Tenuta di Arceno: chasing perfectionThe celebrated 2016 vintage in Tuscany continues to impress. This Bordeaux blend is based on Merlot but has a slightly Left Bank style, and will soon become the estate's current vintage of Valadorna, due to be released this year. Aged in 60% new French oak, it is polished and intense, with bramble fruit, earthy balsamic tones, a milk chocolate aroma and a slightly herbal touch. Its tight-knit structure, combining crisp acidity and firm yet velvety tannins, makes this a powerful yet graceful wine. Even if you're not a fan of Tuscan Merlot, the tense character it gives to wines in the Chianti region is to be admired.

A beautiful, layered chardonnay with sliced green apple, pear and hints of vanilla and crushed stone. Full-bodied with bright fruit and hints of tropical fruit, such as mangos, citrus and apples. Complex and beautiful. Second year in production. Drink now.

Aromas of pine needles, asphalt, graphite and black fruit follow through to a full-bodied and chewy palate with so much tannin, giving this real Howell Mountain character. It goes on and one. Muscular and in need of time in the bottle to soften. Better after 2024.

Fresh and minty with spearmint and dark fruit. Blackberry and black olive. Medium-bodied with lovely density of firm, juicy fruit. Freshness and intensity. Forest-floor character. Delicious finish. Holding on beautifully. Drink now.

Deep, bright, youthful purple/red colour. Smoked charcuterie overlying black fruit aromas, the palate soft and fruit-sweet, supple and elegantly proportioned, with gentle tannins that are well harmonised with the fruit and flavour. Great intensity of fruit: a super-fine, elegant cabernet blend. It's not a blockbuster, but certainly full-bodied. Cabernet is the variety most evident at this juncture. Long-term potential. (1971 planted vines. 55% cabernet sauvignon, 45% shiraz, a blend of the best barrels of each.)

2011 California Cabernet - 10 years onChris Carpenter’s flagship blend is stately and intricate in 2011. Definitive, complex aromas of redwood, dried cassis, fennel and pipe tobacco. The palate is svelte and persistent, showing perfect balance between dark fruits, earthy tones and live-wire energy. One of the great showings of 2011 Napa Cabernet.

Lucid and expressive, this opens with a mélange of aromas: cherry and currant, sweet and savory spices, chocolate, floral and mineral base notes. The palate follows suit just as you’d expect, with a lovely juxtaposition between elegance and crunchy red berries tempered by taut, fine, highly textural tannins. A spiciness lingers. Drink now with rustic, meaty autumn and winter dishes, or cellar until 2035, at least.

USA, California, Napa Valley: More New 2018 ReleasesThe 2018 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard was 100% barrel fermented in French oak barrels, 15% new, and aged for 13 months. It comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant scents of baked apples, poached pears and spice cake with hints of powdered ginger, honeydew melon and brioche. Medium-bodied, delicately played and tightly wound in the mouth, it has great tension and loads of mineral nuances coming through on the finish. Stunning Chardonnay!

Napa Valley’s Thrilling 2018s & 2019s, Part 1 The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain exudes power and density from the very first taste. Inky fruit, graphite, lavender, blackberry and spice are all beautifully delineated. Readers will find a Cabernet of depth and stature. The Diamond Mountain Cabernet doesn't quite have the heft of the Veeder or Howell Cabernets, but it has a sense of intrigue that is all its own. Vineyard sources are Wallis and Ryolite Ridge.

Napa Valley’s Thrilling 2018s & 2019s, Part 1 The 2018 W.S. Keyes Merlot is going to need a number of years to be at its best. A rush of dark red cherry fruit, cedar, spice, mint, leather, licorice, mocha, new French oak, iron and dried herbs all race out of the glass. Readers will have to be patient with the 2018, as it is still coming together in bottle. The Keyes Merlot is unctuous and rich, but the dominant personality of Howell Mountain simply will not be denied.

Napa Valley’s Thrilling 2018s & 2019s, Part 1 The 2017 Cabernet Bosché is stunning, and also one of the wines of the vintage. Rich, powerful and explosive, the 2017 possesses tremendous depth and pedigree to burn. Blackberry jam, chocolate, graphite, leather, licorice and gravel race out of the glass as this statuesque Cabernet shows off the character of this site. Time in the glass brings out attractive floral notes, more red-toned character to the fruit and broad swaths of tannin that suggest cellaring is essential. The 2017 is a flat out stunner. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Napa Valley’s Thrilling 2018s & 2019s, Part 1 The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore is dense and authoritative. Sycamore is a bit warmer and less vigorous than Bosché. The site naturally yields smaller berries that produce a Cabernet endowed with tons of sumptuousness, breadth and power. Ripe red cherry, red plum, licorice, menthol, spice, graphite and dried herbs infuse the Sycamore with tremendous complexity. It is such a gorgeous and complete wine.

Napa Valley’s Thrilling 2018s & 2019s, Part 1 The 2018 Cabernet Franc is bright, floral and red fruited in character. Most of this fruit comes from Yverdon, on Spring Mountain, and that's exactly what comes through - the lift, brightness and deceptive mid-weight structure that are typical of this site. The 2018 is going to need a few years to come together, but it is undeniably beautiful even in the early going. A burst of pomegranate, blood orange and red fruit accents the silky finish.

Opaque garnet color, plum and sweet oak nose, smooth and luscious with deep plum, raspberry and black cherry; vanilla new oak, tangy, generous and long; yet another Chris Carpenter masterpiece, this one made from fruit grown at 1800 feet.

Vibrant garnet color, rich plum and vanilla, velvety texture, lush, deep and showing plum and toasted vanilla oak, all subtly combined; I guess Chris Carpenter can make Merlot too; elegant, stunning and superb, long and memorable.

Napa Valley Cabernet: 2018 vintage reportA luxurious, decadent and refined nose. Where many mountain-Cabernets may be sharp and rugged in their youth, the Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet is remarkably integrated right out of the gate. The texture bounces between polished and rustic, punchy and ethereal. Will age effortlessly for at least three decades. A powerhouse that doesn’t lose sight of the shore.

From vines planted in '45 on a deep sandy dune dubbed ‘The Beach' by Yangarra. Whole bunches are open-fermented. The bouquet exudes fresh-picked raspberries which form the nucleus of the powerful and intense palate, with grainy tannins that underline the complexity of the wine.

At the opposite end of the spectrum to its Sexton Vineyard sibling. Elegant, light-bodied and wonderfully fragrant, faintly savoury ex whole bunches, but overall its strawberry, red cherry and pomegranate flavours carry the day on the very long palate.

Super fine aromas of limes and chamomile with hints of beeswax, apple pie crust, pears and white-almond paste. The palate has a very sleek, steely and resolute line of mouthwatering fruit, cast in the lime and white-peach zone. Super fine and long. Wow! Drink or hold. Screw cap.

At 420m Wombat Creek is the highest vineyard site in the Yarra Valley, with a gentle northeast-facing slope of volcanic red soil. The vinification sees the wine bottled by gravity, not fined and only coarse-filtered, as is the case with its siblings. Although the acidity is not adjusted (like its siblings), it feels softer and fruitier, pink grapefruit at work.

There is purity and finesse to this young pinot with sliced-strawberry and lemon character. Tight and polished with beautiful finesse and length. Goes on for minutes. Love the brightness and focus. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

A great vineyard producing great wines. Vinified without the use of pumps. The perfumed, flowery (violets) bouquet and a highly focused palate bring whole bunch tannins into play, with a gently savoury finish. Seductive.

Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, no additions, wild-fermented in French puncheons (20% new), matured for 8 months with stirring for the first month. A spotless bouquet and an elegant palate of great length. Stone fruits and melon are threaded through a faint gauze of acidity, oak barely seen. This is an exercise in balance, and the certainty of future greatness.

This has impressive depth and fruit purity. Aromas of red cherries, roses, spiced earth, bracken and blueberries lead to a palate that has very energetic red and dark cherries with tannins that wrap and expand out the finish. Fresh acidity holds it long and vibrant. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Expressively complex with plenty of red-cherry, strawberry and pomegranate aromas, as well as oak spice and sappy notes. The palate has impressive density with focus. The spiced blueberry flavors are intense, fresh and long and there’s such vibrant acidity sustaining the long finish. Drink or hold.