Coming from the Santa Maria Valley, the 2019 Chardonnay Camelot Highlands has a more mineral-laced, seaside style that offers plenty of peach and orchard fruits, notes of iodine, crushed stone, and toasted almonds, medium body, bright acidity, and a great finish. It's going to keep for 4-5 years.
Another impressive Chardonnay with a singular character, the 2019 Chardonnay Sable Mountain Vineyard reveals a lighter gold hue as well as savory, mineral-laced notes of white flowers, poached pears, spice, and toast. It's impressive on the palate as well, with medium-bodied richness, wonderful overall balance, and a clean, nutty finish that keeps you coming back to the glass.
Coming from a region just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the 2018 Pinot Noir Marin County should be a good value. Offering cool climate spice, sappy herbs, and forest nuances, medium body, supple cherry and strawberry fruits, and background oak, it's one textured, undeniably delicious Pinot Noir to drink over the coming 4-5 years.
Coming from a notable vineyard in the Anderson Valley, the 2019 Pinot Noir Maggy Hawk is classic Copain with its more elegant, mid-weight, yet balanced, charming style. Tart cherries, dried flowers, citrus rind, and earth all emerge on the nose, and it's going to continue drinking nicely for 4-6 years.
The 2019 Pinot Noir Sealift comes from the Sonoma Coast and fits in nicely in the lineup, offering subtle cherry and strawberry fruits, medium body, juicy, vibrant acidity, and classic flower and sappy herb notes. Revealing a kiss of salty seaside air with time in the glass, it will benefit from a year or two in bottle and keep through 2029.
Always a fruit-forward, sexy, incredibly charming wine, the 2018 Prequel Red Wine is no exception and sports a dense purple hue as well as smoky, meaty notes of blackberries, cured meats, peppery herbs, and chocolate. It's rich, full-bodied, and mouth-filling while staying balanced and light on its feet. It's a killer barbecue wine to enjoy over the coming 4-5 years.
Based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the 2018 Bootleg Red Wine is another fruit-forward, delicious, satisfying red from this estate. Coming all from Napa Valley fruit, its deep purple hue is followed by loads of blue and black fruits as well as notes of chocolate, scorched earth, and tobacco. A big, mouth-filling, chewy, lengthy wine, it's going to pair nicely with red meat and should keep for 7-8 years, although it's not a wine I'd recommend aging.
Cut from the same cloth as the 2018, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale has lots of cassis and blue fruits as well as ample background oak, graphite, crushed stone, and violet-like aromas and flavors. These all carry to a medium-bodied Cabernet with wonderful purity, the straight, focused style of the vintage, some obvious minerality, and a great finish. The balance is spot on, and it has building yet ripe tannins as well as a great finish. Drink this beautiful Cabernet any time over the coming 10-15 years.
Wild strawberries, crushed rocks, mint, and subtle floral notes all emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Van Der Kamp Vineyard. Medium-bodied, it has a light, elegant texture, vibrant acidity, and a distinct sense of minerality on the palate. Beautifully done, in a racier, livelier, more streamlined style from this estate, it should benefit from a year of bottle age and keep through 2028.
The 2019 Chardonnay Tidal Break, which comes from the Sonoma Coast, is another terrific effort. Ripe lemon, salty sea breeze, white flowers, and a touch of rocky mineral-like nuances define the bouquet, and it's medium-bodied, with good concentration, bright acidity, and nicely integrated oak. It will keep for 5-7 years.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley is terrific and just classic Sonoma Cabernet. Lots of cassis, blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings and rocky, savory earth-like nuances all emerge from this spicy, medium-bodied, beautifully balanced Cabernet. It shows the fresh, focused style of the vintage, has wonderful purity, and enough tannins to warrant 2-3 years of bottle age.
The 2018 Chardonnay (Sonoma County) is a gorgeous appellation-level wine. A touch of new oak adds textural richness. Apricot, lemon confit, mint, white flowers, tangerine oil and spice are all laced together. This is such a pretty wine.
The 2019 Sauvignon Blanc (Bennett Valley) offers striking textural richness along with more tropically leaning fruit, with hints of mango and passionfruit that open in the glass. Bright acids and lifted floral notes add quite a bit of aromatic lift.
The base appellation 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley shows the more elegant yet also tannic side to the vintage, giving up lots of red and black currant fruits, medium to full body, building, chewy yet ripe tannins, solid mid-palate depth, and outstanding length. This classic Alexander Valley Cabernet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15+.
Bright cherry and cranberry fruits as well as violets and orange blossom all emerge from the 2019 Pinot Noir Ewald Vineyard, and it's shows the more medium-bodied, elegant, streamlined style of the majority of the 2019s from Siduri. With good purity of fruit and notable overall balance, it's well worth drinking any time over the coming 4-6 years.
Spiced cherries, earthy herbs, orange blossom, and hints of flowers all emerge from the 2019 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, a medium-bodied, supple, elegant Pinot Noir. It's not the most complex or lengthy wine out there, yet it has classic Pinot Noir character, a seamless texture, and outstanding length. I'd be happy to drink a bottle.
More bright cherry and assorted red fruits, spice, leather, and earth emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Ewald Vineyard, which has a bright spine of acidity, medium body, and light tannins. It's another vibrant, classy wine from this estate to enjoy over the coming 5-7 years.
Coming from Howell Mountain, the deep purple-hued 2017 Merlot Keyes Vineyard is beautiful, with an elegant, medium-bodied, already complex style. Ample black cherry and blackberry fruits, forest floor, and spring flower notes dominate the bouquet, and it has subtle oak, ripe yet present tannins, and a great finish. It too will keep for over a decade.
The 2017 Merlot Jackson Park Vineyard doesn't match the stunning 2016, but it's still a terrific, classic Merlot with ample red and black fruits, lots of mineral, tobacco, and earthy nuances, medium-bodied richness, and the more narrowly constructed, elegant, yet structured style of the vintage. It should keep for at least 7-8 years, and I'd wager over a decade.
More golden apples, toasted bread, and white flower notes emerge from the 2019 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge Vineyard, another beautiful Alexander Valley Chardonnay that does everything right. Medium-bodied, nicely textured, up-front, and ready to go, enjoy bottles over the coming 2-4 years.
Lots of ripe black cherries, roasted herbs, earth, and spice notes emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Fog Veil, a medium-bodied, nicely textured, balanced Pinot Noir that has a spicy, herbal, earthy edge. It's well done and should keep for 4-5 years.
The 2018 Chardonnay Kelli Ann Vineyard comes from the Russian River and has a classic, up-front, sweetly fruited, sexy style as well as lots of pineapple and honeyed peach fruits, medium body, a supple, elegant texture, and good acidity that keeps the wine clean and classy. I wouldn't push the aging curve too much, but it should have a solid 4-5 years of longevity.
Plenty of honeysuckle, white flowers, and both peach and pineapple notes emerge from the 2017 Chardonnay Durell Vineyard, a nicely textured, soft, supple, elegant 2017 that's drinking nicely today.
More citrus, mint, and dried herb notes emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay Tidal Break Vineyard. Medium-bodied, it has a terrific sense of minerality, good overall balance, and a distinct salinity on the finish. It's another incredibly charming, impeccably made Chardonnay from this label.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Poet's Peak is another attractive, solid Cabernet Sauvignon from this team that has a dense purple hue, wonderful purity and finesse, medium body, and textbook Cabernet Sauvignon notes of blue and black fruits, violets, crushed stone, and a touch of cedarwood. It too should keep for a decade.