Accolades
"A combination of philosophically focused, technically heady and entirely unique, Monochrome is among a select few Paso Robles producers genuinely doing their own thing: crafting eccentric yet exacting white wine blends in a red wine-dominated region. Each cuvée is a brainy exercise blending myriad components, each fermented and aged in various vessels with varying degrees of skin contact, all typically without malolactic fermentations and with short élevage. The results are impressively tight, clean, focused wines of distinction with impressive delineation between bottlings, all of which come highly recommended."
- Matthew Luczy, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
”Winemaker Dave McGee experiments with methods like extended skin contact to craft complex whites with intense aromatics, luscious textures and concentrated, layered flavors. This lineup is especially beautiful and shows just how underrated white wines still are in Paso Robles.”
- Erin Brooks, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
”These wines are non-traditional blends of white varieties that are grown throughout the Central Coast. I find the 2021 vintage to be the most exciting yet. They represent some bold experimentation.”
- Doug Wilder, Purely Domestic Wine Report
”White wine lovers finally have a place to geek out at Monochrome Wines, which focuses solely on California white blends that you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere. While most winemakers might raise an eyebrow at these wines on paper, they’re surprisingly bright, multidimensional and complex.”
- Jess Lander, San Francisco Chronicle
#9 of the Top 50 Wines of 2023 (Monochrome 2021 Barrel Distortion)
- RH Drexel (for JebDunnuck.com)
Starting with our first vintage in 2016, Monochrome’s wines have received an overwhelmingly positive response from top wine critics and wine writers. All six of our 2021 vintage wines received scores of 95 points or higher from critics such as Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Since our first vintage, 52 of our wines have been reviewed by critics, and all 52 have received scores of 90 points or higher.
97 Points
2021 Center Tone
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
(their highest score ever for a Paso Robles white wine)
96 Points
2021 Barrel Distortion
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
(their highest score ever for an American Albariño)
2021 Altered Images
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
(their highest score ever for an American Chenin Blanc)
95+ points
2020 Playing Against Type
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
95 points
2022 Blasphemy
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2022 Center Tone
Wine Enthusiast
(their highest score ever for a Paso Robles white wine)
2021 North By Southwest
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
(their highest score ever for an American dry Gewürztraminer)
2021 Sense Of Out Of Place
Purely Domestic Wine Report
2021 Smile
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
94 Points
2023 Barrel Distortion
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2023 By The Edge Of The Deep Blue Sea
Wine Enthusiast
2023 Center Tone
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast
2023 West Of Tbilisi
Wine Enthusiast
2022 Barrel Distortion
Wine Enthusiast
2022 By The Book
Wine Enthusiast
2022 Smile
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2020 Center Tone
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
93 Points
2023 By The Book
Wine Enthusiast
2023 North By Southwest (93+)
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2023 Vibrance
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2022 North By Southwest
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2022 Vibrance
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast
2020 Barrel Distortion
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast
2020 North By Southwest
Purely Domestic Wine Report
2020 Smile
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
2020 Wall Of Sound
Purely Domestic Wine Report, Vinous
2019 Neither Here Nor There
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
2018 Sense Of Out Of Place
Jeb Dunnuck
2018 Wall Of Sound
Wine Enthusiast
2017 Altered Images
Purely Domestic wine Review