This medium purple colored Zinfandel opens with a fragrant red raspberry, pomegranate, and ripe red plum bouquet with a hint of balsam. On the palate, this wine is full bodied with medium plus acidity. The mouthfeel is balanced, bright, and juicy. The flavor profile is fruit forward, featuring strawberry, clove, and red raspberry with notes of chalky minerality and red plum. We also detected hints of triple sec, black cherry, and black tea. The finish is dry, and its moderate tannins are nicely extended. The Tasting Panel would pair this Zin with duck confit, a pepper encrusted venison, or with shrimp and grits.

This medium garnet colored Pinot Noir from Hartford Court is terrific. It opens with a mild red raspberry and red cherry licorice bouquet with hints of black tea and violets. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with gentle acidity. The mouthfeel is soft, smooth, and very well-balanced. The flavor profile is red plum and cranberry blend with hints of clove, red cherry, minerality, and dried herbs. The finish is dry, and its flavors and soft gentle tannins are nicely extended. The Panel would pair this Pinot with oven roasted cherry chicken with rosemary or braised rabbit.

This pale straw-colored Chardonnay from Stonestreet opens with a fragrant pineapple, oak, and dried coconut flake bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied with nicely integrated minerality. The mouthfeel is very smooth and balanced. The flavor profile is a tasty pineapple and oak blend with notes of honey and Bartlett pear. I also detected hints of butter and mango in the aftertaste. The finish is dry, and its flavors linger and last for a very long time. This Chard is best enjoyed on its own and it will not last very long with a group that like this style of Chard!

Saturated medium ruby. Great super-ripe aromas of blackberry, violet, roast coffee, chicory and minerals. A huge, mouthfilling wine that coats every square millimeter of the mouth. Offers great sweetness and flavor intensity without any excess weight, thanks to the perfectly integrated acidity. Finishes with big toothdusting tannins and great persistence and thrust. I'd love to slip a sample of this in a tasting of St. Emilion wines.

A revelation. Reminiscent of a Sonoma version of Dalla Valle's Napa classic, Maya, it boasts a saturated purple color as well as aromas of creosote, charcoal, blackberries, currants, licorice, and toasty oak. There is enormous concentration and mass in the mouth, a great, multilayered mid-palate, a sweet tannin in the long, seamless finish. This prodigious 2001 oozes with complexity as well as flavor. What an achievement! Anticipated maturity: 2005-2030.

The 2018 La Muse, 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec, is floral, elegant and light on its feet for such a rich wine. Hillside vineyards in Chalk Hill, Alexander Valley, Knights Valley and Bennett Valley confer structure and a good bit of savory intensity. The 2018 is full of intrigue, that much is clear.

Full, bright ruby. Aromas of blackcurrant, espresso and spice, lifted by a perfumed violet component. Silky and compellingly sweet; may not be as fat as the '99, but this is extremely stylish and aromatic, thanks to the addition of the cabernet franc. Wonderfully delineated and vibrant in the mouth. Finishes extremely long and subtle, with thoroughly suave tannins. The Verite wines appear destined to become California collectibles.

Saturated ruby to the rim. Aromas of blackberry, minerals, violet, licorice and mint. Dense, thick and silky; a large-scaled wine that somehow remains light on its feet. Finishes with utterly compelling floral perfume and superb spicy length. A wine of great finesse and potential.

The 2016 La Muse is a dark, inward wine that shows a bit more power and overall tannin than is often the case with this wine. The 2016 is shaping up be an especially somber La Muse. I imagine the 2016 will also be very slow to mature. Today, it is quite forbidding.

Today, the 2013 Le Désir is the least showy of the three Vérité wines, but then again Cabernet Franc is often quite slow to reveal itself. At this stage, what comes through most is a remarkable sense of silkiness and nuance. Finely sculpted fruit and fabulous overall balance are among some of the other signatures. For such a big wine, the Le Désir is remarkably delicate.

Another huge wine, the 2013 La Muse is endowed with serious power and overall structure, especially compared to the 2012 tasted alongside it. Sweet tobacco, grilled herbs, cedar and smoke add considerable nuance. There is plenty of fruit and overall richness, but the imposing tannic heft is going to demand considerable cellaring. -

Verité's 2012 Le Desir is huge and bombastic today. The 2012 has the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc of any of the three vintages in this tasting, which may be the reason it comes across as not fully put together at this stage. The aromatics are nowhere near expressive at this stage, instead, what stands out is the intensity and primary quality of the fruit, along with the wine's dense, full-bodied personality. Time is going to be of the essence with the 2012.

Medium ruby. Knockout nose combines black cherry, minerals, dusty spices and wild herbs. Wonderfully deep and sweet, with a creaminess leavened by inner-palate violet perfume. The lowest in acidity and highest in pH of this trio of wines and it shows. The palate-staining finish is broad, chewy and dense, with lingering spice and herbal nuances and lovely floral persistence. Today the wine's tannins are buried in fruit.

Full, saturated ruby. Superripe, almost liqueur-like aromas and flavors of black fruits, violet and dark chocolate. Wonderfully lush and dense, combining the firmness of its 44% cabernet franc component, with the broad, violety thickness of its 44% merlot. Spreads out to saturate the palate on the very ripe, classically dry back end, where the tannins melt into the wine. This has the highest pH of these 2007s but is still a moderate 3.71.

Good full ruby. Black fruit aromas lifted by violet, pepper and fresh herbs. At once thick and weightless, with a high-toned quality and pungent minerality to the impressively concentrated medicinal blackberry and licorice flavors. This wonderfully silky blend finishes with tactile, broad tannins, compelling sweetness, and superb lingering black fruit perfume. This one will do some major damage in a tasting of top St. Emilion wines a decade hence.

Good full ruby. Reticent, pure aromas of chocolate, mocha, cola and minerals. Sweet, suave and opulent, with compelling flavors of raspberry and minerals. Wonderfully intense and fresh California wine, finishing with superb sweetness of fruit and length.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A barrel sample blended of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 La Joie sings of red and black currants, black cherries and black raspberries with hints of cedar chest, pencil lead and iron ore with a touch of tar. Medium to full-bodied, firm and packed with tight-knit, elegant fruit, it finishes on a provocative earthy note.

Tasted from tank just prior to bottling, the 2013 La Joie is dense, powerful and rich, with notable depth. Still remarkable embryonic the 2013 remains deep, fruit driven and backward. This is a wine for the long haul. Crème de cassis, blackberry jam, spice, menthol, game, licorice and smoke flow through to the powerful, incisive finish. This is a strong showing.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso comes from the famous Louis Martini property and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that’s still aging in 81% new French oak. This cuvée comes from one of the oldest, dry farmed blocks on the property and is a barrel selection made in the winery. Awesome blueberry, flowers, incense, and lead pencil aromatics, full body, ripe, sweet tannin, and a seamless texture all make for one head-turning Cabernet that will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for two decades.

The 2008's are strong efforts. Given the fact that Vérité's wines often perform better out of bottle than they do from barrel, this may be another powerful, long-lived vintage. There are 1676 cases of the 2008 La Muse, a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Malbec. This full-bodied offering displays lots of black fruits, espresso roast, chocolate, graphite, and pen ink along with huge intensity, powerful, substantial tannins, and a long finish. It does not yet reveal the velvety character for which La Muse is known, but I suspect it will when tasted after bottling.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2017 Petite Sirah comes a site planted in 1894 and was brought up all in barrel. Its deep purple color is followed by a rocking bouquet of cassis, blueberries, tobacco, leafy herbs, and classy oak. It's ripe and incredibly sexy, with fine tannins and beautiful purity of fruit, and is a seriously good barrel sample.

The 2015 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard emerges from a ridgetop site west of Occidental, facing Bodega Bay. This is a very cold area, and the result is one of the smaller production cuvées. Big-time tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple followed by orange marmalade and wet rocks are all present in this big, rich, viscous Chardonnay, which has terrific acidity and freshness. These half-dozen Chardonnays are about as good as you can find anywhere in the world and a tribute to the vineyard sites Don Hartford owns as well as the great winemaking of Jeff Stewart.

This release from the Seillan family is a blend of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked between September 14th and the 30th. It has a dark core, and a vibrant crimson rim. On the nose I find smoked black cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant and currant fruits, scented with rose petals, charcoal and toast. The palate presents a bed of softly polished and creamed fruit mirroring the nose, with great energy and a fresh lift from the acidity, with fine texture, peppery vivacity and some softly creamed tannins with a firm bite at the edges. Long with a ripe grip, I see plenty of primary substance here, and lots of potential too.

Coming from the home estate of Pierre Seillan, who’s behind the incredible wines of Vérité in Sonoma, the 2019 Lassègue sports a deep purple color as well as a great nose of blueberries, mulberries, tobacco, dusty earth, and flowery incense. It’s an exotic, full-bodied Saint-Emilion with beautiful balance, plenty of ripe tannins, the vibrancy and freshness of the vintage, and a great finish. It’s a beautifully complex 2019 that’s going to evolve nicely for two decades or more.

Rich and lovely both on the nose and the palate this is another winner. Whoa. Excellent.