Impenetrable core, deep ruby to the rim. Full nose of blackberry and blueberry with roasting coffee and bitter chocolate notes. Palate holds a mirror to the nose but has further savoury meaty undertones that create a wonderful depth and umami character. Flows incredibly long, tannins finely ripened to ensure that line carries without showing any exertion, the finish a fan of complexity and poise. 

Classification for Lassegue in this vintage, two decades after the Jackson-Banke family bought the estate and asked Pierre Seillan to head things up - he has now handed over to his son Nicolas Seillan. Their experience over in California means that hot and dry seasons are not a surprise to this winemaking team, and this takes the high spice and concentrated black fruits in its stride. It's big and muscular, but picks up the pace through the palate, ensuring enough slate and pumice texture to stop things getting heavy at any point. Powerful, concentrated, impressive. 65% new oak for ageing.

This is deliciously firm and impressively concentrated. It tastes of blackcurrant, redcurrant, resin and bay leaves, and boasts a genuine smoothness to the mouthfeel as well as an assertive rumble to the tannin. I tempted to say that this wine places an emphasis on structure, because it has that feel, but the volume of fruit here is impressive as well. It is, you could say, a complete wine.

What winemaker Sarah Wuethrich calls a "Goldilocks" wine, the 2022 Pinot Noir Unforgettable Estate Vineyard doesn't lead overtly into red fruit or overtly into black fruit, it goes right down the middle, with plenty of both cradled in just-enough, but without too much oak. Soft, juicy, lengthy, and spicy, it has great texture and medium-bodied finesse, with refined tannins to boot. This is a great wine that has years to go in bottle, through 2032-2037.

Indeed, one of the prettiest wines of the four different wines Maggy Hawk makes from the same site, the 2022 Pinot Noir Jolie comes from the 58-acre Maggy Hawk estate planted to five different clones of Pinot. It is all red fruit and floral loveliness, higher in acidity than some of its sister wines, and aged in less new oak. The freshness is the star as much as the texture, bright and persistent on the palate in citrus peel and forest, and medium to light-bodied in style and substance. Enjoy through 2032.

The majority of this estate vineyard was planted in 2006, with a second phase in 2011, the majority of which makes up the bulk of the 2022 Pinot Noir Skycrest Vineyard. Highlights of citrus peel and red fruit mark a highly spiced, crisp, and lengthy experience of bold elegance on the palate, with tremendous texture, structure, and nervy acidity. This seems sure to be a long-lived wine worth aging 10-15 years.

A standout wine from a time-tested vineyard that's already delicious but will keep improving with age. So rich, creamy, chocolaty and layered, braced by super fine-grained, silty tannins. Full-bodied, saturated in black cherry, cocoa, milk chocolate, blueberry and mocha flavors. Blended with 6% merlot. It offers good acidity at a pH of 3.5. Drinkable now, but best from 2032.

Only the second vintage of this distinctive, single-vineyard wine. It is deep, structured and layered, with minerals, graphite and blackcurrant flavors, seeming to reflect the gravelly soil it was grown on. Firm tannins add a little bit to the texture, lifting the stony, almost chalky palate. From the east side of the Oakville appellation, just across the highway from To Kalon Vineyard. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Fragrant and plump yet retains a sense of refinement and polish, with jammy raspberry, cherry, orange peel and licorice accents that build richness toward briary tannins. Drink now through 2035.

What a velvety, mouth-filling and lusciously ripe wine that at the same time is fascinating for its balance and fresh finish. It offers tons of blackberries, blueberries and dark chocolate on broad, layered tannins and a full body. Easy to sip already, but has the structure for further aging. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Warm aromas of black cherry, roasted strawberry, baking spice and toasted oak draw the nose deeply into this clonal study. The palate is grippy in texture yet lush in flavors of strawberry, pepper and French-toast spices, all wrapped in chalky tannins. —M.K.

Sourced predominantly from younger own vineyard Banghoek Valley grapes. Vinified with the same philosophy as Capensis, fermented in oak, a small portion of 25-28% new oak with maturation for closer to 11 months on full gross lees. The aromatics are pure and bright, laced with lemon and lime cordial, dried herbs, lemon grass and a pithy grapefruit hint. Beautiful breadth and depth on the palate with a bold intensity, fabulous green and yellow citrus fruit concentration finishing with a silky, delicate lacy persistence. Light touch but very classy.

50%+ Fijnbosch farm fruit in the blend normally. Displays complex aromatics of savoury waxy lemons, pineapple, wet straw, grilled nuts, vanilla pod, lime cordial and a fine, stony vein of minerality. The palate shows a notable intensity of green and yellow citrus fruits, lovely translucent purity and a powerful but energetic length. Youthful, vibrant and very impressive.

Light, bright yellow colour with discreet and reserved fresh pastry, oatmeal and pencil wood aromas, the palate light and bright and quite intense, with a linear profile and reserved cashew, almond and nougat flavours. A refined and subtle wine which is lovely now but promises more in a year or two.

43/34/23% grenache/shiraz/mourvèdre; élevage in old puncheons, foudre, ceramic eggs and amphorae. Naturally, this is grenache-led. And not just by numbers, but by flavour, lithe weight and architecture. Wild raspberry, damson and tart blackberry, with a liberal dusting of ground spices, dipping both into baking and master stock territory. The balance of varieties is à point, the tension, fine tannin, verve and energetic drive compelling. It is a finely wrought and keenly frisky expression. Superb, especially for the tariff.

From two estate blocks, handpicked and basket pressed. Fermented wild in older French puncheons; matured for eight months with monthly lees stirring. This is a foil to the Roux Beauté bottling, more built on slippery texture than pithy structure, with notes of stone fruit, dried lime, green melon and ripe pear. There are refined herbal accents, too, leaning into soft mint leaves, pine and furry young sage, rather than anything expressly green, with a subtle nutty brininess to close. It’s very fine expression of the grape, and further emphatic proof of its suitability to the Vale.

The nose is aromatic, expressing notes of peaches, mandarin confit, green papayas and honeydew melon. The palate is textural and rounded with bright acidity, giving notes of Meyer lemons, dried herbs, chamomile tea, apple skin and sea salt. A very complex blend of 56% grenache blanc, 17% grenache gris, 17% roussanne, 7% clairette and 3% bourboulenc that sat in clay eggs on the skins for five months. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Perfumed and complex aromas of wild raspberries, potpourri, orange rind and dried herbs. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with vibrant acidity and fine tannins, giving notes of boysenberries, red licorice, blackberry bush and violets. A very complete wine made from old bush vines planted in 1946. Exceptional. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Perfumed and floral aromas of wild raspberries, rose petals, orange rind and ocean spray. The palate is medium-bodied with focused acidity and integrated tannins, giving notes of strawberries, sweet spices and cassia bark. Very fresh, with an underlying tension. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

So broad, generous and mouth-filling, yet firmly structured in velvety tannins. Spicy elements of cloves, cinnamon, tamarind and cocoa around red and black cherries, with some black pepper and iron notes. Difficult to find a better 100% malbec in California. Drink now or hold.

Big but balanced, bursting with black fruit and savory notes on a firm structure of fine-grained tannins. It starts with floral and black cherry aromas, then blackberry, graphite, tobacco leaf and mocha flavors that expand on the palate and linger in the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

Silky and sophisticated, an elegant wine that's pure, delicious and so well balanced. Made from old vines and aged in 80% new French oak to add baking spices, cocoa, iron and graphite nuances to the luscious black cherries and blackcurrants. Contains 20% cabernet sauvignon. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.

The 2022 Siduri ‘John Sebastiano Vineyard’ Pinot Noir is sourced from a range of blocks from this site. They have utilized a range of clonal selections as this was stored in 30% new French oak for ten months before bottling. The wine is astonishingly good with a generous melange of red and black fruits alongside blood orange zest, cola and salty soils. Complex and delicious, enjoy now and over the next ten plus years to come. Drink 2024-2036

Sourced from this site that is set on sand, this is a slightly cooler site for the Santa Rita Hills, southwest of Melville. The wine is made of clonal selection 459 and Mt. Eden. Given 20% whole cluster fermentation this offers a smooth mouthfeel with Earl Grey tea alongside a core of pure cranberry, red cherry and red raspberry fruit flavors, with salty soils. This is outstanding stuff. Drink 2024-2034

This site neighbors Gary’s Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The 2022 Pinot Noir shows gobs of body and texture with cola and red cherry notes on the palate alongside cardamom dusted orange peel and suggestions of tobacco leaf. Full-bodied and delicious, this is exceedingly good stuff to enjoy now and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2024-2034