Made entirely from the one variety, this is light in color and beautifully composed, a study in structure and graceful texture. Red cherry and pomegranate play around complementary characteristics of rose, dried herb and cedar, finishing with plenty of fresh acidity.

Graceful and delicate, featuring silky cherry and raspberry flavors, laced with orange peel and underbrush hints, building richness and structure toward fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2029.

Rich and finely detailed, with expressive cherry and blueberry flavors, accented by sassafras tea and rose petal notes, wrapped in a silky finish that lingers. Drink now through 2029.

Dynamic, with multilayered flavors swaddled in a velvety texture. Lively raspberry, blueberry and orange tea notes develop elegant complexity on the detailed finish. Drink now through 2029.

Santa Lucia Highlands Braves the Heat in 2017 Vibrant crimson color. High-pitched black raspberry, cherry, exotic spice and potpourri scents show excellent clarity and take on a minerally quality with air. Taut and energetic on the palate, offering ripe red and blue fruit and cola flavors that are complemented by suggestions of candied rose, vanilla and allspice. The fresh, impressively persistent finish displays a strong mineral quality, suave florality and harmonious tannins that lend gentle grip.

Santa Lucia Highlands Braves the Heat in 2017 Limpid ruby-red. Powerful, spice- and mineral-accented red and blue fruit, incense and potpourri aromas pick up a cola nuance with aeration. Densely packed but also energetic in the mouth, offering intense black raspberry, boysenberry, cherry pie, star anise and rose pastille flavors that are supported by a spine of juicy acidity. Smooth, alluringly sweet and focused on the impressively long finish, which features a lingering floral note and harmonious tannins that add framework and closing grip.

Napa Valley Cabernet 10 years apart The aim of Cardinale is to be accessible, though not mature, on release, as well as having the capacity to age, and this 2015 succeeds admirably. There's dense blackberry fruit on the nose, which has power and ripeness without being jammy or overbearing. The mostly new oak is evident on the nose, and the palate, but it's sumptuous and integrated. Plump and full-bodied, the wine is understandably youthful and quite grippy, but it's not too extracted, and the long finish is juicy and vigorous.

USA, California, Napa Valley: More 2016s Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard comes prancing out of the glass with showy Black Forest cake, blackberry pie and blackcurrant cordial scents with hints of unsmoked cigars, pencil lead, olives and morello cherries. Medium to full-bodied, it has a lovely ripe, rounded tannin texture and layers of black fruits and herbal accents, finishing on a perfumed note. 2,021 cases were made.

Striking, enticing and inviting nose emits pure pleasure and extreme confidence from the stalwart Willamette house. If you don’t know this winery you need to because in their hands pinot noir is lifted to the heights and executed for all the right reasons. Balance is met by the introduction of pleasantries to tension and an accord of moving parts is magically reached. Extraction, concentration and acidity are all on the same page, of complex mathematical design, theory and relative equilibrium. So good. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted September 2019.

Great stuff! This is a fairly deeply coloured, complex and enchanting pinot noir. Ripe black cherry fruit is effortlessly inlaid with wood smoke, cedar, vanilla and forest floor. It is quite full bodied, intense and powerful with considerable alcohol and fine youthful tannin. Very concentrated, very Oregon and very well done. Best 2021 to 2025. Tasted Sept 2019.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2017 Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard has a level of nuance and transparency that elevates it in this range. Crushed flowers, rose petal, mint, lavender, blood orange and spice are all finely cut. A wine of class and distinction, the Nielson is fabulous. The combination of 667 and Swan Clones works beautifully here.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2018 Chardonnay Katherine's, from the Cambria estate in Santa Maria, exudes depth and old-vine character in its powerful, dense feel. If tasted blind, I might have pegged this for a red wine, such is its phenolic resonance. These 50-year-old, own rooted vines confer striking complexity and character. This is such a compelling wine.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future A wine of denisity and power, the 2017 Machado is another standout in what is a very impressive range from Brewer-Clifton this year. Dark cherry and plum fruit are rich and expansive on the palate. The 2017 needs a few years in bottle to develop more complexity, but it is really quite compelling, even in the early going.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2017 Chardonnay 3D is the most overt and tropical of the four wines in the range, the 3-D will appeal most to readers who enjoy richer, more flamboyant wines. Tangerine, hazelnut, smoke, pineapple and buttery notes are front and center in this decidedly exotic, viscous Chardonnay.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2018 Chardonnay Katherine's comes from clone four, self-rooted vines that are 49 years old. It has a wonderfully open, perfumed nose of ripe quince, peaches and apricot, sweet hay, dried chamomile, orange blossom, spring honey and toasted almonds plus hints of crushed shell, lime peel and saline. The light to medium-bodied palate offers intense, seriously minerally flavor layers with great supporting texture and juicy acidity, finishing long, layered and energetic.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Made using 65% new oak, the pale to medium ruby colored 2016 Pinot Noir Rita's Crown gives up aromas of violet, chocolate-covered cherries, oolong tea, gravel dust, red cherry preserves and turned earth—deeply scented with notions of damp earth and moss-covered bark. Medium-bodied and silky, it gives great intensity and lots of ripe fruits with a strong mineral line, wonderfully ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and flavorful. Yes!

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard (50% new oak) has a unique nose with a fresh fruit profile: blueberry, plum, black berries, pencil shavings and streaks of crushed rock and white pepper, with a core of ripe cranberry, red apple skin, amaro and earth. The palate is medium-bodied and very silky with pure fruits accented by mineral and earthy layers, grainy tannins and juicy acidity, finishing very long and layered. Yum!

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2016 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Block Q comes from vines planted in the early 1970s on sandy soils with outcroppings of loam and shale, using about 50% new oak and one-third whole cluster. It has a pale to medium ruby color and perfumed nose of violet, granite, fresh sage, moss-covered bark, amaro and Earl Grey tea leaves with green and black peppercorn, fresh blueberries and strawberries, blackberries, orange peel, raspberry jam and rosy hints coming through—lovely layers. Medium-bodied, it has perfumed fruit in the mouth with a firm frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and spiced.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2016 Chardonnay Bien Nacido comes from vines planted in the 1980s as well as some newer plantings. Both portions were barrel fermented, and the wine saw about 50% new oak. It has a lovely nose of chamomile, honey toast, toasted hazelnut, lemon curd and orange zest hints plus notes of dried leaves, white peach and nectarine—this has nice layering of ripe fruit and winemaking spice. Medium to full-bodied, it explodes in the mouth with ripe, honeyed, peachy fruit and a lovely frame of spice, with a wonderful silky texture and very juicy acidity, finishing very long and layered. This is great!

Tasting the Traumatic 2017 Vintage (And Others) in Northern California A beautiful red with black-cherry and blueberry aromas and flavors. Medium to full body and creamy tannins. Lovely balance and sensual mouth feel. Succulent finish. Drink or hold.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Made with 100% whole cluster, the 2017 Pinot Noir Machado has a pale to medium ruby color and gives up warm cranberry, black cherry, red and black currants and licorice with hints of peppercorn, woodsmoke, pipe tobacco, dried rose petals and garrigue. The silky, light to medium-bodied palate fleshes out in the mouth with spicy fruits supported by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and layered. Give this more time in bottle.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Made using 100% whole cluster, the pale to medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Hapgood features pipe tobacco, woodsmoke, garrigue, dried herbs and pepper with a core of black and red berries and a crushed strawberry note. Light to medium-bodied and silky, it opens with saline and herbs and segues into ripe, perfumed fruits, with firm, grainy tannins to support and great freshness, finishing long, energetic and perfumed.

Oregon: An Embarrassment of Riches and Richness Brilliant red. A highly aromatic bouquet evokes fresh red/blue fruits, blood orange and baking spices, with vibrant mineral and floral overtones gaining strength with aeration. Spicy and precise in the mouth, offering alluringly intense black raspberry, cherry liqueur, candied rose and spicecake flavors and a touch of smokiness. Delivers a suave blend of power, tension, finesse and finishes with finely knit tannins and strong, floral-driven persistence. (made with 50% whole clusters)

Oregon: An Embarrassment of Riches and Richness Limpid ruby-red. Assertive red berry preserve, potpourri, cherry-cola and incense aromas show outstanding clarity. A smoky mineral nuance builds in the glass. Offers concentrated, yet energetic black raspberry, bitter cherry, vanilla and floral pastille flavors. A subtle blood orange flourish adds refreshingly bitter lift. Gains weight and sweetness with air and finishes spicy, gently tannic and extremely long, with resonating florality and a touch of mocha. (40% new French oak)

James Halliday On The 2020 Cabernet And Family Varietal Winners Sourced from a single plot of old bushvines dating from '62 at 252m, the fruit was fully destemmed before individual berry sorting, indicative of the resources at the disposal of the Jackson Family stable. Extraction, more European than Australian, with three punchdowns daily across a 10-day extraction period, before 7 months in neutral Burgundian coopered oak, has ensured a prism of savouriness. The result is thoroughly convincing and highly complex. Black olive, cherry liqueur and raspberry bonbon notes are wrapped in the herbal bosom of tannic twine. A gentle rasp, mind you, rather than an aggressive scrape. Delicious wine. Captivating and very long.