Seillan said that 2015 (which was still in barrel at the time of my tasting) was the finest vintage of his lifetime, which is strong praise indeed. Certainly, he has three titanic wines aging in the wine cellars. The 2015 La Joie (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot) has an intensity that is off the charts, and that’s saying something, given how concentrated these wines tend to be. An enormous, colossal example of wine, with an opaque purple color and an intense nose of black fruits, camphor, forest floor and graphite, the wine is super-pure, very full-bodied, with intense levels of glycerin and richness. The finish goes on for a good 60+ seconds. This should turn out to be utterly profound. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050+.

Seillan said that 2015 (which was still in barrel at the time of my tasting) was the finest vintage of his lifetime, which is strong praise indeed. Certainly, he has three titanic wines aging in the wine cellars. If you want to taste something that is like Château Ausone on steroids, check out the 2015 Le Désir, a blend of 64% Cabernet Franc, 26% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. This huge, ripe wine offers incredible balance, a black/purple color, a stunning nose of crushed rock, white flowers, blueberries and blackberries intermixed with incense and a forest floor component, and an extraordinary integration of tannin, acidity, wood and alcohol. This magnificent wine should age effortlessly for 35-40+ years.

The famous Bosché Vineyard is a spot in Rutherford composed of gravelly, loamy soil and situated just at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains. A blend of 93.8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6.2% Merlot, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard was aged 28 months in French oak. This vineyard has turned out many a classic wine capable of lasting 30-40 years, and this 2013 is one of the all-time great Bosché Cabernet Sauvignons. It offers an inky ruby/purple color, a gorgeous nose of graphite, black cherry, wood spice and barbecue notes, enormous body and richness, and a heady, full-bodied, long finish of 50+ seconds with moderately high tannins. This is a great classic from Napa, but not one for drinking over the near-term. Give it 7-8 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 50 years.

A magnificent wine made the by the brilliant winemaker Chris Carpenter, who also works for the Kendall-Jackson empire at Lakoya and a handful of other estates, this blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot is sourced from multiple vineyards owned by the Jacksons, from Veeder Peak to Spring Mountain to Howell Mountain. In 2014, it reminded me of a great vintage of Pontet-Canet from Pauillac, but slightly bigger than life. The inky purple color, the stunning nose of cedar wood, unsmoked cigar tobacco, graphite, crème de cassis and subtle new oak is followed by a multi-layered, profoundly concentrated, large-scaled wine with sensational levels of blackcurrant fruit moving toward blackberries. A wine of great intensity, silky tannins and adequate acidity, this is clearly one of the great, great wines of the vintage, and another tour de force in winemaking from Carpenter. It is a 15- to 20- year wine, but the window for drinking its is probably that big as well. P.S. If you want to catch Chris Carpenter doing something other than making exhilarating wine, check out the Rutherford Grill on Friday nights, where he tends bar and makes some pretty badass cocktails.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota displays more blackberry, blueberry and graphite, with some flowers such as violets, notes of pen ink, a full-bodied, concentrated, succulent and fleshy mouthfeel, and a long, long finish. This is another 25- to 30-year wine.

The 2014 Le Désir (53% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec) has an inky purple color and a sweet kiss of chocolate, black truffle, forest floor, black raspberry and black currants. Opulent, but again structured and super-dense and pure, this is another massively concentrated wine meant for the long haul (and for our grandchildren). Give it 4-6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 35-40 years. Remarkably, Pierre Seillan told me that 2014, while a drought year, was not actually that hot in the micro-terroirs he was working, but in terms of quality, it turned out to be the most surprisingly positive vintage he’s ever witnessed.

What looks to be the greatest wine of the entire batch is the 2014 Gravel Bench. This is like a liqueur of rocks. It spent 11 months in 100% new French oak. The wine is incredibly rich, with great length, fabulous acidity, and an unbelievable minerality. It reminds one of a Corton-Charlemagne from Coche-Dury in a top vintage. Sadly, only 301 cases were made, but this is set for a long life of 10+ years.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain has a similar dense bluish/purple color to the rim. It comes across as slightly more elegant, with floral notes dominating the wine’s aromatics. Violets and rose petals followed by blueberry and blackberry fruit as well as some crushed rock in a medium to full-bodied, beautifully pure, suave style characterize this wine, which was made form Spring Mountain vineyards such as Yverdon and Wurtele. Drink it over the next 25 years.

The 2014 La Joie has a spicy black purple color and a big, sweet kiss of camphor, black truffle, pen ink, blackcurrants and unsmoked cigar tobacco, followed by layers of fruit and glycerin in an opulent, beautifully savory, pure and multidimensional wine. The final blend Seillan produced in 2014 was 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This is a compellingly great effort once again. It should be given 2-5 years of bottle age, then drunk over the following three decades.

The 2014 Chardonnay Red Point comes from volcanic soils at an elevation of 800 to 1,000 feet These white tufa soils have produced an incredibly dense, rich Chardonnay with a subtle influence of oak, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a fabulous nose of poached pears, honeysuckle, wet stones, white currants and quince. This is a glorious Chardonnay for drinking over the next 5-8 years.

Seillan said that 2015 (which was still in barrel at the time of my tasting) was the finest vintage of his lifetime, which is strong praise indeed. Certainly, he has three titanic wines aging in the wine cellars. The 2015 La Muse is a blend of 89% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec. Sweet notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, mocha, espresso bean, chocolate, plum, Asian spice, blackcurrant and black cherries soar from the glass of this opaque-colored wine. It has great fruit, real sucrosity and lushness in the mid-palate, and a super-duper inner core of glycerin followed by sweet, refined tannins in the finish. It is a strikingly flashy and flamboyant style of wine that should drink well for its first 30+ years of life.

As for the 2015 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard, this is also from a very cold site, this one north of Fort Ross on the Sonoma coastline. The wine offers oyster shell minerality (or wet gravel), some pineapple, mango and nectarine, beautifully focused, full-bodied flavors, and a burgeoning complexity that is impressive on its own. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.

From a site made famous by Helen Turley when she was buying its fruit, the 2014 Chardonnay Upper Barn is at an 1,800-foot elevation and spent 11 months in 52% new French oak. A killer Chardonnay (as it always has been), the wine offers up notes of wet gravel, citrus oil, apple blossom, orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and a hint of almond paste. Fabulous fruit on the attack, mid-palate and finish characterizes this dry, gorgeous, compelling Chardonnay that should age effortlessly for a decade or more.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain displays the saturated black purple color from this site. Offering an incredible nose of volcanic ash, charcoal embers, blackberry, cassis and spice, dense, superb, full body, and a multi-layered richness, this wine is just sensational. The silky tannins only add to its up-front appeal. Drink it now and over the next 25-30 years.

Outrageously complex and sensational is the 2014 W. S. Keyes Merlot. This single vineyard Merlot (a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 85% new French oak) is a killer. Merlot has certainly fallen out of fashion in California, but it is a fabulous variety, and when it’s this good, people take notice. Opaque purple in color, this rivals the best Merlots I have tasted over many years. Notes of blueberry, black raspberry, mocha, roasted coffee and melted chocolate are all present in this wine of great intensity, profound richness, and a long, opulent, layered mouthfeel. This is sensational and can clearly rival the Merlot-dominated La Muse from Verité. Drink this wine over the next 20-25 years.

The 2014 Cabernet Franc, aged in 70% new French oak, comes from relatively new plantings of Cabernet Franc in both the La Jota and W. S. Keyes Vineyards. La Jota had made some incredible Cabernet Francs in the 1990s, but they were often spoiled by Brett contamination. This wine is sensational. Black purple, its incredible nose of truffles, asphalt, forest floor and white flowers is followed by blueberry and black raspberry fruit, a multi-layered texture, full-bodied richness, and a killer finish. This magnificent Cabernet Franc rivals some of the best being made in Northern California.

What is usually their finest Pinot Noir hails from Hartford’s oldest vines, planted with the Martini clone in 1975. The 2014 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard is often not picked until after Halloween, as it is one of the coldest vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Its spicy, complex notes of allspice, sassafras, sweet black cherries and Asian plum sauce are exotic, fragrant and intense. The superb fragrance is matched by an exotic, silky, fleshy wine with dark berries (especially ripe raspberries and black cherries), soft tannins, and full body. This is a head-turning “wow” Pinot Noir to drink over the next decade.

The 2015 Chardonnay Four Hearts Vineyard is largely from three clones – the old Wente clone of Chardonnay, the Sees and Rued selections. This wine displays plenty of wet gravel and crushed rock along with pineapple, white peach and marmalade. It is a deep, precise, exuberant and concentrated wine to drink over the next 7-10 years.

As for the 2015s, one can anticipate that these are going to be big, blackberry and blueberry-laced wines, opaque in color, with loads of glycerin. The Helena Dakota will probably inch out the Helena Montana in terms of concentration, length and intensity by a slight degree, but both are mid-90-point wines that should have early drinkability windows because of their sucrosity and supple, sweet tannins, yet be capable of lasting 25-30 or more years. This is an up-and-coming star.

The 2015 Zinfandel Jolene’s Vineyard comes from another site for century-plus-aged, head-trained bush vines. Aged in 100% French oak, it was to be bottled unfined and unfiltered right after my visit. Inky bluish purple, this wine from a vineyard on Olivet Road has loads of pepper, roasted meats, Provençal herbs and loamy soil undertones interwoven with blackberry, black cherry liqueur and spice box. It is a pedal-to-the-metal style of wine, with superb richness, a full-bodied unctuosity, but good acidity keeping everything energized and vibrant. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2015 Zinfandel High Wire Vineyard also comes from century-old vines and is aged in 100% French oak for 14 months. This looks to be sensational, with an inky ruby/purple color, a big, peppery, spicy nose with layers of charcoal embers, blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, some licorice, spice box and earth. It is full-bodied and viscous, with layers of fruit (mostly black fruits like blackberry and cassis) and a deep, full-throttle, inky finish. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall Vineyard comes from a high-elevation site of 2,000 to 2,200 feet. It is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 21 months in 66% new French oak. This vineyard is a south-facing micro-terroir with lots of rocks, and the wine smells of mountain garrigue intermixed with black cherry, blackberry and cassis. The wine is dense, full-bodied, rich and rugged, but not rustic. It is a full-bodied, massive, rather backward and primordial wine for those with the patience to cellar it. Forget it for 5-8 years, and drink it over the following 40+ years.

A 50-year wine named after Jess Jackson’s son Christopher, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s Vineyard comes from a more north-facing site on red volcanic soils with high concentrations of slate and iron, planted in 1986. The resulting wine displays loads of blueberry and blackberry fruit, wet, gravelly rocks, some graphite, a full-bodied, mouthfeel, huge, massive fruit and extract, and a long, juicy but substantial finish of close to a minute, with plenty of tannin. Forget this wine for 5-7 years and drink it over the following 50+ years.

The top score, though, has to go to the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 90.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest small quantities of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. This wine has an opaque purple color, a big, sweet kiss of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, some graphite, a juicy, full-bodied, savory mouthfeel, and excellent purity and underlying balance. This seamlessly rich mountain Cabernet Sauvignon should age effortlessly for two decades or more.

From a nearby Rutherford Vineyard, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (located at the very end of Bella Oaks Lane in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains) is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.7% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot, but also aged 28 months in French oak. Notes of Christmas fruitcake, graphite, blackcurrant and black cherry are present in this wine, which is full-bodied and powerful, with high levels of tannin, amazing structure, but profound depth and richness. This baby needs to be cellared for a good 8-10 years and drunk over the following 35-50.