Galloni on December 2023