USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm A barrel sample, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is very deep purple-black in color and is still a little reduced, giving way to very exciting notions of freshly crushed wild blueberries, black raspberries and red and black currants with touches of garrigue, tar, smoked meats and rose petals. Medium to full-bodied with a very firm, grainy texture and soft, seamless freshness, the palate grows slowly to a long-lingering black fruit and earthy crescendo. Very promising.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The standout in the retrospective, the 2013 Pinot Noir Machado has that rare mix of opulence, power, structure, and balance that defines great wines. Beautiful blackcurrant fruits as well as notes of ground herbs, flowers, black tea, and forest floor all jump from the glass, and it’s just as good on the palate, with flawless balance, no hard edges, and a great finish. It’s a brilliant wine, from a brilliant vintage, from a brilliant winemaker. Drink it any time over the coming decade.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2010 Chardonnay 3D is another stunner, offering mature notes of crushed apple, citrus, salty minerality, and plenty of floral and more exotic nuances. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and elegant, it’s the first wine in this retrospective to start to show more mature and nuanced aromatics. It will continue drinking brilliantly for another 4-5 years and have a gradual decline as well.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2015 Chardonnay 3D offers a more masculine, mineral, and salty style that carries incredible caramelized fruit, brioche, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. Full-bodied and powerful, with serious concentration, a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish, it’s in desperate need of 2-3 years of bottle age, but this magical Chardonnay will keep for 15 years or more!

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Franc is a little closed to begin, slowly revealing redcurrant jelly, blackberry pie, boysenberries and mulberries with nuances of Ceylon tea, raspberry leaves, tilled soil, pencil shavings and underbrush. The palate is wonderfully elegant with a medium to full body and very fine-grained tannins supporting perfumed cherries and black berries layers, finishing long and energetic.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm When I tasted this last year as a barrel sample, it was blended with some Cabernet Franc and Malbec. This is a finished tank sample made of 100% Merlot, the first time La Muse has been entirely made of Merlot. It is due to be bottled in January 2020 and will be bottled as a 20th anniversary edition (it will also be the 50th year of winemaking for Pierre Seillan). The 2017 La Muse is a little reticent to begin, giving glimpses at black cherries, fresh blackberries and warm cassis with hints of violets, star anise, charcoal and damp soil with a waft of tapenade. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is wonderfully spicy/minerally with a firm backbone of rounded tannins and plenty of freshness to lift the earth and mineral-laced black fruit to a long finish. 2,500 cases are to be made.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm When I tasted this as a barrel sample last year, it was made up of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec. This is a new barrel sample blend, made up of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep purple-black colored, it comes striding out of the glass with bold, confident notes of warm red and black currants, boysenberries and ripe black plums with hints of pencil shavings, rose hip tea, underbrush and Marmite toast. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm structure of grainy tannins and just enough freshness to lift the dense, muscular black fruit and earthy layers to a long finish. 3,000 cases are to be made.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Brought up all in new French oak, the 2017 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard is another brilliant Pinot Noir that does everything right. Black cherries, cassis, ground herbs, graphite, and hints of background oak all emerge from this beautifully textured, seamless wine that has the depth and class to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for a decade.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2016 Pinot Noir Machado showed beautifully, with the rounded, supple, and opulent style of this great vintage front and center. Loads of candied cherries, raspberries, spice, and floral notes all define the bouquet, and it has no hard edges and wonderful balance. It’s going to continue drinking brilliantly for another decade or more.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Made from equal parts 459 and 37 clones, the 2017 Pinot Noir Machado has a complex bouquet of blackberries, caramelized orange peel, spice, and earth. It's a beautiful, elegant wine, with medium to full-bodied richness, fine tannins, and a great finish. This is another complex, silky, incredibly compelling wine from this team.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s All from clone 37 (also known as Mary Edwards clone, which originally came from Mount Eden), the 2017 Pinot Noir Hapgood saw the standard no destemming and aging in neutral oak. Greg calls the clone velvet and dense, yet with a sultry x-factor. Its ruby color is followed by a complex bouquet of spiced raspberry, forest floor, salty mineral, and underbrush. Complex, layered, and nuanced, it's medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a great, great finish.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s From a cooler, subtle north-facing parcel, the 2017 Chardonnay Hapgood offers layered notes of poached pear, white flowers, crushed tons, and citrus notes, resulting in an incredibly classy, layered, concentrated Chardonnay. With good acidity, perfect balance, and a great finish, it's another thrilling Chardonnay from Greg Brewer.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s One of the larger production single vineyards as well as the only one to go out to distribution, the 2017 Chardonnay 3D comes from a more easterly site that was planted in 2007. It's a richer Chardonnay and offers an ethereal, gorgeously pure bouquet of caramelized citrus, white flowers, pineapple, honeysuckle, and toasted bread. Beautifully layered, seamless, and polished, with medium to full-bodied richness, it's another rocking effort.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain is very deep purple-black colored and gives expressive black cherries, kirsch, warm blackberries and boysenberry scents with touches of sawdust, red roses, camphor and cinnamon stick plus a waft of stewed tea. Full-bodied, the palate reveals a lot of depth with tons of red and black fruit layers and savory accents, framed by ripe, firm, grainy tannins, finishing with a refreshing lift and some mineral notions coming through.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm There was no Wallis vineyard fruit used this vintage. Very deep purple-black colored, the 2017 Cardinale charges out of the glass with notes of fresh blackcurrants, blackberries and Black Forest cake plus hints of menthol, cardamom, baking spices and lilacs plus a waft of cigar box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house with firm, grainy, ripe tannins and fantastic freshness supporting the taut, muscular black fruits, finishing long and mineral laced. 1,440 cases produced.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard, bottled six months ago, is very deep purple-black in color. Red roses waft sensuously, provocatively out of the glass, taking center stage until the notes of kirsch, blackberries and black raspberries come through, followed by Ceylon tea and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied, very freshly perfumed and drop-dead gorgeous in the mouth, with a firm, grainy frame and long, mineral-laced finish. 900 cases produced.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm Fruit for this was harvested on September 8th, and the wine was bottled six months ago. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard gives up exuberant notions of warm blueberries, crème de cassis, lilacs and chocolate box with hints of fertile loam, licorice and menthol. Medium-bodied, elegant, very fresh and juicy, the palate has beautifully ripe, fine-grained tannins supporting the generous fruit, finishing long and perfumed. 1,200 cases produced.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Reminding me of a Côte de Nuit with its darker berry fruits, earth, blood orange, and spice-driven aromas and flavors, the 2017 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard is medium-bodied, has a beautiful, elegant texture, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. Completely destemmed and brought up in 40% new French oak, this seamless, polished, beautifully balanced Pinot Noir will keep for over a decade.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2017 Pinot Noir Rita's Crown Vineyard saw the same one-third stems as well as 16 months in 57% new French oak. It's a more ethereal, elegant effort and has gorgeous notes of ripe strawberries, white flowers, spice, and forest floor. Pure, medium-bodied, and layered on the palate, it shines for its seamless, elegant texture as well as its length. It's unquestionably one of my favorites in the lineup.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s All clone 4 from a site just beside Bien Nacido, the 2018 Chardonnay Katherine’s has an Alsatian slant in its green citrus, tangerine, white flower, and honeysuckle aromas and flavors. With beautiful purity, plenty of minerality, medium to full body, and a crisp, layered style, this gorgeous Chardonnay does everything right. Enjoy it any time over the coming 7-8 years.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2012s have drunk well for a handful of years now, and the 2012 Pinot Noir Machado is no exception. Perfumed notes of caramelized cherries, dried flowers, coffee, and smoked earth notes flow to a medium to full-bodied, silky, beautifully balanced Pinot Noir that’s firing on all cylinders today.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2012 Chardonnay 3D is about as classic as they come, offering perfumed notes of white flowers, apple blossom, citrus, and brioche, medium to full body, a beautiful sense of purity and elegance, and a great finish. Drink bottles any time over the coming decade.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Starting off the retrospective of the Chardonnay 3D release and from a great vintage for the Sta. Rita Hills in general, the 2016 Chardonnay 3D offers loads of orchard fruits, brioche, and a touch of honeycomb as well as medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, ripe yet balanced style, and a great finish.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s One of the great values out there, the 2017 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers thrilling notes of white flowers, white peach, currants, and toasted bread. This ripe, sexy wine is unquestionably at the same level as the more expensive single vineyard releases, and it will evolve for just as long.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s From a site on the northern side of the appellation, just behind Clos Pepe, the 2017 Chardonnay Machado is a medium to full-bodied, rich, seamless effort that has lots of minerality as well as notes of caramelized peach, apple tart, brioche, and honeysuckle. It’s a powerful, age-worthy beauty.