Very earthy and spicy, with plum and smoked-meat aromas. Full body, round texture of soft, velvety tannins and a medium finish.

Lots of dark-fruit and tar character on the nose and palate. Full body with silky tannins and a dark-chocolate, berry and mineral undertone. A little more subdued than the 2010 but outstanding. Needs two or three years to soften: Try in 2016.

Stone fruit, peach and nectarine on the nose from this Monterey County riesling along with a modicum of spice and minerality. Peach skin, nectarine pit and sunny citrus flavors come through on the palate. It has a soft flavor entry and lands on midpalate with a hint of St. Joseph baby aspirin or what seems like orange muscat as well. Not your typical German or California riesling, somehow that softness translates to further upbeat acidity on the finish, which is brighter, sunnier and more refreshing than expected.

Silky and smooth with spicy cherry and tangy, juicy acidity; amiable and clean with good structure and finesse.

Ripe, lush and creamy with hints of citrus, pear and honey; smooth, balanced and long.

Reasonably priced, this elegant chardonnay sports tropical fruit notes with a citrus-like nose and broad, luscious flavors.

Bright ruby-red. Aromas of crushed cassis, bitter chocolate and espresso called to mind a top Pauillac. Densely packed and sappy, offering outstanding precision of dark fruit and mineral flavors and inner-mouth floral perfume. Still quite tight but the wine's building tannins and palate-staining length suggest that it will go on in bottle for two decades or more.

Bright medium yellow. Brilliantly pure aromas and flavors of ripe peach, green melon, soft citrus fruit and brown spices are complicated by a subtle leesy quality. Hugely rich, pliant and sweet but with harmonious acidity and an impression of dusty extract framing the wine's almost exotic fruit. This is bigger than most red wines but not at all over the top. The wonderfully tactile, youthful finish features outstanding palate-drenching length. Exceptional chardonnay.

Bright, deep ruby. Seriously dark aromas of cassis, violet, bitter chocolate and espresso. Hugely rich and ripe but with uncanny energy and definition to the flavors of black raspberry and musky bitter chocolate. This has the density of a top vintage of Chateau Ausone. Finishes with a boatload of ripe tannins that are buffered by the wine's palate-staining fruit. Another monument in the making.

Bright ruby. Pungent, sappy, mineral-driven aromas of dark berries, licorice, bitter chocolate and coffee liqueur. Remarkably layered and deep, boasting great mid-palate energy and spicy lift. Noble tannins saturate the palate on the extremely long, mounting back end. Still a baby (the wine was just racked to tank in late February) but potentially monumental.

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.

Brilliant medium ruby. Inviting aromas of blackberry, cassis, licorice, cocoa powder, brown spices and black truffle. Dense and sweet, showing an almost liqueur-like ripeness to the blackberry and mineral flavors. The wine's slightly high-toned quality is leavened by its serious spine. Finishes with outstanding persistence

Deep ruby. Wonderfully pure aromas and flavors of crushed cassis, minerals and exotic spices. Huge, sweet and plush but utterly primary for a wine with so much flesh. Boasts the chocolatey richness of a topnotch Pomerol from a great year, but the wine's huge, ripe tannins will require at least five or six years of aging. Finishes with outstanding length

Bright saturated ruby. Extremely dark aromas of crushed blueberry, violet, bitter chocolate, licorice and camphor. Peppery and precise but not green, with outstanding dark fruit and violet intensity accentuated by an electric impression of energy. This seriously tannic Le Desir will need at least eight years of cellaring before it approaches its plane of peak drinkability.

Deep ruby-red. Terrific lift to the aromas of cassis, licorice, mint, minerals and bitter chocolate, accented by herbs and rose petal. The middle palate offers outstanding depth for 2011, as well as terrific definition and energy to the dark berry, nutmeg and cassis leaf flavors. Finishes classically dry, with subtle building length. Seillan told me he uses the malbec for spice, not to add color or volume. A huge success for the vintage.

Very pale, bright yellow with a faint green tinge. Knockout, soil-inflected nose combines lime leaf, fresh peach, quinine, menthol and stone lifted by a hint of orange zest. Highly concentrated and tactile, with a touch of sweetness but outstanding buoyancy to its savory peach and crushed stone flavors. Wonderfully dense wine with a slowly mounting, very long finish. This might be a bit sweet as a ringer in a white Burgundy tasting--or it might simply be the runaway favorite.

Bright medium ruby. Vibrant aromas of crushed cassis, bitter cherry, licorice and leather. Youthfully tight yet already quite penetrating; today the wine's licorice and fresh herb notes dominate its underlying dark fruit flavors. More backward than the 2011 La Muse, even austere today

Bright, pale yellow. Sexy aromas of pineapple, minerals, crushed stone, anise and caraway seed are accented by ineffable spicy high notes. Ripe and juicy, with seriously dense apple, crushed stone and menthol flavors cut by citrussy acidity. Impeccably balanced, intensely fruity wine with a long saline finish and terrific purity and verve.

Bright yellow. Slightly high-toned aromas of pineapple, orange and spices anchored by vanillin oak; there's something vaguely Alsace riesling-like about this. Then plush, sweet, rich and expansive on the palate, more open-knit than the Broken Road. Boasts a lovely glycerol quality to its creamy flavors of soft citrus fruit. This full-bodied, inviting chardonnay holds its shape on the long aftertaste.

Bright pale yellow. Aromas and flavors of pineapple, ripe peach and sexy oak, along with more exotic tropical fruit nuances. Dense, thick and highly concentrated; still a bit reluctant to give up its flavors, with its crushed stone character in the foreground today, but this silky chardonnay boasts terrific intensity of fruit. Very long on the aftertaste.

Bright medium ruby. Captivating nose combines crushed cassis and blueberry, licorice, bitter chocolate, peppery herbs and a musky whiff of truffley underbrush. Plush, voluminous and deep; the largest and broadest of this superb set of 2011 cabernets, with seamless dark berry and pepper flavors complemented by sexy, perfectly integrated oak. Finishes thick and very long, with remarkably ripe tannins for the year. Although it's approachable now, I'd wait 5 years and then enjoy this big boy over the following 10 or 12.

Brilliant ruby. Heady aromas of black raspberry, incense, floral pastilles and cola are underscored by a suave mineral quality. Sappy, incisive red and dark berry flavors put on weight with air, displaying excellent clarity and spicy lift. A smoky nuance builds with air and carries through the subtly tannic, strikingly persistent finish, with the dark berry and cola notes echoing strongly. This bottling represents 204 cases of the 18,378 of pinot noir that La Crema produced in 2011.

Bright, deep ruby. Extremely primary nose hints at cassis, espresso and bitter chocolate; this is about as evolved as a Bordeaux during the Primeurs tastings six months after the harvest. Then surprisingly plush and rich, boasting superb volume and sappy verve to the black and blueberry, coffee and mocha flavors. The balance of sweetness and acidity is exhilarating. Strong underlying minerality gives shape and lift to the ripely tannic, very long finish. Splendid potential here. I tasted both this wine and the 2012 Montana from tank.

Bright, deep ruby. Nose dominated by bitter chocolate and minerals. Chewy, rich and seriously concentrated, with strong acidity and terrific violet lift enlivening the highly complex flavors of black cherry, musky coffee, spices, bitter chocolate and black olive. Displays a lovely combination of freshness and power, with the 100% new oak in the background. As with his Verite wines, winemaker Pierre Seillan keeps the Anakota wines in barrels for only 15 months.

Bright medium ruby. Aromas of medicinal blackberry, licorice, violet, graphite and crushed stone. Rich, sappy and quite concentrated, showing a tactile, chewy texture to the youthfully clenched flavors of black fruits and minerals. No shortage of acidity here. This powerful mountain style of cabernet will need time in bottle to absorb its powerful, building tannins time in bottle to absorb its powerful, building tannins.