The 2013 Chardonnay Estate Vineyards reveals lots of tropical fruit, especially tangerine oil.

The numerous Chardonnay vineyards are planted at 800 to as high as 1,800 feet (in the case of the Gravel Bench, Upper Barn and Broken Road vineyards). All are 100% Chardonnays largely made from the Old Wente clone with a small percentage of the Hyde clone, and are fermented with indigenous yeasts. Almost all of them spend 10-11 months in various percentages of new French oak, ranging from a low of 44% (the Estate Chardonnay) to a high of 100% (the Gravel Bench Chardonnay. The differences between the various cuvées are very subtle as they are all relatively full-bodied, rich, and aromatic with natural textures. As the scores attest, they are far more alike than dissimilar. My favorites include the 2013 Chardonnay Gravel Bench, which reveals amazing texture and richness as well as a honeyed crème brûlée intensity and striking minerality.

From the Sonoma Coast, the 2013 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard (396 cases) emerges from a mountain ridge north of Fort Ross. This cuvée sees about 35% new French oak, and the 2013 clearly shows the tropical fruit side of Chardonnay with lots of pineapple, mango and candied tangerine-like notes. Full-bodied with fabulous fruit intensity as well as purity, super focus, and an underlying liquid minerality that gives it an extra-special character, it should drink well for 10 years.

There are 304 cases of the 2013 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard, another Green Valley hillside site just south of the town of Forestville. One-hundred percent barrel-fermented and aged in 29% new French oak, this superb Chardonnay exhibits notes of apple blossoms, lemon oil, white currants, quince and hints of tangerines and orange marmalade. The vintage’s sensational acidity and delineation come through in this full-bodied, super-concentrated 2013. Drink now-2020.

From the Green Valley, the 2013 Chardonnay Three Jacks Vineyard (253 cases produced) sees about 44% new French oak. It reveals terrific fruit, lots of tangerine oil, pear, pineapple and caramelized citrus, medium to full body, and tremendous acidity and definition. Drink over the next 7-8 years.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Green Valley, from a cool subsection of the Russian River, exhibits plums and sweet cherries along with hints of earth, forest floor and underbrush. It has a beautiful mouthfeel, medium to full-bodied texture and terrific purity. It was aged nine months in 31% new French oak and came from the newer Dijon clones, 667, 777 and older ones such as 115 and 23.

Treated essentially the same way as the Russian River cuvée, but from a different area of California, the 2013 Chardonnay Arroyo Seco has more tropical fruit, orange marmalade, white pineapple, delicate smoke and vanilla. This is a nice, broad, savory, very exotic Chardonnay compared to the more classic Russian River.

The 2012 Chardonnay Nine Barrel is a limited cuvée of the best nine barrels in the cellar. Aged nine months in French oak, over which one-third is new, this is a more buttery style, with more notes of smoke, tropical fruit, almond paste and hazelnuts. Another California version of a Meursault from Burgundy, it should be drunk over the next 2-3 years.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Hawkeye is a well-built, structured, deep and potentially complex wine that has plenty of upside. Dense ruby/purple, full-bodied, very young and backward, this wine does offer impressive texture, depth and quality. Drink 2017-2030.

The exotic 2013 Chardonnay Jackson Estate Arroyo Seco sees 100% French oak, of which 50% is new, and comes from Clone 809. One could swear there was some Viognier cofermented with this Chardonnay. While tasting this wine, we were joking that it is a pornographic style of Chardonnay, because of its exotic, ostentatious aromatics of honeysuckle, spring flowers, pineapple, orange marmalade and lychee. It’s rich, ripe, medium to full-bodied and probably a love-it or leave-it style. But I love it. Drink it over the next 1-2 years.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Lands Edge Vineyard comes from a site situated less than five miles from the Pacific Ocean. Its deep ruby/plum color is followed by notes of charcoal, spring flowers, red and blackcurrants and cherries. Savory, ripe, elegant, and fresh, it can be drunk over the next 5-7 years.

A wine I’ve bought in certain vintages and have been thrilled with how beautiful it has aged, has been the Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale. The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale (800 cases) is still in barrel as they want to keep it there for another 4-5 months in both French and American oak prior to bottling. It’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, exhibits a dense ruby/purple color, notes of cedar wood, bouquet garni, blackcurrants and black cherries, with loamy soil undertones in the background. It’s full-bodied, with impressive purity, structure and gradually building palate presence. The finish has velvety tannins. Look for this wine to be approachable on its release in a year or so, and evolve for 15+ years.

Absolutely brilliant is the 2012 Merlot Taylor Peak from Bennett Valley. Made from their Jackson Estate Vineyard, a relatively high elevation vineyard, this 100% Merlot was aged in 47% new French oak. The wine is serious stuff, with white cassis and black cherry liqueur intermixed with licorice, graphite and vanilla. It’s opaque purple, full-bodied, luscious and best drunk over the next 10-15 years.

A real star from a vineyard planted by Kendall-Jackson’s famed French winemaker Pierre Seillan is the 2012 Merlot Jackson Park. This is a 900-case cuvée aged in French oak, of which 43% was new. It’s 97.5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This is a gorgeous wine, still young and primary, but inky/purple-colored with copious notes of black cherry fruit, graphite, vanillin, coffee bean and a hint of fudge. It’s ripe, full-bodied, powerful, brawny, quite backward and primordial. Give it another several years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15-20 years.

The nine-barrel selection 2012 Pinot Noir Nine Barrel finishes off the Dijon clones. It shows beet root, mulch, some herbaceousness, along with plum, black cherry and wild strawberry notes. If these wines can be criticized in any way, they’re probably not singularly different from cuvée to cuvée, but they’re all very attractive, fruit-forward, well-crafted wines.

The 2013 Chardonnay Russian River is 100% barrel-fermented with 100% malolactic, aged eight months in 31% new French oak prior to being bottled. It’s an excellent value, especially at discounters, where I’m sure it’s probably priced as low as $25. White peach and a touch of honeysuckle are present in this elegant, pale wine that shows virtually no oak. It’s a nice, medium-bodied, pure flavor profile with a good texture and finish. Drink it over the next several years.

A jump up in quality is noticeable with the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Jackson Estate Alexander Valley. This beauty, made from 91.6% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, reveals an opaque purple color. It sees about 20% new French oak and three-quarters of the barrels are French and the rest American. Lots of vanilla, baking spices, cedar wood and blackcurrants jump from the glass of this classic, full-bodied, velvety textured Cabernet Sauvignon with terrific fruit intensity and richness.

From the coldest site, the 2012 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard reveals a dark ruby color along with lots of spice box, pomegranate, red currants, smoky herbs and forest floor notes. Savory with excellent richness and vibrant acidity, it can be drunk over the next 5-6 years.

The 2013 Chardonnay Broken Road exhibits a liquid rockiness intermixed with orange and pineapple notes. The numerous Chardonnay vineyards are planted at 800 to as high as 1,800 feet (in the case of the Gravel Bench, Upper Barn and Broken Road vineyards). All are 100% Chardonnays largely made from the Old Wente clone with a small percentage of the Hyde clone, and are fermented with indigenous yeasts. Almost all of them spend 10-11 months in various percentages of new French oak, ranging from a low of 44% (the Estate Chardonnay) to a high of 100% (the Gravel Bench Chardonnay. The differences between the various cuvées are very subtle as they are all relatively full-bodied, rich, and aromatic with natural textures. As the scores attest, they are far more alike than dissimilar. My favorites include the 2013 Chardonnay Gravel Bench, which reveals amazing texture and richness as well as a honeyed crème brûlée intensity and striking minerality. The same can be said for the 2013 Chardonnay Broken Road as well as the 2013 Chardonnay Upper Barn, a parcel made famous by Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer when they were producing Chardonnay from this site under their Marcassin label. All of these wines are great Chardonnays that combine the best of California ripeness with the minerality, structure and delineation of a French white Burgundy.

A new offering, or at least the first time I’ve tasted it, is the 275-case 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Justi Creek Vineyard from Sonoma. This shows more roasted herbs, red and blackcurrants, a hint of vanilla, and a creamy, fleshy, mouthfeel without the complexity or delineation of the Reserve Speciale. Nevertheless it has outstanding density and potential. This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in a combination of French and American oak, of which 38% was new. It should drink well for at least 10-15 years, although I doubt that it ever hits the heights that the Reserve Speciale will.

The 2013 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard is one of the leanest and lightest of these white wines. From a ridge top west of the town of Occidental, facing Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean, this wine sees about 43% new oak, and comes across as Chablis-like. Medium-bodied with fresh apple blossom, crisp red currant and quince notes, it is a fresh, lively, cool-climate Chardonnay that, despite its new oak aging, has a naked appeal and flavor profile. Drink now-2022.

The 2012 Proprietary Red is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest a tiny percentage of Malbec, from relatively high elevation vineyards planted between 800-2,000 feet on Alexander Mountain Estate. It has an opaque ruby/purple color, a nose of toasty oak, lead pencil shavings, blackcurrants, and hints of underbrush and vanilla. It’s medium to full-bodied, tightly coiled, with some promise and potential, but needs another one or two years of bottle age.

Only a single wine, the 2012 Pinot Noir (5,548 cases) emerges from this Kendall-Jackson-owned estate vineyard near the town of Booneville. Planted at 1,400- to 1,800-foot elevation with Dijon clones 667, 777 and 115, this wine spent nine months in 32% new French oak prior to being bottled. The soil layers are alluvial, uplifted seabed, stuffed with natural sea shells embedded in many of the fractured rocks. It’s also above the fog line in this area. The resultant wine from these soils is lush, with raspberry and blueberry fruit, a seductive, flowery bouquet, medium body, sweet velvety tannins and a layered finish, which seems to build incrementally on the palate. This is an impressive Pinot Noir that sells at a realistic price. Drink it over the next 5-7 years.

The more complex 2012 Chardonnay Reserve Speciale is 100% barrel-fermented with 100% malolactic fermentation and was aged for nine months in new and neutral French oak. This shows more honeyed white peach notes, a bigger, richer framework, medium to full body, and hints of honeysuckle and subtle, restrained oak. Again, the purity, texture and overall craftsmanship are impressive. Drink over the next 7-8 years.

At 12,155 cases, the delicious 2013 Pinot Noir Russian River is the largest cuvée. It exhibits classic notes from Russian River, including loamy soil/earthy notes along with black cherry jam, baking spices and fruit cake aromas as well as a hint of sassafras. This is a meaty, fleshy, reasonably well-endowed Pinot Noir to drink over the next 2-4 years.