USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 One of the more rustic, savory styled Syrahs in the Copain lineup, the 2016 High Rock Syrah is medium ruby-purple and scented of chargrill, roasted coffee beans, black soil, warm blackcurrants and blueberry sparks with accents of bay leaf, violet and tapenade. The medium-bodied palate offers intense, herb-tinged fruits with a firm, chewy frame and seamless freshness, finishing very long. 350 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 This is the inaugural release of this vineyard—Copain hasn't worked with this fruit before. Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Edmeades Vineyard, aged 16 months in 30% new French oak, opens with very pretty scents of loamy earth, rose petals, cola and strawberry jam layered with notions of orange peel, wild blackberries, crushed cherries and cold earth plus a nutmeg hint. It's medium-bodied, fleshing out in intensity before zeroing back in with juicy acidity. It has a soft frame of tannins and finishes very long. This is delicious! 1,000 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2017 Pinot Noir Côte Bannie, aged 16 months in 33% new French oak, opens with savory notes of dried tobacco, tea leaves, scorched earth and bay leaf over a core of perfectly "al dente" fruits—blackberries and black cherries—with accents of bergamot and undergrowth. The palate is light to medium-bodied, savory and intense, with a firm frame of grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing long and powerful. Give this at least another year in bottle as it has the stuffing and structure to develop well in bottle. 350 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2017 Maggy Hawk Pinot Noir aged 16 months in 20% new French oak. Pale to medium ruby in the glass, with scents of baked marionberry, black licorice, shaved nutmeg and loamy earth with notes of pipe tobacco, crushed black cherries and mixed berry jam. Medium-bodied and silky, it offers wonderful intensity and purity of layers, wrapped firmly by grainy tannins and refreshed by mouthwatering acidity, finishing long and layered. 500 cases produced.

An absolutely fabulous value is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa. This comes from multiple sources and there are 46,000+ cases of it. A stunning Cabernet Sauvignon and a classic example of Napa viticulture, this blend of 75.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec, was aged just over two years in oak. Loads of sweet blackcurrant fruit, cocoa, a touch of toast, earth, and baking spice are all present in this wine that has terrific fruit on the attack and mid-palate, a full-bodied mouthfeel, no hard edges and a luscious, opulent, gorgeously pure style. Drink it over the next 10-15 years. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see it last longer. For old-time reader/subscribers, this might be the modern-day equivalent of the great 1974 Souverain Vintage Selection that I recommended back in the late 1970s and is still going strong today.

Smooth, ripe and balanced with rich plum and cassis; juicy, supple and classic; generous and refined; long and lovely; another Ted Edwards triumph.

If you’re like me and prefer your Cabernet in a more restrained and balanced style, there are some fine examples from the 2010 Vintage, and this is one of them. Sourced from vineyards in Rutherford, Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder, it’s got all the right Napa markers -- blackberry, black cherry, currants, dried herbs, fall spice and cedar in the nose and on the palate, with firm structure and a long well integrated finish that is approachable now with decanting and will age nicely for 15+ years. Contains 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and small amounts of Petite Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.

Shows all the hallmarks of an important young Napa Cabernet. Bone dry and quite hard in tannins, it's immensely concentrated in blackberries, black currants, cassis and fine, smoky new oak. Possesses that elusive quality of dramatic terroir, a real sense of place. Very fine young wine that needs time. Cellar until at least 2015.

Shows all the hallmarks of an ageable wine. It's bone dry, big and hard in tannins, and densely packed with blackberries, cherries, cola, licorice and smoky cedar notes.

There are just under 1,600 cases of this wine. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (another Rutherford Bench vineyard, but in this case, biodynamically farmed) is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc given the same treatment as the Bosche Vineyard. Deep ruby/purple with an even more complex and evolved nose than the Bosche, the wine shows notes of cedar, fruitcake, black currants, cherries, smoke, and pain grille. Dense, rich, full-bodied fruit flavors coat moderate tannins. The wine is savory, mouth-filling, and quite deep and layered. It should drink well for 15-20 years as well. Bravo!

Kudos to winemaker Ted Edwards. Lastly, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard, which is just to the south of Bosche, is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, from the gravelly, clay and loamy soils of this area. It, too, was aged 24 months in French oak and seems dense, full-bodied, powerful and backward as well. Most of the 2004s are far more open than this cuvee and the Bosche, but there is plenty of ripe fruit, moderate tannin and a deep black currant, blackberry, smoky sweetness, with a full, voluminous mouth texture. Give this one another 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15-20.

A brilliant Viognier that preserves the variety’s exotic richness, while framing it with balance and subtlety, no easy task. Impresses for its array of pineapple crême brulée, Key lime pie, golden mango and green apple opulence, yet is crisp and zesty in acidity, and there’s a bracing minerality. The grapes come from an unusual combination of Rutherford, which provides ripeness, and Carneros, which brings acidity and freshness.

Marked by crisp, zingy acidity that gives the lemon and lime fruit a mouthwatering tartness, this voluminous Chardonnay is perfect for drinking now, as a cocktail or with rich shellfish dishes. It's really elegantly constructed and stylish, a great restaurant wine.

The 2009 Chardonnay Howell Mountain is all from the Keyes Vineyard. It reveals a Meursault-like hazelnut character intermixed with notions of crushed rocks, white peaches and honeysuckle. This full-bodied, layered, impressive Chardonnay had its malolactic fermentation blocked, which has preserved the fruit's ripeness and vivacity. It should drink well for 3-5 years. Freemark Abbey continues to be a work in progress as proprietor Jess Jackson moves aggressively to get this estate back to its glory days of the late sixties and early to mid-seventies.

This Syrah from Winemaker Greg Brewer is dynamic and built to last, starting with aromas of crushed peppercorn, tapenade, twigs, ground pepper, tar and elderberry fruit. The palate combines black currant with tart black-plum skin, thyme, bay and peppercorns, ending on flashes of tar and mocha.

Deep ruby cast. Moderately full-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted. Mildly oaked. Mildly tannic. Spice, minerals, tomato. Quite aromatic with real complexity. Generous yet firm in the mouth with an angular spicy finish. Shows fine persistence and intensity.

Unusually graceful and elegant despite full body and dense tannins, this wine has lush, rich fruit flavors like blackberry compote, plus clove and black pepper accents. It's an outstanding example of how attractive the variety can be, and no surprise considering its long history in Mendocino County.

An extraordinary wine, and not just because it wears its 16.4% alcohol so well. The raspberry and cassis flavors are rapturously delicious. It seems almost a crime for wine to taste this good. At the same time, the round soft mouthfeel and dry dusty tannins are textbook perfect.

Something wonderful is going on at Edmeades, and this heritage bottling captures the magic. Ninety-year-old vines yield tiny quantities of complex fruit, layered with dried cherries and plums, tobacco, violets, and sweet spice. Zinfandel this elegant, balanced, and textured is worth every nickel.

The stunning 1992 Edmeades-Zeni Vineyard Zinfandel possesses an opaque ruby/purple color, and a sensational bouquet of spices, black and red fruits, and pepper. Rich and concentrated, with great balance for its size, this well-endowed, chewy, deliciously pure, vibrant Zinfandel will drink well for 8-12+ years.

Tight, concentrated aromas of black fig and dark chocolate meet beefy, earthy and ripe berry flavors in this high-powered, concentrated wine. It has a full body and firm tannins that give it a powerful structure, with nice depth and a lingering chocolate and cherry finish.

Top 100 Wines of 2018 - #6

A very complex Zinfandel that shows great balance despite the big number in small print on the front label. I'm in the habit of tasting first and looking later to make sure that I'm not predisposed to turn off to a Zin based on its alcohol content, as there are myriad other factors that can make the wine work across the scale, from 13% to 16.5%. The cranberry fruit element really makes this wine pop, bringing the pepper, herb, blackberry and dusty tannin texture together in a full flavored, long lingering delight. This will win the high number haters back -- if you show it blind, of course. Contains 3% Syrah.

From a north facing parcel in the Spear Vineyard, which is located just off Highway 246 in the northern part of the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2017 Chardonnay Spear offers a more masculine, mineral, earthy style in its ripe, exotic bouquet of melon, ripe pineapple, lemon, and earthy minerality and crushed rocks. This beauty takes some time to unwind but offers terrific complexity, a layered, rich texture, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. Give bottles a year and enjoy through 2027.

The 2017 Chardonnay Santos Road, which hails from Hyde clone vines in the 3D vineyard, is my favorite of the Diatom bottlings this year, offering up aromas of peach kernel, pear, honeycomb and white flowers. On the palate, the wine is the deepest and most complete of the range, medium-bodied with a glossily textural attack and fine-boned, racy structure.