Welcome to the Wine Spies Intrigue Awards for 2016! Each year we recognize our most popular and most sought-after wines from the previous year - while giving our Operatives one final chance to secure some of the winning wines for themselves.

We may never show this wine again, so grab yours while you still can.

Winemaker Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift fame, is back with his latest endeavor, his ambitious, delicious, Locations Wines label. Today’s Locations 2014 CA Red Wine by Dave Phinney is our 2016 Wine Spies Intrigue Award winner for Top Red Blend.

Dave’s Locations wines represent the best of the best from all around the globe. We’re fortunate today to have Dave’s incredible, California Locations Red Blend.

This wine is superb!

Pour the inky wine out of the substantial (heavy) bottle and marvel at the deep, beautiful coloration. One sniff and you’ll know that you are about to embark on a sensory odyssey!

This wine has it all, deep aromatics, layer upon layer of flavor, a solid but elegant mouth feel - and an extraordinarily long, dynamic and flavorful finish.

Uniquely rich and bright and balanced on the nose, with aromas of black cherry preserve, black cherry tobacco, raspberry, chocolate covered cherry, Alpine strawberry, pencil shavings, oak and vanilla.

Flavors just cascade onto the palate, all juicy and earthy with bold black cherry juice, raspberry candy, blackberry compote, molasses, dark tobacco leaf, black tea, subtle herbs and subtle tar.

Dave has worked some sort of magic into each bottle of his California Locations Red. A magic that you can wield yourself. Bring a bottle to your next dinner party and everyone will think that you are some sort of wizard!

This wine is offered to you with our strongest recommendation!

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Here’s what the wine press has to say:

90 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate - “The least expensive wines in Dave Phinney’s mine are his Locations portfolio. The NV Proprietary Red CA-4, which is a 15,000-case cuvée, all from 2014. It is a blend from diverse California areas, ranging from Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino to the Sierra Foothills, of Tempranillo, Barbera, Petite Sirah and Grenache.

This is is an outstanding wine, the kind of bistro/brasserie red that consumers will love. Opaque deep ruby/purple, it is loaded with intense wild berry fruit and a Zinfandel-like briariness, offering pepper, herbs, a touch of smoke and loads of black fruits and background oak.

This is a big boy at 15.5% alcohol, but it’s not the least hot – just savory, luscious and opulent. Drink it over the next 3-4 years.”