Reveals notes of black currants intermixed with blueberries, acacia flowers, chocolate, and coffee...Layered and rich...elegant and soft. Should drink well for 10-13 years.

The Chardonnay Fulton Ranch is ripe, tropical and overt. It also comes across as a tightly wound and not fully expressive tasted from barrel. The Chardonnay Fulton Ranch is not quite put together just yet.

…is a beautifully fruity, dark ruby-colored wine with loads of apple skin, cherry jam, and spice in its aromatics and flavors. There is tangy underlying acidity, fine ripeness, and a fleshy mouth-feel with just enough acidity and tannin to buttress the wine and give it delineation.

The 2010 Chardonnay Stone Cote Vineyard, from a block in the Durell Vineyard, caresses the palate with dried apricots, wild flowers, honey, tangerine and spices. It shows lovely roundness and finesse through to the creamy, inviting finish. This is a fairly lush, fruit-driven style of Chardonnay. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2016.

Big nose of coconut & resiny oak. Opulent & large-scaled but quite dry in the mouth; fat & oaky with substantial alcohol. Finishes quite oaky & long.

Ruby-red. Aromas of black cherry, menthol, cigar box and brown spices. Juicy and tight, with intriguing saline and rocky nuances adding complexity to the dark fruit flavors. Not an expansive style of merlot, but offers very good intensity and sneaky length. The tannins are substantial but not dry. (My sample of the regular Bennett Valley merlot was distinctly peppery and green in the mouth, and too dry on the back to recommend.)

Probably the best they have made to date, the 2007 Vintner's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits an exuberance, richness, and intensity that belie a production of 155,000 cases. Coming entirely from Jess Jackson's vineyards, the final blend - 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot - is sourced primarily from Sonoma and Napa, with a small percentage of Mendocino. This wine is a beauty, with ripe berry fruit, as well as hints of cedarwood, tobacco leaf, licorice, and plenty of black currants and black cherries. This wine should drink nicely for 5-6 years, possibly even longer. The lowest level of the Kendall-Jackson empire, the Vintner's Reserve series, goes from strength to strength. For consumers hoping to maximize their dollar value, these serious wines are consistent choices. Their Chardonnay has always been good, but dramatic increases in quality have taken place in the Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon programs.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County The 2017 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard fermented 40% in stainless steel and 60% in barrels and was aged in 15% new French oak for six months. It opens with notes of toast, gunflint and smoke, giving way to red and yellow apples, honeycomb, kiwi and fresh, white stone fruits at the core. Light to medium-bodied, it's fresh and clean in the mouth with juicy acidity and a refreshing finish.

Adam commented that his Novy Syrah closed up after bottling, and the 2013 Syrah Rosella's Vineyard is hard to read at the moment. Young, jammy, backwards, and ripe with lots of licorice, peppery herbs, lavender, and jammy black and blue fruits, it has good concentration on the palate, plenty of acidity and a clean finish. However, it's lacking integration and some harmony at present, so give it a year in bottle before checking in.

From the famous single vineyard in Rutherford, the 2013 Merlot Bosché Vineyard (96.4% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon) has a slightly blacker fruit character, a rather classic notes of cedar wood, white chocolate, espresso bean, plum and blackcurrant fruit. It’s also tannic and at present seems more austere and backward. Interesting, there’s more extraction and density to this wine, but it’s not as charming as the less-expensive one. This probably just needs another 6-12 months of bottle time, and should age nicely for at least a decade or more.

This is a long running, outstanding oaked chard that from time to time goes on sale, when it does, grab it, my bet, it will easily keep for a couple years. This one is pale/golden in color with a nice vibrant nose. On the mid palate the wine displays some lovely buttery, rich, caramel flavors along with some apple and pear. On the medium length in finish the wine displays some nice crisp, dry, vibrant acidity and oak notes. This is a lovely, smooth, elegant oaked chard, not overdone, to my tastes … Yumm. I would give it an 88+. We paired it with pan fried scallops and it was heavenly.

Santa Barbara: Present & Future The 2018 Viognier Tepusquet Vineyard is pretty, fresh and also varietally expressive, although it is a touch compact. Perhaps that is a result of its recent bottling. We will see. Ideally Viognier needs a bit more texture, I think.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards (87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc) is made in an earthier, leaner, more herbal style. Its dark ruby/purple hue is accompanied by notions of damp earth, truffles, roasted herbs, and sweet black cherry and currant fruit. Medium-bodied with good flesh and an austere, but promising finish, it will benefit from additional bottle age, and should evolve for 12-15+ years.

The 2006 Chardonnay Rae's was difficult to judge, seeming very tight, with high acidity as well as a structured feel to it. Nevertheless, there are some attractive tropical fruits and minerality behind this Chardonnay, which plays it close to the vest. For a wine already four years old, this is surprisingly youthful and backward.

Mourvedre presents pronounced aromas of black plums, crushed blackberries and fertile soil with suggestions of tar, tree bark and rare beef. Medium to full-bodied, it’s a style defined by a firm structure and savory, earthy flavors. It finishes with very good length. Drink it now to 2018+.

Good full bright ruby. Spicy black fruit, minerals, licorice, shoe polish, espresso and lead pencil on the nose. Dense and rather muscular; powerfully structured cabernet but already exudes an attractive restrained sweetness. Finishes with substantial but dusty tannins and very good length.

Ruby-red. Cassis, black cherry and chocolate aromas are purer than those of the above wine. Juicy, fairly intense dark berry flavor; also slightly rigid, but there's plenty of richness here. Finishes with substantial tannins, but also possesses very good buffering fruit.

Dark ruby/purple color is accompanied by a bouquet of graphite, black fruits, earth, and charcoal. This attractive, medium-bodied blend will benefit from another 1-2 years of bottle age given its tannic structure. It will are for 12-15 years.

Dark in color with a mild black cherry nose. On the mid palate the wine displays some solid black cherries to match the nose. On the medium length finish the wine displays some lovely velvety tannins, a hint of sweetness and some nice oaky noes. There’s some lively acidity that lingers nicely in the mouth, and some nice complexity to the wine, to do with the blend. I would give it an 88+. A very nice wine for the money.

A blend of 88% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Syrah, this tightly-knit 2002 possesses good depth along with chocolatey black cherry and berry characteristics intermixed with licorice, herbs, and earth. This heady Merlot requires another 1-2 years of bottle age; it should last for 10-12 years.

A Bordeaux-like blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2004 Grand Reserve Meritage (762 cases) possesses more spicy new oak than its siblings, along with sweet berry fruit, fudge, coffee, and black currants. Well-made, medium-bodied, tightly-knit and closed at present, it requires 1-3 years of bottle age, and should evolve for 10-12 years.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve comes from K-J’s holdings in Sonoma, primarily Knights Valley. Composed of 94.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Petit Verdot and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, aged primarily in French oak although some American oak is utilized, this is a powerful, rich, concentrated and convincing effort for a 2011. Deep cassis flavors intermixed with cedarwood, vanillin, spice box and licorice emerge from this medium to full-bodied, ripe, attractive wine. Drink it over the next decade.