Seeing 20/20 – Sonoma & Anderson Valley New ReleasesThe 2018 Chardonnay Fulton Ranch has a lot of character. It is one of the more structured Chardonnays in this range. Today, there is not a whole lot of Russian River juiciness; instead the 2018 comes across as quite closed and severe.

Seeing 20/20 – Sonoma & Anderson Valley New ReleasesThe 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Vales Edge emerges from a site in Alexander Valley at 450 feet above sea level. Dried flowers, spice, menthol and licorice give the 2016 lovely aromatic presence to match its mid-weight personality.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Cambria opens with an attractive blueberry, strawberry and whipped cream bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced and savory. The flavor profile is a strawberry and mild blackberry blend with notes of minerality, cola and oak. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins and acidity stick around for a while after the wine is gone. This Pinot would pair well with a pork tenderloin dish.

Santa Lucia Highlands Braves the Heat in 2017 Brilliant magenta. Expressive aromas of ripe red berries, incense and potpourri are brightened by a building spicy nuance. Silky, seamless and lively on the palate, offering sweet black raspberry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors complemented by suave rose pastille and mocha notes. Finishes very long and sappy, with repeating floral character and smooth, well-integrated tannins.

Deep bright-rimmed red. Lively, sharply focused red berry aromas show very good clarity and pick up hints of candied rose, white pepper and smoky minerals with air. Taut and sharply delineated, offering intense raspberry, bitter cherry and spicecake flavors that open up very slowly with air. In a bright, spice-driven style, finishing with firm cut and just a trace of silky tannins.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Cambria opens with a new leather and black raspberry bouquet with hints of flinty stone and cherry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, soft and round. The flavor profile is a tangy black raspberry with notes of cedar, minerality, clove and cinnamon. I also detected hints of craisin and red plum mixed in as well. The finish is dry and its acidity and flavors are nicely prolonged. This Pinot definitely shows better with aeration. Decant it and swirl your glass before pairing it with salmon with a sweet and sour plum and rosemary sauce.

A new offering from the producer, this blends together Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it offers sleek flavors of strawberry puree and brioche that benefit from crisp acidity and stony texture. Balanced and fresh, it finishes in lemon peel and flowers.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2017 Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley) is bright, focused and super-expressive. Lemon confit, mint, crushed rocks and white pepper add striking aromatic top notes to this finely sculpted, chiseled Chardonnay from Nielson. This is a fabulous example of Santa Maria Chardonnay at a price that won't break the bank.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2017 Ex Post Facto is an attractive wine from Greg Brewer's new Syrah project. Fermentation with whole clusters brings out a whole range of bright floral and mineral notes to play off a core of dark red Syrah fruit. The 2017 is not super complex, but it is absolutely delicious, and, just as importantly, will drink well right out of the gate. My impression is that Brewer is still developing the idea of the wine he wants to make here. The first two vintages have certainly been impressive, but I think the best is yet to come.

This has the shape of carmenère, once called merlot Chileno, light in the middle followed by a wave of fruit saturating the end. The floral notes of cassis and the herbal details give it length and tension, a wine to pour with roast lamb.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The pale to medium ruby-purple colored 2017 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills has a broody nose of loamy earth, crushed blackberries and black cherries with notes of boysenberry, cranberry, potpourri and an earthy undercurrent. The light to medium-bodied palate offers concentrated, nuanced fruits with a sturdy frame of grainy tannins and juicy freshness, finishing spicy.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2018 Chardonnay Grand Reserve offers pure aromas of baked apples, poached pears, toast, a hint of gunflint and white peaches with floral perfume. The palate is medium-bodied, silky and intense with toasty fruits, juicy acidity and a long, savory-laced finish. This is expertly made, delicious and a great value!

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Stainless steel fermented and aged in 25% new French oak for 12 months, the 2016 Syrah Tepusquet Vineyard has a medium ruby-purple color and gives up aromas of dried lavender and desiccated violets with touches of cocoa, cast iron pan, crushed blackcurrants and blackberries, plus hints of menthol, charcuterie and earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate offers fresh, peppery fruits with a firm frame of grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long and elegant.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2016 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard Signature Collection, from vines planted in 1971, was barrel fermented and aged for 15 months in 20% new French oak. It opens with notes of sweet spice and nutmeg, apple pie, spring honey, lemon curd and white flowers. The medium-bodied palate has a lovely creamy texture with great intensity, juicy freshness and a long, flavorful finish.

Tasting the Traumatic 2017 Vintage (And Others) in Northern California Floral and savory with pine needles and black fruit. Full to medium body and firm tannins, yet it’s poised and refined at the end. Could use a little more in the center palate, but a pretty wine. Drink or hold.

Ripe berry aromas; lush and smooth texture with dense flavors of chocolate as well as ripe plum and boysenberry. Rich, chewy, and long with spice and depth—a remarkable value.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills has a hightoned nose of cranberry, red cherry, licorice, woodsmoke, perfumed earth, black cherries and dried flowers with amaro hints. Light to medium-bodied with perfumed fruits, soft, grainy tannins and seamless acidity, it finishes on an earthy note.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2017 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills has a fresh, open nose of Golden Delicious apple, yellow pear, acacia flowers, crushed stone and white peach. Light to medium-bodied with ripe fruits and integrated acidity, it has a long, minerally finish.

The Upper Barn Vineyard was planted in 1982 to a Hyde-Wente selection (from the Hyde Vineyard in Carneros). Those mature vines, growing at an altitude of 1,800 feet in the Mayacamas Mountains, produced a rich, pear-scented chardonnay. Lisa Valtenbergs ferments it without added yeasts in barrels, where it completes malolactic fermentation and develops a buttery integration. As a young wine, it’s cool, simple and savory, with a structure built to age.

Fragrant, creamy, rich merlot with a sweet impression on the palate, abetted by a significant dose of sweet oak influence, this wine is made for maximum appeal, and achieves it. Tannins are broad-grained and plush, and the flavours spin in the black fruit spectrum, ripe and slightly jammy-sweet. Broad and plush, satisfying, a cold winters' nigh sort of wine. Tasted August 2019.

Here's a very fragrant merlot with nicely lifted red berry, herbs, vanillin, spice and some toast. A modern classic. It is full bodied, fairly dense, warm and juicy with good acidity and firm, slightly green tannin. Good tension here if still riding roughshod and warm at the moment. The length is excellent. Best 2020 to 2025. Last tasted August 2019.

Oregon: An Embarrassment of Riches and Richness Deep red. Fresh, spice-accented dark berry, cola and candied violet scents show very good clarity and pick up a hint of vanilla with air. Appealing sweet and plush in style, offering black raspberry, cherry-cola and spicecake flavors that deepen slowly on the back half. Closes with a touch of spiciness and fine-grained tannins that add shape and subtle grip to a clinging dark berry note.

Yangarra's Shiraz offers amazing complexity for the price. While it starts a little reductively, it opens after a short time in glass and out pours aromas of drying plums, tangerine, Kalamata olives, savory spices and warm earthy mineral nuances. The palate is precise and highly textural with talc-like tannins and a mouthfeel that seems as though you could crunch the wine like an apple rather than sip it. Drink now until 2027.

Mellow, smooth and balanced; smooth, silky and showing a crisp acid structure; long and lovely with subtle toasty oak elements.

Well-structured and juicy, with focused white fruit and dried coconut flavors, featuring creamy accents. The spicy finish is rich, showing hints of dried tarragon.