The lemon and orange blossom-scented 2007 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard (an incredibly cold windswept site) offers up copious notes of caramelized citrus, marmalade, crushed rock, and subtle wood, along with high acidity, and impressive layers of concentration. This vineyard is normally harvested in November because it is such a cold, windy zone. All three of these Chardonnays are best drunk in their first 3-4 years of life, although my instincts suggest they will last longer. One of the best wineries in Sonoma, Hartford Family Winery, under the guidance of winemaker Jeff Mangahas, continues to fine tune an impressive portfolio of wines, all from cool climate sites. The three Chardonnays among the current releases are all outstanding.

A dark, meaty wine, the 2014 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard offers lovely depth and pliancy throughout. Inky blue/purplish fruit, spices, menthol and licorice fill out the wine's broad frame nicely. The Highwire is one of the more massively constituted wines in the range, and will appeal most to readers who like big Zinfandels.

Blue and black stone fruits, pepper, savory herbs and dark spices are some of the notes that inform the 2013 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard. At once quite ripe and also tannic, the Highwire is a bit explosive in style, but all the elements come together very nicely. The huge, resonant finish makes a statement, that is for sure.

The 2010 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard is a striking wine endowed with tons of finesse, richness and power. All of the elements are beautifully balanced here. A sensual, expressive bouquet leads to dense, layered fruit, all supported by huge tannins. Crushed rocks, licorice, leather and menthol develop in the glass. The Dina's needs time to soften, but it is explosive and full of personality. These head-trained vines are nearly 100 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2016 Dropstone Chardonnay opens with very pure notes of lemon zest, red delicious apples and tangerine peel with honey toast, flowers and hay plus crushed rock accents. The light to medium-bodied palate is fresh and lively with a touch of creaminess to the texture, offering wonderfully concentrated ripe fruits and creamy/toasty accents, juicy acidity and a long finish.

Deep ruby-red. Musky, complex nose combines redcurrant, flowers, cocoa powder, sweet tobacco and spices. Then wonderfully intense and voluptuous, saturating the entire palate with dark fruit, spice and saline mineral flavors. Lovely definition here. Most impressive today on the brisk, very long, firmly built finish, where the ripe tannins are in perfect balance with the wine's fruit. This wine was neither fined nor filtered for the bottling.

(91% cabernet sauvignon and 9% merlot): Bright ruby-red. Restrained but complex aromas of black cherry, cassis, minerals, espresso, Cuban tobacco and sexy oak. Penetrating black- and blueberry fruit flavors are given precision and lift by a strong floral element. Lovely juicy, firmly structured wine that really requires at least five years in bottle to express itself. Not fat but boasts terrific definition and energy, not to mention superb persistence. In the style of the 2007 Cardinale but with even more grip. A distinctly adult style. Winemaker Chris Carpenter describes 2008 as a lighter year, and thus the selection for this wine was 95% from mountain fruit and the other 5% from To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville.

Bright, deep ruby. Vibrant, complex aromas and flavors of cassis, licorice pastille, spices and flowers. Penetrating, dense and juicy, with a slowly building sweetness that carries through to the very long, tannic, gripping finish. Still youthfully imploded but with the structure for an extended evolution in bottle. Classic 2007 in style.

Medium ruby. Aromatic nose combines wild blackberry, Cuban tobacco, chocolate cake, smoke and minerals. Concentrated, lush and impressively sweet, with snappy raspberry and mineral flavors dominating. This is kept fresh by harmonious acidity but is also lush, seamless and expansive. Finishes with broad tannins and impressive sweetness and persistence. This St. Emilion-style blend is still very young and may prove to be the best of the 2001 trio made under the Verite label.

Ruby-red. Brooding, perfumed aromas of dark fruits, violet and chocolate. Sweet and intensely flavored, with lively acids framing the currant, black raspberry, mineral and dark chocolate flavors. Very densely packed wine, with the sheer material to support its big, ripe tannins. Give this plenty of aeration if you plan to open a bottle anytime soon. Or, better yet, lay it down for six to eight years.

Dark ruby-red. Black cherry, mocha and licorice on the nose. Ripe, broad and dry; suave and sophisticated. Flavors of red berries lifted by floral and mineral components. Densely packed, backward wine, finishing with substantial dusty tannins.

Bright medium ruby. Vibrant aromas of crushed cassis, bitter cherry, licorice and leather. Youthfully tight yet already quite penetrating; today the wine's licorice and fresh herb notes dominate its underlying dark fruit flavors. More backward than the 2011 La Muse, even austere today

Bright yellow. Pineapple, medicinal herbs and crushed rock on the nose. Very dense and tactile but less immediately fruity than the Upper Barn. Pineapple and grapefruit flavors are accompanied by strong saline and rocky elements. In a very dry style but broad, rich and long. The hardest of these chardonnays to taste today but a wine with considerable potential.

Pale, bright yellow. Initially closed nose opened to reveal steely, Puligny-like white peach, nutmeg, mint and crushed stone aromas. Dense but airy and dry; tactile and silky-smooth but with a lovely light touch. Today this very subtle young wine is showing more minerality than primary fruit. Finishes broad and weightless. Give this a couple years in the cellar. This stunning set of chardonnays made by winemaker Graham Weerts, who is from South Africa, was one of the revelations of my tastings of California wine this spring.

Bright ruby-red. High-toned, sexy aromas of black cherry, blueberry, licorice, graphite and sweet oak. Plush, sweet and pliant, with a wonderfully polished texture to the intense flavors of brambly dark berry, coffee and licorice. Finishes lush and very long, with building, fine-grained tannins and considerable elegance. This will be even better for five or six years in the cellar.

Medium ruby. Reticent but very pure aromas of blueberry, cassis, licorice and menthol. Shockingly rich and sweet but very young, showing superb concentration to its cassis flavor complemented by sexy oak tones. This really vibrates on the very long finish, where the wine's powerful mountain tannins are buried in fruit. Less showy today than the Howell Mountain cabernet but with outstanding long-term potential.

Good medium ruby. An essence of cabernet on the nose, with blackberry, licorice and floral aromas complicated by an exotic suggestion of fruity tropical chocolate. Then large-scaled, fat and sweet in the mouth, with highly concentrated black raspberry and chocolate flavors. The powerful mountain tannins coat the front teeth. Like a cabernet syrup today, in need of at least seven or eight years of aging and likely to be long-lived.

Good full ruby. Elemental, extremely primary nose features grapey blackberry, licorice and violet pastille. Big, sweet, broad and creamy; a huge, powerful wine with slightly rustic flavors of dark chocolate and minerals. Finishes with compelling sweetness of fruit, and very broad tannins that arrive late. From a block of vines that was recently torn out due to phylloxera. The richest of this trio of cabernets. Winemaker Chris Carpenter notes that the intention here is to make three wines of place by using neutral winemaking techniques. The only difference among the wines is maceration times, he added. All three of these bottlings are close to 15% alcohol.

Bright aromatics of candied and salted citrus peel are layered with ginger spice, toasty oak, pineapple core, and vanilla-caramel notes. Richness builds across the medium-bodied palate, delivering ample mid-palate concentration, all framed by crushed-rock minerality and salinity on the bright finish. Fermentation is conducted primarily in barrel, and the wine is aged for eight months in 43% new French oak. Winemaker Kristy Melton discovered a Chardonnay block in eastern Napa Valley, planted to Clone 4 in 1978. Known for producing large clusters that retain high natural acidity, Melton notes that this clone develops more nuanced, elegant flavours as the vines age. This site contributes approximately 17% of the vintage, with additional fruit sourced from Huichica Creek in the Carneros AVA and another site in Coombsville.

From the “ocean hill” 16 miles from the Pacific, the fruit for the full-bodied 2024 Pinot Noir Vinedo Maricerro doesn’t get coastal fog but does get cool air and wind. The resulting wine in this case shows ethereal layers of cranberry, cherry, and black tea, with plenty of varietal earthiness. No whole-cluster is used during fermentation in stainless tank. The texture is sultry and supple, a well-made wine that should appeal across palates. Drink now through 2036.

More crisp, linear, and lean than the 2024, the barrel-fermented, medium-bodied 2025 Chardonnay Vinedo Maricerro is etched in floral aromatics of sea spray and citrus, with an ethereal minerality that’s exceptionally appealing. The texture flirts with oily viscosity, tamed by the underlying freshness that pulls through the lengthy finish. Drink now through 2035.

The 2024 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard is savory and inward—a serious, tightly wound wine. New leather, cedar, dark cherry, garrigue and exotic spices sizzle beneath the surface. There's a bound-up core of acid and tannin here that will require some time to sort itself out, but there's solid stuffing and a good deal of persistence, too.

This is friendly and shows a gentle, toasty edge, with pronounced sous-bois and wet pine notes gliding underneath supple red and black cherry compote flavors. Singed sandalwood frames the pretty and persistent finish. Drink now through 2030.

Sous-bois and potpourri mix in this red, where plump red and black cherry compote notes let the savory side share the lead. Singed cedar and sandalwood accents chime in, giving this a perfumed, graceful finish despite the sense of weight to the fruit. Drink now through 2030.

This is a showy one, with a core of warmed mulberry and boysenberry compote that glides along the silky, refined structure, while black tea, iris and pennyroyal notes waft through on the finish. Drink now through 2032.