USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale ruby-purple in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir Emery has a nose of sweet fruits —strawberry, raspberry and peach jam—with underlying broody notions of cardamom, leather, forest floor and pipe tobacco—there are a lot of layers on the nose. Light to medium-bodied, it has wonderful layers of savory spice, fruits and earth. It's got very fine, grainy, pixelated but powerful tannins and juicy acidity carrying the very long, spicy, sweetly fruited finish. This is beautiful now but will benefit from a couple years in bottle.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale to medium ruby in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Bramble Hill Vineyard is youthfully shy on the nose, giving way to notes of boysenberry, blueberry and warm black cherries with suggestions of violet, pipe tobacco and exotic spice. The light to medium-bodied palate is generous, giving up wonderful layers of warm, dark fruit, restrained baking spice and earth notes. It’s framed with firm, grainy tannins and wonderful freshness to lift the long layered finish. Wonderful!

Top California Cabernet 2015 wines: Full vintage report It's the rare Napa Cab that drinks beautifully both on release and through a decade or more - this is one of them: decadently plush and juicy, with lifted floral aromas and smooth, seamless tannins. It sports great verve and polish, with oak, ripeness, acidity and alcohol all in balance.

There's a prominent but relatively restrained sense of cherry juice on the nose of this bottling alongside gamy meat, sagebrush and composting rose-petal aromas. The palate is framed by strong energy, which delivers red fruit, sharp red spice and tinges of spearmint and tarragon.

Shows precision and expression, with refined black cherry and blueberry flavors accented by crushed stone and dark spice notes, building complexity toward polished tannins.

A dynamic combination of rich polish and great structure, with expressive black cherry, licorice and spiced orange flavors that finish with refined, mineral-tinged tannins.

This delicious wine helps to chip away at the widespread stereotype that Merlot is a second-rate grape of a rather wimpy nature. Serious students of wine have always known that was merely a stereotype, but of course, wine shouldn't just be for “serious students” but for all of those who enjoy fine things in life. Moreover, those who’ve been hoodwinked by the stereotype aren’t usually to blame. There really was a lot of wimpy Merlot made over the years to be drunk as a cocktail, and then, the general sense that those wines were what the variety should be had the result of dumbing-down the category to prevent consumer disappointment. But enough diagnosis… let’s get on with the prescription: This is the cure for a whole host of mis-impressions, with excellent color saturation, rather brooding but still notable aromatics, truly full body, deep and quite ripe flavors recalling blackberries and dark cherries, a notable edge of oak, and a gutsy finish. Definitely a wine for the table rather than the bar, it is nevertheless very enjoyable right now with food, and wasn’t over-extracted or over-oaked to prove a point. Yet it does, indeed, prove a point.

Top California Cabernet 2015 wines: Full vintage report At a time when many winemakers proclaim their Cabernets to be ready to drink on release and also ageworthy, Lokoya's Chris Carpenter is honest: his wines are made for collectors who will cellar them for a decade or more. This wine, from the Veeder Peak vineyard, is tannic and astringent now yet there's gorgeous blackberry and blackcurrant fruit at its core, with fresh acidity that will hold until the tannins resolve. 100% new French oak.

Top California Cabernet 2015 wines: Full vintage report Credit high-elevation grape growing for this tightly wound, almost brooding wine under which lurks succulent, vibrant wild berry fruit and lively acidity to match. Impeccably balanced for its size, it still begs for cellaring for at least five years, as well as decanting. Still, it's the most approachable of the four Lokoya Cabs from the mountains.

This is an excellent California Merlot, among the best I’ve tasted in recent years. It looks forbiddingly dark, but serves up gorgeous, open berry aromas that are backed up with equally generous flavors of Bing cherries and blackberries. With that said, don’t mistake this for a juicy fruit bomb, as it is bolstered by spicy oak and buttressed by firm but fine-grained tannins. It will surely benefit from five years of cellaring, but would prove thoroughly enjoyable now either as a stand-alone sipper or with food… and not just a giant steak or grilled wolverine, but even a nice veal chop (which is where Merlot can show an edge over Cabernet). I don’t wish to gloss over this point too quickly: It is a significant achievement to produce a wine that can be sipped, or dined with, or cellared -- all with equal appropriateness, and all upon initial commercial release. Very impressive.

Rich purple color. Lovely depth of fruit on the nose (fresh blueberry, juicy black currants, tangy black cherries), along with complex elements of graphite, mint, eucalyptus, pipe tobacco and vanilla, along with mossy rocks and forest floor. On the palate, this is full but suave with solid tannic backbone, but vibrant acidity keeps it so fresh. Gushing black cherries, tangy red and black currants, blueberries, the fruit is tangy and vibrant and laced with mint, coffee, dark chocolate, along with earth, charcoal and incense sticks. Lots of savory elements to come out with time, this needs a serious decant or, preferably, five to ten years in the cellar. Exquisite stuff. Includes 10% Petit Verdot aged 22 months in French oak, from vines planted at about 1,800 feet in elevation.

Lively and textured with awesome blackberry, mocha, and black pepper. The finish is refined with mineral, and spice. Drink now or hold for five years.

Deep red/purple colour, with an impressive aroma of blueberry, raspberry and spicy oak backing. A hint of almond. The wine is bright and intense in the mouth, medium to full-bodied, its exuberant fruit tempered by savoury tannins and fresh acidity. A very classy merlot, beautifully balanced and leaning more to the dark-fruit style than the tobacco or olivaceous style.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Slope has a nose of wood smoke, smoked meats, potpourri, black pepper, blackcurrants and black cherries—this is very savory and Syrah-esque! Medium-bodied, it packs in the blue and black fruit layers in the mouth, wonderfully sweet and ripe, with savory/earthy layers of turned earth and pipe tobacco. It's framed by firm, fine, grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long and sweetly fruited. This is great!

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2016 Pinot Noir Pierre Leon is pale to medium ruby-purple in color with a wonderful deep nose of ripe red and black fruits with notions of dried cranberries, macerated warm black cherries, exotic spices, cardamom and savory hints of leather. Medium-bodied, it fills the mouth with ripe fruits, savory/spicy layers and notions of floral perfume. It has fine, grainy but powerful tannins and juicy acidity to carry the long finish. Give this a couple years in bottle, and it will really shine.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two "In 2016 we had access to vineyard sites that came with the purchase by Jackson Family Wines," Lynn Penner-Ash explains. "Those sites brought some freshness to the wines. They are fresher and livelier than what we saw from the other warm vintages." She also notes that the oak usage dropped quite a bit in 2016, down to about 19% -23% from 20%-40%. Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir opens with just the slightest touch of gunflint-like reduction on the nose, giving way to red cherries, cranberries and warm raspberry with underlying suggestions of pink peppercorn and flowers. Light to medium-bodied, it gives up great layers of warm red and blue fruits with earthy accents of forest floor, wet earth and bark. It's structured by fine-grained tannins and great juicy acidity carrying the long fruit-forward finish. This is youthfully coiled but should blossom beautifully.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2015 Pinot Noir Zena Crown Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple in color with an elegant, perfumed nose of wild blackberries, new leather, pipe tobacco and undergrowth plus notes of cardamom and garrigue. Light to medium-bodied and silky in the mouth, it offers great black and blue fruits framed with spice and earthy accents, held together with firm, plush tannins and juicy acidity and finishing long and packed with wonderful layers.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two "In 2015 we really tried to focus on earlier picking instead of acidulation," says Lynn Penner-Ash. "2015 has a life to it, a brightness." Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir has a gorgeous nose of violet and rose petal over a core of warm red and black cherries, baked cranberries, pink peppercorn, Bergamot and an exotic hint of saltiness. Light to medium-bodied, it has wonderful layers of red and black fruits in the mouth with a strong line of spice—cardamom, nutmeg, hints of pepper—plus notes of autumn leaves and dusty earth. It’s got supple, grainy tannins and wonderful juicy acidity carrying the layered finish.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2015 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple in color and youthfully shy on the nose, giving way to garrigue and pepper over a core of macerated black cherries, black licorice and bramble berry with floral perfume in the background. Light to medium-bodied, the palate sings with dark fruits, warm earth, wet leaves and floral perfume with notes of baking spice. It's held together with plush, grainy tannins and juicy acidity carrying the long, dense finish. This is young and tight but has the stuffing to blossom beautifully.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Pas de Nom is youthfully shy, giving way to spicy notions of cinnamon stick, nutmeg, garrigue and perfume over a core of warm black cherry and blackberry jam plus a suggestion of wet soil. The light to medium-bodied palate is packed full of warm, ripe, dark fruits accented by spice and flowers. It's framed by plush, grainy tannins and wonderful mouthwatering acidity, finishing long and packed with flavor. Yum!

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2015 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple in color with a nose of warm blueberries, boysenberry, wild blackberries and warm black cherries plus notes of exotic perfume, violets, lilacs, pink peppercorn, garrigue, and touches of charcuterie—this is very savory and pretty! Light to medium-bodied, the palate is generous with blue and black fruits and spicy touches of pepper, cardamom and cinnamon stick. It has firm, plush, grainy tannins and good freshness to carry the dense finish. Give this a couple years in bottle for it to really show its stuff.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two The 2016 Dropstone Chardonnay opens with very pure notes of lemon zest, red delicious apples and tangerine peel with honey toast, flowers and hay plus crushed rock accents. The light to medium-bodied palate is fresh and lively with a touch of creaminess to the texture, offering wonderfully concentrated ripe fruits and creamy/toasty accents, juicy acidity and a long finish.

Top 100 Wines of 2018 - #6

The nose on this bottling from a vineyard first planted in 1970 starts with woody sagebrush, forest floor, mushroom and moss aromas, but leads into ripe cranberry and rose petals, with the slightest hint of game. Bay leaf, marjoram and tangy cranberry touches complete the palate.

Fairly tart and juicy on the nose, this bottling from one of the region's oldest vineyards offers raspberry, baking spice and a hint of wild boar flesh on the nose. The flavors are full of barely ripe red fruit and more gamy qualities, and there is plenty of acid cutting through the rounded mouthfeel.