A tad meaty with dark fruit and a bit of earth. Another lovely wine: great fruit, balance, spice. Yum. Excellent to Outstanding.

A lovely nose of black cherry pie with a sliver of vanilla ice cream on the side. Wonderful balance, with luscious fruit, nice level of tartness, slight tannins, lovely finish. Whoa. Excellent to Outstanding.

…this opaque purple-colored wine offers up a fabulous nose of black fruits (cassis, cherries, and blackberries), subtle new oak, marvelously full body, more aggressive tannin than the 1997, and an impressively layered mid-palate and finish. The wine is extraordinarily will-endowed, impeccably well-balanced, and brilliantly will-delineated for its massive size.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A barrel sample of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard is deep garnet-purple colored and features a wonderful floral nose of violets and lavender over a core of warm black berries and black berries with wafts of crushed blackcurrants, chocolate mint and Marmite toast. Full-bodied and bursting with vibrant fruit, it has a well-played structure of grainy, approachable tannins and a very long, earthlaced finish.

(14.8% alcohol; 100% cabernet sauvignon; aged in French oak, 97% new; from whiter soil than the Helena Dakota): Deep ruby. Knockout nose combines dark berries, licorice and a powerful violet element. Then wonderfully suave and fine-grained, with great energy and lift to the middle palate. The strong floral quality carries straight through to the ripely tannic finish. Comes across today as more feminine and more subtle than the Helena Dakota, and surprisingly approachable at this early stage of its development. These wines offer lovely examples of Pierre Seillan's winemaking, at a lower price than his otherworldly Verite bottlings.

The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard reveals tons of energy and focus in its intense, mineral-infused dark fruit. This is a very typical Sonoma Cabernet full of edginess and mountain character. This is a warmer site than Dakota and the fruit is harvested 5-7 days earlier. I very much like the wine's sheer vibrancy. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029.

The 2012 La Muse is a bit darker, richer and more powerful than the 2011. Black cherries, plums, smoke, tobacco and earthiness meld together in a structured, intense wine that is going to need quite a bit of time to fully come together. Hints of chocolate and mocha inform the dark, imposing finish.

Mocha, chocolate, dark plums, smoke and cloves are some of the notes that inform the 2012 La Muse. Dark, sumptuous and impeccably balanced, the 2012 is super-impressive. The flavors are bold and intense, and while there is plenty of size and volume, the wine's balance is simply impeccable. I imagine the 2012 will reward drinkers with a good 20 years or so of very fine drinking pleasure.

The 2011 Le Desir is a wine of considerable potential. Rich, round and seamless, the 2011 has the most depth of these three 2011s. Expressive and layered throughout, the Desir is all about elegance and silkiness. Juicy dark raspberries, flowers, sweet spices and mocha all flesh out in this surprisingly dense, full-bodied wine. The 2011 appears to have the underlying structure to drink nicely for a number of years. The blend is 53% Cabernet Franc, 36% Merlot and 5.5% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.

A barrel sample (70% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec) of the 2009 exhibits a deep ruby/plum/purple color in addition to aromas of black currants, sweet cherries, loamy soil, coffee and Christmas fruitcake. Medium-bodied, soft and fleshy, it may not reach the level of the 2008, 2007 or 2005, but will be a top notch effort.

The 2012 La Joie presents a much racier, silkier expression of fruit, with fewer of the savory notes found in the 2011, but more overt fruit. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and sweet spices flow through to the finish. The 2011 is a dark, masculine wine, while the 2012 is more feminine, sensual and red-toned. It will be interesting to taste the two vintages side by side in a decade. My hunch is that the 2012 will prove to be slightly less complex than its older sibling, but time will tell.

The 2012 La Joie hits the palate with serious depth, power and structure. Dark plums, blackberry jam, graphite, grilled herbs and smoke literally jump from the glass. Deep, powerful and brooding, the 2012 is likely to require at least a few years to come together, but it is compelling, even at this early stage.

Verite's 2011 La Joie is a dark, brooding wine bursting with energy and intensity. Naturally, the 2011 is cool, inward and shut down as so many wines are in this vintage, but at the same time, it has tons of vibrancy. An exotic melange of blue/black fruits, graphite, pencil shavings, smoke and incense take shape in the glass. The 2011 La Joie is very much in line stylistically with other vintages, but it is just small-scaled, in keeping with the personality of the year. The blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.

Good deep ruby. Slightly reduced aromas and flavors of blackberry, cassis, licorice, rocky minerality, leather and pepper; a bit less expressive today than La Muse. Big, broad, dense and dry but not yet filled in; comes across as a bit youthfully musclebound and tannic today but not heavy. Juicy more than fleshy; very much a wine from a cooler year (the alcohol here is a moderate 13.8%). This will be slow to evolve.

Full medium ruby. Crushed cassis, licorice, menthol, minerals and violet on the very dark nose. Very concentrated and juicy but a bit youthfully imploded, with fruity, peppery acidity giving energy and lift to the middle palate. The very long, rising finish features building tannins and lingering black fruits.

The numerous Chardonnay vineyards are planted at 800 to as high as 1,800 feet (in the case of the Gravel Bench, Upper Barn and Broken Road vineyards). All are 100% Chardonnays largely made from the Old Wente clone with a small percentage of the Hyde clone, and are fermented with indigenous yeasts. Almost all of them spend 10-11 months in various percentages of new French oak, ranging from a low of 44% (the Estate Chardonnay) to a high of 100% (the Gravel Bench Chardonnay. The differences between the various cuvées are very subtle as they are all relatively full-bodied, rich, and aromatic with natural textures. As the scores attest, they are far more alike than dissimilar. My favorites include the 2013 Chardonnay Gravel Bench, which reveals amazing texture and richness as well as a honeyed crème brûlée intensity and striking minerality. The same can be said for the 2013 Chardonnay Broken Road as well as the 2013 Chardonnay Upper Barn, a parcel made famous by Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer when they were producing Chardonnay from this site under their Marcassin label. All of these wines are great Chardonnays that combine the best of California ripeness with the minerality, structure and delineation of a French white Burgundy.

The 2013 Chardonnay Red Point possesses notes of caramelized grapefruit, orange and tangerines along with impressive minerality.

Whoa. While the last bottle I had of this exhibited some stewed characteristics, absolutely none of that here. Big juicy red fruit on the nose and the palate with that characteristic Siduri balance. Yes, this is on the bigger side of Pinot, even a decade out, but when it is balanced, it can be a beautiful wine. Outstanding.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A barrel sample blended of 85% Petite Sirah and 15% Syrah, the very deep garnet-black colored 2017 Petite Sirah gives up a wonderfully earthy nose to begin, featuring notes of mossy bark, fungi and black soil over a core of warm redcurrants and plums with hints of mulberries and spice box. The palate is full, rich and very firm with chewy tannins and a lively backbone supporting the generous fruit, finishing long.

A barrel sample, the 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Stone Côte gives up gorgeous ripe peach, apple pie and pineapple notions with touches of ginger, lightly browned toast and chalk dust. Medium to full-bodied with a silken texture, it has a refreshing backbone cutting through the intense stone fruit and spicy flavors, finishing long and minerally.

The 2015 Chardonnay Jennifer’s comes from a windy, cold Sebastopol Hills neighborhood from primarily the old Wente clone. Loads of orange marmalade, white peach and pineapple jump from the glass of this light gold wine, which has great precision and acidity. It is a super-concentrated, fleshy wine with a long, layering finish.

The 2014 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard is from a hillside vineyard in the very cool-climate Green Valley, not far from the little “hippie” town of Forestville. Aged in 38% new French oak, the wine offers a light gold color with a greenish hue, hints of tangerine oil, pineapple, white peach and citrus. This is rich, full-bodied and stunningly proportioned, and much like all the other Chardonnays, the oak is very subtle and nuanced. This is another tour de force in Chardonnay winemaking from winemaker Jeff Stewart.

The 2012 Chardonnay Stone Cote Vineyard (a block within the Durell Vineyard planted on gravelly riverbed soils) is 100% barrel-fermented and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Made from a combination of Old Wente clones and some of the newer Chardonnay clones, it exhibits a terrific wet rock/powdered stone-like minerality along with beautiful aromas of exotic fruits (mangoes and tangerines), great intensity, full body, terrific acidity, and 14.8% alcohol. This beautiful Burgundian-styled Chardonnay should be enjoyed over the next 7-8 years.

A barrel sample, the 2016 Hartford Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is deep garnet-purple in color, offering blackberry pie, fruitcake and plum preserves notions with touches of licorice, Indian spices and garrigue. Full-bodied, rich and pleasantly chewy in the mouth, the remarkable freshness cuts through the densely packed berry preserves layers, finishing on a savory note.

A barrel sample, the 2016 Hartford Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard is deep garnet-purple in color and opens with black forest cake, tar and black soil notes over a core of crème de cassis and blueberry preserves, plus a touch of Sichuan pepper. Full-bodied, savory and chewy in the mouth, it has a lovely understated character with a good long, harmonious finish.