A blend of 90% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, the 2018 La Muse was matured 16 months in 100% new French oak barrels. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the nose delivers a powerful perfume of cherry pie, blackberry preserves and baked plums, followed by suggestions of red roses, cast-iron pan,underbrush and unsmoked cigars, plus wafts of licorice and oolong tea. Medium to full-bodied, the black fruit and exotic spice layers flow so gracefully over the palate, textured by plush tannins and lifted with seamless freshness, finishing epically long and achingly fragrant. The intensity and complexity of aromas and flavors—all waltzing in captivating harmony—cannot fail to make your head spin in the best possible way. Electrifying!

“Increasingly convincing, American-owned Tenuta di Arceno (Kendall-Jackson Group), which produces wines of impeccable quality and craftsmanship." - Gambero RossoOn the property they grow 50% Sangiovese and 50% other varieties (mostly international) - the other 10% of this Chianti is Cabernet Sauvignon taken from the highest point of the estate; aged 10 months in French (with never any new used) - total aging ends up being 24 months before release. The alcohol is a high 14.5%, which helps create that rich, round almost sweet dark fruit note to this Chianti, but the balancing act the acidity plays here helps it from being an over-the-top, weighty mess and even shows a freshness and age-ability: Smoky black cherry, floral, tobacco, cassis, cinnamon, aniseed, black licorice, a little char and even some herbal/savoury notes all help add to the enjoyment of this wine. Love the complexity. The tannins are quite tight now but should loosen their grip over the next 10 or so years. (****+)

This new project by the talented Chris Carpenter is mostly sourced from the Yverdon Vineyard (64%) on Spring Mountain. A blend of 77% Cabernet Franc with the remainder Merlot, this really needs a two hour decant to fully show at its best. The nose is simply gorgeous with black florals alongside graphite, Turkish coffee, dark chocolate and shades of huckleberry compote. The palate is extraordinarily refined, with a great sense of salinity, viscosity and tension. The flavor range here is seriously good from iodine and Black Forest cake with espresso bean, dried herbs and creosote. This finishes long and comes off almost weightless. Glorious now after a long decant, this has potential to age for thirty years. Drink 2023-2045.

It’s fascinating to see how the wines of Yangarra have evolved in the last few years. They were always good, but now they feel speccy. And you can see it most clearly in the Shiraz wines – like this Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz 2018. What a bright, and energetic McLaren Vale Shiraz. Showing none of its 14.5% alcohol, and instead about fruit. I wouldn’t expect it to be this vibrant looking at the winemaking, which is deadly serious.- 25% whole bunches, wild ferment, 32% new French oak. 9 months in barrel, then a barrel selection, with the best blend spending 8 more months in a one-year-old foudre.
Definitely less iron-hearted and more purple fruited this vintage. It smells of blueberries, background oak and rich fruit, followed by a medium to full bodied expression of Blueberry nose. Just enough ferrous grip and some residual oak tannins. The whole thing just jumps out at you with its ripe fruit – too much energy and not much complexity for the moment, but you can see that will come.
Just a lovely Shiraz really.
Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz 2018. Best drinking: good now, probably even better next year, and will live for 10+ years.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Brewer-Clifton is impressive! It opens with a fragrant strawberry and Dr. Pepper bouquet with hints of raspberry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, juicy and nicely coats your mouth. The flavor profile is an earthy loam and cherry-cola blend with notes of steeped black tea and red plum. I also detected hints of black pepper and clove. The finish is dry and its fruit flavors and moderate tannins show very nice length for a Pinot. This Pinot would pair perfectly with beef bourguignon.

This wine has a nice, calm smell of vanilla and a whisper of butter. The palate is rich yet refreshing with a slight grip. This is a solid American Chard. Bring this to any event, and it will absolutely please a crowd.

Moderately light garnet color in the glass. Seductive aromas of Bing cherry, raspberry, sap and spice. Delicious, mouth filling flavors of black cherry and raspberry saturate the palate with goodness. Very polished in the mouth, with buried tannins and a vibrant acid backbone. Everything works in harmony so that the wine can be thoroughly enjoyed now. Fabulous when tasted the following day from a previously opened bottle.

This pale pink colored Rose from Oregon opens with a very inviting maraschino cherry and ginger ale bouquet with hints of watermelon and orange peel twist. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with medium acidity that is nicely integrated. The palate presence is fresh and clean. The flavor profile is a gentle mineral influenced strawberry and lime blend with notes of saline and red raspberry. I also detected hints of yellow grapefruit in the aftertaste. The finish is dry and refreshing. Given its low level of alcohol at 12.5%, this is an easy quaffer at the beach or pool. With food, I would enjoy it with ice chilled shrimp - hold the cocktail sauce.

Chianti Classico Connection At this Manhattan-based event, I was able to taste the three different Chianti Classico example, including the Tenuta di Arceno Strada al Sasso Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2018, rich and luscious with velvet tannin. This classification is the pinnacle of quality for Chianti Classico.

This Merlot-led blend (74%) is a very different wine compared to the other Merlot-based blend, Il Fauno.The first key difference is that Vanderno has elevated, racy acidity. The reason is that it is sourced primarily from the Valadorno and Capraia blocks.These two blocks produce the estate’s most complex and mineral-based expressions of this variety. The blocks are located within the cooler part of the estate, naturally irrigated by the stream that undulates through it, and feature sandy brown soils and lower yields than typical. These blocks are often the last Merlot blocks to ripen at the estateThe other two varieties used are 19% Cabernet Sauvignon 11% Cabernet Franc 5%.Beyond the acidity, to me the wine really speaks of its terroir with rich black cherry, blackberry, mission figs, and rich, decadent dark chocolate.

Cabernet Franc (74%) makes up most of this delicious wine. Ten percent each of both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon even out the blend with six percent of Petit Verdot.Succulent flavors of wild cherry, milk chocolate, rose, licorice, and dark earth are just some of the complex flavors in this wine. It ages in French oak for a year.Arcanum is the pinnacle of the estate’s offerings. Based on Cabernet Franc, the true signature of the estate, built to age but drinkable young.Arcanum is sourced primarily from the Apparita and Belvedere blocks of Cabernet Franc. With superb exposure and sandy clay soils, each year these blocks.

This is a Merlot-based blend (54% Merlot) with 32% Cabernet Franc. 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot. It ages for 12–15 months in French Oak.The wine is rich, with a rich texture that encompasses corduroy to velvet. Elegant wine with fresh acidity and a long finish. Flavors include ripe morello cherry, black currant, ripe plum and vanilla bean.This Bordeaux-style blend embodies the diversity of the estate and is sourced primarily from the Arceno di Sotto, La Curva, Colombaio and San Giovanni blocks.

This almost clear colored Sauvignon Blanc opens with a cat pee and honeysuckle bouquet with hints of grapefruit and lemon. On the palate, this wine is light plus bodied, balanced and round. The flavor profile is faint crush stone and gentle yellow grapefruit with hints of lemon pith and green apple. The finish is dry and fades away nicely. The Panel would pair this Sauvignon Blanc with deep-fried scallops or ceviche.

Impeccably elegant, this showstopper of a Napa Valley Chardonnay is sleek, focused and nuanced. Harmonious from start to finish, the rich flavor palate nicely meshes with the integrated yet hard-working acidity that lifts this muscular and intensely bewitching palate to a very intellectual level. Well-proportioned and grown-up yet showing the sincere intensity and layered concentration needed for carrying well in bottle, this has it all. Flavors of baked apple interlace with baking spices and hints of tart tatin and caramel. Voluminous on the palate with a noticeable touch of alcoholic heat, everything is so well balanced that the wine is supremely balanced. Fully focused on robust fruit flavors with only a tinge of toastiness despite (xx oak), the light minerality seems to add a dry touch to the lingering finish. This plot is one of the last Chardonnay plantings remaining on Howell Mountain.

Purple in color. 15.3% ABV. Sublime nose of red and blue fruits, black licorice and white pepper. Full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Rich, lush and silky. Boysenberry, blueberry, raspberry liqueur and pepper on the palate. Exceptional length on the finish. Incredibly plush and polished Zinfandel and a great reflection of the ’18 vintage. Best over the next 3-5 years.

Showing more forward fruit than the 2017, this is nonetheless a sleek and mouthwatering Chardonnay with a hint of savoriness in the lingering, perky finish. Silky soft on the mid-palate, a clean, precise and chiseled acidity gives excellent tension. The long-lasting finish tastes of lemon zest and pomelo with a contrasting kiss of sweet cream. Vinous and dreamy to drink.

Full-throttle in approachability and juiciness, this Chardonnay is packed with stone fruit pits and generally über juiciness. Lightly layered in texture with solid concentration but no overt glycerol and plentiful acidic vibrance, this is very well balanced. The mild finish tastes of toasted oak and warm nuts with a light citrus tinge. The acidity surges throughout to give this excellent freshness.

Next up was Maggy Hawk 2018 Unforgettable Pinot Noir created at the Maggy Hawk Estate Vineyard in the Anderson Valley (Mendocino County). The grapes used for this unique Pinot Noir are fermented in three ton fermenters with pump overs twice a day. The final result is a Pinot mixing the flavors of jammy blackberry, boysenberry and blueberry. The scent is clearly flowery—you will be whiffing violets, lilac and pennyroyal. Maggy Hawk 2018 Unforgettable Pinot Noir is aged for 15 months in 43 per cent new French oak barrels and production is limited to only 571 cases per year.

Stonestreet 2017 Estate Chardonnay from Stonestreet Estate Vineyards in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County was up next in our virtual tasting. This vineyard produces high altitude wine. Stonestreet 2017 Estate Chardonnay is a truly unique product as you can literally taste hints of toffee, cashew brittle and salt grilled peaches when you sip it! Let’s not forget that you can taste a bit of Bosc pear abe caramel in the mix!

Gran Moraine Brut Rose is from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA in Oregon’s Williamette Valley. It is light, fruity and a little oaky all at once. I think that this is the ultimate brunch wine and also great for an outdoor picnic on a grassy hill with a lovely picnic basket full of charcuterie and French bread. Although subtle, there are hints of tangerine, kumquat and nectarine in the mix. Gran Moraine is very vibrant, well balanced and is clean all the way to the finish.

Wine of the Week: Willamette Valley Pinot NoirIn Willamette Valley, it’s all about location, location, location, and the Zena Crown Vineyard in the Eola-Amity appellation is the epitome of the adage. Winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash has been lucky enough to take some of the best grapes from this consistently cool climate and well-drained volcanic soil for her 2018 Penner-Ash Zena Crown Pinot Noir. The pretty bouquet sports scents of red cherry and bright red berry. Flavors of cherry, baking spices and clove feel silky smooth in the mouth. A hint of cocoa on the back of the palate really adds a delightful note to the beautiful, lush finish.

Checking in as 90% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Malbec that was raised in new French oak, the 2018 La Muse reveals a dense purple hue to go with plenty of black cherry and currant fruits as well as cedar pencil, graphite, dark chocolate, and smoked tobacco. Ripe, full-bodied, and brilliantly balanced on the palate, with both elegance and incredible opulence, it's a hypothetical mix of Châteaux Canon and Lafite. This masterpiece of a Merlot can be drunk any time over the coming 20-30 years. Give bottles an hour in a decanter if drinking any time soon.

The Cabernet Franc blend of the trio, the 2018 Le Desir is 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 6% Malbec, and as with all these wines, it was brought up in new barrels. Ruby/purple and not completely opaque, it offers up a classic Cabernet Franc nose of mostly red fruits, spring flowers, damp earth, cedary spices, and truffle. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shines for its incredible elegance and purity more than outright power, yet it still brings plenty of richness. With ultra-fine tannins, perfect balance, and one heck of a great finish, it's another great, great wine from this estate.

Lastly, the 2018 La Joie does everything right and offers a Château Lafite-like style in both its aromatics and its elegant, seamless mouthfeel. Gorgeous blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, damp earth, unsmoked tobacco, and woodsmoke nuances all develop with time in the glass and this is one of those wines that offers something new every time you come back to the glass. Rich, medium to full-bodied, perfectly balanced, and incredibly elegant, it has ripe, polished, yet substantial tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and a thrilling finish. Give bottles 4-5 years and it will keep for 30 years or more.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is even more concentrated and dense, with a massive core of ripe blackcurrants, crushed stone, leather, tobacco, spicy oak, and graphite, and it has this burning ember-like character that reminds me of a great Hermitage. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has remarkable balance, ultra-fine tannins, a great spine of acidity, and one heck of a finish. As with the Helena Montana Vineyard, it's a baby that needs at least 4-5 years of bottle age and will have 30+ years of longevity. It's on par with the finest Bordeaux blends coming out of California today.