Top Ten: California The 2013 Désir is a blend of 62/22/11/5/ cabernet franc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec aged 15 months in 100 percent new French oak. Perhaps the spiciest, it opens with a whiff an alluring hint of white pepper. The attack is as powerful and elegant as it gets, clearly mimicking the great wines of Saint Emilion. With so much finesse already evident you could drink this now although I would say wait a decade. The attack is round, the tannins chalky and soft with fine black tea, licorice, orange with a stony mineral backend. Impressive style and seemingly set to age for decades. Try now with Bistecca Fiorentina.

The 2009 La Muse is a rich, sumptuous wine bursting with dark plums, black, cherries, graphite, espresso, spices and licorice. It shows gorgeous balance from start to finish. Persistent veins of minerality frame the long, beautifully articulate, creamy finish. This is a deceptively accessible wine today, but there is so much underlying power and sheer structure that I will not be surprised if it shuts down in the bottle. The 2009 is 86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029.

Good red-ruby. Musky aromas of blueberry, licorice and dusty spices. Dense and sappy, with terrific grip and saline intensity to the dark berry, dark chocolate, clove and mace flavors. Wonderfully energetic Saint-Emilion style of wine, with exhilarating inner-mouth spice character. Tannins are serious but suave and perfectly carried by the wine's density of texture and lingering fruit. A beauty.

The 2008 La Muse (1,500 cases) exhibits a dense purple color along with a big, sweet nose of chocolate fudge, black cherries, licorice, underbrush, camphor and espresso. Full-bodied, powerful and extraordinarily concentrated, but also tannic, it is a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec all of which is accessed from Jess Jackson's Alexander Mountain Estate vineyard. Like its siblings, it is aged in 100% French oak, and has the highest level of alcohol (14.5%). Jess Jackson and his Bordelais winemaker, Pierre Seillan, have followed their 2007s (the finest wines they have ever made) with strong efforts in 2008. To understand these wines, readers must realize that they are not meant for near-term drinking, but rather for extended cellaring. Seillan truly wants to produce a wine with the ripeness of California fruit backed up by the structure and ageability of a top Bordeaux. All of these cuvees come from Sonoma County estate vineyards owned by Jess Jackson. The La Muse (dominated by Merlot) offering represents Verite's right bank Pomerol-styled wine, La Joie is their Medoc-styled effort dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Le Desir is more of a St.-Emilion, possibly Graves-styled wine dominated by Cabernet Franc blended with Merlot. These wines all need 4-5 years of bottle age, and are capable of lasting three decades or more. If you did not catch the 2007s that were released in 2010, my scores are as follows: 2007 Le Desir (98), 2007 La Joie (100) and 2007 La Muse (99).

Full ruby-red. Knockout nose melds musky brown spices, iron, flowers and smoked meat, along with an exotic suggestion of white fruits. Broad, ripe and classically dry, with a palate-coating texture like liquid velvet. Strong underlying minerality gives energy and definition to this compellingly rich and pliant wine. The extremely long finish shows an exhilarating building sweetness and noble tannins.

(50% cabernet franc, 39% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 2% malbec) Good medium ruby. Cherry, minerals and caramelized meat on the nose. Wonderfully lush, suave and fine-grained, with captivating flavors of dark berries, black cherry, gravel and lilac. Finishes with extremely fine tannins, superb grip and outstanding subtle persistence. This reminded me of a ripe vintage of Cheval Blanc.

Good medium ruby. Cherry, minerals and caramelized meat on the nose. Wonderfully lush, suave and fine-grained, with captivating flavors of dark berries, black cherry, gravel and lilac. Finishes with extremely fine tannins, superb grip and outstanding subtle persistence. This reminded me of a ripe vintage of Cheval Blanc.

(50% merlot, 47% cabernet franc and 3% cabernet sauvignon) Deep, bright ruby-red. Complex, spicy nose melds currant, black cherry, licorice, iron and flinty minerality. Suave, sharply delineated and deep, with a terrific core of spice to the classy, perfumed fruit. This boasts stunning inner-mouth aromatic character and a wonderfully subtle sweetness. The noble, fine-grained tannins complement the wine's slow-mounting, extremely long finishing flavors. This should be spectacular with four or five years of bottle aging.

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.