South Australia: Part Two — Mostly McLaren Vale A New World Grenache that will thrive for 20 years of cellaring? Yup. The 2015 High Sands Grenache is wonderfully perfumed and floral, but it's also excruciatingly tight and tart on the palate. Medium to full-bodied, it's marked by tart red berries and fine-grained tannins that bring a crisp edge to the lengthy finish.

Grown biodynamically. 50% fermented on skins (and remains on skins for 131 days) in two ceramic eggs, 50% fermented in ceramic eggs but not on skins. Final blend is 67% of the extended skin contact egg portion. Bottled unfined in November 2017. This release feels reserved, or at least reserved in the context of a fairly rich style. It’s not throwing a great deal of aroma and the palate feels a touch ungainly. It will find its way. It tastes of stonefruit, oyster shells, nashi pear and gunsmoke. There’s honeysuckle here too, but it’s whispered at most. It’s had nearly two years in bottle but it needs another couple.

Biodynamically farmed, matured in old oak, and with a future ahead of it. You don't want to chill this one too hard. It's fresh and reserved and needs some encouragement to unfurl. When it does - it takes you on an interesting journey. Ginger spice, melon, honeysuckle, slate. It's clean and crisp but grippy and textural. The burst of sweet honeysuckle through the finish is delicious. I suspect it's got a bit more up its sleeve too.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Small Pot Sand Block Shiraz is intensely fragrant of warm blackcurrants and blackberry pie with touches of chocolate, aniseed, lavender and wild thyme. Medium-bodied and endowed with loads of taut, youthful fruit, it has an age-worthy backbone of firm, grainy tannins and refreshing acid. It finishes with great length. Drink it now to 2022+.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Willakenzie's new estate-focused blend, the 2016 Estate Pinot Noir is pale ruby-purple in color with a lovely spicy nose of red licorice, dried rose petals and potpourri over a core of bright red fruits—raspberry, strawberry, rhubarb and red cherry with cinnamon stick accents. Light to medium-bodied, it features bright red fruits framed with oodles of savory/spicy notes in the mouth. It has firm, grainy tannins and wonderful juicy acidity, finishing long with spicy layers. This will show best after a couple years in bottle.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale ruby in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir Aliette has a lovely spicy/floral nose with notes of strawberry, rhubarb, red cherry pie, cinnamon stick, dried leaves and dusty earth. Light-bodied with oodles of sweet red fruits in the mouth, it gives wonderful spicy layers—dried flowers, tobacco—with firm, grainy tannins and mouthwatering acidity, finishing long with gobs of sweet spice and savory layers. This has plenty of fruit to soak up the new oak, so give this a year or two in bottle.

With the lowest alcohol (14%), the 2010 La Joie is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Copious aromas of incense, unsmoked cigar tobacco, Christmas fruitcake, cedar, underbrush, black currants and a hint of espresso roast emerge from this medium to full-bodied, rich, concentrated red. It needs 4-5 years of cellaring and should keep well for 2 to 3 decades.

Full medium ruby. Brooding aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate, coffee, minerals, cedar and tobacco. Lush, chewy, and sweet, with impressive density. Finishes with chewy thoroughly ripe mountian tannins and excellent length. Serious juice.

It's a hedonistic, opaque purple-colored wine with gobs of toasty new oak, thrilling leels of etract, rich, chewy, black currant and blackberry fruit, impressive glycerin, sweet tannin, and a knock-out finish that must contain over 14% alcohol

It is an unfiltered, dense, full-bodied wine with considerable power and richness. Aged in 50% new French oak, with more than 14% alcohol, it exhibits plenty of tannin, as well as impressively-endowed flavors of roasted herbs, black currants, chocolate, and blackberries.

All the Cabernets are dense, tannic and full-bodied with impressive levels of richness, minerality and blue and black fruits. My favorites include the Christopher's, Bear Point, Rockfall, and Cougar Ridge.

Santa Cruz Mountains and the Santa Lucia Highlands The first year Adam has worked with this fruit, the 2016 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard saw 20% stems and spent 15 months in 40% new French oak. It offers more spice, dried flowers, and dried soil notes as well as more red fruits. Medium bodied, supple, with plenty of tannic grip, it's a beautiful, complex wine that should evolve nicely.

A blend of two clones on an eastward-facing hill between Sebastopol and Occidental, the 2015 Pinot Noir Pratt Vineyard Sexton Road displays a medium to deep garnet-purple color and beautiful floral nose of roses and violets over a core of chocolate mints, black cherries, oolong tea and dried Provence herbs. The structured, medium-bodied palate contributes lovely earthy layers, finishing with great persistence.

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard has notes of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and mulberries with hints of dusty earth and Provence herbs. The medium-bodied palate contributes a lovely perfume to the black and red fruits, supported by grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, FInishing long.

Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard has a broody nose of charcoal and black soil over hints of red cherries and rhubarb plus a meaty/gamy element showing through. The palate is tightly wound at this youthful stage, with firm, chewy tannins and a lively line of acid cutting through the dense earth and savory layers, finishing with great persistence. This well-structured wine should drink best with another year in bottle and will cellar for 7-9 years beyond this.

Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard has a very pretty floral nose of roses and violets over a core of kirsch, pomegranate and wild strawberries with hints of sautéed herbs and tar. Medium-bodied, finely crafted and refreshing in the mouth, it has a great core of intense fruit and fine-grained, ripe tannins, finishing long and lively.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is the most reticent of these wines from Mt. Brave. Powerful, explosive and tightly wound, the Cabernet offers notable intensity and plenty of depth. Readers should expect to cellar the 2014 for at least a few years. This is one of the better relative values among the high end wines in the Jackson portfolio. Hints of lavender, espresso and bittersweet chocolate round out the nuanced finish.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is the most overt and structured of these wines from Mt. Brave. Dark red and black stone fruits, spices, menthol, leather and cedar meld together in the glass. Powerful and ample in the glass, the 2012 possesses remarkable intensity. Big, chewy tannins support the ample finish. Today the tannins are a bit more dominant than the fruit, but the 2012 should find a bit better balance with more time in bottle. Dollops of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec round out the blend. This is the first vintage in which Malbec has been included.

Full, deep ruby. Slightly musky aromas of cassis, blackberry, black cherry, tobacco and spices. Intensely flavored and pure but very tightly wound; black fruit flavors show a medicinal austerity. A powerful, penetrating wine whose tannins are firm but not hard. This and the Howell Mountain cabernet have delivered on their early promise.

Notions of earth, mushrooms, underbrush, black cherries, and charcoal intermixed with good minerality characterize the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. The most backward and austere of this quartet, this Keyes Vineyard (formerly the Liparita Vineyard) cuvee is full-bodied, but broodingly tannic. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades.

Good medium ruby. High-pitched aromas and flavors of black cherry, licorice and chocolate mint. Generous and tactile, with noteworthy energy and minerality and a restrained sweetness in the middle palate. This is uncommonly suave for a wine from mountain fruit. Finishes broad and long, with substantial fine, well-integrated tannins and excellent life and lift.

8 Merlot Wines Reviewed, from $7 to $85 Aromas of black cherry, trail dust, dry tobacco and hazelnut waft from this inky purple, mountain Merlot. A generous quantity of velvety tannins frame rich flavors of tart black cherry, blackberry, dry herb and spicy oak from beginning to finish on the palate (medium-plus body). Notable acidity lends balance. This dark, ripe incarnation of Merlot is a very well-made wine which grabs, and then holds, one’s attention as soon as it hits the tongue. It also held up very well over several days of re-tasting. It will age nicely for at least a decade, but is ready to drink now. 90% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot from the La Jota and W.S. Keyes vineyards, fermented with native yeast and aged 22 months in French oak barrels, 78% new.

The finest wine yet made under Jess Jackson's leadership is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage Release. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, which comes from the finest parcels of the La Jota vineyard, spends 22 months in new French oak. It is a seriously-endowed wine meant for collectors/connoisseurs who have the patience to wait it out. An inky/blue/purple hue is accompanied by aromas of boysenberries, blueberries, black raspberries, and blackberries. The wine exhibits lots of minerality, a certain floral character, full-bodied power, a boatload of tannin, sweet, dense, rich fruit, and good structure, ripeness, and length. Give it 4-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 20-25 years.

A wine of power and structure, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Stature doesn't have the showiness of some of the other wines in this vintage. Readers will have to be especially patient, as the tannins are imposing. Then again this is a mountain Cabernet with serious depth of fruit and plenty of character.

The blockbuster 2004 Highland Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Mountain Estate comes from Jess Jackson's vineyard on Mt. Veeder. Another 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 21 months in mostly new French oak, it boasts an inky/purple color in addition to sweet aromas of blue fruits, creme de cassis, licorice, and graphite. Full-bodied, pure, structured, and built for the long haul, there are only 422 cases of this gorgeous Cabernet. A wine for connoisseurs, it requires 4-5 years of cellaring, and should last for 20-25 years.