This West Coast Collection is a road trip in six bottles, and it is not built around the usual, obvious domestic picks. In this Bonner Private Wines video, Julien Miquel introduces our quarterly selection made entirely on American soil, but with styles that feel unexpectedly worldly. A subtle, almost French-leaning Chardonnay from cool Sonoma, a Napa Valley Pinot Noir from a surprisingly breezy corner of the valley, and a Bordeaux style blend from an ultra dry pocket of Washington. Add in a Santa Barbara red blend inspired by the Rhône, plus a Super Tuscan style California cuvée, and you start to see the theme. These are American wines chosen for precision, place, and personality.
A West Coast lineup that is not business as usual
Julien frames the tasting around an idea he has explored before, the relationship between soil, climate, and a wine’s sense of place. Heavy oak can blur that message because French barrels taste like French barrels no matter where the grapes are grown. So it is telling that the collection opens with a Chardonnay built for purity, then moves into reds that show how varied American terroir can be, even within California alone.
This selection is also meant to be practical. Julien consistently points to what each bottle is best with at the table, and whether it is built for immediate pleasure or for the cellar. The result is a collection that can handle seafood and white fish, weeknight pasta, grilled meats, and those longer dinners where a wine’s finish and texture matter.
Iron Horse Green Valley Chardonnay, a restrained white with real finesse
The first bottle is the 2019 Iron Horse Green Valley Chardonnay from northern Sonoma, made by a producer famous for sparkling wine and the precision that comes with it. Julien highlights two choices that shape the style. It is from Green Valley, one of the coolest areas in Northern California, and it has not gone through malolactic fermentation, the process that can push Chardonnay into heavier, buttery territory.
In the glass, he describes a bright lemon yellow color with delicate green tones. On the nose, it is subtle and elegant, with notes that remind him of whipped cream with a grassy edge, floral aromas like daisies, and a touch of lemon. On the palate, he calls out a coating, oily texture and a crisp acidity sitting quietly in the background. As it warms, it shifts toward delicate apricot and lemon, and the finish reveals passion fruit along with creamy notes, plus grass and fennel.
He suggests pairing it with delicately flavored dishes, white fish with a buttery lemon sauce, seafood platters, oysters, and even a cheese board. He also compares its restraint and delicacy to high end white Burgundy, even mentioning Grand Cru Chablis as a reference point. For aging, he believes it can easily improve for five years, and potentially much longer, into the 10 to 15 year range if you want more depth and nutty complexity.
Bouchaine Carneros Pinot Noir, Napa’s cooler side with real structure
Next, Julien shifts the Napa conversation away from only big Cabernet. He points to Carneros, the cooler southern end of Napa Valley where cold breezes from the San Pablo Bay shape a different style. The wine is the 2018 Bouchaine Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir. He notes Bouchaine is the oldest continuously operating winery in Carneros since the 1880s, with sustainability credentials, hand harvesting at night, fermentation with native yeast, and aging in French oak.
In tasting, he describes a surprisingly dark, concentrated Pinot Noir with a youthful look and purple hues. Aromatically, it leans into milk chocolate and intensely pure dark cherry fruit, with a blackberry liqueur impression, plus caramel, toffee, and a touch of white pepper. On the palate, he echoes that fruit concentration, calling it vibrant and very solid for Pinot Noir, with texture, tannic chew, and fresh acidity. He says it is versatile with meats, pasta, salmon, and cheese, and he expects it to age for at least 10 years or more.
Santa Barbara Verbiage Rouge, a Rhône inspired blend with patience built in
The collection then moves down the coast to Santa Barbara County, a place Julien describes as creatively free, with a nod to the film Sideways. The 2015 Tercero Verbiage Rouge is presented as a deliberate homage to Châteauneuf du Pape, built from Rhône varieties, especially Grenache. Julien emphasizes old school technique, grapes harvested and foot stomped, whole cluster fermentation, then an unusually long maturation of 42 months in French oak to mellow the rustic edge and build personality.
He notes the color is lighter than many California reds, with a delicate orange rim that signals age. The aromas lean into cooked, ripe fruit and a deep bouquet, with meaty notes like ham or prosciutto, apricot jam, orange peel, leather, and French roast coffee. On the palate, he highlights smooth Grenache softness paired with real power, and he calls out orange liqueur and sour cherry liqueur, plus leather, sandalwood, and nutmeg. This is a bottle he frames as ready now, meant for grilled meats, smoky steak, sausages, and charcuterie, and enjoyable over roughly the next eight years.
Two Bordeaux leaning reds, one from Napa, one from Walla Walla
Julien then brings in a more expected headline, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, but he says it still has a story. The 2018 Tamber Bey Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a winery founded by Barry Wait, described as part of the first wave of Northern California tech entrepreneurs who invested in Napa. The estate sits on a horse ranch, and the name references two favorite Arabian endurance horses.
In the glass, Julien notes the dense, dark color you expect. Aromatically, he describes it as shy at first, controlled rather than loud, then revealing ripe dark cherry, blackcurrant, and an amaretto-like almond tone. On the palate, he calls it concentrated and powerful, lifted by lemony acidity, with flavors that remind him of cherry liqueur plus citrus zest, and even a Black Forest style cherry and chocolate impression. He notes the oak feels integrated rather than obvious, and he expects 10 to 15 years of aging potential. Pair it with grilled meats and strongly flavored dishes.
For Washington, the 2018 Deux Soldats Winemaker’s Blend from Walla Walla Valley is introduced through the founders’ story. Eric and Ruthen Heider met while serving in the U.S. Army, dreamed of vineyards on trips to Napa, and after long careers and deployments, built their family estate in Walla Walla, a notably dry valley where it hardly rains. Julien describes it as a Bordeaux style blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and a portion of Syrah, farmed with low intervention and aged in French oak for a year and a half.
He describes the nose as cooler climate Cabernet, with fresh fruit characters, blueberry and red berries, plus fresh apricot and pink apple, layered with walnut, caramel, cocoa, coffee, and a delicate smokiness. On the palate, he loves the chewy, granular tannin texture and the build of vanilla, smoke, roasted hazelnut, then an intense finish of caramel, toffee, coffee, and dark chocolate, with jammy fruit and mixed spices like cardamom, nutmeg, clove. He calls it a surprise and highly versatile, with 10 years of aging potential.
An Italian heart in California, the Tesoro Muscardini blend
Finally, Julien returns to Sonoma with the 2019 Tesoro Muscardini Red Blend, made by a winemaker honoring his Italian family history. He describes Tesoro as the flagship cuvée, built primarily from Sangiovese, then reinforced with Cabernet and Syrah, a Super Tuscan style approach that combines Italian drinkability with French structure.
On the nose, he describes frank, open aromatics, sour cherry with stones, a kirsch-like feel, raspberry, and a minty, herbal lift that reminds him of basil, mint, oregano. On the palate, he calls it bigger than a classic Tuscan example but still elegant and harmonious, with smooth mouthfeel, lively acidity, fresh cherry and raspberry, oak spice, a restrained jammy sweetness, and a complex finish with spicy caramel and soft tannins. He sees it as versatile and built for food, and capable of aging for up to 10 years.
Julien’s takeaway, why this collection matters
Julien closes with a personal note from Europe. He reflects on working in Sonoma years ago and on how American wines still surprise many Europeans. Each time he tastes small producers and bottles like these, he is reminded of the passion on the West Coast and the diversity of terroirs across Sonoma, Napa, the Central Coast, and Washington. He describes the collection as a road trip you can taste, bringing back memories of place through the glass.
If you love exploring beyond the expected, this is a lineup built to prove that “domestic” does not mean predictable, and that the best value wine is often the bottle that brings you somewhere new.
Explore the collection in the shop
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Keyword list: West Coast wine collection, American Chardonnay, Sonoma Green Valley Chardonnay, Napa Valley Pinot Noir, Carneros Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara red blend, Rhône style blend California, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley Bordeaux blend, Super Tuscan blend California, Italian reds, Bordeaux Left Bank style blend, best value wine, high quality domestic wines
