Charm, Freshness and Vibrancy The 2017 Jolie, for example, was among my least favorites at first, until its fresh acidity and delicacy revealed themselves. Ultimately, I judge it to be a real beauty, with aromas and flavors of red fruits — raspberry, red cherry, strawberry — floral notes and tea, and a vibrant structure of acid and tannin that is not overpowered by the aromatics. The wine has depth, as well as purity and concentration of fruit expression.

James Halliday's Top 100 Wines of 2019 Top Whites Under $25 A highly esoteric blend of 74% grenache blanc, 12% roussanne, 6% clairaut, 5% picpoul and 3% bourbelenc that is winemaker Peter Fraser's salute to the wines of centuries past. Lest anyone think the vinification is of similar natural antiquity, think again. It will grow rich and textured as it ages.

Italy’s Incredible Year: About 6,400 Wines Rated Aromas of lead pencil and currants with blueberries. Medium body, chewy tannins and a savory finish. Needs two or three years to soften. Try in 2021.

Italy’s Incredible Year: About 6,400 Wines Rated Pretty and balanced 2014 with currant and berry character and just hints of vanilla. Full-bodied yet tight and focused. Needs a year or two to soften even more, but already very attractive. Drink or hold.

Italy’s Incredible Year: About 6,400 Wines Rated This is quite reduced now, so it certainly needs some time in bottle before serving. It should turn out to be a beauty; dark cherries, black olives and blackberry tart intermingle with vanilla and spices. Full-bodied with a lovely, velvety mouthfeel and loads of layers of dark fruit. Drink from 2023.

Italy’s Incredible Year: About 6,400 Wines Rated This shows beautiful freshness and poise, thanks to vivid dark cherries and bright herbs. Medium body with fine-grained tannins, loads of tangy fruit and a finely tuned yet structured finish. Salty aftertaste. Delicious. Drink now.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2017 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands is a smoking value. Racy cherry, cranberry, and floral notes all emerge from this juicy, clean, and classy effort. With good acidity, loads of sweet fruit, and a clean, balanced style, it's a beautiful wine.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s From a site just beside Gary's, yet planted in 2008 and 2009, the 2017 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard was completely destemmed (Adam doesn't like the stems from younger vines) and spent 11 months in 40% French. It offers plenty of black cherry, scorched earth, black raspberry, and forest floor notes as well as a medium to full-bodied, rounded, nicely textured, layered style on the palate.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Moving to the Sta. Rita Hills releases, the 2017 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills offers a darker style as well as more blueberries, currants, black cherries, earth, and graphite aromas and flavors. Rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and beautifully balanced, drink it over the coming decades.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Coming from a windy site on the eastern edge of the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2017 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard saw one-third stems and spent 16 months in 57% new French oak. It offers a more classic Sta. Rita Hills bouquet of salted cherries, leafy herbs, flowers, and forest floor. Fruit forward, fleshy, beautifully textured and structured, drink this richer, fleshy Pinot Noir over the coming 7-8 years.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2017 Chardonnay Nielson Vineyard is a richer, more voluptuous effort offering loads of ripe orchard fruits, crème brûlée, white flowers, and toasted bread aromas and flavors. Rich, textured, and opulent, it's made in a delicious, fun style you unfortunately don't see very often from Santa Barbara County. It's beautifully made and well worth enjoying over the coming 3-4 years.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s A smoking value from the talents of Greg Brewer, the 2017 Syrah Santa Barbara County comes half from the Nielson Vineyard in Santa Maria and the other half from the Neely Vineyard in Los Alamos. Not destemmed and brought up in neutral oak, it has a classic Syrah gaminess as well as notes of black raspberries, bacon fat, crushed violets, and tapenade. This peppery, medium-bodied, elegant, beautiful Syrah has no hard edges, terrific balance, and just a complex, satisfying style.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s From the 3D vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills and all Hyde Clone (vines are 11-years old), the 2018 Chardonnay Santos Road offers plenty of beautiful citrus and pineapple notes backed up by lots of spice, white flowers, and salinity. With medium-bodied richness, beautiful balance, and a great finish, it should drink nicely for at least a decade.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s I’d say on the earthy slopes of its prime drinking plateau, the 2011 Pinot Noir Machado offers a medium to full-bodied, balanced style that has resolved tannins, beautiful red and black fruits, and complex notes of smoked applewood, black tea, spice, and forest floor. I love it today, yet it’s certainly going to continue drinking nicely for another 4-6 years, probably longer.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2014 Pinot Noir Machado is another rounded, full-bodied example of this vineyard and has complex notes of ripe cherries, incense, applewood, and exotic spices. With beautiful fruit and no hard edges, it’s another candidate for drinking any time over the coming 8-10 years or so.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Still lively gold-hued, the 2011 Chardonnay 3D comes from a cooler, more challenging vintage yet offers beautiful notes of caramelized citrus, orange blossom, toasted bread, and a touch of minerality. Beautifully done, balanced, and with a medium-bodied, fresher, focused style, it’s drinking terrific today yet will certainly evolve for another 7-8 years in cool cellars.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s From a warmer site and an even split of Swan and Pommard clones, not destemmed, the 2017 Pinot Noir 3D offers plenty of riper black cherry, earth, spice, and meaty notes as well as a layered, medium to full-bodied, textured style on the palate. It has good acidity, plenty of classic savory, spicy Sta. Rita hills style, and a great finish.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Chardonnay Gravel Bench Vineyard has a tantalizing nose of lemon meringue pie, apple crumble, beeswax and almond croissant with a touch of white blossoms. Medium to full-bodied, the palate packs a punch of spiced apples and savory bread and nut layers, framed by impressive freshness and a creamy texture, finishing long. 228 cases produced.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Chardonnay Broken Road Vineyard opens with subtle, graceful apricot, green guava and fresh lemon scents plus hints of chalk dust, marzipan and lightly browned toast. Medium-bodied, the palate has beautiful poise and compelling intensity with loads of citrus and mineral layers and a nuttiness to the finish. 353 cases produced.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Chardonnay W.S. Keyes comes from vines planted in 1992-1993. One-third of the wine went directly to barrel (dirty) and the other two-thirds was settled and barrel fermented. It was aged in 10% new oak. It leaps from the glass with notes of honeyed white peaches, lemon tart, Golden Delicious apples and lime blossoms plus hints of marzipan and lemongrass. Medium-bodied with a seriously racy backbone and loads of intense citrus and stone fruit layers, it has a lovely satiny texture and long chalky finish. 544 cases produced.

The nose offers really bright red and black currants and plums, red beat juice, graphite and mocha. Just short of full-bodied, this is a flirty wine on the palate due to lip-smackingly juicy acid that feels a few years shy of full integration. The tannins are just slightly chewy and sneak up on you with time in the mouth. The components and stuffing are there to build a top-shelf structure with another 5-10 years of aging. Flavors hit on cherry, plum, currant, bitter cocoa, graphite and wet, dense soil. The finish brings a tangy and incense-driven twist.

Shows polish and presence, with expressive black raspberry, smoked beef and stony mineral flavors that gather tension and complexity toward fine-grained tannins. Best from 2021 through 2026.

Intense, with dark plum, blackberry and black currant fruit flavors pumping through, scored with bittersweet cocoa, dark tobacco and loam accents on the finish. Muscular for sure, but has serious drive. Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. Best from 2020 through 2032.

Rich and filled with pure-tasting flavors of raspberry, dried blueberry and plum tart, backed by vibrant minerality and fresh acidity. Medium-grained tannins show on the finish, with sandalwood and spice notes.

Powerful, extracted and full of concentrated dark currant, dried blackberry and cherry tart flavors that are well-structured. Hints of slate and mocha show midpalate, with a finish of dried green herbs.