This is a knockout wine (if you're lucky enough to find it - only 326 cases were made). It is amazingly complex, with layers of ripe black cherry and deep blackberry fruit. The finish is long, completely balanced and lovely.

…sourced entirely from the prime benchland Beckstoffer Vineyards, is classic Napa in every way: Very ripe and well extracted, the wine is packed with flavors of crème de cassis, anise and coffee. French oak adds spice and rounds it out with a dash of cream. It's a stunning wine to taste on its own, and it has the structure to be food friendly

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Deep garnet-purple colored and made up of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain gives up tantalizing notes of licorice, chocolate box and spearmint over a core of crushed blackcurrants, blackberries and kirsch plus wafts of roses and fertile loam. Full-bodied, firm and oh-so-minerally in the mouth, it has a solid structure of grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing on a lingering earthy note.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Howell Mountain), all from Keyes, is dark and explosive on the palate, with tremendous thrust and intensity in all directions. Crushed rocks, menthol, crème de cassis, dark chocolate, pencil shavings and cured meats race out of the glass. Dense and potent, the 2016 has a very bright future ahead of it. The Howell Mountain is a wine of gravitas and pure power.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (Mt. Veeder) is the most distinguished and nuanced of these four Cabernets from Lokoya. Beams of tannin give the wine its shape and vibrancy. Deceptively medium in body, with terrific energy, the 2015 has quite a bit to offer, especially once the tannins start to soften. Bright red mountain fruit, savory herbs and expressive floral notes all develop as this striking wine continues to open up in the glass.

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain features an evocative red and black currant-scented nose with nuances of spice box, lavender, tilled soil and chargrill plus a hint of tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is firm and fine grained, with lovely red and black fruit layers, finishing long and earthy.

Classic aromas of graphite, crushed rocks, boysenberries, black raspberries, blackberries, and subtle wood soar from the glass of the inky/purple-colored 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. Full-bodied and formidably endowed with awesome purity as well as a stunning, layered texture, this beauty has it all. Give it 5-6 years of bottle age and enjoy it over the next three decades. It is a prodigious Howell Mountain wine from Jess Jackson's Keyes Vineyard.

Napa Valley: 2007 Retrospective - Napa's Turning-Point Vintage Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain sings of blueberry preserves, Black Forest cake and chocolate box with touches of bay leaves, iron ore, wood smoke and fragrant earth plus a hint of lavender. The full-bodied palate is beautifully structured with ripe, taut, grainy tannins and bags of freshness supporting the muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain has an opaque purple color and fabulously intense notes of beef blood, crushed rocks, forest floor, crème de cassis, licorice, and a volcanic/charcoal/hot gravel character. This is terrific stuff. Full-bodied, with a majestic mouthfeel and finish, this is just a magnificent Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard on Diamond Mountain called Wallis. Only 667 cases were produced.

Another prodigious effort is the black/purple-colored 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, which comes from the Keyes Vineyard owned by the Jackson family. It is another small production cuvee of only 382 cases, versus 400 of the Diamond Mountain and 571 of the Mount Veeder. This wine shows the classic mulberry, graphite-laced, floral and chalky notes of Howell Mountain, with tremendous intensity and skyscraper-like texture. It is full-bodied and powerful with sweet tannin and loads of minerality and floral notes. Again, the tannins are so sweet and succulent this wine can be drunk now or cellared for another 15-20 years.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain (100% Cabernet Franc) gives up exuberant bramble fruits, baked raspberries, mulberries and wild blueberries with suggestions of pencil shavings, kirsch, rose hip tea and tobacco leaf. Full-bodied and with a very firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins, it has wonderful perfume and depth, finishing long and mineral laced.

Dark, viscous and monumental, this Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend detonates on the palate with black currants, chocolate and cedar, wrapped into the most perfect tannins. Outstanding, and should age for many years. Only 277 cases of this wine, which was grown on steep hillsides, were produced.

Ranked number 5 for the year 1989.

Stunning. The real breakthrough wine. It ranked No. 5 in The Wine Spectator's 1989 Top 100.

Included in Wine Spectator's Top 10 list, 1989.

Deep, intense, youthful red/purple colour, the bouquet gorgeously loaded with blue and black fruit aromas, blackberry, blackcurrant and blueberry, with a lacing of violets. The wine is full-bodied and extremely elegant, with perfect ripeness, beautifully modulated fruit and tannins, and subtle oak handling. A thoroughly delicious cabernet, accessible right now but with the potential to mature gracefully for many years. Winemaker Chris Carpenter thinks this is his best cabernet yet.

A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% Shiraz, the 2015 The Peake Cabernet Shiraz has a deep garnet-purple color and a profound nose of baked cherries, blackberry coulis and blueberry compote with hints of cedar, violets, dark chocolate and a waft of wild thyme. Full-bodied, rich and opulent, it has a seductively complex and plushly textured palate, with tons of black fruit and spice layers, finishing long and perfumed.

Deep red colour with a strong purple tint. The bouquet is spicy and profound, the palate marvellously deep and yet elegant, with beautifully refined tannins and supple texture. Long, long finish. A wine of intensity and grace, if not quite the muscle of previous vintages. (56% cabernet, 44% shiraz, grown on the property's oldest vines, planted in 1971) Drink 2016 to 2039

From estate blocks planted ?71, hand-picked, open-fermented with 50% whole berries, 4-day cold soak, 18 days on skins, basket-pressed free-run (pressings excluded), matured for 15 months in Burgundy-coopered barrels. The vivid crimson-purple colour bodes well, and the medium-bodied palate does not disappoint, the texture and structure outstanding, fruit, oak and tannins seamlessly woven together, the finish absolutely compelling. Do give it time.

A 52/48% blend, 135 dozen made from the 41-year-old terraced vineyards of the Hickinbotham Vineyard, vinified separately, with 18 months in oak. The colour is magnificently deep, but vivid, purple-crimson, the bouquet exuding black fruits, the full-bodied palate with perfectly weighted fruit, oak and tannins, the length prodigious.

The 2017s From Sonoma Coming from the Eola-Amity Hills region of Oregon, the 2016 Pinot Noir Warrior Princess is world class all the way, and I’d put this up against any Pinot Noir out there. Medium ruby-colored with a beautiful perfume of black cherries, blackberries, violets, wood smoke, and earth, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, incredible balance, subtle background oak, and a great, great finish. This is a complete, beautiful Pinot Noir that will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise for a decade. Unfortunately, there are only 352 cases produced.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard is a little youthfully mute to begin, opening out to display gorgeous rose hip tea, kirsch and warm cranberries with hints of dried thyme, black soil and tree bark plus a hint of fungi. The medium to full-bodied palate completely coats the mouth with earth-laced red berry and kirsch notions, framed by very firm, very fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing very long with a compelling herbal lift.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard offers up the most incredibly perfumed nose of red and purple flowers over a core of kirsch, cinnamon stick, red currant jelly and pomegranate with a waft of black tea. Medium to full-bodied and built like a brick house, it has an incredible texture of very firm, very fine-grained tannins and electric freshness, finishing very long and very layered. Still very young, give it a year or two and drink it over the next 15-20+ years. Totally worth finding for Pinot lovers!

The 2015 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard is another spectacular effort from this estate. Sourced from a block located on a mountain ridge north of Fort Ross in the Sonoma Coast AVA, at an elevation between 800 and 1,000 feet, it was completely destemmed, spent 16 months in 35% new French oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. It offers an extraordinary La Tâche-like bouquet of black raspberries, kirsch, Asian spices, dried flowers, violets, and crushed rocks. Deep, medium to full-bodied, awesomely textured and seamless, it has nicely integrated acidity, no hard edges, perfect balance, and a singular personality. It’s a fabulous expression of the Sonoma Coast that will keep for upwards of two decades.

Absolutely magnificent and probably the candidate for my favorite of all these Pinot Noirs is the 2013 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard from the Russian River. This is one of the oldest Pinot Noir vineyards in Northern California, planted in 1975 with the Martini clone. The wine struggles to ripen, according to Don Hartford, and is picked after Halloween in most vintages. Aged in 44% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered, the wine has an opaque ruby/purple color and a gorgeous nose of sassafras, sweet sherry liqueur, black raspberries and floral notes with background forest floor and underbrush. Intense, full-bodied and made from tiny yields of just over a half-ton of fruit per acre, this prodigious and world-class Pinot Noir should drink nicely for 10-15 years.