Like all of these wines, the 2016 Le Désir is powerful, dark and quite structured. The Cabernet Franc is high in the 2016 and that gives the wine much of its distinctive personality and overall intensity. Powerful inky and explosive, the 2016 is full of potential.

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, deep ruby. Spicy, high-toned aromas and flavors of cassis, blackberry, violet, licorice and mint. Superconcentrated, bright and sharply delineated, showing outstanding density and energy for the year but also a magically light touch. Most promising today on the very long finish, which features suave, fully buffered tannins and great subtle persistence. Just 13.9% alcohol here. This set of 2010s should evolve in bottle for at least a couple decades

Good bright ruby-red. Knockout nose combines blackberry, licorice, cocoa powder, minerals, pepper and sexy spice oils. Then juicy and gripping in the mouth, with superb energy to the flavors of blackberry, cocoa, licorice and violet. An impression of peppery acidity adds punch to the middle palate and extends the flavors on the extremely long, rising finish, which features toothdusting tannins.

(74% cabernet franc, 13% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 4% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Blackberry and violet aromas are lifted by powerful minerality. Juicy but youthfully imploded, with great verve and intensity to the flavors of black fruits, brown spices and licorice pastille. A wine of outstanding lift and mineral clarity. Finishes with noble toothdusting tannins, great persistence and the structure for two or three decades of development in bottle. These Verite wines boast a sophistication of texture rarely found in California's reds. I'd love to try this wine in a blind tasting alongside top St. Emilions from a great ripe year.

(86% merlot, 9% cabernet franc and 5% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Knockout nose combines black raspberry, bitter chocolate, violet and orange zest. Otherworldly merlot, boasting great clarity and intensity and an utterly seamless texture. Strong acidity (the pH is 3.63, the lowest of the three Verite 2009s) frames the wine's flavors and accentuates its classical dryness. Finishes with noble tannins, great palate-staining length and floral lift. High class!

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/Jun 07 (50% cabernet franc, 39% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 2% malbec) Good bright medium ruby. Reticent but vibrant nose offers medicinal cassis, black cherry and licorice. Comparatively cool in the mouth, opening slowly to reveal black cherry, dark berries, licorice, spices and flowers. Extremely primary today but already fine-grained, seamless and utterly suave. This positively vibrates on the aftertaste, finishing with great subtle mounting persistence and minerality. A knockout in the making. These wines are at the level of quality of the very best Napa Valley collectibles at half the price. 95-98 points

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.

As for the 2015s, one can anticipate that these are going to be big, blackberry and blueberry-laced wines, opaque in color, with loads of glycerin. The Helena Dakota will probably inch out the Helena Montana in terms of concentration, length and intensity by a slight degree, but both are mid-90-point wines that should have early drinkability windows because of their sucrosity and supple, sweet tannins, yet be capable of lasting 25-30 or more years. This is an up-and-coming star.

The 2010 La Muse bursts from the glass with an exciting melange of dark red berries, freshly cut flowers, spices and licorice. Layers of dark fruit flow effortlessly to the long, wonderfully nuanced finish. The 2010 has a level of energy and pure vibrancy that isn't quite there in the 2009. Today the tannins are a bit firm, but that should only serve to provide backbone for the wine as it ages. This is a dazzling wine from Pierre Seillan and Verite. The 2010 La Muse is 84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030.

A barrel sample of the 2009 La Muse, a blend of 86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec, was from the Bennett Valley (31%), Chalk Hill (42%) and Alexander Mountain Estate (27%). Sweet cassis, crushed rock, spring flower, black currant and coffee notes as well as an undeniable minerality emerge from this big, full-bodied, powerful wine. Surprisingly deep and concentrated for a 2009, it may turn out to have the longevity of the 2005.

Exhibits a personality not unlike St-Emilion's Château Ausone. Aromas of incense, flowers, black fruits, crushed rocks, and steel emerge from this wine of extraordinary intensity, superb purity, full-bodied power, and backward tannin. As it sits in the glass, scents of smoke and earthy blueberries also come forth. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2021.

The 2010 La Joie is a cool, mineral-drenched wine oozing with class and elegance. Today the 2010 is all about potential, and there is no shortage of that here. Blackberries, cassis, graphite and spices are some of the many notes that wrap around the powerful, insistent finish. This is another showstopper from Verite. In 2010 La Joie is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030.

The 2008's are strong efforts. Given the fact that Vérité's wines often perform better out of bottle than they do from barrel, this may be another powerful, long-lived vintage. The 2008 La Joie (72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec) reveals sweet fruitcake, crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, licorice, and incense characteristics as well as tremendous body. It is the biggest, richest, most substantial and promising of this trio. It reveals a Pauillac-like, cedary, black currant-scented nose that suggests a first-growth Bordeaux. It too, should age effortlessly for three decades or more.

The 2014 Chardonnay Stone Côte is actually a tiny parcel within the more famous and larger Durell Vineyard. Like most of these wines, indigenous yeast fermentations are encouraged, and the wine is 100% barrel-fermented and aged completely in French oak with the percentage of new oak generally ranging from the upper 30 percentile to 50% or so. This wine is a terrific example of Chardonnay, with a greenish hue to its light straw color and a stunning nose of tropical fruit, citrus oil and orange blossom. It is full-bodied, has great acidity and delicious up-front fruit. This will be a killer Chardonnay when released next year.

The 2012 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard comes from a site located on a mountain ridge north of Fort Ross. Like its siblings, it was fermented with indigenous yeasts, and bottled unfined and unfiltered after spending 15 months in one-third new oak. It’s alcohol is among the lowest at 14.1%. A blockbuster Chardonnay, it boasts intense aromas of mangoes, Mandarin oranges, pineapples and wet rocks along with noticeable minerality, full body, and stunning purity as well as symmetry. This is another great Chardonnay from proprietor Don Hartford and his winemaking team. Enjoy it over the next 5-7 years.

From a panoramic ridge top parcel west of the village of Occidental, the 2012 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard reveals the lowest alcohol at 14%. It possesses great balance, a burgeoning complexity, good freshness and lots of honeyed tropical fruits intermixed with notions of wet gravel, spice and oak. With fabulous fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel and a long finish, it should drink well for 6-7 years.

The 2015 Zinfandel Jolene’s Vineyard comes from another site for century-plus-aged, head-trained bush vines. Aged in 100% French oak, it was to be bottled unfined and unfiltered right after my visit. Inky bluish purple, this wine from a vineyard on Olivet Road has loads of pepper, roasted meats, Provençal herbs and loamy soil undertones interwoven with blackberry, black cherry liqueur and spice box. It is a pedal-to-the-metal style of wine, with superb richness, a full-bodied unctuosity, but good acidity keeping everything energized and vibrant. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2015 Zinfandel High Wire Vineyard also comes from century-old vines and is aged in 100% French oak for 14 months. This looks to be sensational, with an inky ruby/purple color, a big, peppery, spicy nose with layers of charcoal embers, blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, some licorice, spice box and earth. It is full-bodied and viscous, with layers of fruit (mostly black fruits like blackberry and cassis) and a deep, full-throttle, inky finish. Drink it over the next decade.

Bright, dark medium ruby. Medicinal black fruits, menthol, rose petal, brown spices, mocha, espresso and molten chocolate on the very ripe nose; some hints of _surmaturité. Boasts a texture like liquid velvet; not particularly sweet but delivers terrific depth of dark raspberry and chocolate flavor and an incredibly glossy texture. As seamless as this wine is, its powerful structure gives a kick to the finish, where broad, serious tannins saturate the entire palate. This very young, sophisticated wine is a beauty, but give it some time in a decanter if you plan to open a bottle anytime soon.

The 2012 Grenache High Sands is powerful and rich aromatically, with roasted meat and
star anise, licorice, clove, dark chocolate and even roasted fennel seed. This is deep and
dark. I like it so much and am attracted to its difference in the context of the more recent
vintage releases. The oak formats employed in some of these older vintages include
smaller format, as opposed to the newer, larger seasoned oak vessels employed now.

The 2013 Grenache High Sands is perfumed and floral, and this perfume translates
seamlessly on the palate in the cavalcade of dried rose petals, pomegranate molasses and
sweet roasted meat crust. This is brooding and yet fresh. It will have quite the personality
on it in a decade and beyond; for now, it is teetering on that precipice edge of aging, one
where it is possible to see where the characters came from and where they are going too.

Lokoya's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain combines fruit from the Wurtele
Vineyard (at 800 feet above sea level) and the Yverdon Vineyard (at 1,900 feet above sea
level). Scents of sage and bay laurel accent this wine's more red-fruited core of ripe
cherries. It's full-bodied, like the other 2022s from Lokoya but not as lush or creamy. It's
concentrated, just slightly rougher-textured but still packed with aging potential, with a
long, lingering finish.

The 2022 La Muse is a blend of 90% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec that matured for 16 months in 95% new French oak. It's shy on the nose to begin, but with time in the glass, it reveals pure, alluring scents of red cherry, pipe tobacco, graphite and coffee beans. The full-bodied palate is mineral-driven at this early stage, though it has a seamless structure of velvety tannins and refreshing acidity and a long finish with latent spicy accents. “The Merlot is very shy in comparison to the Cabernet Sauvignon,” vigneron Pierre Seillan explains. “It doesn’t explode immediately. That is the secret of Merlot. It’s very shy on the entry and with lots of spice on the back.” I retasted the La Muse over several days, and it only improved with air—give it plenty of time in the cellar or several hours in a decanter.

Orange blossoms, stone fruits, white flowers, and plenty of classic marine-like salinity and mineral define the bouquet of the 2023 Chardonnay Machado, which spent 15 months in 100% neutral oak barrels. It's one of the brighter, racier, more mineral-driven Chardonnays in the lineup, and it's nicely balanced, medium-bodied, has integrated acidity, and a gorgeous finish. Drink 2025-2035.