The 2017 Chardonnay Santos Road, which hails from Hyde clone vines in the 3D vineyard, is my favorite of the Diatom bottlings this year, offering up aromas of peach kernel, pear, honeycomb and white flowers. On the palate, the wine is the deepest and most complete of the range, medium-bodied with a glossily textural attack and fine-boned, racy structure.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Kiser En Bas, from the lower portion of the vineyard, where there is more clay, has the breadth and textural volume to play off the wine's natural energy and vibrancy. Succulent dark cherry, plum, lavender, rose petal and spice all flesh out in this super-expressive, pliant Pinot from Copain. This is very nicely done.

The 2015 Syrah High Rock Ranch is a very pretty wine that also has more than enough depth to balance the cool-climate savoriness and whole cluster influence. Orange peel, mint, spice, tobacco, cedar and dark red plum notes meld together. Pliant, open-knit and enveloping, the 2015 will drink well with minimal cellaring.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Panorama Vineyard South Crest offers up an expressive and youthfully fruit-driven bouquet of ripe cherries, raspberries and dried flowers. On the palate, it's medium to fullbodied, layered and succulent with an ample core of fruit and the greatest sense of completeness of all these offerings from the Panorama Vineyard.

The 2016 Chardonnay Machado is the most reserved and austere of these just-bottled offerings from Brewer-Clifton, unwinding in the glass with a youthful bouquet of fresh apple, pear, gooseberry and musky peach. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, tensile and stony, built around a bright line of acidity, concluding with a saline, tangy finish. While some tasters will gravitate toward the more open-knit wines in the portfolio, I appreciated the Machado's uncompromising style.

Arrowood's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale is a powerful, unctuous wine with tons of fruit density and more than enough structure to balance things out. Super-ripe dark cherry, plum, chocolate, sage, grilled herbs leather, spice and menthol all flesh out in this bold, flavorful Cabernet Sauvignon.

Anakota's 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana is fabulous. Rich, sensual and enveloping, the 2015 captures all the allure that defines the best wines of the year. Super-ripe red cherry, plum, wild flowers and spice all mesh together in this ample, creamy Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon. As always, the Helena Montana presents a decidedly fruit-driven personality next to the more savory Helena Dakota.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is laced with a host of mineral and soil-driven elements that add considerable nuance to the dark, plush fruit. Smoke, graphite, gravel, incense, blackberry jam and menthol give the 2015 its layered, beautifully expressive personality. I would prefer to give the 2015 a few years in bottle to allow the tannins to soften. This is another impressive showing from Anakota and Pierre Seillan.

Succulent red cherry, plum, licorice, lavender, rose petal, mint and blood orange infuse the 2016 Pinot Noir Parsons' Vineyard. Intensely sweet and perfumed, with layers of pliant fruit to match its alluring personality. This is one of the most complete and captivating wines I have ever tasted at Siduri.

This youthful effort from the Sta. Rita Hills offers up a delicious combination of bright red fruits and spice, with decidedly earthy and savory notes that make it an excellent match for grilled meats and game birds. The tannins are nicely integrated and the long-term prospects very good.

Mt. Brave's 2015 Cabernet Franc is a huge, massively tannic wine that is going to need a number of years to shed some of its formidable mountain tannin. There is so much power and pure density here. The Franc is really best described as a mountain wine, while varietal character lies more in the background. The inky dark fruit and spice flavors are nicely delineated throughout.

The 2015 Malbec is fabulous. Super-ripe red cherry and plum fruit give the wine its exuberance and allure. Soft, plush and opulent, the 2015 has so much to offer. Floral overtones add brightness to this gorgeous wine from Mt. Brave. All of the Mt. Brave wines are tasty, but the Malbec has an extra kick of intensity that makes it irresistible.

La Jota's flagship, the 2015 Merlot W.S. Keyes, captures all of the richness and ripeness of the vintage and yet retains a nice amount of freshness. Blackberry jam, crème de cassis, licorice, plum and cloves infuse this decidedly rich, concentrated Merlot. Opulent, flamboyant and super-ripe, the 2015 has quite a bit to offer.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Muldune Trail is pliant, supple and inviting, with striking purity of fruit and terrific overall balance. The sweet red berry fruit and blood orange flavors are beautifully textured in this racy, inviting Pinot. The Muldune Trail is full of Anderson Valley character.

Bright, fresh and nuanced, the 2016 Chardonnay (Russian River) has so much to offer. The Russian River Chardonnay is a distinctly mid-weight wine built on expressive citrus and floral character. It also happens to be the hidden gem in this range.

The 2015 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard is deep, viscous and exotic. Tropical fruit, vanillin and yellow orchard fruit are all pushed forward in this racy, flamboyant wine. A touch of botrytis comes through in the wine's oiliness and overall flavor profile. The Seascape is the most exotic of the Chardonnays in the Hartford Court range.

The 2015 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard is a distinctly structured, savory wine built more on nuance rather than on overt fruit. Sage, dried apricot and a host of more mineral-notes are laced together in this distinctive Chardonnay. Deceptive in its mid-weight structure, the 2015 packs quite a punch.

Hartford's 2015 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard has turned out beautifully. Today, the mineral notes that are typical of this wine are much more present than they were when the wine was in barrel. Graphite, sage, apricot and smoke infuse this super-expressive, textured Chardonnay. This is very nicely done. The Stone Côte emerges from Hartford's portion of the Durrell Vineyard.

The 2016 Pinot Noir 459 is the richest, most powerful wine in the range this year, offering up a ripe bouquet of sweet strawberry preserve, herbs, currant leaf and aromatic bark. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and textural, with impressive midpalate amplitude and a fine-grained but firm chassis of structuring tannins that asserts itself on the chewy finish. This will need some time in the cellar to mellow.

The 2016 Chardonnay Hapgood opens in the glass with notes of pear, peach pit and iodine, framed by a light touch of nutty reduction. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, tensile and saline, with lovely length and a slightly austere, uncompromising personality that will likely unwind with a few years of bottle age.

A wine of power and structure, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Stature doesn't have the showiness of some of the other wines in this vintage. Readers will have to be especially patient, as the tannins are imposing. Then again this is a mountain Cabernet with serious depth of fruit and plenty of character.

While Diatom was formerly wedded to sites in the Sta. Rita Hills, Brewer-Clifton produced a Chardonnay from Katherine's Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley (neighboring Bien Nacido) in the 1999 vintage, so in a sense this cuvée represents a return to old haunts. At 445 cases, the 2017 Chardonnay Katherine's is also by some margin Diatom's largest bottling this vintage. Notes of peach, grapefruit, pastry cream and lime cordial precede a mediumbodied, glossy, saline, acid-driven wine with beautiful purity and concentration.

The 2017 Chardonnay Hilliard Bruce—which hails from a northfacing site on the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA planted with clone 96—reveals crisp notes of pastry cream, Asian pear and citrus blossom. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, glossy and fine-boned, with taut, stony structure and a pure, tangy finish.

Sweet red cherry, dried flowers, mint, white pepper and blood orange all meld together in Copain's 2015 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut. Nervous and energetic, but with good depth, the 2015 is a very promising wine. The 2015 has begun to fill out since I tasted it a few months ago. All the elements are very nicely balanced in this pliant, mid-weight Pinot from Copain.

The 2015 Chardonnay DuPratt Vineyard is quite powerful and dense, but still very much within the understated style that is such a Copain signature. Pear, smoke, slate and flinty notes all flesh out in this textured, nuanced Chardonnay from Copain. The DuPratt is one of the more generous, creamy wines in the range. There is plenty of energy, but the DuPratt also has an extra kick of textural depth to balance things out.