Tasting the Traumatic 2017 Vintage (And Others) in Northern California This is stunning on the nose with crushed cassis, like creme de cassis, and violets. So beautiful to smell. Medium to full body. Compact, refined tannins flow across the palate to the borders of the wine. All about balance, freshness and purity. One of the best ever. Drink or hold.

USA, California: More Napa & Sonoma New Releases WOW—the 2017 Chardonnay Jennifer’s Vineyard reveals the most beautiful perfume of beeswax, peach blossoms and lemongrass with a core of spiced apples, poached pears and almond croissant. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers layer upon layer of savory, citrus and stone fruit flavors, finishing long and spicy.

Napa Valley's 2017s Previously released under the Cardinale label, the 2017 Cabernet Franc is a Cabernet Franc-driven release inspired by Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux. Coming all from mountain vineyards (Mt. Brave on Mt. Veeder, Yverdon on Spring Mountain, and W.S. Keyes on Howell Mountain) and 77% Cabernet Franc and 23% Merlot, raised in 72% new French oak, it’s an incredible achievement in 2017 and offers a huge perfume of red currants and black raspberries interwoven with notes of dried flowers, chocolate, and forest floor. Complex and nuanced aromatically, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a seamless, incredibly elegant texture, polished tannins, and a great, great finish. Hats off to winemaker Chris Carpenter for this awesome 2017. Drink bottles any time over the coming 15-20 years or more.

2017 & 2018 Napa Valley In Depth A resounding success for the year, the 2017 Cardinale is truly impressive. It is also one of the most refined young wines I have tasted here. In most vintages, Cardinale is predominantly made from mountain sites, but the 2017 is roughly equal parts mountain and valley floor fruit. Inky blue/purplish fruit, white flowers, lavender and mint all build in the glass. Lifted and beautifully perfumed, the 2017 is exceptionally polished.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Retrospective Deep garnet in color, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain rolls out of the glass with exuberant warm cassis, blueberry compote and Black Forest cake notes plus hints of exotic spices, wilted roses, black licorice and underbrush with a waft of dusty soil. Full-bodied, rich and beautifully perfumed in the mouth, it has plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing very long and fragrant. Still very youthful, this beauty still has at least another quarter of a century of cellaring in it! 88 cases were made.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Retrospective Very deep garnet-black, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder slowly unfurls to reveal blackcurrant cordial, chocolate-covered cherries and black licorice with nuances of unsmoked cigars, star anise, spice cake and chargrill. Full-bodied, the palate is full-on seductive with ripe, plush tannins and tons of concentrated, expressive black fruit preserves, finishing on a long-lingering licorice note. 952 cases were made.

100% pinot noir, hand-picked, specifically for this rose, wild yeast fermented. Vibrantly fresh aromas and flavours; rose petals, violets and delicate spices on the bouquet, wild strawberries and raspberries on the mouth-watering palate. Great wine, not just great rose.

This midnight purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon opens with a very fragrant black currant and blackberry bouquet with hints of eucalyptus and pencil lead. On the palate, this wine is full bodied and smooth with medium acidity. The flavor profile is crushed stone mineral influenced black currant with notes of black tea and blackberry. We also detected hints of oak and Baker’s chocolate mixed in. The finish is dry, and its big dusty mountain tannins stick around for a very long time. The Panel would decant this wine and then pair it with a dry-aged, well marbled ribeye or braised short ribs. They also feel this would be terrific on its own.

From the block next to the renowned High Sands vineyard, Ovitelli skips the oak in favor of 158 days on skins in large ceramic eggs. The result is a Grenache that pulses with energy, purity and expression of place. Aromas match the shimmering antique-rose color. There’s fleshy wild red berries, rose petals, tea leaf and an underbelly of white spice. The palate is layered and elegant with a quiet power in the form of ultrafine, textural tannins that cinch the crunchy acidity and juicy fruit. Drinking stunningly now, this wine could cellar until 2029 for another level of complexity.

This is an impressively varietal wine, blended with 25% Merlot, the work of winemaker Chris Carpenter. Perfumed, tannic and leathery, it shows a touch of reduction and high-toned acidity, coming together into a core of full-bodied black fruit, violet, lavender and herb, the oak generously spiced and supportive.

Ripe cherry, black tea, delicate spice and layers of herb make for both a hedonistic and intellectual entry to the nose of this delicious bottling. A firm texture and refreshing acidity frame the cherry, strawberry and herb flavors on the sip, which is bright, juicy and still quite young.

Cabernet Franc dominant, with touches of raspberry leaf, rosemary and sage, and mouth-watering acidities. A lovely tension and grip runs right through the palate. Floral edged with peony and curled woodsmoke highlighting the depth through the core. Deftly made by Pierre Seillan, showcasing an excellent lightness of touch without sacrificing tension, and for me the most successful of the three Vérités in this vintage.

Hickinbotham's 2019 The Peake Cabernet Shiraz is a 56-44 blend of the two varieties, aged in around 50% new French oak. Blended from selected barrels, it ratchets up the intensity even further than the Trueman Cab or Brooks Road Shiraz, while also adding additional layers of complexity. The herbal notes of the Cab are there but toned down, the cassis and blackberry notes of the two varieties complement each other, and the vanilla and cedar shadings are beautifully integrated into the wine. Full-bodied, concentrated and richly textured, it's expansive yet structured and long and elegant on the finish. Give it another couple of years in the cellar and drink it over the next two decades.

Pure citrus, golden apple, and stone fruits as well as toast, white flowers, and hints of almonds define the nose of the 2019 Chardonnay Machado, a rich, medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, ethereal Chardonnay revealing perfectly integrated acidity, a layered, multi-dimensional texture, and a great finish. It's another magical Chardonnay from this team that readers will love.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Machado is another exotic, marine-influenced beauty that could come from nowhere else. Revealing a translucent ruby/plum hue as well as a thrilling bouquet of redcurrants, framboise, iodine, rose petals, black tea, and chalky minerality, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a bright spine of acidity, present yet polished tannins, and a great finish. It's still tight and youthful, but far from unapproachable. It's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and, if well stored, keep for 20+ years.

Stand aside. There’s a freight train of flavour here and while its brakes are hydraulic its momentum is enormous. For the love of grapes. A huge swerve and plum and blackcurrant flavour comes drenched in cedar wood, mocha and vanilla, though its top notes of tobacco and bay shine throughout like the top edge of wave. Will you take a look at the nut-like tannin on this job. This has more texture than a biscuit, more command than a keyboard. It’s sheer old-new-school Aussie red wine brilliance.

Hand picked 20–26 March. Destemmed and whole-berry sorted. Gently crushed into open-top fermenters, cold soaked and pumped over daily. 18 days on skins. Wild ferment. Basket pressed with light pressings added back to the free-run juice. Racked and returned twice during 15 months' maturation in fine-grain French barrels, 75% new. Flying winemaker Chris Carpenter is well versed in the sort of tannin management that defines his Californian expressions. Here, the piste is not as smooth, with a bit more edge to the framework; a little more greenery to the aromas. For the better. Cassis, pencil lead and dried tobacco leaf, to boot. The finish, long and thrumming; the tannic gristle etching fine grooves of tension with each sip. This will age beautifully.

This new project by the talented Chris Carpenter is mostly sourced from the Yverdon Vineyard (64%) on Spring Mountain. A blend of 77% Cabernet Franc with the remainder Merlot, this really needs a two hour decant to fully show at its best. The nose is simply gorgeous with black florals alongside graphite, Turkish coffee, dark chocolate and shades of huckleberry compote. The palate is extraordinarily refined, with a great sense of salinity, viscosity and tension. The flavor range here is seriously good from iodine and Black Forest cake with espresso bean, dried herbs and creosote. This finishes long and comes off almost weightless. Glorious now after a long decant, this has potential to age for thirty years. Drink 2023-2045.

Coming from the northern part of California, in Mendocino County, the 2018 Pinot Noir Docker Hill Vineyard has a beautifully savory, complex, medium to full-bodied style offering ample framboise and darker cherry fruits, building, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and terrific, savory herb, earth, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. It's a brilliant wine in every sense.

Incredible purity, medium to full body, bright acidity, and a Chablis on steroids-like character all define the 2018 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard, which is beautifully concentrated and has loads of lemon and citrus fruits, bright acidity, and subtle toast, and spicy oak. It's a brilliant Chardonnay as well as a textbook example of this great (yet diverse) region.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard hails from a single vineyard in Knights Valley located at 950 feet in elevation. It has a brilliant nose of savory red and black currants, dried herbs, saddle leather, and tobacco, with a decidedly Bordeaux-like vibe in both its aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied and nicely concentrated, with ripe tannins on the palate, this is a serious, captivating, incredibly impressive Cabernet that will shine for at least two decades. You could put this beauty in a lineup of First Growth Bordeaux and it would do just fine.

Impressive sensorial quality that imposes a profound stamp is rich in identity with the mixed floral and fruity scents of lavender, violet, agapanthus, magnolia, orange blossom, blue plums, pressed blueberries and warm white stone. Full body, silky tannins, enveloping but not over the top, it relaxes in a very pleasant bite that from the center of the palate onwards creates length and persistence. What a phenomenon. Impossible to resist it but better from 2023.

It's hard to believe it could get better than last year, but this 2017, is, thanks to one of the coolest growing seasons ever in McLaren Vale. The gnarly old bush vines were planted in 1946 at the highest point of Yangarra's white/grey dunes at 210 metres above sea level. Block 31 is 1.7 hectares of dry farmed 70-year-old bush vines sitting on low vigour, one meter deep, white sands (silica not marine), said to be 54 million years old. The nose and palate are pure fruit with an amazing texture and a red fruit fragrance that hums along with the acidity from front to back. I dare you not to drink the whole bottle in minutes. This edition comes in at 14 percent alcohol that seemingly disappears into its savoury mix of minerals, fruit, and oak you never notice. This is a new highwater mark for High Sands.

Incredible colour, just a few pay grades up from rose. So bright and vibrant to look at. All raised in ceramic eggs, 101 days on skins, righteous work with grenache.Rose hip tea, lipstick, cherry and dried herb scents. So pure, shimmering, silky and yet wrapped in a web of ultra fine, wet stone tannins. Magnificent texture. Purity, drive, vibrancy, a beautiful lightweight yet detailed wine of incredible energy and poise. So delicious. So very, very good. World beating stuff. Benchmark.

Blackberry, violet and crushed stone on the nose. Pure fruit, but reserved and tensioned. Full-bodied with firm, tight tannins and a long finish. Some tightness. The tannins spread across the palate, so integrated and toned yet chewy. A structured and almost steely wine. 82% cabernet franc, 12% merlot and 6% malbec. Better after 2024.