The 2005 vintage was exceptional in Bordeaux, and, indeed, throughout France. The weather was perfect throughout the growing season. The right amount of sun and the right amount of rain at the right time brought the grapes to perfect maturity. Harvest occurred under sunny dry conditions so the grapes came to the winery in ideal condition. Château Lassègue, recently acquired by California's Jess Jackson group, decided to hold back this wine, their top of the line bottling, until they felt it was ready, which explains why it's their current release. Very aromatic -- the aromas fill the room when you pull the cork -- it shows the beauty of Bordeaux. The superb balanced combination of ripe fruit flavors offset by herbaceous earthy notes delights the palate. A lovely subtle bitterness in the mouth-watering finish cries for food. Glossy, but firm tannins, allow you to drink it now with simply grilled lamb chops -- a simple preparation allows the complexity and glory of this wine to shine. As enjoyable as it is now, it still has plenty of evolution to go, so there's no rush. Save some space in your cellar for this graceful wine.

Lassegue 2005 is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon at 60, 35 and 5 percent respectively. Even at eight years old, the wine has a deep and youthful color. The aroma is also youthful, suggesting fresh cranberry, cherry preserves, and dark plum, with warm notes of baking spices and cocoa. In your mouth, this wine is powerful and yet refined, its every characteristic balanced by an opposing, equally attractive impression. Its fruit character is ripe and rich, for example, and yet the wine has an improbable freshness of acidity. Similarly, the wine’s texture is fleshy and plush and yet the wine shows precision and purity of fruit in its finish. Although the wine’s tannin is considerable, its ripe, fresh fruit balances the tannin effortlessly. Weight, rich texture, ripeness -- and yet delineation, freshness and focus.

The late Jess Jackson’s French château; the wine is made by Pierre Seillan; smooth and velvety with ripe plum and juicy style; rich, elegant and beautifully balanced with depth and precision; California ripeness with French finesse.

This effort has a beautiful, fresh cherry aroma, silky texture and bright but ripe fruit flavors subtly accented by spices. It strikes a harmonious chord with great flavors, vibrant texture and wonderful varietal personality.

This is the second vintage of the Jackson family's Anderson Valley pinot noir project, from a high-elevation property that Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke purchased in 1999 and began planting in 2006. The vineyard sits above the town of Booneville at elevations approaching 2,000 feet, benefiting from plenty of sunlight as well as cooling ocean breezes coming over the hills to the west. The vineyard's sandstone-based soils grew a concentrated, mineral pinot noir in 2011, a wine that feels both ample and focused, glowing with rich dark cherry tones and loaded with earthy scents of cedar bark and forest mushrooms, layered and complex. It's beautiful now, and its structure has room to grow with time in the cellar.

Generous, juicy and inviting with fleshy red cherry aromas and flavours. The grapes are de-stemmed whole berries and the wine is matured in one-third new oak barrels. Full-bodied and satin smooth. This vineyard of 85 acres above Boonville is new for the winery.

The 2014 is a beauty, with plenty of finesse, forest floor, floral blueberry notes, silky tannins, medium to full body, high energy, a vibrant mouthfeel, and a long crisp finish with loads of blue and black fruits. It should drink nicely for 15 or more years.

The 2013 Proprietary Red Cenyth, which is 50% Cabernet Franc, 29% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec, offers a dense ruby/purple color, beautiful sweet, gentle tannins, and an elegant blackcurrant and black cherry-scented nose with some licorice and floral notes. It is medium to full-bodied, well-crafted, pure and supple-textured. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.

The 2009 Cenyth is a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec that achieved 14% alcohol, and was aged in 100% French oak for 15 months. Many 2009s are in the process of shutting down slightly, especially wines made from Bordeaux varietals. This wine shows sweet tannin and a more open knit personality, no doubt due to the 28% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc in the blend. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by notes of licorice, incense, forest floor, mulberries, black cherries and black currants. Pierre Seillan believes that using four separate Sonoma County terroirs balances the wine beautifully, with high tannins from the mountain top vineyards and softer, silkier tannins from lower elevation sites. This full-bodied, attractive red is approachable, but should age effortlessly for 15-20 years.

Moderately light garnet color in the glass. Lovely perfume of fresh dark berries and baking spices. Silky and elegant on the palate in a middleweight style, this enticing wine shows a pure expression of black cherry fruit with a compliment of spice. Seamless, with tannins in check. Still very enticing when tasted the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Panorama Vineyard South Crest offers up an expressive and youthfully fruit-driven bouquet of ripe cherries, raspberries and dried flowers. On the palate, it's medium to fullbodied, layered and succulent with an ample core of fruit and the greatest sense of completeness of all these offerings from the Panorama Vineyard.

Packs in lots of complex flavors, with ripe fig, pear, melon, hazelnut and toasty oak notes, all woven together in a tightly knit frame.

Flavors are very rich, complex and oaky. Has a wonderfully creamy texture, with lively acidity and a long, rich finish.

An exquisite Chardonnay, the 2008 Sierra Granite from Arroyo Seco has a powerful nose of crushed rock, white flowers, quince, honey, melon, and rich citrus fruits. This flowery, full-bodied, rich wine is almost a liqueur of minerality. As the wine sits in the glass, some tropical fruit blossoms also emerge. This is super Chardonnay! Drink it over the next 3 or so years.

Good full medium ruby. Captivating aromas of black and red raspberry, violet, bitter chocolate and sexy oak. Supersweet, lush and highly concentrated, with exotic flavors of black raspberry and milk chocolate. Very suave, inviting wine, finishing with very fine tannins, superb length, and a note of espresso. Impressive and utterly seductive.

The terrific 1999 Cardinale (a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot) possesses a murky purple color as well as a sweet nose of vanilla, Asian spices, licorace, and blackberry/currant fruit. Full-bodied, dense, and chewy with moderately high tannin, this large-scaled, pure red will handsomely repay cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2007 - 2020+.

This wine a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon with 16% Merlot. Aromas of red cherry tomato, red cherry preserves and blackberry pie. The polished and soft texture makes this wine shine. Black tea, anise and blackberry pie flavors show their appeal. This has less weight and intensity than the other vintages but will continue cellar well over the next decade.

Wonderfully proportioned, smooth & ripe, with rich black cherry, currant, wild berry & spice, offering depth & complexity, turning elegant & sophisticated. Cabernet Sauvigon & Merlot. Best from 2001 through 2009. 3900 cases made.

Bright deep ruby. Aromatic nose of blackcurrant, blackberry, graphite, licorice, bitter chocolate and minerals. Big, sweet and generous; superb ripe acidity gives the dark berry flavors clarity and verve. Not a blockbuster but possesses the structure for longer-term aging. Very fine tannins spread out to coat the entire mouth. Very long and bright on the aftertaste. Classy cabernet sauvignon-based wine.

Wonderful harmony and finesse, with layers of ripe, rich currant, black cherry, toasty oak, spice, coffee and cedar notes. Turn supple, elegant and spicy on the finish, where the flavors linger.

[One of ] America's Premier Meritage Producers. "Medium body and acid. Lots of fruit and oak. Medium tannin. Black fruits, mint, vanilla, chocolate. Assertively minty, filled with ebullient fruit and dominated by sweet, spicy oak. Fine balance and rich, piquant fruit creates an elegant impression.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This shows lots of dark fruit, sage, blueberries, ink and blackberries. Medium to full body with ultra-fine tannins and intensity and beauty. Linear and polished. Needs two to four years to soften.

A ripe, juicy, seemingly forward style, with mouthfilling plum and blackberry compote notes before the back end delivers gutsy black licorice, chocolate and roasted apple wood flavors that will need some time in the cellar to integrate fully. Has the energy to pull everything together.

Made by Chris Carpenter for Jackson Family Wines. This is a blend from mostly hillside and mountain vineyards. Really concentrated, intense and quite focused. There’s some very ripe blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, but it has nice structure and focus, with some grip and good acidity. Has a slightly citrussy finish with a primary, fruit-driven character. Should develop very nicely over the next decade, and possibly longer. Lovely.