USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard contains a 1.8% splash of Petit Verdot and was aged 20 months in 64% new French oak. Deep garnet-purple colored, it features a knock-out perfume of candied violets, warm cassis, preserves plums and blueberry compote with hints of eucalyptus, dark chocolate, Indian spices and oolong tea with a waft of cedar. The palate is full-bodied, firmly structured and offers wonderfully firm, ripe, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the vivacious black and blue fruits, finishing very long and very layered.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s comes from a vineyard planted at 2,400 feet. Another 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, it was aged 21 months in 63% new French oak (486 cases produced). This profound Cabernet boasts an opaque blue/black color as well as a stunning bouquet of barbecue, charcoal embers, blueberry, blackberry and cassis. Long and full-bodied with an inky concentration, great fruit purity and no hard edges, this is a bigger-than-life, stunning Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next three decades or more.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 Huge swaths of tannin envelop the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Mt. Veeder). Iron, smoke, blood orange, cedar and tobacco add aromatic nuance to this sinewy, nuanced mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 is a bit stern next to the other Lokoya Cabernets in the early going, but it has plenty of depth and resonance in its fruit waiting to emerge over time.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain dazzles from start to finish. Iron, graphite, smoke, ash, crushed rocks, dark inky fruit, pencil shavings and tobacco emerge from a tightly-wound yet nuanced Cabernet Sauvignon loaded with character. The 2011 isn't an overt wine, rather it is a Cabernet Sauvignon that impresses with its persistence, energy and sheer class. Chris Carpenters makes the Diamond Mountain Cabernet from a parcel of vines planted on AXR rootstock that is slowly succumbing to phylloxera.

The stunning 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is more of a long distance runner. It boasts a dense purple color along with copious notes of graphite, plum sauce, blueberries, black raspberries, wet steel and damp gravel. Deep, full-bodied and powerful, it is quite compelling in its purity, texture and awesome potential. Forget it for another 3-5 years and drink it over the following three decades.

The 2014 Cabernet Franc comes from younger vines and was brought up in 70% new French oak. While Cabernet Sauvignon gets all the love in the Valley, this beauty offers sensational notes of black raspberries, crème de cassis, crushed flowers, graphite, and hints of crushed rocks. Deep, layered, and concentrated, yet also pure, elegant and seamless, it’s a gorgeous wine that can be drunk anytime over the coming two decades.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain checks in as a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. It offers a sensational bouquet of blackcurrants, blackberries, black cherries, savory herbs, bay leaf, and earth. It's medium to full-bodied, beautiful, elegant, has vibrant acidity, fine tannins, and a smoking good finish. It’s another age-worthy wine from this terrific estate that needs short-term cellaring and will keep for 30+ years.

Checking in as a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is another gorgeous wine from winemaker Chris Carpenter. Brought up in 90% new French oak, this classic, tight, focused beauty boasts sensational notes of crème de cassis, graphite, toasty oak, and ample minerality. These all flow to a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, layered, tannic 2014 that has remarkable purity, impeccable balance, and a great, great finish. It’s classic, old-school, yet awesome Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will keep for 2-3 decades.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Chardonnay Nine Barrels simply sings of honeysuckle, lime blossoms and mandarin peel with a core of pineapple, nectarines, cashews and brioche. Full, rich, concentrated and featuring tons of spice and floral layers, it delivers layer upon layer of bold flavors and a very long finish.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2016 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block comes from an east facing slope just outside the town of Occidental and spent 16 months in 31% new French oak. It’s a complete, balanced, medium to full-bodied effort that does everything right, giving up a huge bouquet of smoky black fruits, tobacco leaf, forest floor, and wood smoke. This big, masculine 2016 has plenty of tannins, a great mid-palate, and no shortage of length on the finish, it just needs 2-3 years of bottle age to show at its best.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Jennifer’s sashays out of the glass with heart-stopping violets and lilacs over a core of redcurrants, Bing cherries, mulberries and black raspberries plus wafts of underbrush, spice box, black tea and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with spice and earth layers, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and finishing very long and mineral-laced.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2016 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block is thrilling stuff sourced from the Arrendell Vineyard, which is a cool site in the Green Valley portion of the Russian River. Aged 16 months in 34% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered, it has a big bouquet of black raspberries, blood orange, savory spices, and crushed violets. Incredibly complex, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, with fine tannins, it’s another incredibly satisfying, complete Pinot Noir well worth seeking out. 248 cases.

Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Jennifer’s leaps from the glass with exuberant raspberry preserves, cranberry tart and black forest cake notes with touches of wild thyme, red roses and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate simply sings of red and black berry flavors complimented with dried herbs and savory notes, supported by firm, very fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing very long and perfumed. Should age wonderfully!

From a cooler, windy site south of Sebastopol, the 2015 Pinot Noir Jennifer's is a bigger, richer, structured effort. Blackcurrants, black cherries, graphite, scorched earth and beautiful violet notes give way to a concentrated, fresh, tannic Pinot Noir that certainly has the fruit and texture to shine now but will be even better in 2-3 years.

Stone Côte is sourced from a block within the Durell vineyard. It receives native yeast fermentation and is barrel fermented in French oak, 37% new, where it ages for 16 months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2015 Stone Côte Vineyard Chardonnay offers mind-blowingly gorgeous ripe pineapple, peach blossom and pink grapefruit notes with a gregarious undercurrent of candied ginger, allspice, butterscotch and brioche. Big, rich and full-bodied, there’s a seductive oiliness to the texture with fantastic concentration of a very long finish.

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche Vineyard, composed of 94.1% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5.9% Merlot, has an expressive, savory nose of black olives, roasted nuts and sandalwood with a core of cassis, blackberry pie and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied and laden with black fruits, earth and baking spice notions, it has a firm structure of grainy tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long. Forget it for 2-4 years and drink it over the next 25+.

Deep ruby-red. Vibrant nose offers cassis, blackberry, licorice, minerals, tobacco leaf and violet. Rich, tactile and deep, offering outstanding energy for the vintage. Boasts a rare combination of explosive fruit intensity and elegance. Builds and echoes dramatically on the vibrant, nuanced finish, which saturates the palate with dark fruits and minerals. This shut down in the glass but my recorked bottle showed uncanny freshness after three days in the refrigerator.

Bright ruby-red. Aromas of crushed cassis, bitter chocolate and espresso called to mind a top Pauillac. Densely packed and sappy, offering outstanding precision of dark fruit and mineral flavors and inner-mouth floral perfume. Still quite tight but the wine's building tannins and palate-staining length suggest that it will go on in bottle for two decades or more.

This blanc de blancs has spent 7 years on the lees—100% from the Gran Moraine vineyard, disgorged in February of 2024. Stunning and elegant, with aromatics of lemon cream, petrichor and honey, By 2017, I was picking a lot earlier than most of the Valley; I'm into structure in my sparkling wines and acidity. The linear nature of the wine is ever present with a mineral saline streak. Meyer lemon pulp, mint, petrichor, it's a brilliant wine. Gran Moraine does two disgorgements of this wine; half of this wine is released at 7 years en tirage, and the other half
will go 12

Dropstone is a synonym for a glacial erratic; this Pinot Noir bottling is sourced near the winery at Gran Moraine, with minimal new oak and an emphasis on purity. Airy floral and pine bough aromas appear on the palate alongside blood orange and smoky sea salt. This is a refined wine of elegance with floral delight, saline minerality and subtle fruit that

Complex, dense and wonderfully concentrated, with notes of jasmine, shiso leaf, freshly grated ginger and lemon basil. Sleek flavors of lemon, yuzu and pomelo are vibrant, juicy and intense. Crushed stone, vetiver and celery salt hints linger on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2036. 282 cases made. – M.W

Light ruby with purple shining at the rim. Bright raspberry fruit with a touch of smoky flint and ground spices lift from the glass. Palate is light and lithe but there’s an intensity to the fruit that demands attention. Red berries, anise, cumin and ground mixed peppercorn notes all show as it flows across the tongue. Lifting acidity and a firm gravel tannic framework all ensure focus and carry, allowing it to continue showing its layers for an age, eventually closing with a refreshing dryness.

Deep ruby with a hint of purple in the light. Blood plum, lavender bush, nori and blackberry pastille aromatics. Deep and powerful, dense black and blue fruits fill the senses, equally balanced by anise, blood, nori and black pepper spices. It builds and builds to a crescendo of flavour intensity, but remains unwavering and driven by powerful fine gravelly tannins. The length is prodigious, carrying the harmony long and lingering, eventually fading with a drying flourish

Fragrant, stylish and elegant, this opens with dried rose petal, Saigon cinnamon and cardamom aromatics, with a core of fresh raspberry, maraschino cherry, blood orange and cranberry flavors on a sleek and juicy frame. Added notes of spices and forest floor linger on the long and expressive finish. Drink now through 2037. From Australia.

Amazing wine, deeply flavoured, raked with tannin, long, creamy and characterful. Blackcurrant, gravel, violet and bay leaf notes with a smoky, iodine-like edge. No need to prattle. This wine lays down the law, in a tannic, concentrated, balanced fashion.