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.

Lots of dark-berry and chocolate character with hints of smoky wood now. Full-bodied, juicy and flavorful. Soft and round tannins.

Pale gold, with a green hue. Potent scents of pit fruit nectar, seaweed, anise and smoky minerals, with sexy floral and mace notes adding complexity. Stains the palate with intense nectarine and pear flavors that are braced by a strong mineral quality. There's an intensity here that's really impressive. Refuses to let go on the finish, which strongly echoes the anise and floral notes.

USA, California: All Along the Central Coast – The 2017 Vintage in Paso Robles and Beyond The 2017 Pinot Noir Jackson Estate Seco Highlands, aged 10 months in 30% new French oak, has a pale to medium ruby color and opens with some reductive notes of struck match/gunflint. With air, it offers olive, woodsmoke, bacon fat, roasted cranberries, dried citrus peel, tree bark and amaro aromas. Medium-bodied and silky, it's intense and expressive in the mouth, with a firm frame of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and bitters laced. This needs more time in bottle or a good decant.

The 2022 Cabernet Franc is a new wine in this range, made as an earlier-drinking, more affordable offering than the flagship Cabernets. Mocha, espresso, rich blackberry fruit and underbrush tones saturate in generous layers, all motivated by absolutely mouthwatering acidity. There’s so much concentration here at only 13.6% alcohol. Balanced, fine structure and a lifted, fresh finish are quite attractive. Lovely, especially for the year.

The 2023 Pinot Noir Fog Dance is another excellent wine in this range. Medium-bodied and rounded around the edges, the 2023 has a real sense of textural intrigue, coating the cheeks with blood orange, white pepper, cured olive and rosewater before receding into itself. Tightly wound today, the Fog Dance needs time.

The 2023 Pinot Noir Docker Hill Vineyard exudes coastal character in a soft-stepping, elegant frame, with sneaky underlying tension. Sea spray, tart red cherry, red licorice and nori tones unfurl in the glass, revealing further shades of marine herbs, underbrush and a tinge of iron-like minerality. The 2023 continues to put on complexity with each passing moment, maintaining laser-like focus and linearity as it confidently marches across the palate. Salivating acids saturate the close. This needs time to gain breadth, but the stuffing is there.

The 2023 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard comes alive in the glass but is also very tightly wound today. A densely packed core of mineral-inflected blue/black berry fruit and exotic spices rides atop a cool-toned base layer of mouthwatering, vibrating acids. Savory herbal tones gain momentum with air before the Highwire slams shut on the finish. Though it's backward today, the 2023 has the stuffing to come together nicely with a couple of years in bottle.

The 2023 Pinot Noir 459 collects eponymous clonal material from the Machado and Hapgood sites, which Brewer notes are particularly suited to whole-cluster fermentation. It offers a dense, rich and dark profile defined by intense spice, earth and anise tones, gradually revealing a citrus-driven lift with time in the glass. The palate echoes with what is perhaps the most tense and firm texture of the roster, releasing into a vibrant, crunchy finish that will take additional time in the bottle to come together fully.

The 2023 Pinot Noir Hapgood echoes its Chardonnay counterpart as one of the higher-toned Pinot Noirs in the range, opening with a distinctly stony, floral and savory bouquet that puts fruit flavors in the background. The palate enters with a soft, seductive attack before transitioning into a bracing, focused and refreshing finish that lingers long with citrus tones and a deftly tucked-in whole-cluster-derived structure. This is another Pinot Noir bottling that will benefit from some time in bottle to congeal

Matured for 14 months in 40% new French oak, the 2022 Pinot Noir Clairière has slowly unfurling scents of wild berries, rose petals, tea leaves, peppercorn and saline. The medium-bodied palate has a silky texture, bright, crunchy flavors and well-integrated oak spice. It opens dramatically with air and will benefit from a decant. 325 cases were made.

La Jota's 2022 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain offers up pretty violet, leafy and herbal
shadings set against a mulberry-tinged background of fruit. A blend of 90% Cabernet Franc
and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 22 months in 72% new French oak, it's full-bodied and
velvety-textured, yet firms up on the tannic finish, so while it's approachable now, it should
also age well.

I’d sit down and hook into this in a heartbeat. It’s a chardonnay with drinkability written all over it. Stonefruit, tonic water, lemon sherbet, musk and smoky bacon notes come drenched in nashi pear and cream. It’s dry, lively, well-fruited and flavoursome, but the finish has that slightly briny, slightly grapefruit-y edge that makes you want more. Yes please to this one.

The 2022 Pinot Noir Ridgecrest Vineyard is coy in the glass, as coaxing slowly reveals balsamic black cherries, rosemary and spiced citrus. It feels round, with cool-toned acidity and crisp wild berry fruit that gradually saturate the palate while an air of lavender swirls throughout. The finish is structured and long, leaving a coating of gripping tannins offset by a bump of residual acidity as a hint of licorice fades.

The 2022 Pinot Noir Telluric wafts up with a vivid blend of crushed cherries and wild strawberries complemented by nuances of white pepper and cracked chalk. Racy and spry, it offers tart wild berry fruit elevated by tantalizing acidity while a tinge of sour citrus adds lively tension toward the close. The 2022 finishes with chewy concentration and a saturation of edgy tannins. It leaves the mouth watering for more through the long and gently tannic finish.

The 2022 Pinot Noir Triple Black Slopes mixes licorice, lavender and dried black cherries. Silken in form, it offers juicy acidity and a cascade of wild berry fruits complicated by chalk mineral tones. Echoes of wild herbs and inner florals arch across the palate. The finish is complex, with a pleasantly bitter twang and nuances of white pepper.

Light crimson. Fresh pure red cherry, strawberry aromas with hints of bush garrigue. Supple and fleshy in texture with unfold in pure red cherry, strawberry, chinotto flavours, fine loose-knit chalky textures, attractive mid palate richness and fresh mineral acidity. Much weightier than the colour suggests. Crunchy and juicy at the finish. From 1962-planted vines. Drink now – 2028

The Riserva is a big step up from the annata. More savory than fruity on the nose with earthy, tobacco scents. Mouthfiling on the palate with dark plum, cherries, tea and herbal notes. Long and impressively rich finish. A blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from warmer, south-facing blocks; aged 10 months in used French oak barriques. pH 3.37, 14.1% alc

From a site planted in 2009 to Hyde selections, the 2022 Chardonnay Hapgood is zesty and focused on the nose, combing citrus and orchard fruits with accents of sea spray. Silky and saline on the palate, it finishes with a tremendously chiseled energy that recalls the linearity and precision of the nose. A highlight of the Brewer-Clifton lineup, this has room to unwind and still be a livewire.

The 2022 Chardonnay Katherine’s Vineyard Signature Collection is a pretty potent, tightly wound wine, perhaps because of its relatively recent bottling. Crushed rocks, white pepper, slate, citrus peel and strong mineral accents race out of the glass. About 60% of the malolactic fermentation was blocked, which results in a very steely, reticent Chardonnay that needs time to be at its best.

Darkly floral and intense, the 2021 Pinot Noir La Crete smolders up with a burst of crushed ashen stones, giving way to violets, lavender and blood orange. It’s elegant in feel, with silken textures and polished red and blue fruits that gain an energetic momentum. Juicy acidity enlivens the experience throughout. Gently tannic yet potent and long, the 2021 finishes with bitter licorice, wild blueberries and spice hints. La Crete is a selection of parcels from throughout the WillaKenzie vineyards.

The woodland-inspired 2021 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard smolders up with a bouquet of violets, lavender and sage, complementing crushed blackberries as a tinge of dusty earth adds an oldworld complexity. This floods the palate with textures of pure silk, soothingly round and succulent, with ripe red and blue fruits that slowly saturate. It finishes with outstanding length, mixing confectionary spice and wild blueberries. A subtle tug of fine tannin frames the experience beautifully.