Hartford's 2015 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard is a powerful, phenolic wine, and yet it is very much medium-bodied in structure. Floral and savory notes are front and center, while the fruit is more in the background, which is not unusual for this corner of Green Valley. The Three Jacks is quite nuanced in style, especially for the vintage.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley) is powerful, intense and also massively tannic. Dark red stone fruit, chocolate, menthol, licorice, firm tannins add lift in a big, intense mountain Cabernet. Far from an easy going wine the Alexander Valley needs at least 6-12 months to come together.

The 2014 Lassegue, which is the Saint Emilion Grand Cru owned by the Jackson Family, comes in a preposterously heavy bottle with what felt like an armour-plated capsule! It is clearly designed to impress even before the bottle has been uncorked. Deep in color, the bouquet is tightly wound with blackberry, boysenberry and light cedar notes. The new oak comes through strongly for the first 30 minutes, but thankfully it does assimilate after an hour. The palate is full-bodied and has undergone a lot of extraction. It is solid and dense, very powerful and yet what comes through is the winemaking intention rather than the essence of its terroir. However, aeration did benefit this wine, mellowing after an hour and losing just a little of its initial glossiness, manifesting more red fruit and developing a pleasant smooth texture. It needs four or five years in bottle, because that is the way this is built, but it should be worth the wait.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma County) is round, plush and supple, especially for the year. Dark red cherry, plum, tobacco and menthol. Drink this pliant, expressive, mid-weight Cabernet Sauvignon over the next few years. This is a terrific value from Fortress.

he 2014 Innovant is Captûre's entry-level red wine. Bright red-toned fruit, floral notes and chalk all give the 2014 its aromatic liveliness and vibrancy. Drink this attractive, mid-weight Bordeaux blend over the next handful of years.

Captûre's 2015 Sauvignon Tradition is a racy, sleek wine that shows the more overt, tropical side of Sauvignon Blanc. Lightly honeyed and exotic floral notes add brightness to the sweet, textured expression of fruit.

Dark red cherry, plum, leather, spice and tobacco are all pushed forward in the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Bear Point. Drink this attractive Cabernet over the next handful of years.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Cougar Ridge is another soft, attractive wine with good depth to match its mid-weight feel. Dark fruit, smoke, tobacco, spice, leather and licorice all take shape nicely in the glass.

The 2015 Sauvignon Blanc shows the ripeness and intensity of the vintage in a style that emphasizes textural weight over energy. Overall, the 2015 is tasty, but also a touch flabby.

A rich, exuberant wine, the 2014 Zinfandel Limerick Lane Vineyard captures all the darkness and savoriness that is typical of this Dry Creek vineyard. Tobacco, smoke, licorice and incense infuse a core of intense dark fruit in this juicy Zinfandel. I liked this a bit more from barrel.

Yellow orchard fruit, honey, dried flowers and chamomile infuse the 2014 Chardonnay Kelli Ann Vineyard. Drink this creamy, plush Chardonnay over the next few years.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Jackson Estate Outland Ridge shows a riper, more voluptuous side of Anderson Valley than the appellation wine. Black cherry, plum, spice, menthol, licorice and leather notes are front and center. Juicy and overt, the 2015 is built to deliver pleasure with minimal cellaring.

Dark cherry, chocolate, spice, leather and tobacco are pushed forward in the 2014 Merlot Grand Reserve. Succulent and polished, the 2014 will drink well with minimal cellaring.

From a site in Bennett Valley, the 2014 Merlot Jackson Estate Taylor Peak is dark and plush to the core. An infusion of black stone fruit, chocolate, spice and leather takes shape in the glass. This is the most overt of the three Merlots I tasted from Kendall-Jackson.

The 2015 Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley offers lovely precision and nuance in a finely-knit style that captures the personality of the appellation nicely. Bright floral and orchard notes abound in this very pretty, nuanced Chardonnay from Kendall-Jackson.

The 2015 Chardonnay Grand Reserve offers lovely brightness to play off the rich, layered fruit. The cooler climate of these sites in Monterey and Santa Barbara yields a nuanced, delicate Chardonnay long on class and personality. This is a fabulous wine for the money.

The 2015 Chardonnay Jackson Estate Seco Highlands is often quite exotic because of the use of Rued Clone Chardonnay in the blend. That raciness is especially accentuated in 2015 because of the low yields. Ginger, mango and white flowers all resonate in this creamy, ample Chardonnay from Kendall-Jackson.

Today, the 2015 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard comes across as raw, powerful and not fully formed. This is the least expressive of these 2015 Pinots today. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2015 is going to need time to come around. Game, leather, dark stone fruit and incisive tannins are front and center.

A totally different side of Anderson Valley takes shape in the 2015 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters. Bright red stone fruit and spice notes are the signatures, but ultimately the Velvet Sisters comes across as a bit austere and compact, with less depth and mid-palate pliancy than most of the other wines in this range. It will be interesting to see if the 2015 fleshes out over time.

The Chardonnay Fulton Ranch is ripe, tropical and overt. It also comes across as a tightly wound and not fully expressive tasted from barrel. The Chardonnay Fulton Ranch is not quite put together just yet.

Firm and zesty, with a lively mix of spicy wild berry and subtle floral and earth notes that linger pleasantly on the aftertaste, gaining a smokiness.

The 2014 Ridge Walk is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec. There is good brightness to the red-toned fruit, but also an element of hollowness in the mid palate that I don't often associate with the Stonestreet wines.

Stonestreet's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a soft, immediate wine best suited for drinking over the next few years given its light to medium-bodied structure.

The 2015 Chardonnay Cougar Ridge comes across as compact and tightly wound, with less of the generosity that is such a characteristic of these sites. Today, I don't see much depth or complexity here.

The 2014 Zinfandel Papera Ranch Vineyard is round, supple and nicely textured. There is just enough brightness to balance the intense darkness of the fruit. Novy's Papera is mostly Zinfandel, with about 3% Carignane.