Legacy used to be a part of Stonestreet, but today is its own label. The 2016 Chardonnay Alexander Valley is terrific and comes from higher elevation sites in Alexander Valley. It was aged 11 months in 31% new French oak. With a mix of Old World/New World style in its buttered orchard fruits, citrus blossom, charcoal, and melon aromas and flavors, it's medium to full-bodied, has good concentration, and its bright acidity keeps everything fresh, focused, and tight. This gorgeously textured 2016 needs 2-4 years of cellaring and will drink nicely over the following decade.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s Lots of spring flowers, chocolate, damp earth, and blue fruits emerge from the 2016 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain, which is 100% varietal brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. With medium to full body, bright acidity, incredible elegance, and a still tight, focused style on the palate, hide bottles for 3-5 years and it should drink beautifully over the following 15-20 years.

Blended of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain has a deep garnet-purple color and nose of warm cassis, black berry pie and mulberries with touches of cedar, red roses and cloves plus a touch of cigar boxes. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a great core of black and blue fruit layers framed by firm, ripe tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long.

Graphite, pencil shavings, violets, melted road tar, spices, blue/purplish fruit and lavender flesh out in the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from La Jota. Aromatically striking and totally vivid in the glass, the 2011 stands out for its crystalline purity, finesse and vibrant finish. All the elements are in the right place. The tannins are firm yet also silky. This is a flat-out stunning wine from Chris Carpenter and La Jota. The 2011 is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Chardonnay Saralee’s Vineyard reveals lemon meringue pie, applesauce and quince notes with touches of allspice, lightly browned toast and honeycomb. Full-bodied, rich and seductive in the mouth, it packs in the apple and citrus pie flavors with a gorgeous creaminess to the texture and a very long, honeyed finish.

A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% Shiraz, the Hickinbotham 2014 The Peake Cabernet Shiraz has a deep garnet-purple color and very spicy with warm red and black fruit preserves, mocha, vanilla and yeast extract, with a touch of lavender. This blend is firm, rich, full-bodied and concentrated in its very spicy, fruity profile. It also has a long finish.

The Trueman Show: talk about a compelling debut. Vineyard planted in 1971. Blackcurrant, boysenberry, pencil and a flicker of mint/licorice, chocolate wrappers and montelimars. Medium bodied, dense and chewy, shot with ‘minerality’ and brooding appeal: the quality and volume of tannin here is exceptional. Length also. Significant wine. Would never have picked McLaren Vale, not that there’s anything wrong with McLaren Vale Cabernet, I hasten to add.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir MacLean's Block is medium to deep ruby-purple in color and opens with fragrant notions of wild blueberries, redcurrant jelly, cranberry pie and kirsch plus hints of oolong tea, mossy bark and truffles. Medium to full-bodied, taut and firmly structured, it delivers tons of black and blue fruit layers sparked by earthy accents, Finishing long and earthy.

The 2017s From Sonoma Red plums, mulberries, oyster shell, and even a hint of iron all emerge from the 2016 Pinot Noir Jennifer's, which comes from a cooler, marine-influenced site south of Sebastopol. Medium to full-bodied, straight, focused, and beautifully balanced as well as incredibly elegant, this is a remarkable Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that does everything right. I suspect a year or two of bottle age will do it well, and it should evolve for over a decade.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases Aged for 17 months in 38% new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered, the medium ruby-purple colored 2016 Pinot Noir Marin County leaps from the glass with vibrant black and red cherries, cranberries and violets with hints of rose hip tea, hemp and black soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating red and black fruits with bags of earthy nuances and a plush texture, finishing very long.

From the cooler Green Valley region of the Russian River, the 2015 Pinot Noir Hailey’s Block was completely destemmed and spent 16 months in 27% new French oak. Hailey's Block is a block within the Arrendell Vineyard, named after Don and Jennifer Hartford's daughter. It’s another beautifully Burgundian wine from this estate that offers crisp black cherry, crushed rock, charcoal, and wood smoke aromas and flavors. It’s fresh, focused, and youthful, with fine tannin and high yet integrated acidity. Give it a year or three and it will keep for a decade or more.

From the oldest vines planted in the 1970s, the 2015 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard is a perfumed, spicy wine that's just singing on the nose. Ripe cherries, raspberries, candied orange, and exotic spices give way to a medium to full-bodied, supple, seamless Pinot Noir. It has bright acidity, sweet, vibrant, fruit, notable tannin, and a great finish. Like a lot of the wines here, it has the fruit to shine, but this is certainly one of the more structured and tannic wines in the lineup.

The 2015 Chardonnay Jennifer's comes from a site south of Sebastopol, which is a cooler terroir. Harvest is normally 3-4 weeks later than what they find in the Russian River Valley. All from Wente clone and brought up in just 28% new French oak, it has a vibrant freshness and purity, with lots of salty minerality in its mango, orange blossom, caramelized citrus all soaring from the glass. Fresh, lively and pure, with remarkable purity and elegance, it's going to keep for a decade as well.

From an extremely cold terroir, it possesses terrific acidity, a liquid minerality, and hints of orange zest intermixed with white peaches and honeysuckle. Produced from tiny yields (255 cases from a 5-acre vineyard), it should drink well for 4-5 years.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Latro is in the same ballpark yet has more savory characteristics as well as plenty of conifer, California bay leaf, currants, and loamy soil aromas and flavors. This full-bodied beauty has plenty of tannin, terrific purity of fruit, no hard edges, and a great finish. Give it a few years.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards, a blend of 89.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.5% Merlot, 2.8% Cabernet Franc and 2.9% Petit Verdot, opens with youthfully subtle, very primary black currant and black cherry notes with hints of eucalypt, fertile soil, underbrush and new leather. Medium to full-bodied, firm and muscular in the mouth, the tightly wound fruit is well framed by very ripe, fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing with an herbal and mineral-laced lift.

From a nearby Rutherford Vineyard, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (located at the very end of Bella Oaks Lane in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains) is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.7% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot, but also aged 28 months in French oak. Notes of Christmas fruitcake, graphite, blackcurrant and black cherry are present in this wine, which is full-bodied and powerful, with high levels of tannin, amazing structure, but profound depth and richness. This baby needs to be cellared for a good 8-10 years and drunk over the following 35-50.

packed and youthfully taut, displaying outstanding energy to the deep, chewy dark fruit and mineral flavors. This very tightly coiled, sharply delineated Saint-Emilion blend has serious tannic clout that will require extended aging. Should evolve positively for 20 years or more.

Bright, full ruby. Complex, vibrant aromas of cassis, cherry pit, licorice and graphite, with a floral topnote building as the wine opens in the glass. Dense, pliant and suave, with a compellingly layered, fine-grained texture to the dark berry, licorice and mineral flavors. A wine of major dimension but today the firm, noble tannins clamp down on the fruit. I'd love to see this again in six or seven years--in a flight of top 2009 Medoc wines.

(67% cabernet sauvignon, 12% merlot, 12% cabernet franc, 7% petit verdot and 2% malbec) Good bright ruby. Black cherry, minerals, musky Cuban tobacco and leather on the nose and palate, lifted by a minty nuance. Lush on entry, then concentrated, sweet and penetrating, with superb focus and sap to the middle palate. Wonderfully expressive even if still youthfully unevolved. Finishes with full but ripe tannins and a compelling combination of sweetness and energy.

Good bright ruby. Black cherry, minerals, musky Cuban tobacco and leather on the nose and palate, lifted by a minty nuance. Lush on entry, then concentrated, sweet and penetrating, with superb focus and sap to the middle palate. Wonderfully expressive even if still youthfully unevolved. Finishes with full but ripe tannins and a compelling combination of sweetness and energy.

Offers a frankly toasty frame of licorice and apple wood wrapped around a more than adequate core of plum and black currant preserves, all laced with a violet note. Sleek and reserved through the finish, with an iron hint peeking out amid the fruit, this offers length and a lovely mouthfeel and should develop well in the cellar while soaking up its toast. Best from 2026 through 2038. 3,500 cases made.

From the west side of the Zena Crown vineyard, and almost exclusively marine sedimentary soils, in this otherwise volcanic appellation of the Eola-Amity Hills. There's a fleshy blue and red fruits with gorgeous florals and sweet earth tones. Earthy and dark-fruited with exotic spices and smoke. Freshness, fruit and dusty blackberries paint the palate alongside earthen mineral tones.

Adjacent to the Sum block, this wine is fully destemmed and all from the 667 clone Pinot Noir. Next to the big Douglas fir in the vineyard, this wine gives off sweet truffle and sous bois notes with sweet and rich black fruits. Taut blackberries meld with a spicy clove. Exotic spices frame the palate with Oregon blackberry, raspberry leaf and a rich, loamy earth character.

Meaning "the crest," La Crête will be released in April of 2026; it's saline and mineral first, with whispers of tart red berries following on. Blood orange and sweet blue fruits align with wild alpine meadow herbs, wild carrot flowers and fresh saline minerality to finish. The 22 bottling of La Crête is sourced only from Emery and Triple Black Slopes.