Feel the power. Grown on mature cabernet and shiraz vines above Clarendon in the Onkaparinga Gorge area of McLaren Vale. 52% cabernet sauvignon, 48% shiraz. Big wine but not overdone. Settled. Confident. Not too far short of profound. Big olive, mulberry, blackcurrant flavours flood through classic dried herb, tobacco and dust notes. Oak flashes its legs but mostly shows decorum. Dark, inky colour. Integrated, grainy, swashbuckling tannin. Quintessential Australian red. Violet and vanillin in place of cattle and cane.

The first vintage made by Yangarra from the Hickinbotham Vineyard after its far larger parent company, Jackson Family Estate, purchased it in '11. Deeply coloured and unashamedly full-bodied, it has layer-upon-layer of black fruits, tannins and the French oak in which it was matured for 18 months; significantly, the decision was to not fine the tannins.

Another brilliant offering is the 2001 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard, a 520-case cuvee from the cool Green Valley. It possesses a fabulous texture, medium to full body, and potentially superb nose of flint, lemon oils, pineapples, background toasty oak, and a hint of caramel. Full-bodied, weighty and rich yet remarkably agile on its feet because of good underlying acidity, this stunning Chardonnay should drink well for 5-6 years.

Pinot Noir World Series. Smoky, tarry, blackberry nose, with Indian spices mingling with oak. Rich, firm, opulent black cherry flavors in a very spicy frame, long and harmonious.

The 2017s From Sonoma A crazy good value, the 2017 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is the appellation release from this team, and it comes from all of the estate vineyards across the Green Valley, Laguna Ridge, and Sebastopol regions. Complex notes of strawberries, cranberries, violets, pine forest, and flowers all flow to a medium-bodied Pinot Noir that has a kiss of salinity and marine notes, ripe tannins, and a great finish. This beautiful wine competes with wines costing 2-3 times the price.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Muldune Trail is medium to deep ruby-purple colored and charges boldly from the glass with intense scents of raspberries, black cherries, pomegranate and redcurrants with touches of fungi, bay leaves and rose hip tea. Medium to full-bodied with a firm, fine-grained foundation and oodles of freshness, it delivers powerful black and red berry layers and a long fruity finish.

Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir MacLean's Block delivers wild blueberries, black cherries and anise notes with hints of violets, bay leaves and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, the palate features red and black fruit layers accented by earth notions and framed with fine-grained tannins, finishing on a mineral note.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard gives a full on bombastic black cherry and black raspberry-scented nose with hints of rose hip tea, dark chocolate and lavender with a hint of black pepper. Medium-bodied, the palate is very elegant and fresh with more of a savory/earthy character coming through, supported by fine-grained tannins and finishing on a beautiful stewed tea note.

One of the brilliant efforts from Hartford Court is the 2015 Pinot Noir Land’s Edge Vineyards. From a site located only four miles from the Pacific Ocean, this wine has a saturated ruby/purple color and a beautiful concentration of blueberry, black raspberry and black cherry, some crushed rock and spring flowers. The terrific fruit on the attack and mid-palate, the full-bodied finish and intensity are all promising in this brilliant effort. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Land’s Edge Vineyards comes from the Seascape and Far Coast vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. It was completely destemmed, spent 11 months in 34% new French oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. This beauty offers a darker slant in its black cherries, blackberry, sous bois, spring flowers, and damp earth-like aromas and flavors. These carry to a deep, rich, seamless Pinot Noir that has remarkable purity, a layered texture, and a great finish. It picks up a touch of marine and ocean-like salinity with time in the glass and is a rich, complex, complete Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Drink it over the coming 8-10 years.

Brought up in 48% new French oak, sourced from a higher elevation vineyard on the southern end of the Anderson Valley, the 2015 Pinot Noir Muldune Train offers a Burgundian bouquet of ripe black cherries, currants, scorched earth, forest floor, and Asian spices. It’s complex, beautifully concentrated and opulent, with a powerful, full-bodied profile. Possessing moderate acidity, drink this pleasure-bent beauty over the coming 7-8 years.

This is a dense, juicy wine, with up-front richness to its bouquet of red cherry and strawberry. The acidity is lasting and refreshing, with silky tannins that add texture and grace.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard from the Sonoma Coast is a cuvée of 360 cases aged in 38% new French oak for 16 months prior to be bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is a magnificent Pinot, full-bodied, with notes of Asian spices as well as plum sauce, roasted meats, grilled herbs, earth and spice. Some blacker fruits and forest floor notes are also present in this distinctively Burgundian Côte de Nuits-like Pinot Noir. Drink it over the next 7-8 years.

Moderately dark reddish purple color in the glass. A wonderful array of fresh scents greet the drinker including black cherry, kirsch, cassis, sousbois and violets. Sappy and robust, with intense layers of flavor that unfold on the palate in stages to reveal notes of boysenberry, cassis, plum reduction sauce, and earthy herbs. Very smoothly textured with balanced tannins and a lingering finish. A special wine of uncommon personality and breeding.

A stunning effort, the 2008 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard (a 44-year old site planted with California selections of the Martini clone) was bottled after 15 months in French oak (60% new). This dense ruby-colored, killer Pinot boasts abundant notes of kirsch liqueur, black raspberries, flowers and loamy soil. Full-bodied with stunning concentration, a broad, savory texture and impressive purity, this is a wine to drink over the next 5-7 years although it may last a decade or more. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

This deeply drawn Pinot Noir is nothing less than a tour de force whose brilliant combination of nervy, wonderfully concentrated young fruit, lightly laid-on, well-knit oak and impeccable balance earns it a place at the very head of the class. Its insistent and very articulate flavors build and build as they cross the palate, and its lengthy finish shows an uncommon sense of sophistication and polish. It is wine possessed of a great many pieces and all of them are seamlessly fit, and, as good as it is now, it will age famously.

The Jackson and Hartford families established this vineyard on the far Sonoma Coast in hopes of crafting Pinot Noir at the limits of its ability to ripen. The magnificent 2007 vintage has resulted in a wine of unusual tension. It's very ripe in black and red cherry pie filing and sweet oak flavors, but retains the acidity of it's cool-climate origins, and even offers a feral taste of bloody meat. Drink this impressive, complex wine now and through 2015.

This is from a block of younger vines made from Dijon clones within the larger Arrendell Vineyard. The wine is quite full-bodied and robust, almost rustic, which is mainly due to the powerful, young tannins. With explosive berry, currant and mocha flavors, this powerful wine should hit its stride in mid-2010.

This is from a block of younger vines made from Dijon clones within the larger Arrendell Vineyard. The wine is quite full-bodied and robust, almost rustic, which is mainly due to the powerful, young tannins. With explosive berry, currant and mocha flavors, this powerful wine should hit its stride in mid-2010.

The winery's most expensive wine comes from very low-yielding Martini selection grapes planted in 1975. The '07, tasted at a bit more than one year of age, was pronounced in smoky oak and robust tannins, showing jammy flavors of blackberries, cherries, blueberries, anise, cloves and cedar. Hold this powerful wine until 2011.

Kirsch liqueur, lavender, licorice, raspberry, and blueberry aromas jump from the glass of the 2007 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard. From one of the estate's oldest vineyards (34 years of age) planted with the Martini clone, it possesses a dark ruby/purple color, fabulous intensity, full-bodied power, and a 35-second finish, unusually long for a Pinot Noir. This beauty should age for a decade or more. One of the best wineries in Sonoma, Hartford Family Winery, under the guidance of winemaker Jeff Mangahas, continues to fine tune an impressive portfolio of wines, all from cool climate sites.

This is the first releases from the vineyard, Jackson Family Farms planted on several ridges in Annapolis, just inland from Peay. Fine oak (all French, 60 percent of it new) contributes to the grand cru beauty of the wine, enhancing the power of the fruit - tart cherry and pomegranate that start our transparent and grow more vibrant and lush as the flavors expand into the finish. It's a wine of considerable ripeness and intensity that's focused on harmony and grace. For crisp roast duck.

This is a very serious Pinot Noir, one that will benefit from cellaring despite the drink-me-now deliciousness. It's not just the fruit, which is deeply satisfying in cherries, raspberries, sweet rhubarb pie, blood oranges and juicy pomegranates. It's the structure. Crisp acids and silky tannins create a near-perfect architecture. Elegant and sophisticated, this wine should develop additional complexities for at least six years, with proper cellaring.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard reveals gregarious pink grapefruit, apple pie and green mango notions with nuances of marzipan, crusty bread and wet pebbles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is solidly structured with great freshness, lifting the intense, tightly wound layers to a long earthy/minerally finish.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Stone Côte has lovely scents of lemon meringue pie, white peaches, honeyed pears and baking bread with touches of beeswax and toasted almonds. Medium to full-bodied, the palate sports wonderful harmony and a compelling creaminess to the texture with great freshness and a long peachy finish.