Aromas of terra cotta, blueberry, rose hip and iron, as well as an earthy, sanguine edge. The palate has intense red-plum flavors and assertively powerful and long tannins. Very focused and contained. Drink over the next decade. Screw cap.

2019 Pinot Noir, Lingenfelder Vineyard The nose is spiced black fruit, taffy with a note of menthol. The palate entry is a supple vanilla and plum backed by deep, polished cola and baking spice throughout. It's a very complete, flavor-packed wine. Drink 2021 - 2026.

The 2019 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard is also rich but shows slightly more salty minerality and chalky nuances as well as clean, classy citrus fruits, white flowers, and toasted nut-like aromatics. It's beautiful on the palate as well, with a beautiful vibrancy and focus, medium-bodied richness, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish.

Gorgeous kirsch and framboise fruits as well as spice and dried flower notes all emerge from the 2019 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills. It's a fresher, more elegant example from this great estate, with a solid spine of acidity, beautiful balance, and a great, great finish. It's brilliant today but will be even better with another year of bottle age and keep for at least 10-15 years in cold cellars.

The 94 McD Rockfall Cab 2015 is ready to drink if you bought some on my recommendation and kept your mitts off it. It still has plenty of shelf.

In the glass this displays a dark and glossy hue, which leads to a complex nose filled with toasted blackberry, liquorice, black olive and vanilla pod, along with some floral elements reminiscent of dried violets, as well as a suggestion of cool crushed chalk. Beautifully poised on the palate, this is very finely textured, bordering on silky, the texture supporting layers of dark fruits, blackberry, olive and currant. It is packed out with ripe and tightly grained tannins which come to prominence in the middle and especially at the end. It is spicy too, certainly energetic, with a thread of pepper, long and charged. This is an exciting wine now, but I think the real joy lies a few years away yet. Give it five more, maybe a few more, to see it at its best The declared alcohol is 14.5%.

What’s clear from the outset is that this tastes markedly different from the cabernet, and from the merlot. Which is a good start. There’s a plushness to the fruit here and beautiful integration of mocha-like oak. It puts the wine into swish territory straight up. Dark chocolate, rich plum, kirsch, woodsmoke and foresty herb notes all contribute, pretty much in that order, before tannin ripples on through. This is warm and rich, unashamedly, but it feels controlled and deliberate. It’s top notch quality, no doubting it.

Some cold soak, some whole-bunch ferment, all matured in French barriques (25% new) for 8 months. Bright, fresh cherry aromas grab your attention on the bouquet, but there are some gamey, greenish notes underneath. Initially seems soft to taste but has a mouth-filling quality and the flavours and the tannin build as it goes along. Give it time in the glass and in the bottle.

The lead-up to vintage 2019 in the Yarra was very warm but Tarraford, with its distinctive and cooler microclimate, fared well. The typical minerality that this site provides its defining character, absorbing 10 months in oak with ease. The fruit is mainly on the citrus spectrum, but it's more the overall structure of the wine that stands out. The palate is juicy but fine, the finish long and crisp.

Matured in French oak barriques (25% new) for 8 months, no fining or filtration. Balance is the outstanding quality of this wine. You don't really need to pick it apart, just enjoy the flow of ripe cherry and other typically varietal pinot characters that run through the bouquet and palate. The tannin, although quite light, melds in seamlessly and there's a feeling of freshness on the finish.

Upper Yarra fruit from this vineyard at Woori Yallock. MV6 and 115 clones, pre-ferment handling; 8 months in French oak barriques (25% new). Soft red fruit, a touch of green herb and a little bit of coffee oak on the bouquet, all nicely in harmony. Quite broad through the palate, and mouthfilling in a way, but holds its shape courtesy of the gently persistent tannins which maintain well through the finish.

Hand picked, mechanically sorted. Fermented with ambient yeast, 25% whole bunches. 16 days maceration. Matured for 9 months in 32% new French oak. The 25% whole bunches bring a briary complexity, while building a tannic bridge between the attack and mid palate. The tannins, grape and oak, serve as a long arc across blue/boysenberry, anise, clove and violet. Peppery and vibrant as much as it is plush and firm.

The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Aurora Point is gorgeous. Creamy, ample and wonderfully open-knit, the 2018 is super-expressive. Dried pear, sage, mint, anise and wild flowers all meld together in a beautifully textured Sauvignon Blanc. Lees stirring brings out striking layers of nuance and dimension.

The 2018 Chardonnay Broken Road Vineyard is laced with expressive notes of graphite, lemon confit, chamomile, white flowers and apricot. A wine of focus and cut, the Broken Road is decidedly mineral and savory in style. It is one of the most distinctive wines in this range from Stonestreet.

The 2018 Chardonnay Red Point is rich, creamy and textured in feel. Apricot, lemon confit, dried flowers and graphite are some of the many aromas and flavors that open in the glass. The Red Point emerges from a slightly warmer exposure on the property, below the fog line, that seems to naturally produce wines with a bit more of an overt fruit profile relative to some of the other bottlings. A long, beautifully persistent finish adds to the wine's considerable charm.

The 2018 Chardonnay Gravel Bench Vineyard is a dense, inward wine. It is also one of the more closed wines in the lineup. This rugged site yields a Chardonnay of notable character, but not a lot of immediate appeal. Readers will find a Chardonnay that is intensely savory, mineral and structured. The 100% new oak is not all evident.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Hawkeye Mountain emerges from a single block in Alexander Valley perched at 2,400 feet in elevation. Inky dark fruit, crushed rocks, mocha, red cherry jam and flowers open with a few hours of air. This mountain Cabernet has much to offer.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Trace Ridge, from a site in Knights Valley, is fabulous. Inky, deep, and so expressive the 2018 offers up copious dark fruit laced with chocolate, savory herbs, blood orange, rose petal and spice. Ample and large-scaled, this dramatic Cabernet is showing so well today.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Outland Ridge, from a site in Anderson Valley, is one of the highlights in this range. It shows tremendous breadth and power from start to finish. Red/bluish fruit, spice and licorice lend quite a bit of complexity, but it is the wine's balance that is so compelling. All the elements are wonderfully knit together.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Land's Edge Vineyards is so expressive. The blend of sites (Far Coast and Sea Scape) works so well. Blood orange, spice, rose petal and succulent red cherry are all laced together in an open-knit, racy Pinot that will drink beautifully right out of the gate. It is unquestionably one of the better wines in the range. I loved it.

The 2018 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard is a very pretty, airy wine that captures the more finessed side of Durrell, one of the most highly regarded sites in Carneros. Lemon peel, mint, white pepper and strong mineral accents give this lifted Chardonnay tons of character. This is an especially restrained style for the Stone Côte, a blend taken from four blocks at Durrell.

The 2018 Chardonnay Sevens Bench is rich, ample and so expressive. Apricot, tangerine oil, hazelnut and tropical accents all build in this creamy, resonant Chardonnay from Hartford. This is an especially unctuous style. And it works so well. The Sevens Bench emerges from site on the Sonoma/Napa border.

The 2018 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard, from a site on decomposed sandstone, is lifted and very pretty, with terrific depth and striking balance. Tangerine oil, spice, mint, ginger and light butter nuances all open in the glass, framed by pretty floral accents that add an exotic flair.

The 2018 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard is sourced from a site in Annapolis four miles from the Pacific, at 1,000 feet in elevation. Readers will find an especially phenolic, structured Chardonnay laced with plenty of strong savory and mineral inflections. The Far Coast is a wine of notable complexity, although it is reserved and far less immediate than most of the wines in this range.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Jennifer's has terrific fruit presence. Bright red cherry, blood orange, pomegranate, mint and spice all open in the glass, but it is the wine's midpalate sweetness and pliancy that stand out most. I would cellar the 2018 for at least a year or two, as the tannins are a bit imposing.