Wines from Mt. Veeder, Sonoma County, and the SLO Coast

Eight notable wines from recent tasting

Welcome back to Notable, where twice a month I publish notes from recent tasting.

Today’s wines are coincidentally all Californian. We start with two new releases from Mayacamas, a Chardonnay and a Merlot. Next are a Pinot noir rosé and a Chardonnay from Alma de Cattleya, the second label of winemaker Bibiana González Rave. To finish we have four crisp whites from Cadre Wines in the Saint Luis Obispo Coast.

Mayacamas

Mayacamas sprawls across 475 acres of Mt. Veeder, the appellation on the western blade of Napa Valley. The estate’s been farmed since 1889, when John Henry Fisher purchased land and built the original stone winery that still stands today. Jack and Mary Taylor bought the property in 1941, renaming it Mayacamas and introducing improvements to the winemaking. They also planted the site’s first Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

In 1968 Bob Travers began his long tenure at Mayacamas, making wine until 2013, when apparel entrepreneur Jay Schottenstein bought the estate. Schottenstein launched a vineyard refresh overseen by veteran viticulturist Phil Coturri. He also hired twenty-six-year-old winemaker Braiden Albrecht, plus a consulting winemaker and consulting viticulturist.

The literal fruits of this reboot were just coming ripe in 2023 and 2024 when the two wines below were produced. Farming of the estate’s 50 acres of vines follows organic and biodynamic practices. The winemaking is classical, relying on neutral wooden vessels ranging from large foudre to barrique.

Mayacamas Chardonnay Mt. Veeder Napa Valley 2024

13.5% ABV | $65
Made from Chardonnay grown in various estate plots, hand-harvested and pressed whole cluster block by block. It was fermented and aged in wood, and malolactic was suppressed. It’s a quiet wine at first, unfurling slowly in a sense of citrus and spring flowers. The texture is utterly bewitching, satiny and dimensional, and the acid floats. Restrained and elegant, serious but not without levity. Lovely.

Mayacamas Merlot Mt. Veeder Napa Valley 2023

14% ABV | $75
According to the Mt. Veeder Appellation, there are 513 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on the mountain, but only 39 of Merlot. Perhaps we have Sideways to thank for that, but if this wine is any indication, it’s a shame there is not more. This bottling is actually 76 percent Merlot (scraping by the varietal labeling requirement of 75 percent), with the balance Cabernet Franc. Fruit was vinified in a mix of stainless steel, concrete, and neutral oak of mixed sizes, and the wine aged for 20 months. It’s a rubescent color, youthful and highly perfumed. The flavors suggest black and red fruits, spice, and juniper berry. The texture is smooth, but glittery acidity lights up the middle. It ends with a sense of coffee and graphite. Another lovely wine from this classic producer.

Alma de Cattleya

Winemaker Bibiana González Rave studied chemical engineering and business in her native Colombia before moving to France to earn degrees in viticulture and enology. She went on to work at estates in France, South Africa, and California, then in 2012 launched her own project, Cattleya, to produce wines from Napa and Sonoma. Alma de Cattleya is her second label, a slightly more affordable tier.

Alma de Cattleya Pinot Noir Rosé Sonoma County 2025

13.3% ABV | $25
The color is shell pink with orange highlights. The wine smells breezy, springy, with suggestions of strawberries and green herbs. On the palate it expands in flavors of peach and melon and pink grapefruit. Overall a tangy gastronomy rosé.

Alma de Cattleya Chardonnay Sonoma County 2024

14.1% ABV | $30
A rich, ripe Chardonnay with abundant lemon curd and a touch of spice. Texturally think whole milk not skim, but also not cream. I served it with a modified cacio e pepe that used Parmesan instead of Pecorino (sue me). It was the perfect pairing.

Cadre Wines

Cadre Wines is led by John Niven, a third-generation winemaker whose grandfather, Jack Niven, helped establish the Edna Valley AVA in 1982. Twenty years ago, the younger Niven planted a mix of aromatic and semi-aromatic white grapes in the fog-washed San Luis Obispo Coast. According to the SLO Coast producers’ collective, the AVA is the coldest viticultural region in California, with a long growing season whose harvest extends into October. Niven thought grapes like Albariño, Grüner Veltliner, and Sauvignon blanc would profit from the region’s slow, cool climate.

Cadre Wines Sea Queen Albariño San Luis Obispo Coast 2024

13.6% ABV | $30
More aromatic than Albariño from its home turf of Rías Baixas (another maritime region), it’s lightly reminiscent of New Zealand Sauvignon blanc. The flavors skew toward mango, passion fruit, ripe peaches, tarragon. The fruit feels weighty and succulent, but abundant acidity keeps the wine light.

Cadre Wines Band of Stones Grüner Veltliner San Luis Obispo Coast 2024

13.4% ABV | $30
Aromatically green and piquant, with a light hydrocarbon note that mingles with herbs. As with the Albariño, the mid-palate weight is offset by scintillant acidity. Flavors of lime and lime peel finish with a bright bitterness and a crackle of green peppercorn.

Cadre Wines Stone Blossom Sauvignon Blanc San Luis Obispo Coast 2024

14.2% ABV | $30
Another citrusy wine, also a touch grassy and bitter, but in a good way. Snappy acidity hits at the mid-palate, and it finishes linear, so direct. It leans into salinity rather than fruit.

Cadre Wines White Blend Beautiful Stranger San Luis Obispo Coast 2024

13.9% ABV | $30
A blend of 60 percent Grüner Veltliner, 30 percent Sauvignon blanc, and 10 percent Albariño. Aromatically it has abundant green citrus fruit and peel, and it tastes a bit of Mandarin orange, perhaps the Albariño talking. Generously fruity but, like all the Cadre wines, crisply refreshing.

---

---

Crooked Hoops I (top) and Crooked Hoops II, oil and digital media ©2026 Meg Maker. All wines were samples for review.