Another terrific wine is the 2013 Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard, which was completely destemmed and aged 16 months in 40% new French oak. Still showing its oak elevage, with lots of caramelized cherry, black raspberry, sweet oak and spice, it hits the palate with a seamless, silky, gorgeously pure texture that carries plenty of fruit and finishes clean and dry, with notable tannic grip. Give it a year or two in the cellar to integrate its oak and drink bottles through 2021.

The 2016 Pinot Noir 459 is the richest, most powerful wine in the range this year, offering up a ripe bouquet of sweet strawberry preserve, herbs, currant leaf and aromatic bark. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and textural, with impressive midpalate amplitude and a fine-grained but firm chassis of structuring tannins that asserts itself on the chewy finish. This will need some time in the cellar to mellow.

The 2016 Chardonnay Hapgood opens in the glass with notes of pear, peach pit and iodine, framed by a light touch of nutty reduction. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, tensile and saline, with lovely length and a slightly austere, uncompromising personality that will likely unwind with a few years of bottle age.

A Spotlight on Santa Barbara The 2015 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills will be another terrific vintage and, while young, offers plenty of pleasure. Pineapple, citrus blossom, salty minerality and creamed corn all flow to a rich, beautifully textured, layered, young Chardonnay that’s going to benefit from short-term cellaring and have 10-15 years of overall longevity. Like all of Greg’s Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnays, it spent 10 months in neutral barrels.

The aging ability and high quality of the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignons is undeniable. One only has to go back 15 years to see how well these wines are aging. Furthermore, they often fare well in blind tastings against their more expensive and prestigious Napa Valley brethren. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale was aged 25 months in mostly French and some American oak barrels before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Its deep purple color is accompanied by a classic combination of tobacco leaf, high class cigar tobacco, black currants, cedar and graphite. Full-bodied and pure with layers of fruit and lots of velvety tannin, this generously endowed, still youthful, unevolved Cabernet Sauvignon should hit its stride in 5-7 years and last for three decades.

The brilliant 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 24 months in French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered tastes like a Sonoma version of a Bordeaux Pauillac. Aromas of cedar, licorice, chocolate, and creme de cassis as well as a hint of toast jump from the glass of this full-bodied, concentrated, fleshy wine. It possesses a French-like structure, but Northern California’s enticingly pure, ripe fruit is on vivid display. This wine can be approached now because of the sweetness of the tannins and its terrific equilibrium, but it will age effortlessly for 15-20 years.

Far more backward and tannic and needing slightly more time is the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale. Also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon bottled unfined and unfiltered after 24 months in French and American oak, 69% of this came from Monte Rosso and the rest from the Smothers-Remick Ridge and Murray vineyards. This is a larger production cuvee of 2,076 cases. Opaque purple in color, it displays notes of graphite, blackberry and cassis, a touch of vanilla and loamy soil notes. The wine is full-bodied, powerful and has yet to reveal its full potential. This is a beauty to keep in the cellar for another 3-4 years and drink over the following 15 or more years. It is interesting that Richard Arrowood always thought of 2004 as one of his favorite vintages and kept more of his Cabernets back for personal consumption than usual. He appears to have been prescient in his judgment.

Italy, Tuscany: Chianti Classico (New Releases) A blend of 72% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2014 Il Fauno di Arcanum comes from a weaker vintage, and the wine's texture and aromatic intensity are just a touch more subtle as a result. But not by much. Indeed, this wine shows the deft hand of the winemakers, with impressive richness, concentration and a full range of aromatics. If you are looking for excellent value from Tuscany, look no further.

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana has become more civilized with bottle aging. It exhibits sweet, dusty, loamy soil notes intermixed with black raspberry, black currant and floral aromas, an intriguing minerality, abundant but sweet tannin and a youthful, full-bodied mouthfeel. It needs another 5-6 years of cellaring and should keep for an additional 25-30 years ... it's that powerful, dense and impressive. Verite's French winemaker, Pierre Seillan, makes these wines. When I tasted these cuvees right after bottling, they were so massive and enormous, it was hard to discern their full personalities, so it was a pleasure to taste them at age ten, even though they are still infants in terms of development, and reveal only a small fraction of their ultimate potential. Both are 100% Cabernet Sauvignons aged 14 months in 100% new French oak prior to bottling.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota is a bit darker, richer and bigger than the Helena Montana, with a bit more savory character, but the two wines are not that different in this vintage. Sweeping and ample in feel, the 2014 shows the more virile side of Knights Valley.

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) exhibits an unmistakable minerality with a volcanic rock/burning ember/scorched earth component to its beautifully pure black currant fruit. Full-bodied, powerful and muscular with a boatload of tannin as well as fabulous concentration, this may turn out to be one of the longest lived wines ever made from Knights Valley. Give it 3-4 more years of bottle age and drink it over the following 25 years.

Good full ruby-red. Musky aromas of dark cherry, coffee, tobacco and loam. Sweet, lush and fine-grained, with lovely elegance and life to the flavors of cherry and coffee. Harmonious acidity really extends and lifts the fruit on the back end, which features very suave tannins and outstanding persistence. This goes a step beyond the very good 2004. Jess Jackson notes that this site, on volcanic ash soil, ripens a full two weeks earlier than the Helena Dakota, which is planted on soil rich in iron and clay.

The dense purple-colored 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana offers sweet aromas and flavors of charcoal/burning embers, blueberries, and black currants, a deep, full-bodied style, silky, but noticeable tannins, and a long, authoritative finish. The overall impression is one of serious substance as well as undeniable complexity and elegance. This 2005 should drink beautifully for 15-20+ years.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana tastes like it is 2-3 years old. It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon as well, came in at 14.5% natural alcohol and is aged 14 months in all French oak. This is a slightly higher elevation with more sandy and gravely loam soils, than clay and loam. Plenty of smoke, black currants, espresso roast and barbecue meaty notes are followed by a rich, full-throttle tannic wine. Someone suggested that these could be 50-year wines and I don't disagree with that, but that is easy to say when most of us will be pushing up daisies by the time 2064 rolls around. The point is that these are meant for long-term cellaring, although they are certainly approachable now and probably can be enjoyed with a nice grilled slab of beef.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale to medium ruby purple, the 2015 Pinot Noir The Sum opens with gregarious aromas of dried blueberries, red and black cherries and berries—there are lots of fruit layers here—with accents of smoked meats, cinnamon stick and clove. Light to medium-bodied, it fills the mouth with red, blue and black fruit and savory notions, framed by firm, finely pixelated tannins and very juicy acidity carrying the long spicy finish.

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.