The 2012 La Muse, which is 85% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, is a smaller cuvée of 1,840 cases. The wine has plenty of spice box, cedar wood, Christmas fruitcake and Asian plum sauce, along with black cherry and blackcurrant fruit. Ripe, round, full-bodied and opulent, this is a wine that can be drunk now or cellared for another three decades. Interestingly, the alcohol levels are not all that high in any of these wines, with most of them rarely exceeding 14.3%.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2009 Le Desir is mostly Cabernet Franc and is another wine drinking beautifully today. Classic cassis and dark fruits as well as notes of bay leaf, sandalwood, and spice all flow to a full-bodied, elegant, concentrated red that has fine tannins, perfect balance, and one great finish. Drink it over the coming 20-25 years.

The 2008 vintage presented challenges for Cabernet Sauvignon, but this Cabernet Franc-based blend succeeds wildly. It’s bone dry, tannic and enormously complex, with flavors of sour-cherry candy, red currant, licorice and spicy cola. Ninety-five percent new oak lends this a wonderful toastiness. Few wines could handle that much new wood, but this one can. However, it’s very tannic. You can drink it now, but it should blossom after 2014.

A spectacular wine that defines the upper limit of California Bordeaux-style blends. Based on Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with splashes of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, this is delicious and complex, offering a blast of blackberry, blueberry-concentrate and mineral flavors. Comprised of fruit grown throughout Sonoma County, this is a masterpiece of the art of blending. Absolutely dry and very hard in tannins, drink this from 2013–2022.

Dense aromas of creosote, burning wood embers, blackberries, blueberries, and violets are offered in the full-bodied, fabulously complex perfume. Full-bodied, with tremendous complexity, a voluptuous texture, and flavors of plum liqueur, figs, chocolate, espresso, and minerals, this is a tour de force in winemaking. It is the most approachable of these three 2002s. Anticipated maturity: now-2020.

The complex nose expresses subtle spice and mint notes on a foundation of ripe black raspberry. 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. It has all the Verité hallmarks of density with freshness and lightness of touch on the palate, but also more acidic thrust than the 1998.

Why it's an exciting time for Sonoma Cabernet So many layers to this wine, from a year that saw a very late harvest with small concentrated fruits. It took a good 10 years to really open up, but is now displaying black olives, rich black truffles, bilberry, cedar, rich, generous elegant, an upkick of salinity shows it is...

This remarkably complex wine comes from the inaugural vintage, an El Nino year marked by disruptive weather patterns. It's made from a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, showcasing ripe berry fruits with hints of spice and charcoal along with a minty note that emerges with aeration. It has aromatic clarity and a surprising delicacy and finesse, despite the ripeness of the fruit. Now at its apogee.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Wonderful purity of cabernet on the nose with blackcurrants and fresh lavender. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and great beauty in the texture and flavors. It changes all the time. Extremely complex. 84 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 11 per cent merlot and five per cent petit verdot. So approachable, but needs at least three to four years to come together completely.

The Surprise of 2015 in Napa and Other California Wine Reviewed This is a beautiful cabernet sauvignon-based red with blackcurrants, blueberries and a light mint character. Full-bodied, firm and tight with a compressed fruit structure and polished tannins. Extremely long and focused. A beautiful wine. Mostly cabernet sauvignon. Drink in 2021.

Vérité is French for truth, and the truth is that this has has always been an Old World wine made in the New World. Each year is a distinct mix of numerous small vineyard blocks orchestrated by the maestro and vigneron Pierre Seillan, who refers to his methodology as droit du sol, or the right of the soil. In 2013, La Joie is a 71/16/8/5 mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The attack is leaner than you might expect for California, more Bordelais left bank with a firm, spicy, earthy, forest floor undercurrent. The tannins are dense but refined; the fruit pretty but intense, mixing black berries and black cherries, licorice, and cocoa powder with more earth and mushroom notes before finishing long, firm and dry. There is amazing complexity and elegance here, and the potential to keep at least 25 years.

Top Ten: California Vérité is French for truth, and the truth is this is this has always been an old world wine made in the new world. Each year is a distinct mix of numerous small vineyard blocks. The maestro is vigneron Pierre Seillan, who refers to his methodology as droit du sol or the right of the soil. In 2013 La Joie is a 71/16/8/5 mix of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot that spends 15 months in 100 percent new French oak. The attack is leaner than you might expect for California, more Bordelais left bank with a firm, spicy, earthy, forest floor undercurrent. The tannins are dense but refined; the fruit pretty but intense, mixing black berries and black cherries, licorice, cocoa powder with more earth and mushroom notes before finishing long, firm and dry. Amazing complexity and elegance here and certainly the potential to keep at least twenty-five years. Best now with lamb shanks or a T-Bone steak but this baby should be cellared for a decade.

This comes from a vintage that brings together all the elements that showcase the potential of Sonoma terroirs. The wine is made from a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec, and aged in new oak for 16 months. This is the most aromatically minty of all the wines tasted, endowing it with grace notes of freshness and elegance that mingle with ripe black fruits, spices and a note of salinity. Dense but superbly polished tannins provide structure, and will carry the heft of this wine for another 10 to 15 years en route to its apogee.

The 2014 Le Désir is the most inward of these 2014s from Vérité. Dark raspberry jam, wild flowers, spice, pencil shavings, mocha, lavender and licorice infuse this deep, powerful, structured Cabernet Franc-based blend. The interplay of dense, sumptuous fruit and aromatic freshness makes for an absolutely compelling wine.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lastly, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard comes from volcanic and schist soils on the Alexander estate and vines planted in 1991. It spent 20 months in 66% new French oak and offers a slightly more rounded and sexy style compared to the Rockfall Vineyard. It boasts stunning notes of black fruits, smoke tobacco, cigar, spice box, and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and powerful on the palate, it’s another tour de force from this estate that’s going to keep for 20-25 years.

Pretty much as good as any Cabernet out there, if not better, and at a fraction of the price you'll pay for the cults. If there was ever a wine made for the cellar, it's this one, the antidote for those who consider California Cabernet a simple fruit bomb. Completely dry, with exquisite tannins, its blackberry, currant, red licorice and oak-inspired flavors are massive and classic. Hard to exaggerate how good this fine wine is. Drink 2013-2020 and beyond.

This mountain Cab, blended with a little Petit Verdot and Syrah, is grown at 2,400 feet in the Mayacamas Mountains, which provide the east wall of Alexander Valley. The wine is know to be an ager, and the '04 should develop for many years. It's a tremendous wine, the equal of almost anything from Napa, which, after all, is just a geographic boundary away. Fabulously concentrated in cassis, currant, smoky cherry, licorice and chocolate flavors, its tannic structure is nearly perfect.

This mountain Cab, blended with a little Petit Verdot and Syrah, is grown at 2,400 feet in the Mayacamas Mountains, which provide the east wall of Alexander Valley. The wine is know to be an ager, and the '04 should develop for many years. It's a tremendous wine, the equal of almost anything from Napa, which, after all, is just a geographic boundary away. Fabulously concentrated in cassis, currant, smoky cherry, licorice and chocolate flavors, its tannic structure is nearly perfect.

This light yellow colored Chardonnay from Stonestreet is Excellent and one of the best Chardonnay's that I have covered in a while. It opens with a pleasant pineapple and oak bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium to full bodied, extremely well-balanced and smooth as silk. The flavor profile is a delicious oak and creme brulee blend with notes of mild butterscotch and ripe pear. I also detected hints of pineapple in the background. The finish is dry and its yummy flavors fade away nicely. If you know someone special that loves Chardonnay, share this wine with them and make their day!

The 2014 Chardonnay Red Point comes from volcanic soils at an elevation of 800 to 1,000 feet These white tufa soils have produced an incredibly dense, rich Chardonnay with a subtle influence of oak, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a fabulous nose of poached pears, honeysuckle, wet stones, white currants and quince. This is a glorious Chardonnay for drinking over the next 5-8 years.

One of my favorites is the 2012 Chardonnay Upper Barn, which boasts remarkable intensity as well as lots of tropical fruit, a stony-like minerality, and a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel. This is a multi-dimensional, profound Chardonnay (as it often was when made by Helen Turley) from a vineyard planted with an Old Wente clone as well as the Hyde clone of Chardonnay. It should drink well for 5-6 years.

The nose is a supple blueberry and licorice-soaked black cherry with dense layering of chocolate and notes of cranberry, forest floor. The palate entry is a subtle red fruit with a core of beautifully formed velvety, spiced cherry and polished blue plum. Impeccable layering of cedar, plum, spice, cherry and cocoa all wrapped up in seamless acidity.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s My favorite in the lineup was the 2016 Cabernet Franc Mt. Veeder. This rock star effort has a Cheval Blanc-like level of complexity and purity. Possessing a huge perfume of black cherries, blackberries, violets, lavender, and savory herbs, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, incredible elegance, ultra-fine tannins, and a great, great finish. It’s not a blockbuster, yet it has world-class complexity, elegance, and purity. Drink it any time over the coming 10-15 years.

2017 California Pinot Noir All-Americans First Team Wines ….ridiculously alluring….flat-out delicious….celebratory black cherry delight.

This is a seductive and delicious California red, ripe and juicy, fruit-driven, with luscious currant, black cherry, wild berry and plummy Cabernet flavors that are sharply focused and long, complex and concentrated on the finish. A classic.