Since 2001, Anakota has made two single vineyard, single variety, single appellation estate cabs: Helena Dakota, and Helena Montana. Helena Dakota is a 12.4-acre block of vines sited below Mount St. Helena’s two highest peaks at 750 feet elevation. It is an ancient volcanic zone, with reddish-brown, gravel/silt loam soils intermingled with volcanic rock, well suited to the main Bordeaux grapes. This year I tasted it alongside its El. 950 Feet Helena Montana Vineyard sibling. The differences are subtle, but Helena Dakota exhibits more generosity and elegance and a less rugged mountain character. The fruit is black and spicy, with some mineral savoury chocolate streaks and dense but sweet tannins. Winemaker Pierre Seillan is the master of balance, and this wine has it all from front to back.

Starts lush, with a broad wave of cassis, boysenberry and blackberry preserves, but its mountain persona soon asserts itself, adding bramble, violet and sweet bay leaf notes while a strong graphite spine rivets the finish in place. All that and there's a mouthwatering feel as well. This should cruise in the cellar. Best from 2022 through 2038.

This really packs in some serious plum paste, cassis and black cherry pâte de fruit notes, all wrapped in brambly grip and laced with mouthwatering anise and iron notes. There's a tarry underpinning on the finish, with a deftly inlaid roasted apple wood note. Nicely set up for the cellar. Best from 2023 through 2038.

Packed with fruit, this dense version is nonetheless vivid and full of energy, with plum pâte de fruit, açaí reduction and boysenberry preserves flavors streaming through, carried by a graphite note, all while an invigorating licorice snap and floral streak work throughout. A great racy iron note at the very end carries it all through the encore. Built to last. Best from 2023 through 2038.

Mt. Brave Vineyard sits high atop Mt. Veeder at an elevation of 1,400 to 1,800 feet on the original home of the Napa native Wappo tribe. The area has been planted since the early 1860s. The site is all about high elevation, meaning thin, rocky soils and numerous winegrowing challenges. Four cabernet clones (191, 4, 8, and 337) and three rootstocks (3309C, 101-14, and 1103P) combine to give this wine a certain complexity under its attractive juicy black fruit opening. Youthful and a long way from the finish, the wine does have a certain charm for a mountain wine that lends itself to drinking for experimental purposes. I love the earthy, savoury, restrained fruit with rich, dense sweet tannins that will disappear over time. Winemaker Chris Carpenter likes to say, “Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is meant to show all that is Mt. Veeder without overt tannins.” And it is readily apparent in 2018. In all, it spent 22 months in 82 percent new French oak. The blend is 88/6.5/3.5/1/1 cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, and petit verdot. Drink through 2035.

Helena Montana Vineyard runs northeast to southwest at an elevation of 950 feet above sea level. It is an impressive 60 acres, featuring vast rolling hillsides and benches that tilt as much as 30 degrees, allowing them to capture an adequate supply of sunlight. The soils are described as firm, dense, white/yellow gravelly loam that drain well. It was tasted alongside its El. 750 Feet Helena Dakota Vineyard sibling. The differences are subtle, but Helena Montana cab presents with a bit more power showing some of the bigger, more mountain characters. The fruit is black and spicy, the tannins dense and at this point fairly muscular, but in the hands of winemaker Pierre Seillan there is always balance and elegance, and the biggest key of all is the juicy acidity to keep it fresh. The wine spends 13 months in 90 percent new French oak.

Refined, rich and powerfully structured flavors of cherry, currant and dried raspberry are tensile, supported by firm acidity and tannins. Ends with a minerally flourish on the firm finish, with notes of savory herbs. Best from 2022 through 2027. From California.

This packs in lots of dense yet sleek blackberry, mulberry and black currant fruit flavors, while anise, sassafras and violet notes add range throughout. There's plenty of structure embedded as well, though it tilts to the zesty, acid-driven side of the ledger, further enlivening the fruit. This has a serious oak treatment, but it's very precise and fine-grained. For the cellar. Best from 2022 through 2038.

Jam-packed with bright and juicy cassis, plum preserves and raspberry reduction notes, this pumps along nicely, with sleek licorice and graphite notes adding support. Flashes of sweet bay leaf and violet skitter through, and there's serious coiled-up energy on the finish, so a little patience will be rewarded. Best from 2022 through 2038.

Sycamore is a clear leap up in intensity over the regular Freemark cab that isn’t all that regular. The rich black and red fruit have more muscle power and interesting savoury raspberry cedar veins that run through a spicy, dark chocolate cherry jam finish. Freemark has had exclusive sourcing rights to the Rutherford Bench fruit of the 24-acre Sycamore Vineyard for 40 years. In 2017 the mix was 88/5/4/3 cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot, all aged 27 months in 74 percent new French oak. Winemaker Kristy Melton is knocking it out of the park at Freemark Abbey, adding elegance to what is now a modern Napa cab you can age 25 years.

Very sleek and tightly coiled, with a pure, racy beam of cassis and plum reduction notes coursing through, inlaid seamlessly with a bright iron spine and lively licorice snap and apple wood notes. Shows its grip at the very end, so no rush. Best from 2022 through 2038.

Ripe and dense, but sleek and polished, with red and black licorice notes framing the core of lush plum sauce, blackberry compote and boysenberry reduction flavors. A licorice edge struts on the finish too. A showy style that should have lots of fans. Drink now through 2036.

Tightly wound, pure and minerally, this is packed with vibrant, fine-textured dried red fruit and berry flavors. Forest floor notes lingers on the direct and powerfully structured finish. Drink now through 2026.

There's toasty richness to concentrated apple pastry and pear tart flavors backed by crunchy acidity. Lusciously spiced finish features accents of quince paste and hints of marmalade. Drink now through 2025.

Plush and powerful, with plenty of creamy richness to custard-filled white fruit flavors that offer unctuous buttery nuances. Toasty accents envelop the well-spiced finish. Drink now through 2026.

Rockfall is a mix of the best cabernet sauvignon vineyard sites on Stonestreet Mountain, focusing on the structural elements given up by the Mayacamas range and the vintage. The nose is Sonoma savoury with black raspberry and tea. The attack is rich and full-bodied with heaps of black currant, brambleberry, and milk chocolate that rises to take on the savoury, earthy undercurrent. The tannins are perfectly managed, but you could hold this wine for seven to ten years with no problems. The fruit is grown mostly above the fog line at 400 to 2,400 feet and is handpicked, destemmed, and fermented in stainless steel. Next, it goes through malolactic fermentation in barrel, and there is a minute 1.5 percent petit verdot added to the cabernet sauvignon. Finally, it spends 19 months in 38 percent new French oak.

Winemaking pioneer W.S. Keyes planted some of the first vines on Howell Mountain in 1888. A decade later, a stone winery was established and named after the Mexican parcel Rancho La Jota. Today, La Jota Vineyard Co. carries on the legacy with its small-production mountain cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc. The fruit is a mix of estate grown additions from nearby W.S. Keyes Vineyard. It is a big, brooding, dry, tannic cabernet whose life is all ahead of it. Winemaker Chris Carpenter ferments using native yeast in a mix of open and closed top stainless-steel tanks. The wine was barrel aged for 22 months in 84 new French oak, only adding to its structure. On the palate, it is mountain hefty with dry, peppery, black licorice covered in a dense film of rounded tannins. This bottle will require 10- 15 years of bottle age to show even a touch of maturity. In 2017 the mix was 80/7/6//5/2 cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, and petit verdot. Steak, anyone?

The renaissance at Freemark Abbey continues under the Jackson Family Wines banner. The 2017 cab is a reserve style red with a composition of 84% cabernet sauvignon, 12% merlot, 2% petit verdot, 1.5% malbec, .5% cabernet franc. This blend is a Napa Valley story including valley floor vineyards, western and eastern mountain topsoils, all aged 27 months in French oak barrels, of which 37% are new. The attack is intense, pitching fresh, juicy boysenberry and bing cherry spiced with a savoury cedar undercurrent and a touch of milk chocolate. Napa cab always lends itself to early drinking, but this will sleep a decade with little problem. A perfect wine to gift over the holidays to any serious wine drinker.

A consistent performer out of Monterey comes in at a sensible 13.5 percent. This aged in French oak barrels (19 percent new) for eight and half months. The attack is savoury with juicy black plum, earthy, spicy notes with flecks of rhubarb and minerals. Ready to drink. Monterey is rocky, cool, windswept, and wild, and there is always a bit of all that in the wine.

A solid introductory style Monterey-based pinot that offers a silky soft palate and sweet red fruit mixed with dried herbs, spice, and freshly turned earth. The oak is present, but it doesn’t overpower the wine. A fruity charming berry-laden red is the first duty of inexpensive New World pinot. It is certified sustainable. The perfect mid-week drop.

At first taste, this certified sustainable chardonnay suggests it has had some oak ageing, but it is not the case. Its creamy custardy palate is all part of the Monterey site it comes off. The nose is a mix of intense fresh peach and sweet lime that spills onto the palate. Butter and baked pear and lime mark the finish along with a refreshing hit of acidity that is all Monterey. It is California, no doubt, but fun to sip and friendly enough to work with chicken tacos. Fun and well worth the money for California chardonnay fans, new and old.

The Wine You Should Always Drink When Watching This Classic Fall MovieSoul FoodSoul Food may not be a film about the holidays but its plot is rooted in the tradition of gathering around the dining table with family — and what's more seasonally appropriate than that? This 1997 comedy-drama is best viewed with a hearty meal and soulful wine close by, like a Chianti. The grape that’s used to make Chianti is called Sangiovese and it produces dry wines with red-fruit and dried-herb notes. In other words, Chianti is oh so delicious with a plate full of food.Pair It With: Chianti

Stellar Values in California Chardonnay from Sonoma CountyA blend of fruit from Stonestreet’s estate mountain vineyards, this Chardonnay reveals scents of chamomile tea, smoky oak and high toned tropical fruit. The palate is round and softly textured with appealing, firm phenolics and good mid-palate weight. Finishes dry with lingering lemon and tropical notes. Clones Hyde-Wente, UCD 4, and Peter Michael from Mayacamas vineyards blocks at 400-1800' elevation. Barrel fermented with ambient yeast, full malo with monthly lees stirring and aged 11 months in 33% new French oak. TA 5.1 g/L, pH 3.61, 14.1% alc.

Stellar Values in California Chardonnay from Sonoma CountyThis Sonoma County blend of mostly Alexander and Bennett Valley grapes is relatively reserved aromatically, showing lemon-like citrus with a honeysuckle accent. The palate is broad and balanced with light stone fruit complemented by earthy/savory notes, finishing dry and crisp with good length. An outstanding value in premium Sonoma Chardonnay. Sourced predominantly from the Alexander Valley and Bennett Valleys, fermented in new and used oak barrels (a small percentage was fermented in stainless steel) with native yeast followed by malo and elevage on the lees in barrel. 13.7% alc.

The 2020 Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County) is outrageously beautiful. In fact, it is one of the very finest wines I have ever tasted from Greg Brewer. Rich and textured in the glass, with plenty of bright acids, the 2020 is wonderfully alive. Greg Brewer has done a tremendous job in crafting a Chardonnay that is both texturally deep and intense. In 2020, facing a lack of visibility in the market because of COVID-19, Brewer-Clifton bottled just a fraction of their appellation Chardonnay, freeing up a number of top sites that Greg Brewer was able to access for Diatom. The 2020 is simply magnificent.