USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard comes from a vineyard that contains more river rock. It's very deep purple-black in color and reveals exuberant cassis, black cherries, plum preserves and wild blueberry scents with touches of cedar chest, tilled soil, truffles and pencil lead plus a waft of bay leaves. The palate has an incredible structure of very firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, framing the muscular, full-bodied fruit and finishing on a very long, lingering mineral note.

The 2013 Grenache High Sands has a medium/deep ruby-purple color and simply stunning nose of crushed raspberries, Bing cherries and potpourri with hints of lavender, star anise, vanilla, cinnamon stick and pepper. The concentrated, full-bodied palate juxtaposes remarkable freshness and a firm, finely grained backbone with voluptuous fruit spanning extraordinary depth. Heady, multilayered and yet with a solid backbone that suggests great ageing potential, Yangarra hits a whole other level with this vintage of High Sands! It's delicious now, but should greatly reward another 3-5 years of patience and drink a further 20+ years. Wow.

A gorgeous effort as well, the 2014 La Muse is a Merlot-dominated cuvee blended with 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. This deep ruby/purple-colored beauty boasts a terrific perfume of black raspberries, cassis, graphite, chocolate, and a beautiful earthy minerality. This isn’t your over the top, opulent Merlot and shows incredible class and purity, as well as full-bodied richness, high, yet integrated tannin, impeccable balance and a great finish. It’s not anywhere close to primetime (which is rare for a 2014) and needs 4-5 years at a minimum. It’s going to be incredibly long-lived.

The 2014 La Joie exudes freshness, energy and intensity. Black cherry, plum, licorice, lavender espresso and expressive spiced notes are all beautifully delineated in the glass. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and gently spiced notes are laced into the super-expressive, silky finish. A final kick of Cabernet Sauvignon intensity adds lift in the 2014 La Joie, Vérité's Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.

The 2014 La Joie has a spicy black purple color and a big, sweet kiss of camphor, black truffle, pen ink, blackcurrants and unsmoked cigar tobacco, followed by layers of fruit and glycerin in an opulent, beautifully savory, pure and multidimensional wine. The final blend Seillan produced in 2014 was 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This is a compellingly great effort once again. It should be given 2-5 years of bottle age, then drunk over the following three decades.

The estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon dominated release is the 2014 La Joie. It’s an incredible wine based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot. Reminding me of a top vintage of Ducru-Beaucaillou (the 2010?) with its classic Cabernet character, it offers thrilling notes of crème de cassis, exotic flowers, liquid rock-like minerality, and graphite and lead pencil nuances. Deep, concentrated, and backward, it has perfect balance, good acidity, and an undeniable Bordeaux-like weight and texture. Nowhere near primetime, it needs 5-7 years of cellaring and is going to keep for three decades.

The 2017s From Sonoma Another magical wine is the 2017 Chardonnay Gold Run, which comes from vines planted in 1982. This rich, white flower, crushed citrus, honeysuckle, and spice-driven Chardonnay is full-bodied, with tons of fruit, background oak, and a massive finish. It’s another rich, concentrated, yet always vibrant and pure Chardonnay that will keep for over a decade. Hats off to winemaker Lisa Valtenbergs for a bevy of truly brilliant Chardonnays.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases The 2016 Chardonnay Upper Barn Vineyard comes from the oldest vines on the estate, planted in 1982. Fermented in barrel and aged for 11 months in 47% new French oak, it is a little closed to begin, slowly unfurling to reveal pink grapefruit, white peaches and Granny Smith apples with nuances of honeysuckle, lemon tart and praline. Medium to full-bodied, it explodes in the mouth with citrus and savory layers, with a gorgeous silkiness and loads of ginger and mineral sparks coming through on the finish Wow!

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s Lots of pine forest, savory herbs, California bay leaf, and both black and blue fruits emerge from the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain District. It’s another full-bodied, singular wine from Chris that’s perfectly balanced, with beautiful concentration and the purity and balance that’s the hallmark of this great vintage. Short-term cellaring will be the name of the game here and it will be long lived. Anticipated maturity: 2021-2046

From a vineyard owned since 1994, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is another mountain wine that’s going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age. Staked with layers of blue fruits, crushed rock, graphite and lead pencil characteristics, this beauty is full-bodied, super concentrated, opulent, and texture. It’s another awesome wine from this estate that will have three decades of longevity.

More backward and tight, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain comes from a handful of vineyards around 1,900 feet in elevation. While they have been buying fruit from Spring Mountain since 2003, the first vintage for this cuvee was 2005. This deeply colored 2015 reveals loads of floral and violet nuances as well as brilliantly pure blue fruits, graphite, and crushed rock characteristics. With building minerality, full-bodied richness, and an elegant, seamless, silky style on the palate, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for 2+ decades.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is gorgeous, but it is also going to require the most time of these wines to come together. Firm tannins provide the backbone for an exciting array of aromas and flavors. Intense savory and mineral notes meld into layers of blue/blackish fruit in a big, full-bodied Cabernet endowed with stunning depth and structure. All the best elements of the house style come together. With time in the glass the fruit opens up to balance some of the tannic heft, but this is without question a wine made for the cellar.

Another blockbuster, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder, which has the largest production, exhibits a deep blue/purple color along with notes of burning embers, charcoal, sweet black currant liqueur, licorice and scorched earth. It possesses fabulous fruit along with full-bodied power, a voluptuous texture and beautiful density as well as richness. It is not far off the quality of the brilliant 2007. One of the stars in Jess Jackson's Artisans and Estates portfolio, Lokoya focuses on high elevation mountain vineyards in four separate Napa appellations. Winemaker Chris Carpenter has been the force behind these wines for many years.

If I had to pick a favorite of the trio, it would be the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder (280 cases). A Chateau Margaux look-alike, it possesses superb intensity and tremendous perfume as well as elegance allied to power. The sweet nose of tobacco leaf intertwined with melted licorice, spring flowers, black cherries, creme de cassis, and blueberries is extraordinary. With great intensity, medium to full body, tremendous richness, softer tannin that its two siblings, and a finish that lasts nearly 60 seconds, it is a sensationally seductive, rich, multilayered Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 15-20 years.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 7% Malbec, 5% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is deep garnet-purple colored and features gregarious crème de cassis, black cherry preserves and baked plums with touches of Indian spices, cigar box and charcuterie. Full, firm and decadently fruited, it has a fantastic foundation and very long, layered and expressive finish.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple colored and opens with vibrant cranberries, pomegranate and Bing cherries scents with touches of underbrush, wild sage, red roses and mossy bark with a waft of tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate packs in the elegant red fruit and earthy layers, finishing on a long, lingering, provocative mineral note.

The 2017s From Sonoma I also loved the 2016 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard. Located in the Russian River and planted in 1975 to a heritage Martini Clone, this cool site struggles to ripen, giving this 2016 an exotic, complex, vibrant style along with its ample red and black fruits, candied violets, potpourri, and sandalwood. It’s one of the more vibrant, racier wines in the lineup, yet its acidity is nicely integrated, it’s flawlessly balanced, and it has a great, great finish. Give bottles a year or two and enjoy over the following decade.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Jennifer’s Vineyard displays intense notes of grapefruit, green guava, mango and pineapple with nuances of talc, oyster shells and fresh ginger. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant and super intense with tightly wound layers of citrus and tropical fruits and bags of mineral notions on the epically long finish. This needs time but should emerge from the cellar gloriously in 2-3 years!

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A blend of 88.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Petit Verdot, 4.2% Cabernet Franc and 3.2% Merlot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards comes skipping out of the glass with a spring it its step and singing notes of crushed blackcurrants, fresh blackberries and red and black plums with touches of underbrush, fungi, wild sage, chocolate mint and cigar boxes. Full-bodied and built like a brick house, it has a rock-solid frame of firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness supporting the generous, crunchy fruit, finishing long with a touch of minerality.

Caladan was born out of conversations winemaker Chris Carpenter had with the hospitality team at Cardinale. While Cardinale is known for its multi-appellation Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Carpenter began thinking about the Cabernet Franc they have planted across all four of Napa’s mountain AVAs, and wondered if he could craft a similar expression, but with Cabernet Franc as the focus. He saw the growing momentum behind his mountain Cabernet Francs under the Mt. Brave and La Jota labels, but with Caladan, he set out to create something more elegant. He envisioned the red fruit and floral lift of Spring Mountain, the minerality of Diamond Mountain, and complementary blending components from Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder. The result is his homage to Cheval Blanc. The 2023 is primarily driven by Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain fruit and is composed of 93% Cabernet Franc and 7% Merlot, the latter sourced entirely from Spring Mountain, aged for 22 months in 68% new French oak. Utterly suave and super-expressive, it delivers ultra-dark berry fruit layered with sagebrush and perfumed rose-petal notes, alongside exotic spice. Blood orange acidity keeps the wine lifted and bright, with crushed-stone minerality guiding the long, full-bodied finish.

Chris Carpenter calls this one of the most challenging wines he makes. “There are no guardrails,” he says. “It just has to include all five Bordeaux varieties. This wine is all over the board, and the goal is to create something seamless using fruit from our four mountain estates—something that stands apart from the Cabernet Franc–driven profile of Caladan.” After native fermentations, the components were aged for 22 months in 68% new French oak. The result is a true enigma of a red wine: layered, textural, and complex, with elements drawn from across the valley. Howell and Diamond Mountain contribute dark blue and black fruit; Spring Mountain brings red fruit and spice; Mount Veeder lends herbal nuance. This wine is so bright and fresh, layered with cassis, black cherry, and blackberry fruit, with a luscious, supple fruit core and a racy spine of juicy acidity.

Winemaker Chris Carpenter believes the energy of mountain sunlight, combined with the right balance of Napa soils, creates ideal conditions for Merlot with both depth and structure. A small proportion of Petit Verdot is layered in for savouriness and a tannic backbone, complementing the naturally luscious character of the Merlot fruit. Grapes are sourced from the La Jota Vineyard Co. and Keyes Vineyard estate vineyards. Fermentation takes place in open-top stainless steel tanks using native yeasts, with pump-overs and basket pressing. Carpenter personally tastes every basket press cut, making precise, hands-on decisions throughout. The wine is then aged for 22 months in 73% new French oak. When asked whether he considers his wines more acid-driven or tannin-driven, Carpenter explains that the energy of the wine comes from very fresh acidity, while the chewiness of the tannins (derived from mountain-grown fruit) provides the structure. Acidity, he notes, is a defining feature of mountain wines overall, while tannins vary markedly from site to site. In this vintage, the wine is ultra-concentrated yet remarkably cool-toned, showing a subtle minty freshness alongside ironstone minerality—very much the 'iron fist in a velvet glove' metaphor. Ultra-fine tannins underpin almost unbelievable power, carrying layers of intoxicating fruit richness and Asian spice through a long, commanding, and beautifully balanced finish.

In 2023, Chris Carpenter introduced a portion of Malbec, feeling it helped flesh out the Merlot, which he thought was a little angular on its own, while also adding a welcome layer of spice. The wine is aged for 22 months in 51% new French oak. The result is refreshing, polished, smooth, and suave: descriptors I’ve often used for wines from this vintage, but which also perfectly encapsulate Carpenter’s style here. There is a level of polish bordering on the obsessive, like a sports car endlessly detailed but rarely driven. This, however, is a wine you should absolutely take out of the garage (or, in this case, the cellar). Once in the glass, it revs up with inky dark berry fruit and Asian spice, carried by ultra-fine, focused tannins that are remarkably smooth. A spine of juicy acidity runs through the core, supporting the building tannin structure and keeping the wine energetic, precise, and so drinkable.

Sleek, spicy and fresh-tasting, alive
with cinnamon, raspberry and red
cherry flavors. Full-bodied yet lively
and mouthwatering due to good
acidity and lots of whole clusters in
the fermentation. Drink or hold.

In 1972, the partners at Freemark Abbey entered into a long-term agreement with John Bosché for his Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, fruit that had previously been sold to Beaulieu Vineyard as a key component of its flagship Georges de Latour Private Reserve. Since 1970, Freemark Abbey has produced Cabernet Bosché from this historic site. The 8.9 hectare Bosché Vineyard sits on a gravelly bench with a high water table, requiring careful management to control vine vigour. The wine is composed of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, aged for 19 months in 63% new French oak. In the glass, it is deeply coloured and inky, delivering lush, succulent black fruit laced with brown spice, rich cocoa powder, and salted dark chocolate nuances. The tannins are extremely precise and fine-grained, carrying impressive length. Ultra-dark and savoury, the wine combines full-bodied richness with a distinctive lightness of dusty mineral energy – a hallmark of Rutherford and of this storied site in particular.