Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard emerges from the heart of this well-known site. Soaring aromatics make a strong first impression. Blood orange, mint and rose petal are all beautifully lifted in the glass. Medium in body, gracious and exotic, the Arrendell has a lot to say.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard is laced with apricot, chamomile, mint and lightly honeyed notes flesh out in this racy, layered Chardonnay. The Far Coast is rich and unctuous in the glass, and yet retains a good deal of freshness to balance things out.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard, from a site in Green Valley, is bright, floral and light on its feet. Orchard fruit, white flowers, mint and persistent saline underpinnings make for a refreshing Chardonnay endowed with a good deal of character.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard is a very pretty, gracious wine. In the 2016 vintage, the Stone Côte is especially floral and lifted, with lovely orange peel, lemon confit, spice and chamomile notes. Bright acids give this mid-weight Chardonnay energy and focus. There is so much to like.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Hartford Vineyard Zinfandel is creamy, sensual and inviting, with terrific balance of fruit, aromatics and acidity. Bright red berry fruit and floral notes give the Hartford Vineyard Zinfandel its distinctive signatures. All of the elements come together in a racy Zinfandel loaded with class and personality,

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Aromas of blackcurrants and pine needles with cedar and sandalwood. Full-bodied, round and very chewy with lots of fruit and a hint of new oak. This will be a beautiful wine. Needs three to five years of bottle age to come together.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Wonderful aromas of blackcurrants and fresh herbs, such as basil and tarragon. Medium to full body and round, silky tannins. Lovely finish of blackcurrants and sage. Shows structure.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond Another highlight in this range, the 2017 Syrah Brosseau is enticing. Medium in body and yet somehow also quite rich in feel, the Brosseau has a lot going on. Time in the glass brings out an attractive range of inky blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice and menthol notes. More than anything else though, the Brosseau is differentiated by its creaminess and textural depth.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge is a dark, virile wine. Black cherry, chocolate, leather, smoke, licorice all fill out an ample frame. I would prefer to give the 2015 at least a few years in bottle, as it is shockingly primary and raw at this stage, just a few months after bottling.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Syrah Baker Ranch is powerful and also a bit rough around the edges. It will be interesting to see what bottle age brings. Bright acids give the sweet red cherry, pomegranate, wild flowers, chalk and white pepper an extra kick of intensity. The Baker Ranch exudes energy and also clearly has a lot of potential but it also needs time to fully come together.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This shows lots of dark fruit, sage, blueberries, ink and blackberries. Medium to full body with ultra-fine tannins and intensity and beauty. Linear and polished. Needs two to four years to soften.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond Arrowood's 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Crown is fabulous. Rich and explosive, the Knights Crown is almost shockingly sensual for a wine from Knights Valley. Racy and silky, the Knights Crown is more texturally finessed than most Knights Valley Cabernets, it is a wine of sheer sensuality and appeal.

The 2015 Il Fauno di Arcanum is a robust and thickly layered blend of 59% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot. This wine offers terrific value, especially to those who prize soft richness and concentration in their blended Tuscan reds. This beautiful, medium to full-bodied wine would pair seamlessly with grilled or roasted meats. The warmth and sheer exuberance of the vintage will put a big smile on your face.

Ultra-pale, partridge-eye hue; early-picked estate fruit produces a spicy/savoury wine that has wild strawberry flavours within a bone-dry compass. If there are no Spanish restaurants available, go Italian - either will work.

Another standout from Yangarra, and I feel like a broken record. Every egg is a bird at Yangarra. This includes 50% whole berries and some whole bunches, fermented wild and matured in 25% new oak for 16 months. Dark berry fruit is luscious and round in a really classic McLaren Vale mode, but not excessive. Certainly bolder and more sweet fruit (and less oak) than the Chapel Hill, and on a similar plane of quality. Plush, medium to full bodied read of style and density. Maybe needs a bit more tannin. Otherwise super. Best drinking: Now to fifteen years. 18/20, 93/100. 14%, $35. Would I buy it? I’d buy a bottle.

A beautifully supple wine with soft cherries and mulberries. Fleshy and plush, and supported by stylish framing tannin. Gorgeous now, though cellaring will benefit the wine.

Vintage Retrospective: The 1999 Napa Valley Cabernets Good dark red, not hugely lucid. Wonderfully energetic aromas and flavors of redcurrant, plum, cedar and tobacco, plus a whiff of leather. At once plush and vinous, seamless and energetic, in the mold of an old-style Pomerol. There's nothing overdone about this Merlot-based blend. Finishes with a fine dusting of tannins and mounting sweetness. A point.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a gorgeous entry-level wine in this range from Stonestreet. A whole range of floral and savory notes give the Estate aromatic nuance to play off a core of vibrant red fruit. Medium in body and impeccably polished, the 2016 is flat-out delicious, even in the early going.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Aurora Point Vineyard dazzles with its energy and precision. Apricot, mint, peach, chamomile and dried flowers are beautifully delineated in a Sauvignon that is both focused and textured. Next to the Estate, the Aurora shows more of a stone fruit character and none of the grassier notes found in that wine.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Chardonnay Bear Point Vineyard is one of the more airy, weightless wines in the range. Lemon confit, white flowers, marzipan and apricot are front and center. Racy and pliant, with soft curves, the Bear Point will drink well right out of the gate.

Winemaker Adam Lee's first crack at a Santa Barbara County blend is a hit, and he plays in the lighter end of the Pinot Noir spectrum as well. Aromas of crushed slate, red cherry and rose petals lead into a bouncy palate that's tart in flavors of pomegranate and raspberry.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond Sweet tobacco, earthiness, leather, and smoke all open up in the 2016 Pinot Noir Barbieri Vineyard. This is an especially dark, meaty style, but it all works very nicely. I would give the 2016 a few more months in bottle as there is quite a bit of tannin that needs time to soften. The Barbieri speaks with tons of character.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Pinot Noir Pratt Vineyard-Sexton Road shows the more overt side of the Russian River Valley. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, tobacco, and menthol are all given a kick of energy by bright acids that keep the wine from being heavy. Dark, pliant and inviting, the 2016 has so much to offer.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Zinfandel Limerick Lane Vineyard is dark, powerful and virile, as wines from this site tend to be. Bright acids and firm tannins are attractive complements to the wine's intense personality. Black cherry, lavender, menthol and gravel notes all run through this potent, deep Zinfandel.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Aromas of blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants follow through to a full body and chewy tannins. So much character and intensity. Muscular and gorgeous. Needs two to three years to soften.