A brooding youth, offering bright raspberry and dark blueberry fruit, with accents of smoked pepper, sage and mineral. The tannins are big but ripe.

Ripe and plush, this is well made for the style. Cherry pie aromas open to lively flavors of jammy raspberry, cinnamon and toasted spice. A crowd-pleaser.

My favorite of the Sta. Rita Hills releases, the 2013 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard offers sensational purity and elegance in its darker berry fruits, crushed flowers, underbrush and hints of mint. Seamless, silky and refined, it still has plenty of fruit and texture, and shows terrific focus on the finish. I'm a fan and this bottle drank beautifully over the three days I had the bottle open. It will have a decade or more of overall longevity.

I was blown away by the 2013 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard. It's a gorgeously complete, balanced and still structured 2013 that offers rocking notes of cassis, black cherry, crushed rock and forest floor to go with a medium to full-bodied, textured and concentrated feel on the palate. Easily one of the riper, larger framed and powerful wines in the lineup, it nevertheless has the fruit to drink nicely today. It should be at its best from 2017-2023.

Coming from three separate blocks in the vineyard (two of which are completely exposed to the brutal Sta. Rita winds), the 2013 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard is juicy and fresh, with lively black cherry, currants, violets, spring flowers and spice characteristics giving way to a terrific palate. Medium+-bodied, silky, refined and layered, with excellent mid-palate concentration and overall balance, it's another terrific 2013 that will drink nicely for 5-7 years.

Showing the tension and focus that's common from this vineyard, the 2013 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is harvest from three different blocks in the vineyard, with the harvest between each block spanning as much as five weeks. Bright, perfumed and lively, with excellent ripeness in its cassis and black raspberry fruit, violet and wet stone aromas and flavors, it opens up nicely with time in the glass and has beautiful minerality that comes through on the finish. Medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated and structured, with notable tannin, it should benefit from a year in bottle and have upward of a decade of overall longevity.

All about finesse and elegance, the 2013 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard is a classic expression of the vineyard. Giving up beautiful notes of Bing cherries, rose petal, mint and sappy flowers/underbrush, the acidity that's so common from this vineyard is nicely woven into the wines fruit and structure. Medium-bodied, elegant and silky, it has a lip-smacking finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. Enjoy this pretty, deftly textured and elegant Pinot Noir over the coming 5-6 years.

I loved the 2014 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard, and as in 2013, it might be the top Sta. Rita Hills release from Adam. Loaded with notions of spice, white pepper, dried rose petals and dried violets, this beauty is medium-bodied, graceful and pretty on the palate, with perfectly integrated acidity and tannin. It shows the forward nature of the vintage, yet has plenty of class.

Maybe the best wine from Adam in 2014 is the 2014 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard. Giving up the classic minerality that's common from this site, it has lots of sweet black raspberry and violet nuances, medium-bodied depth and richness and a fresh, focused, elegant style on the palate. It showed more tannic structure with time in the glass, yet given the fruit and balance, I've no doubt it will be approachable on release.

A rocking wine that's up with the best from the vintage, the 2014 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard has lots of cassis, blueberry, bramble and crushed rock notes to go with a big, rich and fruit-filled profile on the palate. Despite all the fruit, it always stays lively and fresh, has tight tannin structure and gorgeous purity. Drink it on release and over the following 5-7 years.

Another terrific wine is the 2013 Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard, which was completely destemmed and aged 16 months in 40% new French oak. Still showing its oak elevage, with lots of caramelized cherry, black raspberry, sweet oak and spice, it hits the palate with a seamless, silky, gorgeously pure texture that carries plenty of fruit and finishes clean and dry, with notable tannic grip. Give it a year or two in the cellar to integrate its oak and drink bottles through 2021.

One of the more complex and upfront reds in the lineup, Adam's 2013 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard offers beautiful notes of Asian spices, forest floor, dried flowers and sweet red fruit to go with a forward, supple, polished and incredibly easy drinking feel on the palate. Already ready to go, there's no need to delay gratification here and I'd enjoy bottles over the coming 4-5 years.

Supple, seamless and sexy, with lots of clove, dried flowers, mint and sweet red and black fruits, the 2013 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard is medium-bodied, nicely concentrated and more structured and tannic than I remember from barrel. While I thought it lacked a touch of mid-palate depth right on opening, it filled in nicely with air and has plenty of fruit, integrated acids and a great finish. It will be better in another 6-12 months and drink nicely through 2023.

Another gorgeous barrel sample, the 2014 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard offers the tell tale freshness and purity of the vineyard to go with a medium-bodied, finely balanced, clean and seamless feel on the palate. Possessing nicely integrated acidity and a great finish, it, like more 2014s, will be hard to resist on release.

Like the 2013, the 2014 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard is pretty and elegant, with a floral, perfumed bouquet, nicely integrated acidity and a rounded, supple texture. I think its balanced, and it finishes nicely as well. It should be close in quality to the 2013 and drink well for 7-8 years.

Like the 2013, the 2014 Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard comes from three different parcels in the vineyard. It's a superb looking barrel sample that exhibits lots of cassis, spring flowers and underbrush to go with a medium-bodied, layered and sexy profile on the palate. It certainly doesn't lack for fruit, yet the emphasis here is on freshness and purity. It should drink nicely on release and over the following 5-6 years.

Also terrific, the 2013 Chardonnay Nielson Vineyard comes from the Santa Maria Valley and was 100% barrel-fermented and aged 16 months in 30% new French oak. It has terrific Chardonnay notes of sauteed apples, creme brulee, white flowers and a touch of brioche to go with a medium-bodied, pure, fruit-forward and textured style on the palate. Already hard to resist, drink it over the coming 3-4 years.

Coming more from the southern end of the appellation (it's mostly Pisoni and Sierra Mar), the 2013 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands has come on like gangbusters since I tasted it from barrel last year. It gives up lots of blackberry and darker styled fruits, mint, cloves, crushed rock and underbrush to go with a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, fruit-loaded style on the palate. Possessing beautiful fruit and no hard edges, it represents a killer value in Pinot Noir and should drink nicely for 4-5 years.

Fermented with 15% whole clusters (the vintage had tiny berries and Adam said that even this small percentage yielded almost more stems than berries), the 2013 Pinot Noir Cargasacchi Vineyard offers soaring notes of stems, spice, underbrush, flowers and juicy berry fruit in a forward, sexy and fruit-filled style. Called a love it or hate it style by Adam, it seemed classic Pinot Noir with stem influence to me. I'd happily drink it anytime over the coming 4-6 years.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley is notably more serious than the Santa Barbara County release. Offering up dark cherry and black raspberry fruit to go with lots of spice, licorice and a touch of oak, it's nicely concentrated, medium-bodied, balanced and rich, with juicy acidity coming through on the finish. Fermented with 10% whole clusters and aged 14 months in 20% new French oak, it should be at its best from 2016-2021. Even though it's more expensive than the Santa Barbara County Pinot, it's still a terrific value. Originally misprinted as Byron, but review pertains to Nielson by Byron.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills should be a classic expression of the region, showing lots of spice, red fruit and dried soils aromas and flavors. Balanced, polished and elegant with plenty of fruit, it should certainly be an outstanding wine, and at the price, is an excellent value in Pinot Noir.

Scheduled to be bottled in August, the 2014 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands bottling comes more from the northern part of the appellation in 2014 (the 2013 was mostly from the southern end). It has lots of sweet cherries, roast, violets and minty characteristics as well as a ripe, voluptuous and still lively feel on the palate. More red-fruit dominated than the 2013, it's similarly styled and should certainly be an outstanding wine.

Showing a more savory edge, with lots of dried herbs, leather, autumn leaves and assorted red fruit characteristics, the 2014 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard is medium-bodied, nicely texture and has fine tannin that emerge on the finish. Despite the savory aromatic slant, it's sweetly fruited and balanced on the palate. I suspect it will show nicely on release.

A smoking value that's made in serious quantities, the 2013 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County has classic stone fruits, white peach, white flowers and classy oak/vanilla notes in a medium-bodied, supple, elegant and fruit-forward style. Fermented and aged half in tank and half in neutral barrel, it's a no-brainer Chardonnay to enjoy over the coming couple of years.

Adam's base appellation bottlings are superb values in 2013 and the 2013 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is a blend of John Sebastiano, Clos Pepe and Cargasacchi vineyards. It offers tons of pretty, perfumed fruits, black cherries, violets and spice to go with a supple, fruit-forward, yet elegant style on the palate. It's already drinking beautifully, but it will continue to impress for at least another 4-5 years.