Deep purple color. Rich purple color, with dark, concentrated blueberry, black cherry, along with anise, eucalyptus, dark chocolate, cocoa and earth. Full-bodied, significant tannins but it maintains a velvety feel, medium-low acidity. A dark, saucy style with blueberries, cassis, blackberries, along with notes of mint, eucalyptus, sweet cocoa, cedar. Rich and delicious but the balance lines up nicely here. Hedonistic now, but this could do some fun things over the next five years. Includes Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, aged 28 months in 67% new French oak.

This deep and seriously solid look at the variety is definitely not one that impresses as having been made with early drinking in mind, yet, while it is decidedly hard and intemperate in its tannins, it is nothing less than a classic Cabernet in every other respect. It teams persistent, very well-defined blackcurrant fruit with lovely oak in kind and degree, and, even though taken over by sere astringency at the finish, that fruit somehow survives. We highly recommend eight to ten years of cellaring here and do so with full confidence that patience will be rewarded.

This has the richness of Rutherford tannins, from vines grown in the benchlands at the base of the Mayacamas mountains. It also has energy in its red fruit, a zesty edge of bay laurel and herbal tension. There’s a lot of oak getting in the way for now, shellacking the fruit with its toast and tannic extract. Cellar this to let the fruit absorb some of those oak tannins.

Top Ten: California It’s nice to see this wine coming back into form and the 2013 is right on track. The Napa label may be commercial in size at 24,000+ cases, but it's reserve style in taste. Fresh, ripe, spicy black fruits greet the nose and tumble onto the palate flecked with tobacco, cocoa and cinnamon. The blend is 75 percent cabernet sauvignon with varying amounts of merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc and malbec, all spending 26 months in wood. We love the complete body of work here and suggest this wine could easily be aged through 2023 and beyond. Steak anyone? Fine value.

This smells more like Bordeaux than Tuscany, and tastes like a blend between the two, incorporating cabernet franc's foresty tones with touches of cabernet sauvignon (13%) and sangiovese (5%). The vintage suited cabernet franc well, making something brisk and elegant out of conditions that devastated much of Tuscany's sangiovese.

Reveals a complex aromatic display of plums, red currants, cherries, earth, and spice. It possesses delicate flavors, low acidity, fine ripeness,and a seductive, premier cru Cotes de Beaune-like personality. This is the only Pinot Noir offering where the acidity seemed moderate rather than high.

The dense, dark ruby color of the 2000 Pinot Noir Seven Bench Vineyard is followed by pure aromas of red and black fruits intermixed with acacia flowers. Medium to full-bodied, but tight-fisted in the mouth as well as angular in the finish, if it fleshes out with aging, it will turn out ot be a spectacular Pinot given its olfactory fireworks.

A powerful, dense wine, the 2016 Syrah High Rock Ranch is endowed with serious depth. Leather, smoke, savory herb and tobacco add layers of dimension. Today, the High Rock is a bit compact, but it makes up for that with terrific persistence. It will be interesting to see if the wine fleshes out a bit more during its aging.

Tasted from barrel, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is a huge wine endowed with massive concentration and pure power. Today, the 2016 is raw and not fully put together. It will be interesting to see how the 2016 comes together over the next year or so, and, specifically, if it develops the sensuality that is such a signature of the Helena Dakota. At this stage, the 2016 is decidedly brutish.

Full ruby-red. Spicy, pure aromas of sour cherry, violet, licorice and toasty, smoky oak. Dense, juicy and youthful, with flavors of dark berries, espresso bean and cola. Offers a silky mouth feel, but firm acids and tannins give this young wine a solid structural underpinning and good ageability. Comes across as far more pliant than the 2003 did at the same stage.

Appears less concentrated, but more front-end loaded and superficial. Its dense ruby/purple color is followed by sweet, concentrated black fruits intermixed with charcoal and floral notes.

Full medium ruby Cassis, raspberry, licorice and smoky oak on the nose. Rich, sweet and spicy, with enticing flavors of black raspberry, chocolate and spices. The tannins seem sweeter than those of the 2001. Finishes with lovely persistence.

St. Emilion look-alike, this wine is difficult to fully understand. The aromatics justifiy a mid-ninety point score, but the palate merits an upper-eighty point rating, so where does that leave us? It possesses a dense saturated purple color, a phenomenal bouquet of dried Provencal herbs, sweet black fruits, spring flowers, and scorched earth, and medium body, but the finish is a bit compressed for all the perfume and impressive attack. It will unquestionably be an outstanding wine, but it is not as remarkable as the 2001. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.

The 2011 La Muse, a blend of 89% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 7% Malbec that came in at 13.8% alcohol, displays notions of black olive tapenade intermixed with smoky barbecue, unsmoked cigar tobacco, black cherry and black currant notes. Medium-bodied with ripe tannin, it should be drinkable in 2-3 years and last for 15 or more.

Produced from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2010 is still very primary, but it exhibits lots of fruit and concentration. It looks to be a stronger effort than the 2000, a vintage with similar challenges.

.explosive fruit, an opulent texture, big, thick, fleshy, low acid flavors with outstanding richness, and a spicy, rich concentrated finish with the tannin and acidity buried beneath an avalanche of chewy fruit.

Saturated, dark ruby-red. Cassis, violet and charred oak on the nose. Large-scaled and layered in the mouth, with violet and mineral notes and significant power. The oak is not yet integrated. Finishes long and strong, with a firm tannic spine.

Ruby-red. Cassis, licorice, mocha and cocoa powder on the nose. Deep, bright and sweet, with chewy flavors of black cherry, currant and minerals nicely framed and lifted by firm, juicy acidity. Very ripe but not at all pruney. Finishes rich and long. Offers terrific potential.

Reveals the potential of some of the Jackson vineyards on higher elevations in Knight's Valley. Deep, rich, chunky, and full-bodied, it exhibits loads of black fruits intermixed with licorice, smoke, espresso, and a hint of chocolate. This could be an outstanding offering when released. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2016.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard is bold, juicy and exuberant. Dried flowers, tobacco, mint and spice notes add a distinctive floral/savory component. I would prefer to drink this juicy, Russian River Pinot over the next few years.

The 2014 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block is another wine that presents a bit of an austere edge today. There is plenty of power and intensity, but the mid-palate is somewhat compact at this stage. Savory herbs, graphite, wild flowers and a host of dark-fleshed fruits open up, but only with considerable reluctance. Still there is good potential here.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Jennifer's emerges from one of the coolest areas in the Russian River, which gives the wine much of its sense of restraint. Dark cherry, graphite, mint, sage and lavender are all given an extra kick of brightness from the vibrant acidity that is so pronounced in this vintage. The Jennifer's is another expressive, nuanced wine from Hartford.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Muldune Trail is powerful, rich and incisive, with notable depth and power. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, spice meld into the succulent, radiant finish. Drink this forward, juicy Pinot Noir over the next handful of years. The Muldune Trail emerges from a site at the southern end of Anderson Valley.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters is a little bit more severe and narrow in its overall feel than most of the Hartford Pinots. Dark cherry, plum, menthol, violet and licorice are all nicely delineated in the glass. The tannin and acidity are especially prominent today. It will be interesting to see what happens as the wine finishes its aging and goes into bottle.

The 2014 Chardonnay Stone Côte Vineyard is laced with pretty floral, spice, apricot pit, orange peel and lightly buttered notes, all in a mid-weight, gracious style that will drink well young early. The Stone Côte emerges from a parcel within the famed Durrell Vineyard.