The vineyards for this Merlot straddle Pine Mountain’s highest peak at a jaw-dropping 3,000 feet, Sonoma’s highest elevation. This savory wine offers a magnificent nose with loads of cinnamon heart candy and mulling spice aromas alongside black licorice, muddled raspberries, and ripe blackberries. The medium body has a textural mouthfeel, gritty tannins and a lengthy finish.

Offering bright red and dark berry aromas, this wine is juicy and precise, with complementing notes of coffee beans and matchsticks. The tannins are initially soft, slowly building to a suppleness that layers with keen acidity and stony minerality.

A mid-weighted pinot noir with firm, rather brusque tannins, especially in the context of an estate bottling. Bing cherry, orange peel and a hint of typically Yarra sassafras. The tannins, oak and whole-bunch-derived, as evidenced by their shape, are a bit pinched and herbal. I much prefer this to the chardonnay opening act, although strongly suggest that this, too, needs a few years to mesh. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Well-knit and precise, with handsome raspberry and blueberry flavors that take on accents of dusky spices and crushed stone as this builds tension toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2031. 425 cases made.

This bottling, formerly from a historic site in Santa Barbara County but now 75% from Monterey County, brings a lot to the table for a favorable price. Aromas of citrus sorbet and wet stone lead from the nose into a palate offering brisk apple, more citrus and high acidity.

Sassy, mid-weighted chardonnay. A solid curtain raiser, especially given the bounties to come. Nougat, creamed cashew and oodles of vanilla-pod oak, meshed with some struck-match reduction. Stone fruit allusions beyond. I've liked this wine very much in the past and appreciate this iteration. Yet I feel, perhaps for the first time, that the fruit weight is not sufficient for the oak tannins. The finish is rocky-road okay and tough. This needs time and plenty of optimism. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

An exceptional cabernet of flare and precision. Dried sage, bay leaves and a smear of black olives serve as a savory balance to the wave of currants and mint, all riveted to refined tannins and a briny maritime freshness. The more I spend time in the Vale the more I realize just how good cabernet can be. A leader of the pack. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

A brilliant texture laced with vibrant acidity sets this wine apart. Laser-focused lemon, crisp apple and kiwi flavors meld with light butter, cream and almond notes. Fermented and aged in 31% new French barrels, the wine has complexity and balance that belie its full body.

A broodier bottling than the more gregarious 2020, this vintage still offers oodles of concentrated dark fruit, a slightly charred veg note, toasty spice and a frame of fine, cola-like oak influence. Constructed for the long haul, with intensity and focus, a lift of acidity and muscular, chiseled tannins woven between the supple fruit and spice, this should continue to evolve until 2038, at least. Majestic Imports. Cellar Selection.

This rich, buttery and toasty wine seems to melt in the mouth. Viscous and soft, the texture coats every millimeter of the palate with buttery, pear-nectar lusciousness. The wine lingers long on the finish, echoing pears, vanilla, cream and coconut. —J.G.

Ripe and rich, this full-bodied, barrel-fermented wine packs in poached pears, ripe peaches and toasted almond flavors for a big profile and mouth filling texture.

Packed with jammy black fruits, this bold, full-bodied wine dominated by Malbec and Merlot grapes shows plenty of ripeness in black cherries, dark plums and black figs. Moderate tannins don’t dominate, so the texture is sleek and easy. Best through 2029. —J.G.

A big aroma of cloves, cedar and oak char leads to equally bold and deep flavors like black cherries, graphite, tobacco and singed rosemary. A brawny structure of tannins and firm acidity frames the fruit and spice elements. Best from 2026. —J.G.

The smoked cherry, thyme and crushed brick dust aromas this wine offers up are wildly tempting. Tart raspberry, cranberry and lemon flavors slide along the wine’s glossy palate, where frisky acidity rules the roost. I’d love to pair this light-bodied Pinot with my next batch of Dungeness crab cakes. —M.A.

What a thoroughly enjoyable hedonistic treat. The decadence begins with cinnamon roll, blackberry and anise aromas that get you in the mood for flavors like blackberry jam on a biscuit. Silky tannins and medium acidity provide the wine with a nice sense of balance. —M.A

Richly textured with balancing acidity, this gem displays a lemon blossoms aroma. It’s buoyant on the palate as Meyer lemon, Asian pears, blanched almonds, hints of lemon herb tisane, minerality and a sprinkling of spice interlace. There’s a long and energetic finish.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard is medium ruby-purple in color. After a little swirling, notes of black raspberries and mulberries spring from the glass, leading to hints of lavender, bay leaves, and wet pebbles. The full-bodied palate is packed with muscular black berry layers with a firm, grainy texture and bags of freshness, finishing long and mineral-laced.

Fragrant and vital, with crushed rose petals, dried thyme, strawberries and lavender. The tannins are long, lithe and detailed. Full-bodied yet floral. The feel is ethereal and the texture diaphanous until the ferrous, somewhat rustic tannins show in the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple in color. Crushed stones and iron overtones on the nose give way to an underlying core of blackberries and black cherries with a hint of wild thyme. The full-bodied palate is laden with crunchy black fruit layers supported by grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and savory.

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard slowly unfurls to reveal graceful notes of red roses, forest floor, and fertile loam leading to a core of kirsch and pomegranate with a waft of rhubarb. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound and energetic, with a refreshing line and fine-grained tannins, finishing long and perfumed.

Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard features evocative notes of black raspberries, mulberries, and cranberries followed by hints of garrigue and damp soil. The medium to full-bodied palate has a wonderfully earthy/savory character with plush tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note.

Palest greenish gold in color, this wine smells of green apple, cut grass, and passionfruit. In the mouth, bright green apple and passionfruit flavors have a nice crispness to them and a faint chalky texture as excellent acidity keeps the salivary glands flowing. Tasty. Fermented in stainless steel. Closed with a screwcap.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands is pale to medium ruby-purple in color. Delicate scents of raspberry leaves, cranberries, and rhubarb slowly emerge from the glass, with nuances of forest floor and crushed rocks. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly knit and savory, with a compelling crushiness to the fruit and graininess to the tannins, finishing with an herbal lift.

Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands flies out of the glass with gregarious notes of raspberry coulis and wild strawberries plus nuances of dried herbs and wet slate. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling red berry and savory flavors with a lively line and fine-grained texture, finishing with a refreshing lift.

Delicate, detailed, and light in body but quite expressive in aroma and flavor, it offers dark cherry aromas and flavors with appealing accents of baking spices and just a whiff of toast. Fine-grained tannins firm the finish enough to make this promising for the table, but it could also just be sipped with pleasure.