Shows of its ripe black cherry, currant and wild berry flavors that stretch to a jammy edge, adding pretty spice and anise and firm tannins. Well crafted.

Figs and dried fruits with some tar predominate in the nose of this red wine. This has polished tannins, good bright fruit and a medium finish. Drink or hold.

Winemaker Christopher Carpenter, who is also responsible for the wines of Lokoya, has fashioned an opaque ruby/purple-colored 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon offering notes of black cherries, black currants, and spicy oak, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, low acidity and light but sweet tannin. Another strong effort in this challenging vintage, it should drink well for 10-12 years. Cardinale's Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot aged in 90% new French oak, has always been one of the most impressive offerings from the Kendall-Jackson portfolio.

This is marked by appealing cream- and mocha-laced flavors, with a dash of espresso woven into the dense dried berry, loamy earth, cedar and tobacco notes. Maintains a tight focus and gains on the finish, though the tannins are dry and gripping.

Potent and well-built, offering a mix of pure, ripe blackberry and currant, with touches of smoke and cedar and rich, chewy tannins.

Bright golden cast. Full-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted. Heavily oaked. Smoke, yeast, cream. Quite heavily oaked, with a big, smoky flavor profile. Luxuriant and rich, with easty complexity and enough acidity to maintain a sense of balance through the finish.

Bright, pale yellow-green. Delicately perfumed aromas of lime oil, fresh herbs and green tropical fruits. Juicy, fresh and refined, with enticing lift to the intense flavors of grapefruit peel, pineapple and flowers and fresh herbs; reminded me a bit of riesling. Still a tad reductive; assistant winemaker Laura Diaz-Munoz blocked the malolactic fermentation but did a lot of lees stirring for creamosity. This was done in used barrels; Diaz-Munoz made the 2012 vintage in concrete eggs.

The 2015 Innovant, Captûre's Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, is terrific. Juicy red berry, tobacco, grilled herbs, menthol, licorice and cedar are all nicely put together in this pliant, supple red. Open-knit and silky, the 2015 will drink well upon release. The blend is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot.

Ripe, sexy, and voluptuous, the 2015 Innovant Red Wine is the entry-level blend from the estate based on 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot brought up in 50% new French oak. Crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, lead pencil and spice notes give way to a medium to full-bodied wine that has sweet, rounded tannin, plenty of fruit, and a good finish.

The 2014 Innovant Red Wine is beautiful, with a ripe, upfront, charming style that’s hard to not drink. Plums, black cherries, leady herbs and a kiss of graphite all emerge from this medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, textured effort that still holds onto the firm, age-worthy style present in all these releases. This beauty can safely be drunk anytime over the coming 10-12 years.

This is made from a majority Cabernet Sauvignon, with 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This makes for a softly layered tease of cinnamon, cedar and brush, with the tannins dry and grippy. Black licorice and violet dot the nose and palate.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Revelation has turned out well, but at the same time, the jump in quality here over the two vintages is marked. Black fruit, mocha, plum, smoke and licorice, along with big, grippy tannins, are among the signatures.

The 2017s From Sonoma Bordeaux-like with its crisp citrus, lemon, and white flower bouquet, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Tradition is medium-bodied, vibrant and pure on the palate, with beautiful purity and freshness. It's impeccably made and well worth drinking. This comes mostly from Sonoma County yet has close to a fourth from Lake County.

This is a complex, impressive white with a creamy lush entry that evolves on the palate to offer crisp fleshy elements of white peach and lime. The midpalate is balanced in richness, leading the way to a bold herbal grassy finish.

The 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Les Pionniers, from the Jackson family's Alexander Mountain Estate, is focused and nicely sculpted. Bright citrus peel, mint, white pepper and slate give the wine its distinctive, chiseled personality, while a dollop of Roussane adds texture.

The 2015 Sauvignon Blanc les Pionniers is scented of lemons, ripe apples, yuzu and chopped herbs. Medium-bodied, it has a great core of citrus flavors complemented by nice minerality, finishing with a lovely lift.

Pea shoots and a faraway lawn provide a fresh inspiring of springtime in this stainless-steel fermented white that’s lovely and fully expressive on the palate. Jasmine notes are joined by tastes of apricot and peach, while tropical breezes blow by.

A ripe, lush style, with honeycomb, white ginger, warm brioche and creamed yellow apple and pineapple flavors gliding through. A light verbena thread keeps this fresh enough, but this is squarely on the showy, crowd-pleasing side of things.

There’s a balanced richness to this wine, with lovely notes of wood-grilled apple, toasted hazelnut, freshly baked apple pie and orange creamsicle that are cut by ample acidity. The medium-weight mouthfeel is smooth but not flabby, with lingering baking spice and toasted brioche notes on the close.

I reviewed the maiden release of the white Western Cape Chardonnay owned by the Jackson Family in my South Africa report in 2015. The sophomore 2014 Chardonnay follows on its heels. It has a winning bouquet, maybe a little obvious but very pleasurable nonetheless, laden with subtle tropical tones, pear and (like the 2013) a touch of brioche. The oak is certainly well integrated here. The palate is not fat, but there is the weight and presence in the mouth that you seek in a Chardonnay. It maintains lovely balance, the acidity finely tuned with nectarine, paw paw and citrus lemon towards the finish. It is a strong follow-up to their debut, even if as I mentioned previously, it does not offer the minerality you might seek from a top Chardonnay, but you will be enjoying this too much to care for that. The only caveat? Well, there's a surfeit of damn fine South African Chardonnay at cheaper prices out there.

Capensis began its short life in 2012 and the 2013 vintage, released from a variety of extreme sites from across the Western Cape, was the inaugural release. In 2014 Barbara Banke (Jackson Family Wines) and Antony Beck (Graham Beck Wines), jointly purchased the Fijnbosch, Stellenbosch property which now makes up just over half of the production of Capensis. At 1720 feet elevation and steep slopes it fits the Jackson vineyard mould. The rest of the grapes come from Overberg and the Robertson region. Winemaker Graham Weerts, who comes from Cape Town, shuffles between Stonestreet and several JFW properties. At US $80 the price suggests great things and I’m happy to report this wine is headed in that direction. The nose is a seductive mix of lees and honey with ripe tropical fruit but all within itself. The oak treatment is less or better or both in 2014 allowing the minerality and stony undercurrent to show through. The juicy fruit is framed with fine acidity and the creamy chalky textures mute the apple peach notes in a Burgundian sort of way. Just over half the wine is fermented in new French the rest in stainless steel. A nice improvement over the previous year. Crab, halibut or chicken would all work here.

There's a forward lush, toasty character to this wine, which opens with smoky, oaky notes alongside fruity tones of pink apple and rich melon. The round, broad palate offers more of the same, with flavors of creamed pear and buttery baked apple that are balanced by ample acidity, lending freshness to the close.

The maiden 2013 Capensis Chardonnay has some serious star players behind it: proprietors Barbara Banke (Jackson Family Estate) and Antony Beck (Graham Beck Wines), vineyard manager Rosa Kruger and winemaker Graham Weerts. The philosophy behind it is straightforward (in principal): source fruit from exceptional vineyard sites, which this year comes from the Fijnbosch Vineyard in Stellenbosch, Kaaimansgat in Overberg and E. Bruwer in Robertson. Around 55% of the crop is matured in new French barrels for 12 months. It has an attractive nose with subtle tropical aromas, a touch of white peach and shaved almond that attains more delineation as it opens in the glass (I allowed mine an hour to aerate). The palate displays impressive weight whilst maintaining good balance, notes of Cornice pear, nectarine and a light touch of peach, then erring towards brioche with time. There is just a touch of orange peel enlivening the finish. It marks a decent debut, as it ought to given the price and the names behind it. What I would say is that it does not have the mineralité, the nervosité of a top class Chardonnay, and I opened a couple of my favorite South African examples to compare. That's not to say subsequent vintages will find that. What this is, is a delicious, well crafted Chardonnay that you could cellar for a decade, though I have no qualms in drinking it over the next year or two.

A super premium Chardonnay from Western Cape? Just another facet of the brave new RSA. Jackson Family Estates has brought on winemaker Graham Weerts and old vine whisperer Rosa Kruger for this age-worthy wine. Grapes were sourced from three vineyards ranging from 175-750m in altitude: Stellenbosch (12-15 year old vines on rich clay); Overberg (28 year old vines on granite); Robertson (ten year old vines on limestone). One year in French oak (55 percent new) and regular battonage has yielded a generous, rich, creamy white with perfumed vanilla pear, red apple, bosc pear and stony spice, spread upon a solid wood framework. Settling into its thoroughbred stature now, and will continue to do so over the next few years. 1000 cases made

Fred Holloway's first full vintage started off with a bang. This big, complex Chardonnay has aromas of tropical fruit underscored by butterscotch and mint. The flavors burst with pineapple and a touch of menthol, while the long, buttery finish is perfectly complemented by racy acidity.