As you all know, I am a huge fan of Four Gates Winery, and yes, Benyamin Cantz is a dear friend. As is my custom, since many ask me what wines I like from the new releases, here are my notes on the latest wines.

I have often written about Four Gates Winery and its winemaker/Vigneron Benyamin Cantz. Read the post and all the subsequent posts about Four Gates wine releases, especially this post of Four Gates – that genuinely describes the lore of Four Gates Winery.

Other than maybe Yarden and Yatir (which are off my buying lists – other than SOME of their bubblies), very few, if any, release wines later than Four Gates. The slowest releaser may well be Domaine Roses Camille.

Four Gates grapes versus bought grapes

It has been stated that great wine starts in the vineyard, and when it comes to Four Gates wine, it is so true. I have enjoyed the 1996 and 1997 versions of Benyamin’s wines because of his care and control of his vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes he receives from Monte Bello Ridge show the same care and love that have been in the wines we have enjoyed since 2009. I recently tasted the 2010 and 2011 Cabernets, and they are lovely, ripe, and balanced, with acidity that helps.

I have immense faith in Benyo’s wines, sourced from his and the Monte Bello Ridge vineyards. The other wines he creates from different sources are sometimes excellent, like the 2010 Four Gates Syrah I tasted a couple of years ago. I would have sworn it was a Rhone wine, with crazy minerality, acid, and backbone, with fruit NOT taking center stage, though ever so evident, the way it is meant to be! While lovely on release, others may well not be the everlasting kind of Four Gates wines.

The wines in this release

While there are no “official” missing wines, the Cabernet Franc is not here. Those grapes have been going into the Gidon recently. The hope is that we get a standalone Cabernet Franc wine soon.

This year, we have two Chardonnays, a blended Pinot Noir, a Merlot, a Gidon, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The Ayala Chardonnay is OK, while the classic labeled Chardonnay is on point. I am not sure about the ageability of the Ayala, but the other Chardonnay needs time; it will reward you for your patience.

This year, there is no PV, Malbvec, or any other such thing. There was an issue with the Pinot Noir: once again, the deer got in, resulting in a smaller-than-desired output. To make up for that issue, he used fruit from a neighbor, and I think that pulled the quality down a bit, but ultimately, time will tell.

We have another vintage of the classic Four Gates fruit. The Chardonnays are from 2024. The Pinot Noir is from 2023. The rest are from the California blessed 2021 vintage. The Merlot, Gidon, and Cabernet Sauvignon show all the joy of the 2021 California vintage. All the fruit and acidity are at the point, and these wines need a LOAD of time to truly appreciate.

Prices and Quantities

I have heard it over and over again. That I and others caused Benyo to raise his prices. First of all, that is a flat-out lie. I never asked for higher prices, but when asked about the value of his wines, the honest answer I could give was more than 26 dollars.

Let us be clear: all of us who got used to 18/26-dollar prices and stocked up on his wines in those days should be happy. The fact that he raised prices is a matter of fundamental price dynamics and classic supply and demand. Four Gates has been seeing more demand for wine, while production is slowing.

The law of Supply and Demand tells you that the prices will go up, even if you beg for lower prices.

Four Gates Winery is one of the few cult wineries in the kosher wine world that releases wines yearly. Sure, there have been crazy cult wines, like the 2005 and 2006 DRC wines or some other rarities.  His wines are in a class of their own, especially when it is his grapes, and there is less of it out there. This year, you can add more California wines like Tench, Addax, Yesod, and many others to the growing list of expensive California wines.

This year, Zenith prices reached their highest again, and most wines sold out within minutes, with the most expensive wines lasting under 25 minutes. Good wine has been working for Benyo in small quantities so far. No one knows how much longer this will go on. Until there is a clear successor, every year may well be the last one harvested. I am not trying to sound grim or load up on FOMO; this is just the reality we all face throughout our lives.

The notes speak for themselves. I bought all the wines this year. The wine notes follow below, in the order they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here, and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

2024 Four Gates Chardonnay, Ayala, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA – Score: 91 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is simple, showing nice fruit, apple, pear, quince, along with some nice oak, and bright notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, with intense acidity, a lovely mouthfeel, and good fruit of pear, green apple, quince, sweet oak, and salinity. The mouth’s richness is shocking given its expected weight, a lovely surprise indeed. The finish is long, tart, with intense acidity, smoke, sweet fruit (including apple and orange), and lovely sweet oak. Drink until 2030. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.7%)

2024 Four Gates Chardonnay, Santa Cruz, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine should be enjoyed at room temperature, not fridge temperature or cellar temperature. The nose of this wine is classic Benyo Chardonnay, showing lovely notes of pop, great precision, sweet smoke, toast, brioche, apple, pear, melon, and lemongrass, all lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, layered, and rich, with beautiful acidity, lovely fruit, smoke, brioche, yellow plum, lovely sweet oak, tannin, and fruit that goes on forever. The finish is long, lingering, toasty, with brioche, sweet fruit, lovely vanilla, saline, and toast. Lovely! Drink from 2031 until 2037. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15.2%)

2024 Four Gates Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz, CA – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a Pinot blend of Four Gates fruit and a neighbor’s fruit, as the vineyard yield was insufficient to make a barrel.
The nose of this wine is ripe, showing bubblegum notes to start, with blue and black fruit, earth, soy sauce, and potpourri floral notes. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, candied, with rich acidity, smoke, loam, bubble gum, blackberry, boysenberry, umami, and rich smoke. The finish is long, smoky, dirty, fruity, and candied, with saline notes, intense potpourri, and more soy sauce. Drink until 2033. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Four Gates Gidon, Santa Cruz, CA – Score: 94+ (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 57% Cabernet Franc & 43% Merlot. The nose of this wine is intense, lovely, incredible, and ethereal, all at once, with lovely fruit, great pop, smoke, earth, and dirt, a red-driven nose, hints of black fruit, and lovely, almost dominating floral notes of rose and violet. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is incredible, layered, intense, yet coming together in such a lovely way. Layered with rich acidity, dense dirt, smoke, and extraordinary concentration and tension from raspberry, plum, and blueberry, all wrapped in dense oak, mouth-draping and elegant tannin, smoke, and dirt. This is a beautiful expression of what Cali can give you. The finish is long, dirty, smoky, earthy, and fruity, showcasing the perfect proportions of what can be achieved in California. Showing floral notes, fruity notes, oak, and tannin all coming together. This is a baby of a wine and will need a long time to become what I imagine it will be. Bravo! Drink from 2035 until 2040. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.2%)

2021 Four Gates Merlot, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA – Score: 94 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is incredible, with loads of fruit, just a sheer joy to smell, with massive pop, blue and red fruit, smoke, dirt, loam, and rich minerality. The mouth of this full-bodied is incredible, layered, dense, almost chewy, but richly elegant, with layers of acidity, blueberry, raspberry, smoke, soy sauce, lovely fruit, and intense mouth-draping tannin, all wrapped in lovely tension, expression of fruit, and rich tannin. Bravo! The finish is long, ripe, tart, yet lovely, with notes of fruit, tannin, smoke, soy sauce, and lovely minerality. Bravo! Drink from 2033 until 2040. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.2%)

2021 Four Gates Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA – Score: 95 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe yet controlled, with incredible pop and bright notes of blackberry, raspberry, rich anise, loam, smoke, rich blackcurrant, and cassis. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is a beast, showing some heat, lovely acidity, intense and concentrated layers of blackberry, raspberry, cassis, and blackcurrant, all wrapped in intense tannin structure and loam.
I think the wine is in a phase, and I will taste this again later. The finish is long, tannic, smoky, ripe, not candied, with anise, black fruit, and ripe fruit. Thankfully, with time, the wine evolved into what I had expected. The heat is gone, and the wine is now plush, rich, layered, and extracted. The nose smells fantastic, with notes of fruit, smoke, garrigue, loam, roasted herbs, and vanilla. Lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is insane, plush, ripe, balanced, with great acidity, mouth-draping, and richly elegant, with great tension, blackberry, plum, cassis, smoke, and roasted herbs, backed by minerality, and gorgeous mouth-draping tannin. Insane! The finish is long, ripe, draping, elegant, and backed by vanilla, tannin, smoke, and more herbs. Bravo! Drink from 2030 until 2036. (tasted November 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)