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.

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.