Pierre Seillan makes this second wine of Lassègue with a shorter aging in oak, producing a sleek, polished red that has the ripeness of many New World counterparts. Then it’s savory in the end, dark, tight and focused on cassis flavors and complex details that last.

Moderately light reddish purple color in the glass. This wine aims to please with ebullient aromas of cherry, spice and sandalwood and light to mid weight flavors centered on spiced cherry fruit. Easygoing, with cashmere tannins, a hint of oak seasoning, and a lingering, congenial finish. A great value.

A great value with black plum, cassis and notes of chocolate; rich, deep and dense with sweet oak and toast.

Wild-fermented in two ceramic eggs, one batch (60%) remaining on skins for 120 days, the other batch without skins. Yellow wine, more lost on the swings than gained on the roundabouts. Soft, not phenolic.

A cool and expressive nose blends mostly upper register red berry fruit, especially cherry and raspberry, with those of spice and plum. There is good richness to the succulent, round and almost tender mid-palate of the delicious flavors that offer solid persistence on the nicely complex finish. This is not particularly refined and there is a mild trace of warmth but for $25, it's hard to do much better with a pinot-based wine.

A more elegant nose consists of cool and admirably pure aromas of dark raspberry, currant and plum while also being nuanced by hints of spice and rose petal. There is a more refined mouth feel to the utterly delicious and seductively textured flavors that also possess better detail on the balanced and lingering finale. This isn't especially structured and a year or two of bottle age should see this at its best. Note that this too offers very fine value.

Tart red cherries and plum skins are spiced by nutmeg, pepper and turned earth on this widely available bottling that packs decent Pinot punch for the price. The mix of ripe and tart plays hard on the palate, where red cherry pie toys with cranberry skins, and a dollop of vanilla carries the midpalate.

Notes of menthol, red cherry and raspberry introduce round, rich and plump medium weight flavors that possess a lovely mouth feel, all wrapped in a persistent, clean and softly dry finish where a hint of acid tang arises. This should drink well young but reward a few years of cellaring too.

Moderately dark reddish purple color in the glass. Very moody nose offering shy scents of dark fruits and wine cave. A mid weight assortment of well-ripened dark fruits are at the wine’s core, framed by matched tannins and proper acidity. The high alcohol is well integrated, the oak seasoning is spot on, but the wine is singing monotone offering nothing more than a sullen load of fruit.

By Byron. Fairly intense and very steady red cherry fruit takes the immediate lead in this one’s carefully oaked aromas and never relinquishes the reins, but, from beginning to end, richness and ripeness, rather than finesse are the main messages of this full-bodied offering. An undisguised bit of heat manages to creep into its finish, yet it is far from being a disqualifier, and the wine will show at its substantial best if saved for service with savory, appropriately flavorful foods. 88 points.

A fresh, cool and complex nose offers up notes of both red and dark cherries long with subtle spice and floral nuances. There is both good volume and texture to the caressing flavors that culminate in a dusty finale. This is really quite supple, indeed this could easily be enjoyed now though one year of bottle age should help to develop a bit more depth. Fine value.

This is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, which come together to form a full-bodied package of earthy compost and generously ripe blue and black plum. Soft tannins make it easy to enjoy.

Undeniably sturdy, austere and tannic, and as such, a red that requires patience and faith. The core currant, anise, loamy earth and cedary oak notes are unforgiving at this early age. Best from 2020 through 2032. 4,500 cases made

Fans of austere Cabernet will find this alluring and trim from the get-go, with dry, savory herb, berry, graphite and dusty earth flavors. Clean and balanced. Drink now through 2027. 2,300 cases made.

Butterscotch aromas, buttery, nutty flavors and full body make a pretty big impact as this dry and full-bodied wine pulls them all together.

Fairly direct and convincingly focused on the cherry-like fruit of Pinot Noir, this eminently likeable wine gets a welcome boost in overall richness by the not-too-pushy addition of creamy oak. It is moderately full-bodied with a friendly, supple palatal feel, and, if in no danger of tiring any time soon, its open, very accessible manner makes it easy to enjoy now. 87 points.

From vines planted in 1997 (the first crop from Garys' Vineyard was in 1999) and all Pisoni clone (which is rumored to be from la Tache), the 2014 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard offers textbook notes of dried earth, savory red and black fruits, dried flowers and a hint of bouquet garni. Medium-bodied, supple and elegant on the palate, it has a killer texture, impeccable balance and a great finish. I went back to this bottle after three days of being open and it was still terrific.

The 2014 Syrah Sierra Mar Vineyard reminds me a top flight Cornas with its black and blue fruits, pepper, bouquet garni and ample minerality. Showing more black olive with time in the glass, drink this medium-bodied, supple, beautifully polished Syrah anytime over the coming 7-8 years. It's another smokin' value released by Adam under his Novy Family Wines label.

More structured, with lots of minerality, jammy blackberry and black raspberry fruit, licorice and peppery herbs, the 2015 Syrah Sierra Mar is rich, concentrated and layered. It's another killer barrel sample that will deliver the goods on release.

Scheduled to be bottled early next year, the 2015 Syrah Garys' Vineyard is a seriously good looking Syrah that sports an inky color, terrific notes of cassis, crushed rock-like minerality and wild herbs, medium to full-bodied richness and a great finish. I love its purity of fruit and it will certainly be an outstanding Syrah and have a decade of longevity.

Like the 2015, the 2014 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard shines for its elegance and purity. Medium-bodied, lively and juicy, with lots of sweet cherry and currant fruit, lots of floral nuances, medium-bodied richness and ultra fine tannin, drink this outstanding Pinot Noir anytime over the coming 5-7 years. There are 268 cases made.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard is silky and lightly textured, with fine grain tannin, medium-bodied richness, notable structure and perfumed notes of potpourri, exotic spices and purple fruits. It's a beautiful Pinot Noir to drink over the coming 5-6 years.

One of the bigger boned and riper releases in the lineup, the 144-case 2014 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard dishes out tons of black raspberry, blueberry and passion fruit as well as notes of violets, earth and spring flowers. Rounded, voluptuous and sexy on the palate, with excellent purity and bright acidity, it's another wine that held up beautifully over multiple days. It should continue drinking nicely through 2022 easily.

Made from five different parcels in the vineyard, all of which are planted to different clones, the 2014 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard is a pretty, feminine and elegant wine that offers lots of passion fruit, sappy herbs, flowers and violet aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied and silky on the palate, with sweet tannin, it has impressive mid-palate depth, notable tension and vibrancy (which is the hallmark of this site) and a great finish. Drink it through 2022.