Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Aromas of blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants follow through to a full body and chewy tannins. So much character and intensity. Muscular and gorgeous. Needs two to three years to soften.

This pitch-black colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Brave won our Big Blind Tasting. It opens with an oak and blackberry bouquet. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, rich and balanced. The flavor profile is an extracted blackberry and oak blend with notes of integrated minerality. We also detected hints of black tea and black olives. The finish is very dry and its monster dusty tannins stick around for quite a while. This Cab could sit in your cellar for a while. It will also reward you for your patience. In the short term, you could decant it and pair it with Roy’s rib roast.

Small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec are blended into this impressive wine, which is reduced slightly on the nose. The flavors of cassis and red cherry turn juicy and tart on the midpalate before exposing complex lengths of tobacco and clove. This wine will be best enjoyed in time, so shoot for 2020 through 2024.

Sourced from the Mt. Brave Vineyard, perched at roughly 1500 feet, this inky colored wine is crafted by superstar winemaker Chris Carpenter, who has been making this wine since 2007. The Cabernet opens with a rich bouquet of crème de cassis, boysenberry cordial, milk chocolate shavings and coffee grounds. Ripe and decadent, dark fruit flavors connect with mocha and spices. The Mount Veeder terroir shines through in this outstanding Cabernet. Try to give this gorgeous wine another few years in the bottle to fully evolve.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Malbec and Cabernet Franc, aged in 80% new French oak. Floral notes intermixed with blueberry and black raspberry fruit as well as blackcurrants jump from the glass of this wine, which has full body and terrific texture, purity and length. Drink it over the next 15-20 years.

Absolutely stunning, the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is a beauty. Notes of charcoal, blueberry liqueur, black currants, licorice, incense and violets jump from the glass of this 93.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc blend that was aged in 91% new French oak. This full-bodied 2011 is a tremendous success for the vintage, again reflecting that mountain sites often did very well, and taste like a completely different vintage than the valley floor 2011s. This savory, fleshy wine has low acidity and ripe tannin, so it can be drunk now or cellared for a decade or more.

There is a purity of fruit here with blackberry, blueberry and licorice character. Full body with firm tannins and fresh, lively finish. Exceptional for 2011. Big surprise. Try in 2017.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is surprisingly accessible for a Mount Veeder Cabernet. Dark raspberries, flowers, mint and new leather flesh out in this exciting large-scaled wine. I especially like the density, richness and roundness here. In other words, this is a beautifully balanced, harmonious wine from Chris Carpenter. The 2010 is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with a dollop of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, aged in 19% new French oak barrels.

With raspingly dry, hard tannins, this is a difficult Cabernet to assess. It's impressively rich in blackberries and black currants, with a firm minerality, and the overall balance is good. Seems like it should develop over the next decade, maybe even longer, but those tannins might outlast the fruit.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 The 2016 Malbec from Mt. Brave is inky, deep and explosive. A rush of raspberry jam, white chocolate, spice and rose petal races across the palate. Deep, inky and wonderfully resonant, the 2016 is full of both personality and character. This racy, exuberant red has much to recommend it.

The 2015 Malbec is fabulous. Super-ripe red cherry and plum fruit give the wine its exuberance and allure. Soft, plush and opulent, the 2015 has so much to offer. Floral overtones add brightness to this gorgeous wine from Mt. Brave. All of the Mt. Brave wines are tasty, but the Malbec has an extra kick of intensity that makes it irresistible.

The 2014 Malbec may well turn out to be one of the best Malbecs California has made to date. They have not hit the high points of the finest Malbecs coming from top wineries in Argentina, but wines like this will certainly give notice. A blend of 96% Malbec and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 53% new French oak, the wine has a dense purple color and a big nose of chocolate, blackberry, espresso bean and spice. It has plenty of intensity, full body, silky tannin and adequate acidity. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.

The 2010 Malbec Mt. Brave is a joyous vibrant wine bursting with fruit. There is an exuberance in the 2010 that makes the wine totally delicious. At the same time, the minerality and linearity of Mt. Veeder come through loud and clear, especially on the finish. Chris Carpenter aged the Malbec in 70% new barrels.

The 2017s From Sonoma A big step up, the 2016 Merlot Bennett Valley offers a deep purple color as well as complex notes of camphor, smoked earth, tobacco, sage, and both black and blue fruits. It’s medium to full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with considerable elegance and a great finish. Almost all Merlot (there’s a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon) aged 18 months in 32% new French oak, it’s a smoking good wine.

The 2015 Journey Red, Matanzas Creek's top Merlot-based wine, is layered with the essence of dark cherry, plum, smoke, tobacco, chocolate and incense. Rich and voluptuous, the 2015 has much to offer. This is an especially soft, sensual style for the vintage.

Smooth, lush and ripe with rich plum, spice and blackberry; dense and complete with lovely depth and balance.

Powerful and pedigreed to the core, the 2012 Merlot Knights Valley is loaded with dark blue and black fruit, graphite, savory herbs, lavender, smoke and licorice. One of the standouts in this range, the 2012 captures the essence of Knights Valley in its power, tension and energy. Like all the Matanzas Creek Merlots, the Knights Valley is quite Old World-leaning.

A wonderful, rewarding blend that has enough blackberry, cassis and smoky oak flavors to satisfy hedonists, yet also shows the acid-tannic structure to develop bottle complexity over the years. Drink this flashy wine now and through 2018.

The 2017s From Sonoma More Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated, the 2016 Armoniza always comes from the same block of the Kellogg Vineyard in Knights Valley and is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 18% Malbec. Its deep purple color is followed by terrific notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, and scorched earth. It’s ripe and medium to full-bodied, with plenty of mid-palate depth and sweet tannins. Drink it over the coming 10-15 years.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Composed of 98% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Sémillon, the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Journey reveals zesty scents of yuzu, grapefruit and key lime pie with touches of crushed rocks and wild thyme. Medium-bodied, it delivers mouth-filling citrus and mineral layers with oodles of freshness and great length.

Matanzas Creek's track record with Sauvignon Blanc is solid and certainly won't be diminished by this beauty from the Alexander Valley in the 2016 vintage. For one thing, it exhibits remarkable complexity for a Sauvignon (with a touch of Semillon in the blend). On the nose grassy notes emerge with hints of citrus and peach. On the palate there's an additional note of fig. Well balanced and showing excellent length, this is a Sauvignon that will pair well with grilled fowl and Mediterranean tapas, or simply as a summer quaffer.

The Top 20 in Value for 2017… Wines are rated on a 100-point scale. Wines are chosen for review because they represent outstanding quality or value, and the scores are simply a measure of this reviewer's enthusiasm for the recommended wine.

The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc Helena Bench is the most textured and resonant of the four Matanzas Sauvignons. Rich and expansive on the palate, the 2013 is utterly captivating.

The leader of an impressive trio from Matanzas Creek, it does the best of the three in integrating deep fruit and unrepentantly pushy varietal character whose pungent juniper and weed focus finds favor in some quarters and disappointments in others. That said, this one is full of fruit citrus and melon fruit, high in pert, bracing character and long on the palate in an entirely convincing manner. We would not be surprised to see it grow in interest and layered complexity for many years to come.

Bone dry, and brightened with zesty acidity, this fabulous SB defines the category. Accented with a touch of oak, it stars potent citrus and tropical fruit, green apple, white flower and mineral flavors, with a complexity that makes it easily worth the price. Gets better and better as it warms in the glass.