Sonoma Valley winemaker makes Wine Spectator’s top 5 list for 2020

Sonoma’s Braiden Albrecht is the winemaker behind Wine Spectator’s No. 4 wine on its annual top 100 list for 2020. Mayacamas Vineyards was honored for its 2016 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder. The list was announced on Dec. 10.

In 2019, Albrecht’s cab was No. 2 on the list.

Albrecht, 34, grew up in Sonoma, attended St. Francis Solano School and graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in 2005. He went on to U.C. Berkeley and studied agriculture and resource economics. During his summers, he interned with Sonoma resident Phil Coturri, an influential organic viticulturist who farms many vineyards in Sonoma, as well as the renowned Oakville Ranch in Napa. Albrecht met Coturri through his friendship with Phil’s sons, Sam and Max; they played soccer and baseball together growing up.

He was hired at Mayacamas in 2013 and took over the reins with consulting winemaker Andy Ericksen in 2015.

In other big news for Albrecht, he and his wife Amy Dougherty (who also grew up in Sonoma) had their first child earlier this year.

Wine Spectator staff reviewed more than 11,000 wines in 2020. Nearly 50 percent of those rated an outstanding 90 points or higher on its 100-point scale, according to the magazine. From this pool, they selected their Top 100, evaluated for quality (based on score), value (price), availability (cases made or imported into the United States) and, importantly, the back story of the wine, what they describe as its X-factor.

See the 2020 list disclosed to-date at top100.winespectator.com/2020.

Watch a video about the honor here.