USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 Medium to deep ruby, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Vales Edge aged 32 months in 62% new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. It opens with pure scents of cassis, garrigue, cedar, bay leaf, Morello cherries and warm chocolate with notes of beef drippings, red fruit sparks and violet. Medium-bodied and silky, it floods the mouth with pure, intensely flavored layers, plushly textured with pixelated tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long. Wow! This is gorgeous and should develop in bottle well over the next 10 to 15+ years. 156 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge Vineyard aged 32 months in 45% new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. It has a deep ruby color and takes its time opening up to scents of warm chocolate, cassis, hoisin and Indian spices with layers of lilac, bacon fat, pencil shavings, cedar, Morello cherries and a eucalyptus hint. Medium to full-bodied and silky, it offers intense and ripe fruits, still with a youthful robe of new oak. It has a juicy, plush frame with grainy-textured tannins and a long finish. This merits at least another couple of years in bottle. 322 cases produced.

Brushy sage meets succulent blackberry, blueberry and tar in this impressive wine, which offers generous structure and complex tannin. Though juicy and decidedly enjoyable now, it will benefit from further cellaring; best 2022 through 2032.

2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - I'm still waiting to taste one that I don't have anything nice to say about. There are plenty of nice things to say about this one - classic varietal character, structured acidity, complexity of aroma and flavor, very approachable in its youth, and set to improve with age. I especially like the dusty minerality balanced against the fruit. This will seem like a real bargain fifteen years down the road -- if you can wait that long.

This legendary bottling shows all the hallmarks of a young, vital Cabernet that needs plenty of time. It’s classically balanced and rich in blackberries, currants and chocolate, with perhaps a bit more tannic structure than in the past, due to the cool vintage. Drink from 2018 and well beyond.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché comes from a vineyard that sits on the gravelly, stony soils of the Rutherford Bench. It is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, aged 24 months in French oak prior to bottling. This wine shows plenty of new, velvety glove leather, cedar wood, kirsch and blacker currants. It is full-bodied, ripe, but wonderfully elegant and pure, with a voluptuous texture. This vineyard is totally dry-farmed. Drink over the next 15+ years. These are all classically styled wines. Of course, long-time winemaker Ted Edwards is still steering the fortunes of this historic producer. All three of the 2005s are still amazingly youthful wines at age ten.

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche (from that iconic site on the west side of Rutherford planted in gravelly, loamy soils) is composed of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc. It boasts a dense ruby/purple color along with a classic nose of loamy soil, kirsch liqueur, Provencal garrigue, black currants and spice box. Full-bodied, opulent, fleshy and fully mature with fabulous balance, it is hard to ignore this stunning 2001. The good news is that there were 2,400+ cases made of it from this 22-acre site. It is capable of lasting another 15-20 years. Two brilliant efforts from Freemark Abbey, this is the first time I tasted these wines as I missed them when I tasted the 2001s eight years ago.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Dried apples and lemons with cream and peach undertones. Some pine needles. Full-bodied, layered and bright. Serious acidity at the end gives it energy and focus.

Brewer’s newest project is this cold-climate, whole cluster–fermented Syrah with exotic flavors and aromas of red fruit seasoned with lavender and peppercorn. Seamless and floral.

From Greg Brewer, the nose is black currant, licorice, herb, peppercorn and lavender. The palate entry is bright, sappy graphite, black plum and red pear.

Wine of the Day The Ex Post Facto by Greg Brewer, is a pure Syrah from one of state’s best artist/philosopher winemakers, his wines, especially this new project, are thinking man’s wines, but with a bit of whimsy and magic! Ex Post Facto (which means in Latin: with retroactive effect or force.” is Greg Brewer’s most recent wine (Syrah), he is more famous for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with his Brewer-Clifton wines being post modern icons, but he has made some fantastic Syrah in his past, from his time at Melville, including his versions of Donna’s there, they were awesome wines often rivaling the best from Alban, Ojai and Sine Qua Non, which were some of the greats of the region at the time! And his search of zen purity and sense of place is legendary in the Santa Barbara region. These are not wines to miss out on! It’s funny to say or think, but I love Greg’s Syrah(s), always have, I feel they show a freedom that sometimes is lacking in his other wines, the come across more wild and natural, maybe it is just my personal interpretation or projection, it’s just the way they hit me and I love the racy and nervous intensity that have, the stemmy vigor and force that drives them intrigues me from head to toe! This 2016 Ex Post Facto, sold through Brewer-Clifton, where you can also get his Diatom Wines too, is beautifully detailed with exceptional layers of gripping flavors, it’s richly full on the palate, but full of vitality, class and cool climate character with a cascade of violets, briar spice, boysenberry, damson plum and opulent kirsch adding peppercorns, blueberry, cassis, minty/anise, mineral tones, tapenade, cedar and shaved vanilla. Everything vibrant and of course youthful at this stage, gaining density with air, at 14.5% it’s not a shy wine, but complex, balanced and with gorgeous dimension, it will appeal to fans of Cornas and Cote-Rotie as well as those that like Pax, Drew, Piedrasassi, Halcon and Stolpman, and even better yet, it is a great value, highlighting the fact that some of California’s best red wines can be under $50 and made from Syrah! I have been dying to get my hands on this new wine from Greg for months, ever since he told me he was doing this Ex Post Facto Syrah project, and it has met and surpassed my sky high expectations! Look for this is be a must have wine, it should reward mid term cellaring too, I plan to hide a few bottles from my greedy self to re-discover in 5 to 10 years time, it has some serious potential. As, I suspected, Greg used 100% whole cluster from an ultra cold site with 3 months in the fermenter, an unheard of length of time, which certainly shows in the depth here and he employed the eldest barrels he could find in the cellar in classic Northern Rhone traditional winemaking, and yes, I’m a stems freak and this is my holy grail.

At its best, petite sirah feels a bit like a black hole - a wine that ought to be described by an astrophysicist, not a wine critic. This opens with exceedingly rich, ripe blueberry and fig flavors, the pulls them inward, hiding that mass of fruit inside dark, spicy tannins, transmuting alcohol warmth into cool, stony persistence. It's a strange but wonderful sensation. This comes from a vineyard planted on the gravelly loam of the Talmage bench, at the northern end of the Mayacamas mountain range. In addition to younger, irrigated blocks, this includes fruit from dry-farmed vines between 70 and 80 years old. Try to forget a bottle or two in the back of a wine cellar for two decades or more.

Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part Two The 2017 Chardonnay Katherine's is the most distinctive wine in this range. Crushed rocks, slate, lemon peel and graphite are some of the many notes that flesh out in an expansive, layered Chardonnay endowed with tremendous pedigree and sheer character. The Katherine's will be fascinating to follow as it develops in bottle. Even today, though, it is a true standout.

Named for the diatomaceous earth made from the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures. Katherine’s is a 50-year-old self-rooted vineyard that butts up against the Bien Nacido Vineyard. Brewer explains the wine is made in a cloistered environment, a “vacuum with a slow trajectory.” Reaching an equilibrium of edge and roundness (no ML here), we find vanilla custard and lemon curd.

2017 CHARDONNAY, KATHERINE’S The nose is tropical, lush pineapple, coconut, banana and honey. The palate entry is juicy fresh lean green apple and lemon zest.

Coming from the Santa Maria Valley (this label is by and large focused on the Sta. Rita Hills), the 2017 Chardonnay Katherine’s just jumps from the glass with a perfumed, tropical bouquet of ripe citrus, spice, dried pineapple, and mango notes. Showing more and more classic salinity and oyster shell characteristics with time in the glass, it’s medium-bodied, has bright acidity, a layered, viscous texture, and a beautiful finish. It’s going to evolve for 8-10 years at a minimum.

The 2016 Chardonnay Spear is gorgeous. Lemon peel, white pepper and floral notes make a strong opening statement in this beautifully precise, tense Chardonnay. Bright saline notes shape the delineated mid-palate and finish. This is a fabulous example of the Diatom style at its best.

The 2015 Chardonnay Santos Road has a nose of salted almonds, lemon curd and lime leaves with hints of crushed rocks and wet slate. Medium-bodied, the palate has a very savory and minerally personality with an understated richness and great length. 143 cases were made.

Starting with the 2016 Chardonnay Hilliard Bruce, it’s a classic Chardonnay from this appellation that offers lots of citrus rind, salty minerality, spice and orange blossom aromas and flavors. Ripe impressively textured, with impressive clarity and cut, it will be at its best from 2018-2028. The Diatom releases are made by Greg Brewer. I loved all these 2016s and they had vibrant purity and freshness, with plenty of textural richness on the palate. The Sta. Rita Hills appellation needs more Chardonnays like this.

The 2017s From Sonoma Strawberries, spice box, blueberries, red currants, violets, and forest floor notes all emerge from the 2017 Pinot Noir Maggy Hawk, which has a certain old-school, Volnay-like vibe. It's a classic, balanced, complex Pinot Noir from this team that has that juicy, upfront, pretty fruit and nicely integrated acidity. This is another brilliant, elegant, complete wine from Copain.

The 2017s From Sonoma The first vintage for this cuvée from Ryan, the 2017 Pinot Noir Edmeades Vineyard comes from mid-valley and was brought up in 27% new French oak. It's a beautiful wine with blueberry and wild strawberry fruits as well as complex spice, dried flowers, and some loamy soil notes. Medium-bodied, seamless, and silky on the palate, it's a lovely, layered wine that shines for its texture and balanced.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut from Anderson Valley saw 20% new French oak. It has a complex, nuanced, Côte de Beaune-like perfume of red fruits, sassafras, flowers, and exotic spices. Incredibly elegant, silky, and polished on the palate, with juicy acidity, it shines for its complexity, nuance, and ethereal texture. It’s one of the gems in the lineup.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Pinot Noir Kiser en Bas is a little closed to begin, giving glimpses of red currants, pomegranate and black raspberry scents with touches of forest floor and fungi. Medium-bodied, firm, fresh and elegant in the mouth, it has a plush texture and wonderful freshness framing the intense red berry flavors, finishing long and earthy.

A wine of precision and nuance, the 2014 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut bristles with energy. Bright red cherry, pomegranate, plum, spice and blood orange abound. The translucent, vibrant style is hugely appealing. Tasted next to the 2013, the 2014 has a bit more precision.

A dark, powerful wine, the 2015 Syrah Hawks Butte presents an exotic mélange of inky fruit, bittersweet chocolate, iron, blood, gravel, black pepper, juniper berry and blackberry jam. Rich, unctuous and potent, the 2015 is long on depth and fruit texture. The potent tannins need time to soften, but this is nicely done. Readers should expect a virile, brooding style.