The 2017s From Sonoma Red plums, mulberries, oyster shell, and even a hint of iron all emerge from the 2016 Pinot Noir Jennifer's, which comes from a cooler, marine-influenced site south of Sebastopol. Medium to full-bodied, straight, focused, and beautifully balanced as well as incredibly elegant, this is a remarkable Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that does everything right. I suspect a year or two of bottle age will do it well, and it should evolve for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a higher elevation site and all old Wente clone, the 2017 Chardonnay Skycrest reveals a medium gold color as well as beautiful tart lemon, citrus blossom, and a salty minerality. It's beautiful on the palate as well, with medium body, bright, racy acidity, and terrific balance. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will keep for a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site on the same ridge of Hirsch, the 2017 Chardonnay Tidal Break is brilliant and has a richer, classic style of orchard fruits, crushed lemons, white flowers, and hints of flinty minerality. Concentrated, medium-bodied, rounded, and nicely textured, it has loads of class as well as length. This wine was fermented and aged all in neutral barrels, and there were 400 cases made.

The 2017s From Sonoma As to the reds, the 2016 Innovant Red Wine checks in as 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot that spent 20 months in 45% new French oak. It’s a beautiful bottle of wine that has loads of blue fruits, violets, and subtle earthy minerality as well as medium to full body, incredibly polished tannins, and a great finish. Coming all from the Alden Vineyard in Alexander Valley, it represents a good value even at the $50 price point. Drink it over the coming 15 years or so.

Vines planted in 1946. Hand picked, sorted, destemmed, crushed and tipped into two 657 litre ceramic eggs. Kept on skins for 138 days post ferment. No oak time at all; ceramic eggs only; no pressings either. Price seems to have been reduced; I can’t imagine anyone complaining. Beautiful grenache. Fresh, firm, spice-ripped and characterful. A joy to sit and sip. Redcurrant, sand, graphite, cloves, peppers and roasted spices.It cruises, curves and carves its way through your mouth in majestic fashion.

Single block shiraz. 25% whole bunches, the remainder berry sorted. Cold soak, open fermenters, spontaneous ferment, no pressings, all matured in 25hL foudre. Certified organic/biodynamic. It’s structured and fine but apart from anything else, it’s delicious. It’s a joy to drink. Jellied boysenberry, plum, red/black cherry, graphite and clove notes come gently infused with cedarwood oak. Freshness is paramount. So too finesse. So too fine bones of tannin. Indeed this wine has quality written all over it. This medium-bodied red should be on your shopping list.

Ironheart is of course a later edition to the Marvel Universe, a female character not far off the Iron Man idiom. And this is estate shiraz from Yangarra in McLaren Vale. Lovely wine this. Straight up impressive. Sandy swish of tannins is the lingering thought, but there’s dark berry-cherry perfume, ripe of course, but shy of over done, sniffs of old spice cupboard, succulence writ large. It’s long, fine and elegant in its way, but doesn’t forget the earthy, regional grunt of the region. Just enough of everything, plus an individual personality, and the wine feels gently done. Again, a lovely wine.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings This has a very impressive array of ripe, rich dark plums and black cherries with a very intense and assertive palate that marries powdery, cocoa-infused tannins, as well as density at the finish with an air of precision. Certified organic. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

A seductive wine that just oozes charm. Coming off 14 year old vines, 50% of fruit was wild fermented in 675L ceramic eggs remaining on skins for 131 days. The final blend saw 67% come from extended skin contact. Such a generous offering yet it's so luscious. Almonds, delicate stonefruit, fine ginger and cinnamon spice all weave a neat course through the mouth. Creamy feels through the mouth form the baseline with flashes of candied orange and drops of lime juice adding to the temptation. Beautifully balanced, it's just pure class really.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lots of golden fruits, brioche, toasty oak and rocky, charcoal-like mineral notes dominate the 2017 Chardonnay Gravel Bench Vineyard, which comes from a single, east-facing black that loses the sun in the afternoon. Aged 11 months all in new oak, it hits the palate with a more masculine, mineral-laced style, has medium to full-bodied richness, and a great finish. Give bottles a year and it will keep for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma The flagship 2016 Chardonnay 9 Barrel comes from the top nine barrels in the cellar. In 2016 it spent 15 months and was selected from 50% new barrels. Beautiful citrus blossom, white flowers, cold steel, and spice notes all flow to a beautifully elegant, layered Chardonnay that has tons of fruit and texture, yet stays clean, crisp and balanced, with a great finish. It’s the real deal.

The 2017s From Sonoma A crazy good value, the 2017 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is the appellation release from this team, and it comes from all of the estate vineyards across the Green Valley, Laguna Ridge, and Sebastopol regions. Complex notes of strawberries, cranberries, violets, pine forest, and flowers all flow to a medium-bodied Pinot Noir that has a kiss of salinity and marine notes, ripe tannins, and a great finish. This beautiful wine competes with wines costing 2-3 times the price.

The 2017s From Sonoma On another level, the 2017 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard is brilliant, ranking with the top Zinfandels in the vintage. Coming from a field blend (It’s mostly Zinfandel) from Hartford’s Estate Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, planted over 100 years ago, it offers an extraordinary bouquet of blue fruits, sandalwood, rose petals, and orange rind. Exotic, medium to full-bodied, incredibly seamless and elegant, and with a great finish, it’s a great bottle that’s capable of evolving for over a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma A selection from the Jackson Vineyard in Bennett Valley, the 2016 Merlot Jackson Park Vineyard is also almost all Merlot (there’s 1.5% Cabernet Sauvignon) and it spent 18 months in 44% new French oak. More concentrated, deep, and layered, it offers Saint-Julien-like notes of pure blackcurrants, cassis, campfire, and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, with plenty of mid-palate depth, ultra-fine tannins, and nicely integrated yet notable acidity, it’s going to benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 15-20 years.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lastly, the 2016 Journey Red is a blend of 68% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 46% new French oak. Sourced from the Jackson Park and Alexander Mountain Estate Vineyards, it’s another fresh, elegant, even graceful release from winemaker Marcia Torres Forno that offers classic notes of blue fruits, violets, pine forest, and spice box. With medium to full body, subtle background oak, integrated acidity, and a great finish, it shines for its purity, balance, and elegance while still having plenty of density and fruit.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lastly, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Stature could be thought of as the flagship cuvée. It’s 60% from Alexander Valley and 40% from Knights Valley. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 60% new French oak, it’s a pure, classic, beautiful wine that has textbook cassis fruit as well as loads of graphite, lead pencil, smoky oak, tobacco, and even a hint of orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, with fine tannins and terrific purity of fruit, it’s approachable today yet will be better with 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15+ years.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site south of Sebastopol planted all to old Wente clones of Chardonnay, the 2016 Chardonnay Jennifer's spent 16 months in 23% new French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. It’s deeper colored and has a rich, honeyed bouquet of stone fruits, crushed Meyer lemons, orange rind, and crushed rocks. Rich, powerful, and structured on the palate, I expect this singular, exotic white to age nicely.

The 2017s From Sonoma Strawberries, spice box, blueberries, red currants, violets, and forest floor notes all emerge from the 2017 Pinot Noir Maggy Hawk, which has a certain old-school, Volnay-like vibe. It's a classic, balanced, complex Pinot Noir from this team that has that juicy, upfront, pretty fruit and nicely integrated acidity. This is another brilliant, elegant, complete wine from Copain.

The 2017s From Sonoma The first vintage for this cuvée from Ryan, the 2017 Pinot Noir Edmeades Vineyard comes from mid-valley and was brought up in 27% new French oak. It's a beautiful wine with blueberry and wild strawberry fruits as well as complex spice, dried flowers, and some loamy soil notes. Medium-bodied, seamless, and silky on the palate, it's a lovely, layered wine that shines for its texture and balanced.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings A beautifully fresh nose with expressive pomegranate, wild red fruit and amaro-like, herbal accents. The palate has a very plush, smooth-honed and keenly detailed tannin profile with such long, effortlessly powerful resolve. Brilliant grenache here. Certified organic. Drink now. Screw cap.

Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings Real concentration and depth on the nose of this white with butter, scones, buttermilk pancakes, straw, dried apricots, vanilla and apple pie. Full-bodied and intense with layers of brioche and tropical fruit. Waxy and lemony, this finishes long and delicious. Drink now. Screw cap.

The 2017s From Sonoma Fully mature yet still with ample life and longevity ahead of it, the 1998 La Joie reveals a ruby color as well as classic tobacco, bay leaf, saddle leather, and cassis aromas and flavors. Possessing full-bodied richness, a layered texture, good purity, and plenty of length, drink it any time over the coming decade or so.

Get Ready: The Super Italians Are Coming A muscular Chianti Classico, offering a dense and rich palate with blue-fruit and slate character. Full-bodied, chewy and muscular. Needs two or three years to soften.

The 2017s From Sonoma More brioche, smoked earth, stone fruits, and toasted spice notes emerge from the 2017 Chardonnay Bear Point Vineyard, and it too is medium to full-bodied, with bright acidity and a gorgeous texture. Coming all from a site in the Alexander Valley and aged 11 months in 46% new French oak, it’s another classic, incredibly high-quality wine from this team.

The 2017s From Sonoma One of the standouts in the lineup is the 2017 Pinot Noir Van der Kamp Vineyard, which comes from a site in the Sonoma Mountain AVA and was completely destemmed and brought up in 45% new French oak. Candied violets, cherries, mulberries, leather, and flowery incense notes all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, textured, sexy Pinot Noir that’s already hard to resist. It should evolve nicely for 7-8 years.