One of the more up-front, perfumed, and complex
releases, the 2021 Pinot Noir Hapgood Vineyard
has great cherry, mulberry, and framboise notes
as well as some sappy herb, floral, and subtle iron
and marine nuances. I love its palate as well as it's
medium-bodied texture, and it has a silky, elegant
mouthfeel, fine tannins, and a great finish.

Lastly, the 2021 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard offers a translucent medium ruby hue as well as a rocking nose of lifted cranberries, mulberries, peppery herbs, and orange blossom. It's one of the bigger, richer wines in the lineup and is medium to
full-bodied, has a round, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. Drink bottles over the coming 7-8 years.

Moving to the single vineyards, the 2021 Pinot Noir 3D is slightly deeper hued yet is still translucent ruby in color. Savory red and black fruits, baking spices, toasted nuts, and baking spice notes all define the aromatics, and this beauty is medium to full-bodied, with a pure, layered texture and outstanding length. It shines for its incredible complexity as well as its texture.

Wild strawberries, sappy flowers, rose, and earthy
mineral notes define the 2021 Pinot Noir
Soberanes Vineyard, another terrific Santa Lucia
Highlands release from this estate. It has beautiful
purity, fine tannins, and a great finish. Fermented
with 15% stems and aged in 40% new oak, it will
evolve nicely for 7-8 years.

Savory cherries, dried herbs, spices, and hints of
iron all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Sierra
Mar Vineyard, a medium-bodied, concentrated,
wonderfully balanced, elegant Pinot Noir. It shows
the cooler, elegant style of the vintage and is well
worth seeking out.

From one of the great sites in the Santa Lucia
Highlands, the 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard
has a bright, juicy, medium-bodied style as well as
perfumed red fruits (strawberries, cherries), lots
of floral nuances, nicely integrated acidity, and
fine tannins. This cuvée was completely
destemmed and was brought up in 40% new
French oak. I love its purity and elegance.

Black raspberries, tart mulberries, scorched earth, and leafy herb notes all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Perilune Vineyard, a tighter, more structured Pinot Noir from a site in the Sta. Rita Hills. I like its balance, and it opens up nicely with time in the glass. It's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for a decade.

Fermented with 50% stems, the 2021 Pinot NoirJohn Sebastiano Vineyard is a darker, richer eff ort,with black cherry and blackberry fruit as well aspeppery herbs, earth, and chocolate. Nicelybalanced, medium to full-bodied, and textured, itwill keep for a decade.

Spiced cherries, mulberries, iron, and rose petal
notes all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita
Hills, another pure, medium-bodied, elegant,
classy wine from this team. It has more notable
structure and acidity compared to the softer,
broader Santa Barbara County release. Both are
terrific.

Black raspberries, toasted spice, dried flowers, and
some savory herb notes all emerge from the 2021
Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands, a terrific,
medium-bodied, supple, yet nicely concentrated
Pinot Noir. It's delicious now but will evolve for 7-
8 years. This comes from a mix of the Sierra Mar,
Garys’, Rosella’s, and Kitewinder vineyards, was
90% destemmed, and spent 10 months in 25%
new French oak.

Beautiful orchard fruits, toasted bread, and some sappy flower notes all emerge from the 2021 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard, a medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, elegant wine that has nicely integrated acidity as well as a
supple, up-front, delicious style.

Lots of ripe red and black fruits, bouquet garni, bay leaf, pepper, and cedary notes emerge from the 2021 Syrah Tepusquet Vineyard, a remarkably pure, elegant, medium-bodied Syrah with a distinct, cool-climate style that has tons to love. Made from 100% destemmed Syrah aged 16 months in 20% new French oak, it's a terrific value well worth your time and money

Made by Greg Brewer and a smoking value, the 2022 Diatom has vibrant citrus and tart pineapple-like notes as well as a medium-bodied, seamless, silky style on the palate. It's a joy to drink already yet has complexity, layers, and depth, and is a beautiful Chardonnay. The 2022 comes 85% from the Mission Hills Vineyard and 15% from Bar-M (Los Alamos), both in Santa Barbara County, and it was fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, with malolactic fermentation blocked.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County is an
up-front, total charmer offering attractive red and
black cherry fruit, some spicy, herbal nuances,
medium body, and a soft, elegant texture. Drink
this undeniably delicious, impeccably made Pinot
Noir over the coming 4-5 years

Ripe strawberries, framboise, spring flowers, and spicy underbrush notes all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard, a beautifully textured,medium-bodied, elegant Pinot Noir. It's already
hard to resist, and I see no need to delay
gratification.

All varietal, the 2022 Viognier Tepusquet Vineyard is terrific as well, with a light hue as well as perfumed, exotic notes of sappy, minty herbs, lemon pith, and orange blossom in a clean,medium-bodied, vibrant profile. It’s an outstanding example of the variety to drink over the coming year or so.

The 2020 Ironheart Shiraz hails from a warm, dry
vintage in McLaren Vale, and the wines, I feel, have
been made with care and detail. They're very good, and
while the season is still captured in the glass, there's
no hint of the heat or the year. This might be due to the
resilience of the organic/biodynamic vineyard.
Anyway, here the wine is monumental, big, supple and
driven by skin tannin, but it's a bit meaty and dense
too. There are muscles here, but it's not heavy, you
know? It's really engaging and lively, while nailing the
McLaren Vale Shiraz brief of exotic spice, dark fruit
and fine tannin. This is a pleasure. It matured for only
12 months in one year old French foudre and then
spentA further trip around the sun in glass prior to
release. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2021 King's Wood Shiraz is super good, with
concentrated, black cherries, rose petals, wet asphalt
(must be the rainy day today), black pepper, mulberry,
star anise, raspberries and more, more, more. It has a
lot packed in but is not crowded. There's a good
feeling here. It is effortless, impactful and pleasurable.
It's all "come hither," this wine. It was made with 20%
whole bunches, with a wild ferment, all free run and
matured in 25-hectoliter French foudre, 50% new, for
16 months. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2021 Brooks Road
Shiraz is incredibly perfumed,
with field flowers, herbal tea,
graphite, pencil box, spiced
blood plum, aniseed, clove
and Peking sauce. In the
mouth, the wine is medium
weight and dark, dark, dark,
littered with exotic black
things. A nighttime wine.
14% alcohol, sealed under
screw cap.

“Citrus, floral, and berry notes travel from the glass, touching on the aromas of strawberry, grapefruit, orange, and white fruits. On the palate, the citrus is bright with the notes of grapefruit taking center stage. Refreshing acidity and supporting, subtle, mineral notes bring character and structure to the wine. Previous vintages rated 94-95 points by Wine Enthusiast.”

Whole-cluster fermentation, ageing in neutral barrels. Beautifully floral cranberry and cherry aroma. Gorgeous cherry and green-herb flavours mix with raspberry and a hint of dark earth. Woody and slightly resinous hints of the whole-cluster fermentation linger in the finish. A really beautiful wine. (AY) 14.5%. Drink 2023 – 2033.

Whole-cluster-pressed to neutral barrels, with no racking or bâtonnage. Scents of white flowers and citrus pith. Bright citrus-pith and pastry-cream flavours have a wonderful filigreed acidity. Stony quality at the core, with a faint citrus-peel bitterness in the finish. (AY) 14.5%. Drink 2023 – 2030.

Fruit from Perilune vineyard. 100% whole-cluster fermented, with 60 days spent on the skins and stems. Casks on average at least 15 years of age. Chopped herbs and underbrush scents are layered over blue fruits. Salty flavours of brown sugar, blackberries, roasted meat and baking spices are wrapped in a fleecy blanket of tannins. Very good acidity keeps this whole package fresh. Unusual, but oddly compelling. (AY) 14.5%. Drink 2023 – 2030.

Fermented at very low temperatures in small stainless-steel tanks for eight weeks, with malolactic conversion blocked. Smells of white flowers and citrus pith. Silky flavours of white flowers, lemon pith, pomelo pith and a hint of stone fruit with faint salinity and very good acidic backbone. Despite seeing no oak, the wine has a nice breadth and texture. GV (AY) 14.5%. Drink 2023 – 2029.

Five-day cold soak then pressed at dryness into 18% new French oak barrels where it ages for 7 months before bottling. Certified sustainable. Smells of cranberries and raspberries, with hints of dried herbs. Flavours of raspberry and sour-cherry fruit are wrapped in muscular tannins. Excellent acidity. Stony black-cherry flavours linger in the finish. GV (AY) 13.9%. Drink 2023 – 2029.