This wine demonstrates the tightrope walk of power and elegance at which winemaker Pete Fraser is so adept. An aromatic wine, there’s an appealing perfume of brambly red and blueberry fruit, licorice, winter-warming spices and a dusty, umami-like bass note. The palate is exquisitely balanced, the fruit and savory spice woven into wellgroomed tannins. Textural and powerful yet fresh and approachable. Drink now–2032.

This wine pops with fleshy red fruit, white pepper and woodsy, sap characters. The palate is round and primary-fruit driven, but it hints at depth and complexity yet to come. The juicy berries are woven through with chalky, savory tannins and spicy and sap linger on the finish. Drink now–2030.

This vineyard sits on red basalt soils. As the springtime name implies, it’s the most delicate of the lot. An enticing cherryjuice hue, it’s vibrant, bursting with primary redberry fruit and backed by gentle spice and driedfloral aromas. The palate is medium weight, but fills the mouth with more plump, juicy berries. There’s length and elegance here, and tannins are fine and well-placed, but this is a fruit show at the moment: Those more complex meaty aromas will need another few years before they show up to the party.

Richly flavored but light on its feet. Finely textured, tart and dry with lingering notes of cherry cola, black plum, bay leaf, cedar and cinnamon.

Brilliant ruby. Powerful, spice-accented black raspberry, cherry cola and floral scents are complicated by subtle licorice and vanilla notes. Appealingly sweet and expansive on the palate, offering juicy red and dark berry and spicecake flavors that pick up a hint of cocoa powder on the back half. Round, well-knit tannins frame the impressively persistent finish, which leaves behind red berry liqueur and mocha notes.

Brilliant violet. An expansive, spice-tinged bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, cola, licorice and mocha, and a smoky mineral topnote emerges with air. Broad and fleshy in the mouth, offering sappy blueberry, raspberry preserve, vanilla and fruitcake flavors supported by a spine of juicy acidity. Smoothly blends depth and energy and shows fine definition and floral lift on an impressively long finish that features rounded tannins and a resonating blue fruit note.

Glistening ruby. Pungent, spice- and smoke-accented cherry cola and black raspberry scents convey a sexy potpourri quality. Silky and expansive in the mouth, offering sappy red and dark fruit preserve, candied rose, vanilla and spicecake flavors that smoothly meld depth and vivacity. Finishes very long and juicy, with velvety tannins framing resonating cherry, floral and exotic spice notes.

Bright ruby. Powerful black raspberry, boysenberry, floral pastille and fruitcake scents are sharpened by emerging spice and smoky mineral flourishes. Juicy, concentrated red and blue fruit preserve flavors show unlikely vivacity for their heft. The floral and spice notes drive an impressively long finish that features well-judged tannins and sweetening mocha and vanilla accents. 35% new French oak.

A distinctive wine that's loaded with personality, opening with an array of black cherry, dusky spice, licorice and stony mineral aromas and flavors. This builds depth and tension toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2032.

Precisely built yet has an appealingly rustic edge that frames the expressive blackberry, raspberry, toasty sage and licorice flavors, which build tension and structure toward medium-weight tannins. Drink now through 2032.

A blend of Sexton, Tarraford, Applejack, Primavera and Wombat Creek vineyards. 15% new oak (puncheons). About 10% malo. In other news, Mel Chester (ex Seppelt, Sutton Grange) is the incoming winemaker at Giant Steps, while Steve Flamsteed involves himself in special ops for GS, among other things.
Flavour, crunch, gloss, and all up a Chardonnay of fine balance and appeal. White peach, almond, a little fennel and lime, fine acidity, flinty texture, a cool cucumber thing happening, and clean, with a well-defined finish of excellent length. Very good in 2021.

Reductive and forceful in mountain-grown power, this full-bodied wine is bursting in graphite, iron and crushed rock. The grippy tannin profile intensifies on the palate, adding weight and breadth to the experience as highlights of red fruit, dust and oak weigh in. Enjoy best 2028–2038.

Smooth, deep and delicious, this generous and mouthfilling wine blends warm, ripe cherries and raspberries with subtle, spicy oak nuances like cinnamon and cloves. A full body and moderate tannins add just enough structure for balance.

Intricate, delicate aromas ranging from wild berries to forest floor and black tea are backed up beautifully by vivid black-cherry, sour cherry and sweet plum flavors in this exciting, complex and concentrated wine. A medium-to-full body and mild tannins provide great balance to the panoply of flavors.

This lovely and subtly layered wine was aged in 20% new French barrels for 16 months and exudes warm, mulled plums and cherries along with light meaty, earthy accents on a velvety and broad.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Dakél Viñedo Maricerro comes from the Itata coast, 12 miles from the Pacific. Aged for 10 months in 15% new barrels, it is a vivid reddish-purple hue with an elegant and intense aromatic profile of cherry, earth, and mushrooms kept inside a cedar box, accompanied by a whiff of smoke. Intense on the palate and full of flavor, it has a terse but silky feel and ripe, delicate, long-lasting aromas.

The 2019 Chardonnay W.S. Keyes is fabulous. Bright and translucent in the glass, the Chardonnay from Keyes is so distinctive. Crushed rocks, mint, white pepper and lemon peel all grace this exquisite, wonderfully nuanced Chardonnay. There aren't a lot of white grapes left on Howell Mountain these days. The Keyes Chardonnay shows how distinctive whites can be here.

The 2019 Cabernet Franc is fabulous. Rich, deep and soaring in its aromatics, the Franc is loaded with pedigree. Readers will find a potent, structured wine that needs a lot of time. The 2019 is a blend taken from both the W.S. Keyes and La Jota properties.

A powerful, virile wine, the 2018 Cabernet Bosché offers up an enticing array of wild cherry, chocolate, spice, leather and grilled herbs. The Bosché is potent, savory and super-expressive, but also less charming than most 2018s. It will need a number of years to soften.

The 2019 Cabernet Franc is mostly Franc, with a healthy dollop of Merlot, mostly from Everdon on Spring Mountain and then sites on Diamond Mountain, Howell Mountain and Mt. Veeder. The style here is all about elegance and finesse. In tasting, the 2019 is quite backward and primary. Time in the glass brings out the floral overtones and silky tannins of Spring Mountain, but the Franc ideally needs time in bottle to fully come together. Today it is very much on the reticent side.

The third vintage for this cuvée and brought up in 10% new puncheons (24 months with no malolactic fermentation), the 2019 W.S. Keyes Vineyard Chardonnay offers a vibrant, cooler style in its pear, stone fruits, caramelized citrus, and floral aromas and flavors. With plenty of background minerality, medium body, bright acidity, and a great finish, it will evolve for a decade.

The current releases I was able to taste were the 2017s, all of which were brought in prior to the fires. The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché offers a classic 2017 elegant profile, and they managed the tannins nicely. The wine is medium to full-bodied and has terrific purity as well as notes of redcurrants, sandalwood, unsmoked tobacco, and spice. It's slighly more forward and sexy compared to the Sycamore Vineyard, but both of these are beautiful wines.

Sycamore is a clear leap up in intensity over the regular Freemark cab that isn’t all that regular. The rich black and red fruit have more muscle power and interesting savoury raspberry cedar veins that run through a spicy, dark chocolate cherry jam finish. Freemark has had exclusive sourcing rights to the Rutherford Bench fruit of the 24-acre Sycamore Vineyard for 40 years. In 2017 the mix was 88/5/4/3 cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot, all aged 27 months in 74 percent new French oak. Winemaker Kristy Melton is knocking it out of the park at Freemark Abbey, adding elegance to what is now a modern Napa cab you can age 25 years.

Lush in texture and elegantly complex, with pomegranate and raspberry flavors that layer in notes of tarragon and black tea, finishing with dusky spice tannins. Drink now through 2030.

Dynamic and multilayered, with tiers of wild red berry, sandalwood and mineral laced with a hint of eucalyptus. Builds richness and tension on the way to refined tannins. Drink now through 2029.