The 2017s From Sonoma The flagship of the estate, from the best block of the estate vineyard, the 2016 Revelation Red Wine is all Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 65% new French oak. Its deep purple color is followed by an incredibly pure, balanced, straight-up seamless wine that offers gorgeous crème de cassis, white flowers, graphite, white chocolate, and spice. It's full-bodied, pure, balanced, and layered on the palate, with no hard edges. This cuvée is all mountain fruit and you see that in its focus and structure, yet it still shines for its elegance and complexity. It’s a remarkable bottle of wine from winemaker Sam Teakle.

The 2017s From Sonoma Starting to hit primetime, the 2002 La Muse has a ripe, sexy, opulent style. Notes of ripe black cherries, currants, tobacco, rosemary, and spicy garrigue all flow to a full-bodied, layered Merlot that has rounded tannins, no hard edges, and a big finish. It’s smack in the middle of its prime drink window and should easily stay at this stage for another 10-15 years or more.

The 2017s From Sonoma I was blown away by the 2017 Chardonnay Upper Barn Vineyard, one of the finest Chardonnays in this report. Coming from the oldest estate vines on the Alexander Valley site, planted in 1982, and aged 11 months in 50% new French oak, it leads with an incredible bouquet of pineapple, white flowers, crushed rocks, and spice. With medium to full body, high yet integrated acidity, a thrilling texture, and a great, great finish, this is pure class and a remarkable effort from this estate. It’s drinking brilliantly today yet I suspect has the class to evolve for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma One of the standouts in this stacked lineup is the 2016 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard. This beauty comes from a single block of a mountain site located north of the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. Aged 17 months in 37% new French oak, this is a ripe, sexy, and powerful wine that’s loaded with notions of ripe strawberries, kirsch, shrimp stock, spice, and hints of ground coffee. With building tannins, full body, beautiful depth of fruit, and an incredible texture, this magical Pinot Noir will compete with any wine coming out of California today. Drink it over the coming decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma Leading off the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard comes from a ridgetop vineyard located west of the town of Occidental. Aged 17 months in 27% new French oak, it offers a savory, marine-influenced bouquet of wild strawberries, cranberries, rose petals, and Asian spices. With medium to full body, supple tannins, and a great, great finish as well as a singular character, this magical Pinot Noir from this team will benefit from a year in bottle and keep for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma Always one of my favorites, the 2016 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard is another classic beauty from this estate. Caramelized lemon and orchard fruits, beautiful minerality, notes of white flowers, spice, and some salty marine notes all dominate the nose. Medium to full-bodied, it offers beautiful tension and elegance, bright acidity, and a great finish. This rich, powerful, structured Chardonnay will be better with a year or two of bottle age and should evolve for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma In the same league as the 2015 and flirting with perfection, the 2016 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard comes from a ridgetop vineyard located at 1,150 feet above sea-level, just west of the town of Occidental. It was fermented and aged 16 months in 30% new French oak. Salty sea breeze, lemon curd, white flowers, beautiful minerality, and hints of toasted bread all flow to a medium to full-bodied, rich, powerful Chardonnay that has awesome purity, building density and depth on the palate, and bright acidity that carries through the finish. It's straight-up awesome.

The 2017s From Sonoma Another magical wine is the 2017 Chardonnay Gold Run, which comes from vines planted in 1982. This rich, white flower, crushed citrus, honeysuckle, and spice-driven Chardonnay is full-bodied, with tons of fruit, background oak, and a massive finish. It’s another rich, concentrated, yet always vibrant and pure Chardonnay that will keep for over a decade. Hats off to winemaker Lisa Valtenbergs for a bevy of truly brilliant Chardonnays.

The 2017s From Sonoma I also loved the 2016 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard. Located in the Russian River and planted in 1975 to a heritage Martini Clone, this cool site struggles to ripen, giving this 2016 an exotic, complex, vibrant style along with its ample red and black fruits, candied violets, potpourri, and sandalwood. It’s one of the more vibrant, racier wines in the lineup, yet its acidity is nicely integrated, it’s flawlessly balanced, and it has a great, great finish. Give bottles a year or two and enjoy over the following decade.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings A majestic grenache that has a super impressive level of poise and concentration. Raspberries, blueberries, red and dark cherries, as well as fresh-tilled earth and dry spices abound. The palate has a very succulent and fresh-cut core of blue-tinged fruit and long, majestic, unwavering tannins. Superb. Certified organic. Drink now. Screw cap.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2009 Le Desir is mostly Cabernet Franc and is another wine drinking beautifully today. Classic cassis and dark fruits as well as notes of bay leaf, sandalwood, and spice all flow to a full-bodied, elegant, concentrated red that has fine tannins, perfect balance, and one great finish. Drink it over the coming 20-25 years.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lastly, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard comes from volcanic and schist soils on the Alexander estate and vines planted in 1991. It spent 20 months in 66% new French oak and offers a slightly more rounded and sexy style compared to the Rockfall Vineyard. It boasts stunning notes of black fruits, smoke tobacco, cigar, spice box, and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and powerful on the palate, it’s another tour de force from this estate that’s going to keep for 20-25 years.

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.

The 2017s From Sonoma The only other 2017 white I was able to taste, the 2017 Chardonnay Four Hearts Vineyards comes mostly from an old vine site farmed by Tom Dehlinger in the Russian River Valley. It displays a big, upfront nose of spiced orchard fruits, candle wax, hazelnut, and some crushed rock that gives way to a medium to full-bodied, rich, beautifully textured, layered, and long Chardonnay that has loads to love.

The 2017s From Sonoma Coming from the Green Valley region of the Russian River, the 2016 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard was fermented and aged in just 17% new French oak, with the balance all in used barrels. It's an exotic, melon, brioche, and citrus pith-scented effort that has a touch of reduction that lends a beautiful sense of complexity. Rich and powerful on the palate, with medium to full-bodied richness, nicely integrated acidity, and a big finish, it's another wine that has one foot in the Russian River and one foot in Burgundy.

The 2017s From Sonoma Another heavenly Chardonnay is the 2016 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard, which comes from a single block in the Durell Vineyard, on the Sonoma Coast. Fermented and aged in 30% new barrels, bottle unfined and unfiltered, it offers a huge bouquet of caramelized lemons, pineapple, hazelnuts, and white flowers, with just a kiss of toasty oak in the background. Made in a richer, more powerful style, it nevertheless has beautiful acidity, a fresh, focused texture, obvious minerality, and a great finish. Count yourself lucky if you have some of this in the cellar. It should continue drinking brilliantly for another 6-7 years and keep even longer in cool cellars.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2016 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard comes from the cooler Green Valley region of the Russian River Valley and was fermented and aged 16 months in 30% new French oak. It has a deeper, darker, slightly more earthy and mineral-laced style in its stone fruits, brioche, honeysuckle, and hazelnut aromas and flavors. It's deep, rich, and powerful, with beautiful depth of fruit and a thrilling finish. It's a gem in this lineup. There are a scant 327 cases made.

The 2017s From Sonoma The deep ruby/purple-colored 2017 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard is also a field blend and comes from 100-year-old head trained vines planted in the Russian River Valley. Brought up in 56% new French oak, it displays a beautiful array of blueberries, apple peel, orange rind, and cedary spice. Complex, medium to full-bodied, and flawlessly balanced, it’s in the running for the top Zinfandel in the vintage. Drink it any time over the coming decade.

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.

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.

Bush vine grenache, planted 1946. Hand picked, wild fermented, 50% whole berries, cold soaked, open fermenters, matured in French oak but none of it was new. Certified organic/biodynamic. A remarkable wine. Sheer fruit power, lakes of tannin, character in spades. Game, black cherry, saltbush, gum leaves and pure fresh plum. Tight through the finish, almost too much so, but as it ages it will unfurl and expand. Serious grenache. Imposing.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings This is an impressive take on the powerful shiraz that Yangarra is so respected for. The poise and polish emanate from quality grapes and some Rolls-Royce, large-format oak maturation. Sultry, spicy complexity warms the long finish in classy style. Certified organic. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

The 2017s From Sonoma From older vines planted in 1989 and brought up in 52% new French oak, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith is another classic, deeply colored wine from this estate. Smoked herbs, graphite, crushed rocks, tobacco, and beautiful dark fruits all flow to a full-bodied wine that has fabulous tannins, remarkable purity, and a great finish. Give bottles a year or three and enjoy over the following 15-20 years.

The 2017s From Sonoma Also brilliant, the 2017 Chardonnay Red Point Vineyard is slightly richer and more rounded, offering medium to full-bodied notes of stone fruits, toasted brioche, white flowers, and a liquid rock-like minerality. It’s rich, concentrated, and powerful, yet has terrific balance and length. This cuvée comes from vines planted in 1994 and a southeast facing vineyard in the Alexander Valley and spent 11 months in 44% new French oak. It too will keep for at least a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma Sourced from a single block in the estate’s Maggie Hawk Vineyard in Anderson Valley, the 2016 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters spent 16 months in 37% new French oak and, as with all the wines here, was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Bright cherry, red apple, spice box, and some mulberry notes as well as some marine salinity all flow to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, multi-dimensional effort that has ripe tannins and integrated acidity. Give bottles a year and it should be a gem of a wine to enjoy through 2028.