A Bordeaux-stye red blend from California’s Ballard Canyon AVA is up first in this edition of Tasting Notes , and it’s a selection many of you will want to add to your cellar or wine list. I tasted the 2021 Fenix, from Jonata, on a recent afternoon, and this vintage puts on display the methodical yet agile and intuitive stewardship of winemaker Matt Dees.

The blend is 77 percent merlot, 14 percent cabernet Sauvignon and 9 percent cabernet franc. If you love cabernet franc, you’ll enjoy the 2021 Fenix even more, because that grape was beautifully evident during my sampling. As it was the next day, when I poured the wine at dinner, pairing it with a duck breast seasoned with salt and star anise.

Dees, who has been overseeing billionaire Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s Jonata si

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