The vineyard is in Fulton, a cool part of the southwestern valley heavily influenced by fog, and the vines are about 100 years old. This is great, classic Zinfandel. It should be in a museum. Despite high alcohol, it has a silky, Pinot-esque suppleness, balanced with crisp acids, and is profoundly rich in Zinny flavor. Currants, mushu plum sauce, anise, crushed black pepper, dark chocolate and rich Asian spices last forever on the finish.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s Made by Lora Diaez (formerly at Lokoya) and coming mostly from valley floor fruit, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Pleinair is a sexy, flamboyant beauty that boasts a deep purple color, a huge nose of cassis and blueberry fruits, a complex floral character, full body, and a pure, elegant, yet pleasure-bent style that’s already a joy to drink.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A blend of 80.2% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19.8% Merlot, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain is deep garnet-purple colored and offers up Black Forest cake, menthol and licorice scents with nuances of lilacs, red roses, stewed tea and cedar chest plus a waft of black olives. Full, rich and concentrated, it completely coats the palate with black fruit and anise flavors, framed by firm, ripe tannins and finishing with a lingering menthol lift.

This is very linear and compact with lush fruit, but the tannins and acidity frame it so nicely. It's medium-bodied with excellent length and energy. The finish is really fine. 50% cabernet franc, 43% merlot and 7% cabernet sauvignon. Better than 2022.

Deep purple in colour. Heady aromas of red rose, violet, hyacinth and lavender florals, black berry fruits and juniper. Blackcurrant, blueberry, damson, iodine, cinnamon and dark bitter chocolate. Silky on the palate showing a youthful profile. Patience required before full character is revealed. Wonderful energy release from acidity and tannin engagement.

Another barrel sample that was due to be bottled in January 2024, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard sports a complex nose of mixed red and black cherries, sage, bay leaf, cedar and vanilla. It's full-bodied, rich and concentrated, with a nicely velvety feel that's maybe a touch more open-knit than the Bosché and with more intense, darker fruit on the finish. Located just 1.2 miles southwest of Bosché, this vineyard is just across the street from Staglin.

From a famous Rutherford site set back behind the Grgich Hills winery, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard delivers classic notes of black cherries and cassis, mint, cedar and vanilla. Aged in 65% new French oak, it's full-bodied, rich, concentrated and tannic, made to age, with a long, vibrant finish.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard was matured for 14 months in 90% new French oak. Currently resting in tank, it has slowly blossoming aromas of crème de cassis, cigar box,
violet and wild fennel, plus notes of pencil shavings and truffle. The full-bodied palate is structured by very finely grained tannins and surprising freshness that highlights its floral perfume, and it has a long,
surprisingly open-knit finish streaked with lovely mineral tones.

Not surprisingly, this red is the darkest and most youthful of the flight, with maraschino cherry and mulberry fruit offset nicely by the bracing savory and mineral hints buried within. Broad in feel, but not lacking in cut, with mouthwatering apple wood and dried anise notes checking in.

A blend of 91% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 3%Malbec, the 2021 La Muse was matured for 16 months in barrel. Currently resting in tank, it's youthfully shy and fruity at this early stage, showing a touch of matchstick-like reduction. After time in the glass, it reveals a core of Morello cherry, shiitake mushroom and aniseed. The full-bodied palate is concentrated yet weightless, with restrained, just-ripe, mineral-driven fruit, abundant, grainy tannins, noticeably refreshing acidity and a spicy finish.

The 2012 La Joie, 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, comes primarily from the Jackson-owned Alexander Valley Mountain estate as well as higher elevation vineyards in Knights Valley. At 14.3% alcohol, it is the most powerful wine in this portfolio, revealing a masculine, muscular style with an inky/purple color and a big, sweet nose of licorice, unsmoked cigar tobacco, forest floor, blackberry, creme de cassis and toasty oak. This full-bodied, powerful effort is more structured and broodingly foreboding than La Muse. Forget it for 5-6 years and drink it over the following three decades.

Like all of these wines, the 2016 Le Désir is powerful, dark and quite structured. The Cabernet Franc is high in the 2016 and that gives the wine much of its distinctive personality and overall intensity. Powerful inky and explosive, the 2016 is full of potential.

Bright, deep ruby. Seriously dark aromas of cassis, violet, bitter chocolate and espresso. Hugely rich and ripe but with uncanny energy and definition to the flavors of black raspberry and musky bitter chocolate. This has the density of a top vintage of Chateau Ausone. Finishes with a boatload of ripe tannins that are buffered by the wine's palate-staining fruit. Another monument in the making.

Bright, deep ruby. Spicy, high-toned aromas and flavors of cassis, blackberry, violet, licorice and mint. Superconcentrated, bright and sharply delineated, showing outstanding density and energy for the year but also a magically light touch. Most promising today on the very long finish, which features suave, fully buffered tannins and great subtle persistence. Just 13.9% alcohol here. This set of 2010s should evolve in bottle for at least a couple decades

Good bright ruby-red. Knockout nose combines blackberry, licorice, cocoa powder, minerals, pepper and sexy spice oils. Then juicy and gripping in the mouth, with superb energy to the flavors of blackberry, cocoa, licorice and violet. An impression of peppery acidity adds punch to the middle palate and extends the flavors on the extremely long, rising finish, which features toothdusting tannins.

(74% cabernet franc, 13% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 4% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Blackberry and violet aromas are lifted by powerful minerality. Juicy but youthfully imploded, with great verve and intensity to the flavors of black fruits, brown spices and licorice pastille. A wine of outstanding lift and mineral clarity. Finishes with noble toothdusting tannins, great persistence and the structure for two or three decades of development in bottle. These Verite wines boast a sophistication of texture rarely found in California's reds. I'd love to try this wine in a blind tasting alongside top St. Emilions from a great ripe year.

(86% merlot, 9% cabernet franc and 5% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Knockout nose combines black raspberry, bitter chocolate, violet and orange zest. Otherworldly merlot, boasting great clarity and intensity and an utterly seamless texture. Strong acidity (the pH is 3.63, the lowest of the three Verite 2009s) frames the wine's flavors and accentuates its classical dryness. Finishes with noble tannins, great palate-staining length and floral lift. High class!

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/Jun 07 (50% cabernet franc, 39% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 2% malbec) Good bright medium ruby. Reticent but vibrant nose offers medicinal cassis, black cherry and licorice. Comparatively cool in the mouth, opening slowly to reveal black cherry, dark berries, licorice, spices and flowers. Extremely primary today but already fine-grained, seamless and utterly suave. This positively vibrates on the aftertaste, finishing with great subtle mounting persistence and minerality. A knockout in the making. These wines are at the level of quality of the very best Napa Valley collectibles at half the price. 95-98 points

Bright ruby. Pungent, sappy, mineral-driven aromas of dark berries, licorice, bitter chocolate and coffee liqueur. Remarkably layered and deep, boasting great mid-palate energy and spicy lift. Noble tannins saturate the palate on the extremely long, mounting back end. Still a baby (the wine was just racked to tank in late February) but potentially monumental.

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 2010 La Muse bursts from the glass with an exciting melange of dark red berries, freshly cut flowers, spices and licorice. Layers of dark fruit flow effortlessly to the long, wonderfully nuanced finish. The 2010 has a level of energy and pure vibrancy that isn't quite there in the 2009. Today the tannins are a bit firm, but that should only serve to provide backbone for the wine as it ages. This is a dazzling wine from Pierre Seillan and Verite. The 2010 La Muse is 84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030.

A barrel sample of the 2009 La Muse, a blend of 86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec, was from the Bennett Valley (31%), Chalk Hill (42%) and Alexander Mountain Estate (27%). Sweet cassis, crushed rock, spring flower, black currant and coffee notes as well as an undeniable minerality emerge from this big, full-bodied, powerful wine. Surprisingly deep and concentrated for a 2009, it may turn out to have the longevity of the 2005.

Exhibits a personality not unlike St-Emilion's Château Ausone. Aromas of incense, flowers, black fruits, crushed rocks, and steel emerge from this wine of extraordinary intensity, superb purity, full-bodied power, and backward tannin. As it sits in the glass, scents of smoke and earthy blueberries also come forth. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2021.

The 2010 La Joie is a cool, mineral-drenched wine oozing with class and elegance. Today the 2010 is all about potential, and there is no shortage of that here. Blackberries, cassis, graphite and spices are some of the many notes that wrap around the powerful, insistent finish. This is another showstopper from Verite. In 2010 La Joie is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030.

The 2008's are strong efforts. Given the fact that Vérité's wines often perform better out of bottle than they do from barrel, this may be another powerful, long-lived vintage. The 2008 La Joie (72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec) reveals sweet fruitcake, crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, licorice, and incense characteristics as well as tremendous body. It is the biggest, richest, most substantial and promising of this trio. It reveals a Pauillac-like, cedary, black currant-scented nose that suggests a first-growth Bordeaux. It too, should age effortlessly for three decades or more.