Well balanced, with supple coffee, herb, currant and cedary oak flavors, it turns smooth and polished on the finish, where the flavors fan out. Drinks well now, but will be best after 1999 to 2000.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is made of 100% Cabernet aged 19 months in 33% new French oak. Deep garnet-purple colored, it rocks up with gregarious crème de cassis, baked blackberries and warm mulberries scents with hints of bay leaves, fragrant earth and unsmoked cigars plus a waft of menthol. Full-bodied, rich and packed with warm cassis and earthy layers, it has a sturdy frame of grainy tannins and loads of freshness, finishing with an herbal lift.

Aged 19 months in one-third new French oak, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a terrific, classic, slightly old-school effort. Blackcurrants, black cherries, tobacco and leafy herb (rosemary and California bay) notes, medium body, good concentration, and building tannin all make for a terrific and elegant Cabernet that’s going to keep for a decade.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith is plump, juicy and open-knit, all of which give it considerable immediacy. Dark red cherry, plum, spice and dried flowers all flesh out in the glass. This is one of the most supple, forward wines in the range.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's offers good up-front appeal and sweetness in its fruit. Dark, unctuous and expressive. Like all of these wines the Christopher's is lacking in structure and concentration.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a gorgeous, entry-level wine for the estate. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, licorice, spice and gravel are all pushed forward. This is an unusually forward wine although there is plenty of the typical savory/graphite notes that are so typical of this site.

Made with grapes from the Jackson Family's Stonestreet Estate vineyards that crown mountaintops rising from 152-731m over Alexander Valley, the 2013 Stonestreet Estate Cab has an interesting appealing texture, fluidly cruising through the mouth before the wine deposits its gentle, fine and sweet tannins on the back of the tongue. Dark black cherry is the main flavour, with notes of bay and mocha.

The appropriately-named 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith is a true powerhouse. Huge beams of tannin lurk in the background in a distinctly virile, massive mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. There is not a lot of finesse here.

Dusty cedar and a faintness of rose open this wine, like walking into a lovely forest at the edge of a garden. Along with a delicate supporting role of oak and tannin, it offers black cherry, graphite and dried herb to enjoy, as well as a powerful hit of concentration on the finish.

Bright ruby-red. Black fruits, coffee, licorice and oaky chocolate and mocha on the nose. Densely packed and firmly built, with a strong spine of ripe acidity giving definition and punch to the flavors of blackberry, black cherry, minerals and chocolate. Quite penetrating and youthfully tight but there's good underlying fat to support the youthfully edgy tannins. This will need a few years in the bottle to soften and blossom.

Good bright ruby-red. Brooding aromas of blueberry, cassis and crushed stone. Deep and surprisingly sweet, offering rich, nicely delineated flavors of cassis, plum syrup and licorice. Finishes with suave dusty tannins and excellent mineral-driven length.

Full-bodied with a big grip on the palate. Blackberry liqueur aromas and flavours, though the wine is dry and complex. The grapes come from the cool climate of Sonoma's Alexander Valley.

A classic example of Alexander Valley Cabernet, rich but supple, with compelling fruit and vanilla aromas and an overlay of oak on the palate. This is a lush and very satisfying wine. It outperforms many more expensive Napa Valley Cabs.

Typical of good Cabernet Sauvignon from mountain vineyards, this wine is tight and firm, with flavors that make one think of wild berries, herbal underbrush and stony terrain. The grapes grow at altitudes ranging from 400 to 2,400 feet, which helps explain Stonestreet Cabernet’s mouthwatering concentration, savory tannins and palate pleasing long finish.

Deep red-ruby. Youthfully medicinal aromas of cassis and bitter chocolate. Creamy and suave on entry, then tighter in the middle, showing excellent intensity to the dark berry and chocolatey oak flavors. Boasts a lovely combination of sweetness, firmness and breadth, along with smooth but tight-grained tannins that suggest a graceful evolution in bottle. Very nicely balanced, dense cabernet from east-facing vines above the fog layer.

Dramatically rich and full-bodied in blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate and oak flavors. With thick, fine tannins giving it a youthful astringency, this Bordeaux blend needs to be cellared. Should develop bottle notes over the next ten years.

From a block on the Alexander Mountain Estate at 2,200 feet, Rockfall has the pungent mineral savor of a high-elevation cabernet. There's plump and plummy fruit to smooth over all the mineral tannin, all wrapped together in tight restraint. Quiet and unyielding for now, this lasts on the flinty scent of crushed rock. For the cellar.

Sharing the same winemaker, Graham Werts, as the Stonestreet winery, the 2006 Legacy is a 1,400-case blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec. This gorgeous 2006 boasts a deep ruby/purple color as well as aromas and flavors of spicy oak, creosote, burning embers, and copious quantities of black currant and blackberry fruit. Full-bodied with a subtle smoky component, multilayers, a round, generous texture, and sweet tannin in its silky finish, it can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20+ years.

Why Sonoma County deserves the wine spotlight: Stonestreet has the ring of a contrived winery name designed to conjure rural imagery. But it’s the founder’s middle name, as in Jess Stonestreet Jackson. The wealthy land-use lawyer and prominent thoroughbred-horse breeder, who died in April at age 81, played a role in popularizing chardonnay in America with the country’s most popular bottling, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve. This is a newer, super-premium label. I love the aggressive tannins in this full-bodied yet austere red. It shows cassis, black tea and mineral nuances along with a firm slap of acidity. Try it with steak or age it for up to 15 years.

Although the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is a softer wine, it still begs for additional bottle age. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, it offers graphite, blackberry, cassis, toasty oak, and earth notes in a full-bodied, rich style with slightly less tannin and concentration than its monster sibling.

(100% cabernet sauvignon, planted at an altitude of 2,400 feet) Full ruby-red. Dark berries, graphite, cedar and spicy herbs on the nose. Sweeter and lusher than the regular Alexander Valley bottling, with complex flavors of currant, melted chocolate and flowers. Here the acids are more harmonious, framing and extending the flavors through a broadly tannic finish. Even in 2005, the crop level at this altitude did not exceed 2.5 tons per acre, according to winemaker Graham Weerts.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Estate is a gorgeous and distinctive wine. Lime peel, mint, white flowers, crushed rocks and a whole range of green, grassy notes give the 2017 vivacity and brilliance. A touch of reduction adds character to this super-expressive Sauvignon Blanc from Stonestreet.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Aurora Point Vineyard opens with compelling citrus notes of grapefruit, yuzu and lemon zest with touches of baking bread, wild thyme and crushed rocks. Crisp and medium-bodied with a silky texture, it gives loads of citrus layers and a minerally undercurrent with a long zesty finish.