A huge, opulent wine, the 2014 La Muse wraps around the palate with tons of super-ripe dark red fruit, chocolate, spice and menthol. La Muse often shuts down after bottling, but the 2014 is still remarkably intense and voluptuous, with soft contours, silky tannins and exceptional balance. The purity of the flavors here is remarkable.

Vérité's 2015 La Joie is deep, powerful and structured, with tons of Cabernet savoriness running through a core of intense, dark fruit. Grilled herbs, leather, menthol and licorice all develop in the glass. Sumptuous and yet also structured, La Joie is another winner from Vérité.

The Surprise of 2015 in Napa and Other California Wine Reviewed Aromas of lead pencil, graphite and hot slate. Blackcurrants, too. Full-bodied, very tight and tannic. Linear and driven on the finish. Very fresh and energized. Racy and focused. Primarily cabernet sauvignon. Needs three to four years to come around completely. Try in 2021.

The 2009 La Joie (14.5% natural alcohol, and a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec) boasts an opaque purple color along with abundant notes of wood spice, barbecued meat, new saddle leather, creme de cassis and forest floor. Rich, full-bodied and powerful with moderately high tannins, it needs to be forgotten for 5-7 years, and drunk over the following 25-30 years.

The 2009 La Joie is dazzling. Firm yet well-integrated tannins frame an expressive core of dark red and black fruit, graphite, cassis, mocha and minerals. This is one of the more structured wines in the lineup, and it will require a few years in bottle for the tannins to soften. I especially like the energy and focus here. In 2009 the blend is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029.

The blend is mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, with the other four classic Bordeaux varieties added for complexity. The grapes were sourced from vineyards throughout Sonoma County, and the finished wine was aged in 75% new oak. It’s very fine, with concentrated, intense blackberry, cherry and crème de cassis flavors. Minerality, in the form of granite, lends a lick of stone. It’s still extremely tannic, and needs much more time before it begins to come around.

Bright ruby-red. High-pitched, vibrant aromas of cassis, flowers and licorice. The palate offers terrific sappy cut and intensity, with powerful, mouthcoating flavors of cassis, violet, lavender, minerals, spices and crushed rock. This very young wine is most impressive of all today on the booster rocket of a finish, which stains the palate with flavor. This wonderfully deep and concentrated wine has fruit of steel and seems destined for a glorious evolution in bottle. As good as Napa's best cult wines at a fraction the price.

The 2017s From Sonoma From older vines planted in 1989 and brought up in 52% new French oak, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith is another classic, deeply colored wine from this estate. Smoked herbs, graphite, crushed rocks, tobacco, and beautiful dark fruits all flow to a full-bodied wine that has fabulous tannins, remarkable purity, and a great finish. Give bottles a year or three and enjoy over the following 15-20 years.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond One of the highlights in this range, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall Vineyard is laced with the essence of crème de cassis, mint, crushed rocks, licorice, cloves and grilled herbs. Unctuous in feel, with plenty of backing structure, it feels wonderfully complete. This is an especially brooding, savory Cabernet, with everything in the right place.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's (there's a touch of Petite Sirah) has slightly more red fruit as well as elegance. Cassis, framboise, violets, spice, and floral notes all emerge from this seamless, silky, incredibly elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that shines on all accounts. From vines planted in 1991 in volcanic soils, it spent 20 months in 64% new French oak.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith gives up a ripe black cherry, cassis and mulberries-scented nose with suggestions of eucalypt, dark chocolate and cedar chest plus a waft of sage. Medium-bodied, muscular and built like a brick house, it has a solid backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long earthy.

There are nearly 1,000 cases of the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall, which is planted at 2,000-2,200 foot elevation. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, it spent 20 months in 50% new French oak. Deep, full-bodied and powerful with a fabulous bouquet of damp earth, forest floor, black currants, blackberries, licorice and vanilla, it is staggeringly rich, multidimensional, pure and deep with a finish that lasts 45 seconds. This should turn out to be spectacular with a few more years of bottle age, and should keep for 25-30 years.

A dramatic wine, authoritative in tannins, bone dry and noble. Withholds its best under a cloak of astringency, but already shows its mountain terroir in the complexity of its structure and deep, intense blackberry, currant, blueberry and dried herb flavors. Should develop bottle complexities for at least a decade and probably longer.

A dramatic wine, authoritative in tannins, bone dry and noble. Withholds its best under a cloak of astringency, but already shows its mountain terroir in the complexity of its structure and deep, intense blackberry, currant, blueberry and dried herb flavors. Should develop bottle complexities for at least a decade and probably longer.

Grown in a portion of the winery's considerable holdings in the high Mayacamas range, this Cabernet is ridiculously rich and flamboyant in black currant flavors, wrapped into the ripest, densest, sweetest tannins imaginable. Exceptionally vibrant, intense and compact, it will develop bottle complexity for a good 15 years.

Hard to exaggerate the beauty of this mountain-grown wine, which is based on Cabernet Sauvignon but contains the other four classic Bordeaux varieties. Although it's very tannic, those tannins are remarkably soft. Nearly all-new oak provides a framework of smoky caramel, delicious enough but just an accompaniment to the blackberries, black currants, cherries and dark chocolate. A fantastic wine for drinking now, and should last for many years in the cellar.

Hard mountain tannins characterize this Cab, which was grown above 2,000 feet in the Mayacamas. It's hugely deep in blackberries and black currants, with notes of dark chocolate and violets. Meanwhile, 100% new French oak adds an elaborate layer of smoky caramel and char that's entirely in keeping with the wine's volume. Impressive and flashy, but immature, this wine requires cellaring. Best 2012-2018.

Hard mountain tannins characterize this Cab, which was grown above 2,000 feet in the Mayacamas. It's hugely deep in blackberries and black currants, with notes of dark chocolate and violets. Meanwhile, 100% new French oak adds an elaborate layer of smoky caramel and char that's entirely in keeping with the wine's volume. Impressive and flashy, but immature, this wine requires cellaring. Best 2012-2018.

The top red wine cuvee is the sensational 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s Vineyard from a 2,400 foot elevation site on Jess Jackson’s Alexander Mountain Estate Vineyard. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, this sensational, dense ruby/purple-hued 2005 exhibits notes of crushed rocks, blackberries, blueberries, charcoal, and graphite. Full-bodied, powerful, and rich, it is meant for long-term aging. Forget it for 5-6 years, and enjoy it over the following three decades.

Here's a true gem, with rich, buttery aromas from barrel fermentation and aging, together with clearly defined chardonnay fruit and just the right note of acidity to unite all elements of the package.

The 2017s From Sonoma Also brilliant, the 2017 Chardonnay Red Point Vineyard is slightly richer and more rounded, offering medium to full-bodied notes of stone fruits, toasted brioche, white flowers, and a liquid rock-like minerality. It’s rich, concentrated, and powerful, yet has terrific balance and length. This cuvée comes from vines planted in 1994 and a southeast facing vineyard in the Alexander Valley and spent 11 months in 44% new French oak. It too will keep for at least a decade.

More tropical mango and pineapple notes define the 2016 Chardonnay Upper Barn, which is fresh, lively, and pretty on the palate. Both Chardonnays here have a terrific salinity, impeccable balance, and a great finish. This estate is from Wente and from vines planted in the 1980s. It's a seamless, elegant, structured, rocking Chardonnay that's going to age.

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.

Bright medium yellow. Brilliantly pure aromas and flavors of ripe peach, green melon, soft citrus fruit and brown spices are complicated by a subtle leesy quality. Hugely rich, pliant and sweet but with harmonious acidity and an impression of dusty extract framing the wine's almost exotic fruit. This is bigger than most red wines but not at all over the top. The wonderfully tactile, youthful finish features outstanding palate-drenching length. Exceptional chardonnay.

Nearly as good as the 2012 Chardonnay Upper Barn is the 2012 Chardonnay Gravel Bench, which exhibits lots of wet stone-like notes intermixed with Corton-Charlemagne-like honeyed citrus, quince and white peach characteristics, and a finish that lasts for 40+ seconds. This killer Chardonnay can be consumed over the next 6-7 years.