2024 Reviews

Billy Norris, Vinous - January 2026

The brainchild of husband and wife Laura Jones and Brian Ball (winemaker and estate director at Skipstone, respectively), Sphaerics is one of the most exciting new projects I encountered during this visit to the region. Jones cut her teeth working at Domaine Armand Rousseau in Burgundy and with Mark Aubert in Napa/Sonoma. She’s a deft hand with Chardonnay, clearly taking a page from Aubert’s book in the sense that her wines are richly textured and supremely polished. The first two releases of Sphaerics, 2022 and 2023, comprise only Chardonnay. Wines are whole-cluster pressed and spontaneously fermented in barrel, followed by a traditional Burgundian-style élevage of 11 months in barrel followed by five to six months in stainless steel—about as straightforward as it gets.

The flagship bottling (If And Only If) hails from the oldest section of the famed Upper Barn Vineyard at the Jackson family’s Alexander Mountain estate, a plot that originally went into Peter Michael’s Mon Plaisir for many years. Upper Barn is one of the most singular Chardonnay sites in California, and that certainly translates here. Two other sites, one in Carneros and one in Russian River Valley, round out the portfolio. The 2024 vintage sees the addition of a Pinot Noir to the stable, while the 2025 vintage yielded the first wines off the estate vineyard that Jones and Ball recently purchased in Freestone-Occidental.

And the wines themselves? They’re excellent. Compellingly rich and layered but weightless and restrained, these are classy Chardonnays through and through. The 2024s, tasted from tank a week prior to bottling, are riveting, pointing to a refined approach that benefits from slightly less new oak across the board and an extra bump of precision. The 2024 Pinot Noir is a good opening salvo, but I hope to see more character in the future estate bottlings. Don’t miss these wines.

2024 Sphaerics “if and only if” Chardonnay Upper Barn Vineyard Alexander Valley
94-96 points
The 2024 Chardonnay If And Only If is pliant, yielding and extremely generous today. Showing slightly less phenolic/mineral intensity and a notably softer build than the 2023 tasted alongside, the 2024 impresses for its roundness and approachability as it emanates layers of floral-infused citrus fruit, marzipan and ripe apricot. A worthy follow-up to the 2023.

2024 Sphaerics “on days and nights” Chardonnay Russian River Valley
95-97 points
The 2024 Chardonnay On Days And Nights is a notable step up from the debut 2023. Russian River intensity comes across in a measured, perfectly calibrated framework that speaks to precise, finessed winemaking but also has a sense of soulfulness. Golden apple, sweet cream, pastry and sea salt layer atop one another in the glass. There’s real cohesion here. I suspect this will be lights-out from bottle.

2024 Sphaerics “overline” Chardonnay Carneros Napa Valley
95-97 points
The 2024 Chardonnay Overline, tasted from tank just prior to bottling, shares remarkable similarities with the 2023, but with everything dialed up. It’s another wine that balances inner tension with plush, unctuous textures and unreal density. The depth of the minerality and tactile zip of the acids here join together in effortless harmony. I can't wait to taste this from bottle.

2024 Sphaerics “superset” Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
92-94 points
The 2024 Pinot Noir Superset is the first red wine from Laura Jones and Brian Ball, sourced from two Martinelli properties—Frei Road and Bondi Home Ranch. It’s a very promising wine that oozes with class. Dark cherry fruit, lavender, underbrush and blood orange peel build with air, but it’s the 2024’s textural suaveness and delicacy that impress most. This is a very solid debut. I look forward to tasting it from bottle, as well as following the red wine program here as the approach is dialed in.

Decanter - October 2025

2024 Sphaerics “if and only if” Chardonnay Upper Barn Vineyard Alexander Valley
98 points
Sourced from the original 1982 plantings at Jackson Family Wines’ Upper Barn site within their Alexander Mountain Estate Vineyard, this Chardonnay is planted to Wente Clone on AxR1 rootstock at 1,800 feet of elevation. The same parcel once contributed fruit to Marcassin’s Gauer Vineyard Upper Barn bottlings and Peter Michael’s Mon Plaisir during Mark Aubert’s tenure there in the 1990s and early 2000s, and has been used exclusively by Stonestreet since 2010. The wine was aged 11 months in 70% new French oak, followed by 5 months in stainless steel before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2024 vintage shows remarkable poise and clarity, defined by cool, crisp acidity and chiselled stony minerality. Fragrant white flowers lead into layers of lemon oil, lemon curd, candied ginger, quince, and warm brown spices. Each element is expressive and precise, with depth, purity, and impressive length. A deeply flavorful wine of tension and refinement; pure, delineated, and elegant.

2024 Sphaerics “on days and nights” Chardonnay Russian River Valley
97 points
From a vineyard situated in the northernmost reaches of the Russian River Valley—one of the region’s warmer enclaves—this Chardonnay is made from Wente Clone vines planted in 2004 on a steep, rocky slope. It was aged 11 months in 60% new French oak and then 5 months in stainless steel before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2024 vintage is juicy and bright, with vibrant acidity and beautifully defined orchard and citrus fruit layered with a subtle kiss of vanilla and ripe pineapple. Lip-smacking tension and a gorgeous saline edge bring energy and focus, while savoury pressed white floral notes add complexity. Vivid, expressive, and mouthwatering, this wine practically calls for a meal—its saline character makes it irresistibly food-friendly.

2024 Sphaerics “overline” Chardonnay Carneros Napa Valley
96 points
Using fruit from a vineyard in Carneros owned by the Lede family, this Chardonnay brings together three clones from three distinct blocks: Old Wente, Hyde, and Mount Eden. The wine was aged for 11 months in 50% new French oak, followed by 5 months in stainless steel before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2024 vintage is incredibly pure, bright, and lifted, showing expressive notes of citrus, tropical fruit, and white peach. Layers of saline and wet-stone minerality add depth and vibrancy, while the long finish is full-flavoured, finely mineral, and driven by captivating energy and tension.