2018 Oregon Vintage: Vineyard Savvy Reaps Consistency and Quality Very attractive, brambly red cherries and berries with a sweet-spice edge. This is both complex and integrated. The palate has a very juicy, silky texture with really velvety tannins and an impressive, smooth build of concentrated dark cherries on the finish. Drink or hold.

2018 Oregon Vintage: Vineyard Savvy Reaps Consistency and Quality This is an earthy and attractively intense pinot with blueberry and mixed-cherry aromas on offer, in a sappy mode. The palate has such impressive concentration and weight with a very focused, elegant shape. Saltiness at the finish and bright acidity amid silky tannins. Drink or hold.

Napa Valley's 2017s The 2017 Merlot (there's 11% Petit Verdot) also comes from the Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain. Juicy, ripe, and sexy, with plenty of chocolate, black cherries, and earth aroma and flavors, it's textured, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully done.

Every bit as outstanding as the ‘Katherine’s’ the ‘Bar-M’ is a truly brilliant wine by superstar winemaker Greg Brewer. Ripe apricot and roasted hazelnuts meld with wild mushroom and earthy undertones on this downright intoxicating nose. The freshness and verve to the wine is outstanding, as the tension, salinity and weight truly entices. The long, buttercream and mineral-driven finish lingers for nearly a minute. Gorgeous in its youth, the ‘Bar-M’ will evolve well for another decade. Drink 2020-2030.

Peter Fraser chose this 4.4-acre block at the Yangarra estate for his top selection of shiraz. A gravelly ironstone hill, it was planted 20 years ago, so it isn’t the vine age driving this wine’s elegant power, but it may be the soil, exposure and the biodynamic farming. There’s energy at its core, driving the wine’s irreverent complexity in layers of fragrance—some root, some leaf, some currant fruitiness. The clean and gentle tannins build richness, the wine already offering a sense of McLaren Vale grandeur, and suited to a decade or more of evolution in the cellar.

The Smart family planted grenache at the highest point in their Blewitt Springs vineyard in 1946, where the deep sands restrict the vigor of the vine as well as the amount of fruit they yield. Now owned by the Jackson family of Sonoma, the property is tended by Michael Lane, who continues to dry farm those vines, working under biodynamics. Winemaker Peter Fraser destems it, keeping half as whole berries, then ferments it spontaneously in open-top vats and ages the wine in used French oak barrels. It’s a complete wine, offering a completely different perspective on grenache to a Rayas fan, with the kind of textural pleasure that will satisfy (or create) a fan of McLaren grenache. It’s elegant, tense and floral, with crunchy red berry flavors and fine, persistent tannins: a powerful young wine with years of development ahead.

2017 & 2018 Napa Valley In Depth The 2017 Cabernet Franc captures a stunning intersection of Franc and Mt. Veeder terroir. Inky, deep and super expressive, the 2017 possesses tremendous richness. Crème de cassis, menthol, lavender, chocolate and graphite infuse the 2017 with real depth and brooding intensity. Beams of incisive tannin give the wine its shape and energy. Readers will need to be patient. The 2017 is really a wine from Mt. Veeder first and foremost; it has tons of character and personality.

2017 & 2018 Napa Valley In Depth The 2017 Caladan, Cardinale's Cabernet Franc-based wine, is rich, heady and full of personality. Today, it is impressive, but also shut down and showing only a bit of its ultimate potential. Time in the glass brings out pretty floral and red-toned notes, cedar and tobacco. I hope to be able to taste the 2017 again in the near future, as my impression is that it is holding back quite a bit of potential.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Retrospective The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche Vineyard has a very deep garnet color, delivering a gorgeous nose of lilacs, dark chocolate, blackcurrant pastilles and blueberry compote with nuances of cloves, cigar box, menthol and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is still very youthful, sporting loads of black fruit preserves and mineral sparks, framed by plush tannins and finishing long with a minty lift. 560 cases were made.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Retrospective Very deep garnet colored, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards opens with bold notions of crème de cassis, baked blackberries, boysenberries and dried mulberries with wafts of chocolate mint, underbrush, new leather and tobacco leaf. Full-bodied, rich and spicy, the palate features velvety tannins and plenty of freshness to carry the spices to a long finish. 500 cases were made.

This 100% varietal wine offers earthy sage, diesel, tar and dried herb tones around a core of tart black fruit. Additional accents of gunpowder and toasted oak creep in on the midpalate. The structure is impressive and well-integrated.

Gorgeous, layered fruit flavors come with a seamless, silky texture in this full-bodied but absolutely sleek and polished wine from one of Anderson Valley’s oldest vineyards.Fresh strawberries, red cherries, black cherries and a hint of rhubarb give it a great core, to which light tannins and a pleasing sense of concentration add the finishing touches.

From a cool, coastal site, this is a wild, tangy and savory wine, with highlights of black tea, forest and stem. Crisp red fruit and citrus adorn the tannic midpalate. It shows great complexity and intensity as it finishes in lashes of baking spice.

Single parcel, named for fynbos surround, at 640 m one of highest in Stellenbosch. Lofty quality too, 2016 complex & detailed, dried orange peel & spice woven into rich texture with lees & harmonious oak, 50% new. All fused, brought into focus by fine acidity. Enjoy now, can confidently be cellared ±5 years. 2015 (5 stars, 95 pts) was debut vintage.

The 2018 ‘Emery’ is sourced from a ridgeline site near the crest of the WillaKenzie Estate. Salty tones mark the nose alongside bright red currants, tobacco and suggestions of wild mushroom. The palate is dense and plush with brilliant finesse and a beautiful core of ripe red fruits. Slowly moving into secondary characteristics, this outstanding salty and savory Pinot Noir is only starting to hit its stride.

Delectable, purity, expressive.This delectable Pinot Noir comes from Hartford Court estate vineyards adjacent to the Pacific coastline along the Sonoma coastal mountains; the winery is just one of the outstanding wineries owned by Jackson Family Wines.It's a ripe one at 14.9% alc. but it holds its own; classic notes of forest floor and raspberry, cherries and star anise are layered with cardamom, vanilla, cocoa, pipe tobacco and coconut. It has a sweet bouncy character and lovely fruit purity; in this bottle there is more fruit than earth. Expressive and elegant overall, it has a long sweet cola finish with a bit of heat.

Delicate aromas of warm citrus and thyme with underlying mineral character. Medium-bodied. Very nuanced on the palate with the mineral character continuing to color the white-tea and herbaceous flavors. Wonderfully elegant. A real delight. Drink now.

Dark, dense and mysterious, the 2018 Pinot Noir Barbara's Clone 667 is superb. Succulent dark cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and licorice build in an ample, full-bodied Pinot that is all charm. I would give the tannins a few years to soften. The 2018 is beautifully done. There is real substance and gravitas here.

The 2019 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard is fabulous. Rich and ample, the Katherine's offers striking dimension to play off its mid-weight structure. Lemon confit, tangerine oil, spice and tropical accents all meld together effortlessly. The Katherine's is a blend of various parcels and clones across the estate. This classic Santa Maria Chardonnay hits all the right notes.

The 2019 Chardonnay Hapgood offers an attractive mélange of apricot, dried almonds, chamomile and tropical fruit. In this tasting, the Hapgood stands out for its creamy, textured personality allied to clean mineral notes. All the elements are so well balanced.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Hapgood is a dense, ample wine endowed with tons of brooding power. This cool site yields a Pinot of real distinction. I would give the 2019 2-3 years to soften, as it is pretty imposing today. Dark cherry/plum fruit, spice and leather open in the glass, but the Hapgood is first and foremost a Pinot of weight and resonance.

The 2019 Pinot Noir 3D is bold and savory, yet it retains the transparency that is such a signature at Brewer-Clifton. Pommard and Swan clone Pinot on sandy soils, done with 100% whole clusters, yield an effusive, aromatic Pinot that is all about lift and perfume. This is such a gorgeous and distinctive wine.

This deeply structured red is distinctive for its brooding black raspberry, dark baking spice and crushed stone accents that build tension toward medium-grained tannins. Best from 2023 through 2031.

Tight as a knot at first, this red takes its time unfurling but it’s worth waiting for, with intense dark plum, sandalwood and crushed rock tones that flesh out and expand toward firm yet polished tannins. Best from 2023 through 2031.

Stunning--a rich nose of coffee liqueur, cassis and chocolate, pencil shavings and lavender lead to a palate with equal depth and generosity. It has a supple weight and concentrated flavours of inky black and purple fruit and spice. Delightfully fresh even with some maturity; it is harmonious and fleshy, the tannins sweet and polished.Outstanding.