The 2015 Malbec Knights Valley sports an inky purple color to go with a beautiful nose of ripe black and blue fruits, ample spicy wood, and a touch of violets. It’s medium-bodied, layered, has terrific purity of fruit, no hard edges, and moderate acidity, all making it a joy to drink. Enjoy bottles over the coming 5-6 years.

Juicy, refreshing, and tangy with minerality and zesty acidity; bright and modern; long and balanced; a small-production wine from Kendall-Jackson's Chilean property.

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 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Estate comes from Alexander Valley and has tiny splash of Semillon. Brought up in stainless steel and neutral puncheons, it offers a Bordeaux Blanc-like bouquet of lemon curd, crushed rocks/salty minerality, and apple blossom. It has vibrant acidity, medium body, and a balanced, rock-solid profile. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years.

From a family-run estate located in the heart of the Russian River, the deeper, richer 2016 Pinot Noir Parsons' Vineyard leads with serious amounts of fruit and richness. Black raspberries, red and black currants, spice, flowers, and forest floor characteristics give way to a sweetly fruited, medium to full-bodied, ready-to-go beauty that’s going to drink nicely for 7-8 years.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Lingenfelder Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple colored, offering lovely black cherries, mulberries and wild blueberries notions with hints of dried herbs and underbrush. Medium-bodied with a beautiful plush texture and seamless freshness, it has loads of red and black fruit layers with a compelling floral note to the finish.

Lean and lively, this wine deliver forward and delicious red and dark fruit flavors that sit alongside some minerals. There is wonderful balance and texture to this wine that will cellar well over the next decade.

A blend of 36% Syrah, 23% Mourvèdre, 22% Viognier, 19% Grenache (the Viognier was cofermented with the Syrah), the 2015 Arrowood Vineyard Rhône Blend is a delicious, rounded, supple, incredibly charming Rhône blend that has lots of blackberry, herbes de Provence, lavender and peppery aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, pure and elegant, drink it over the coming 3-5 years.

From vines planted in 1915 and 1952, the 2016 Zinfandel Russian River Valley is a supple, medium-bodied, sexy Zinfandel that has loads of character in its peppery, spicy, incense, and darker raspberry aromas and flavors. Brought up in 35% new French oak, give it a quick decant if drinking anytime soon.

The 2016 Chardonnay Alexander Valley (brought up in 30% new barrels) offers lots of white flowers, citrus, and salty, rocky mineral-like notes. It’s fresh, straight, and elegant, with terrific purity.

A mix of estate and purchased fruit, the 2015 Pinot Noir is a fleshy, rich, impressively textured – and balanced – effort that gives up classic notes of black cherries, forest floor, and scorched earth. It's an impressive, rich, and again, balanced, effort that has loads to love.

Clean, pretty and lively, with white peach, white flowers, and hints of tangerine, the 2015 Chardonnay Saralee's Vineyard is medium-bodied, light textured, and elegant on the palate, with good acidity. This balanced, classic Chardonnay has building richness, integrated acidity, and a good finish.

Even at the list price of $35, the 2016 Chardonnay Jackson Estate Fulton Ranch is a good value. Citrus, lemon curd and white flower notes all flow to a medium-bodied, elegant Chardonnay that has a terrific sense of elegance and purity. Aged 9 months in just 12% new French oak, it’s a class act well worth checking out.

I also loved the 2016 Chardonnay Jackson Estate Cloud Landing, which comes from a site in the Sonoma Coast/Petaluma Gap region of Sonoma. It’s incredibly aromatic and offers flamboyantly styled notes of orange blossom, citrus oil, tangerine and honeysuckle. Drink this medium to full-bodied, vibrant, yet rich and unctuous effort over the coming 2-3 years.

This robust red manages to find elegance amidst power. The nose starts out quiet, needing some swirling to open up and show plush blue and red fruit, floral notes and baking spice. The juicy palate is sandy-textured from superfine tannins, yet there’s enough heft and structure to take this well into the future, from 2028 and beyond.

The appellation 2016 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is a barrel fermented and aged white sourced from all the estate properties. Spiced pineapple, pear, seashell, and some lemon peel notes all emerge from this medium-bodied effort that has good intensity and depth, a light texture, and nicely integrated acidity. It shows the more elegant style of the vintage but puts on weight with time in the glass. It should drink nicely for 3-4 years.

Densely built around a tight core of firm tannins and lively acidity, this offers black raspberry, herbes de Provence and pepper flavors. Cellar for now.

Light pink. Strawberry and spice. Sweet fruit and good acidity. This might be a prototypical rosé. Nice. Outstanding.

The Largest Blind Tasting of American True Rosés  - Flights 1-3 Brilliant pink with the slightest orange note. Strawberry with a decided meaty aspect. Good fruit and acid. Really coats the mouth with strawberry goodness. Yum. Outstanding.

Not yet bottled, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge, from an organically farmed site in Sonoma, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that will see a full 32 months in 70% new French oak. Lots of black cherry-like fruit, spice, graphite, and dried earth characteristics flow to a medium to full-bodied, nicely structured Cabernet that has building tannin and good concentration. It should certainly be an outstanding wine.

Medium-light yellow color; attractive, floral, topical fruit aroma with a hint of lemon curd; medium body; citrus, white peach and passion fruit flavors with good acid balance and a rich, slightly creamy mouthfeel; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

As with the En Haut cuvée, the 2016 Pinot Noir Kiser En Bas saw malo in barrel and was brought up in just over 20% new French oak. However, where the En Haut saw some whole cluster, this was completely destemmed. It offers ripeness in its Bing cherry, dried earth, licorice, and leafy herbs notes, and while it has plenty of fruit and depth, it doesn’t come together with the same elegance and balance found in the En Haut cuvée. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years.

Leading off the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Les Voisins saw a malo in barrel followed by aging in 19% new French oak. This light ruby-colored effort has a terrific perfume of spiced cherries, dried flowers, and wild strawberries. It’s fresh, lively, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with a charming, albeit slightly short style. Nevertheless, I love its complexity and balance.

Another Côte Rôtie lookalike is the 2016 Syrah Baker Ranch, which I suspect saw loads of stems and was brought up in neutral barrels. Raspberries, cranberries, rose petals, violets, and hints of meatiness give way to a medium to light-bodied Syrah that has plenty of tannin, impressive balance, and a lengthy, polished, elegant style that’s a joy to drink. It should keep for 7-8 years.

Leading off the Syrahs, the 2016 Les Voisins has a Côte Rôtie-like perfume of bacon fat, raspberries, and dried flowers. It’s medium-bodied, silky and elegant on the palate, with a complex, mid-weight, incredibly drinkable style.