Hints of cedar and vanilla accent cherries and raspberries on the nose of the 2017 Ironheart Shiraz. It showcases the vintage's cooler character in its red fruit, but doesn't lack for ripeness or power. It's full-bodied, supple and velvety on the palate, with great persistence on the mouthwatering finish. Stylistically, it's a hypothetical blend of the 2015 and 2016 vintages—and a nicely balanced Shiraz for drinking over the next decade-plus.

The debut vintage, the 2017 The Nest Cabernet Franc is a stellar effort. Perhaps because of the cool vintage, it captures those elusive herbal-floral notions that make Cabernet Franc special, with scents from black tea to violets accenting the cherry fruit core. It's medium to full-bodied, with creamy-supple tannins and bright acids. Engaging and complex, it finishes long, vibrant and refreshing. Bravo!

The Pinot Noir Zena Crown Vineyard is an elegant wine offering a medium ruby color and aromas of black cherry fruit. On the palate it displays a beautiful silky texture with perfect balance and acidity, round firm tannins and a lengthy finish. A gorgeous wine! Premier Pacific Vineyards developed this vineyard in the early 2000s. It’s located due east of the Van Duzer corridor, which allows cool Pacific breezes to flow through, decreasing temperatures beginning in the late afternoon, helping grapes retain acidity, thickening skins, and firming tannins. Jackson Family purchased the 115 acre Zena Crown vineyard in 2013, their first foray into Oregon. The southwest facing vineyard is diverse in terms of clones, aspects, and altitude, ranging from 300-650’.

The Pinot Noir Pratt Vineyard-Sexton Ranch is a beautiful wine offering pure dark red berry aromas and flavors. It is soft and delicious on the attack and is intensely flavored of dark berries, black cherry and dried herbs. It reveals an elegant texture and mouth feel and is beautifully balanced with soft round tannins and a long finish. The Pratt Vineyard is south of Graton and west of Sebastopol in an area known as the Sebastopol Hills. It was developed by Jim Pratt in the late 1990s. It’s a southwest facing vineyard at 453’ with 2697 GDD and Goldridge soils.

The Siduri La Encantada Vineyard is a hedonistic wine. Semi opaque, it offers pure and spicy dark cherry and plum fruit on nose with a touch of cola. On the palate it is silky smooth, ripe and rich tasting with a hint of chocolate on the finish. Originally planted by Richard Sanford, La Encantada is located close to the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard on Santa Rosa Rd.

Soft herbal and berry nose, deep color, rich, lush with velvety texture; dense and complex with notes of spice, toast, blackberry and mocha, long and lovely.

A creamy, polished red with blueberry, fresh-plum and some floral character. Medium body, fine tannins and a fruity finish. Reserved and refined. Linear freshness to this. Drink now.

A rich, powerful super Tuscan that reminds me of some of the cult wines of Napa. Yet, there’s underlying freshness and brightness to the blackberry, mineral, stone and floral character. Extremely rich and opulent, but shows tension and focus. Better after 2022.

From a low-yielding, head-trained vineyard planted more than a century ago, this wine tastes of dried fruit, dust and nutmeg, with a depth of rich black cherry. Leathery texture leads to an elegant length of velvety softness.

Dusty sage, earth and leather exude out of 100-plusyear-old vines from this famous dry-farmed site in the heart of the appellation. The fruit is intensely brambly and feral, a mix of blackberry, black cherry and dark fig with dustings of cocoa powder and clove.

Tangy in strawberry and dark cherry, this impressively full-bodied, richly constructed wine is expansive and elegant. Tremendous structure upholds its core of tannin and oak, finishing with a tangy, high-acid crispness and length.

From a stellar site planted in 1975 to a heritage clone, this wine is aged in French oak for 16 months. Plum, strawberry and blood orange flavors contribute a palate of balanced richness that is both complex and wide in appeal.

This is an outstanding wine for the price, made from a majority of estate-grown grapes across the appellation. Given 10 months in French oak, 27% of it new, it is designed to be delicious out the gate, with a lush opulence that is soft, broad and supple across the palate. Plummy and brimming in dark cherry and cola, it finishes with moderate structure and baking spice.

Robust in oak from barrel fermentation and 10 months of aging, this wine is made from four sites within older plantings within the appellation—a showcase of blending and vine age that delivers fleshy lushness and texture. A tension of acidity boosts strong flavors of apple, nutmeg and pear.

This is an outstanding appellation wine, made in larger quantities at a remarkably fair price. Grapes come from throughout the diverse valley and the wine barrel fermented and given nine months to rest. Full bodied, layered and widely appealing, it shows a density of peach, pear, baking spice and sweet oak, all of the components coming together seamlessly at the end.

The winery’s special barrel selection, this is a robust, full-bodied and intensely concentrated wine, grippy, layered and ultimately bright. Raspberry and strawberry flavors wrap around silky elegant tannins and integrated oak,showing a hint of clove and cardamom on the finish.

This lovely, crisp wine is fermented in stainless steel. Herb, cedar and garrigue elements meet a juicy, sublime mid-palate, finishing on highlights of lemon peel and cassis.

McLaren Vale Delivers Top Mediterranean Styled RedsAn attractively floral edge to the nose with savory, terra cotta-like notes, leading to rich red berries and red plums. The palate is powerful and focused, showing some muscle behind the blackberries and red plums and sturdy, fine-tannin texture. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

McLaren Vale Delivers Top Mediterranean Styled RedsA very intense nose with instantly complex aromas of dried spices, dried wood, licorice and sappy blackberries and plums. There’s a direct delivery of strong, fine tannin and a core of succulent, redder plum and berry flavors. Concentrated and bedded in deep at the finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

McLaren Vale Delivers Top Mediterranean Styled RedsThis has an intense delivery of redcurrants, raspberries and red plums with an attractive, leafy and bracken edge. The palate has a core of wild red berries with some chocolate also in the mix. Juicy, engaging and flavorful. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

McLaren Vale Delivers Top Mediterranean Styled RedsIntense aromas of ripe dark berries, purple olives, violets, intense cedary oak, forest wood, leather and tobacco. The palate is dense, concentrated and packed with dark-berry flavors. Bold tannin chew. Needs time for the oak and tannin to settle in. Try from 2024. Screw cap.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Coming from plots ranging from 850 to 1,000 feet in elevation and brought up in 50% new French oak, the 2018 Chardonnay Red Point is another rocking wine, offering buttered apple, brioche, spicy wood, and crushed stone-like aromas and flavors. Textured, medium to full-bodied, and with a great blend of opulent and elegance, drink bottles over the coming 5-7+ years.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Coming from the Far Coast and Seascape Vineyard (both on the Sonoma Coast), the 2017 Pinot Noir Land's Edge Vineyards has a spicy, complex, incredibly attractive style that shows lots of upfront red and black fruits, dried herbs, and loamy earth aromatics, medium to full body, a rounded, supple texture, and a great finish. It's a great value play in this portfolio and I'd happily drink bottles over the coming 7-8 years.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Buttered lemons, acacia flowers, toasted brioche, and a touch of pineapple all define the 2017 Chardonnay Sevens Bench Vineyard. Coming from a vineyard in the cooler Carneros region of Napa Valley, it has terrific ripeness as well as brilliant purity of fruit. Its acidity is nicely integrated, and while it's already hard to resist, it's going to evolve for a solid decade.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Brought up in 40% new French oak, the 2017 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard comes from the Green Valley portion of the Russian River and has an exuberant, upfront array of tropical fruits, caramelized pineapple, white flower, orange blossom, and brioche. This beauty is rich and opulently textured, with its oak pushed all the way into the background, and follows with a great finish. It's brilliant stuff.