Also saturated ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Jackson Estate Outland Ridge is ripe with roasted aromas of cedar, leather, redcurrant, and kirsch. Full-bodied, with a supple texture, ripe,sweet tannins, and notes of ripe berry fruit, orange peel, and soft stone, it’s long on the palate and has good balance. Drink it over the next 8-10 years.

Highly aromatic, the 2021 Viognier Yorkville Estate is expansive with a perfume of orange oils, honeysuckle, and frangipane. Full-bodied, with a supple texture, juicy ripe apricot fills the palate, joined by notes of beeswax, vanilla bean, and ripe melon. This is a classic and juicy wine to drink over the next serval years, although I would prefer to drink it young to preserve its expressive aromatic profile.

A nearly opaque ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Jackson Estate Anderson Valley takes on layers of ripe black cherries, pine sap, and purple flowers. Generous and mouth-filling, it’s fruit-forward on the palate, with fresh notes of ripe berries, tea leaf, and fresh forest floor, but its meaty structure comes through, and it has a good finish with ripe tannins and warming spice. Drink over the next 5-7 years.

A deep and youthful ruby with a hint of purple, the 2021 Zinfandel Russian River Valley is ripe and juicy with boysenberry, mocha, and pine. Full-bodied, it lends a nice balance of ripe and tart fruit on the palate, with a classic feel to its fine tannins underneath a sheen of silkiness. It is ripe and rounded, with notable freshness and a good finish. Drink it over the next few years.

Ripe and flinty, the 2021 Chardonnay Russian River Valley pours a golden hue and reveals aromas of ripe peach, wet stone, and candied ginger. This full-bodied white is ripe with honeyed citrus, ripe melon, and a bit of vanilla spice and has a good, clean finish. A good value for this classic, ripe style, it’s approachable and ready to drink over the next few years

The first of the two wines produced under this label, the 2019 Prequel takes on some
umami richness, with BBQ spices, baked plum, and fresh earth. Full-bodied, it has a
plush, velvety structure, with notes of ripe mixed berries and mocha, sweet tannins, and a floral finish. Juicy and approachable, I would prefer this for fresher youthful drinking.

Tasted as a barrel sample that’s undergone its final blending, the 2021 Winemaster's
Blend is an opaque purple/black color and opens up with aromas of graphite,
blackcurrant, mocha, and black raspberry. Fleshy and full, it brings forward a gravelly
texture, with ripe, young, firm tannins that will soften with time in bottle and has notes
of tea leaf and dark meaty fruit. It’s clean but has a nice bit of earthiness. It will be bottled in about a month.

A deep but transparent red, the 2021 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is floral and juicy with ripe red and black berries, forest floor, and cinnamon spice. Medium-bodied, it offers tangy berries, tea leaves, and dark mineral earth, with green herbs on the finish. Drink this over the relative near term.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley pours a deep red, with ripe and expressive
aromas of classic appeal, including cola spice, saturated black cherry, and damp forest floor. Ripe with red plum that is forward on the palate, it reveals a note of black tea, angular, ripe tannins, and turned earth. It’s ripe and meaty, with a good sense of place. Drink it over the next few years.

Ripe and generous, the 2021 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast pours a shimmery golden hue and delivers honeysuckle, candied lemon, and ripe green apple aromas. This rounded, fullbodied white is approachable with ripe melon, frangipane, and baking spice. It offers a good balance between richness and freshness and is perfect for youthful drinking. A lot of wine for the price, the consistency La Crema achieves at this scale is genuinely impressive, with 672,000 bottles produced.

The 2021 Chardonnay Anderson Valley offers up ripe notes of pear, candied orange, and white flowers. Full bodied, an initial note of hazelnut, waxy viscosity, and a soft
mouthfeel are given a bit more lift on the finish, with a light touch of saline in its
otherwise rounded sweet melon fruit, with ripe peach and delicate sweet baking spices.Drink it over the next few years.

A youthful ruby with a purple tinge, the 2021 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is ripe with black raspberry liqueur, cola spice, and purple flowers. Full-bodied, with a crunchy, more angular structure, it offers sweet tannins, ripe red berries and wild herbs, a gravelly texture, and a bit of toasted cedar. Drink 2024-2030.

A deep but transparent red, the 2021 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve is ripe with red plum,
candied flowers, and sweet cedar. Medium to full-bodied and lush with ripe cherry fruit, turned forest floor, and sweet tannins, it offers ripe structure and a lot for the price. Drink it over the next few years.

Pouring a golden hue, the 2021 Chenin Blanc Jurassic Vineyard is fresh and expressive with ripe pineapple and wet stone, and yellow flowers. Medium to full-bodied, with an attractive soft texture, it’s ripe and juicy with ripe yellow peach, orange pith, and fresh with a long, clean finish. This is drinking well now, so drink it
while it’s young.

An inky opaque purple/black hue, the 2020 Syrah Brosseau is ripe and smoky with black
plum, blackberry, violets, and cracked pepper. Full-bodied without being heavy, it offers savory richness, with meaty fruit, briny black olive, sweet tannins, and a long finish that reveals a hint of roasted earth. A clean red with good length, it’s drinking well now but would benefit from another year in the cellar. Drink 2025-2035.

A youthful pale pink, the NV Brut Rose is lifted with ripe strawberry fruit, rosy perfume,and a bit of leesy Parmesan. This medium-bodied sparkler has a lively mousse, clean freshness on the palate, ripe notes of peach and orange, and a chalky texture. Offering good balance and drinking well now, it’s perfect for drinking on the patio.

Entirely barrel fermented in French oak, the 2021 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is a bit sunnier, with ripe spiced orange, apricot, and melon aromas. Full-bodied, it lends more depth and a sunny feel on the palate, with notes of orange oil, beeswax, and vanilla. It’s a more assertive style in this lineup, with balanced richness and a good finish. Drink 2023-2028.

Highly aromatic, the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma County jumps from the glass with
ripe papaya, punchy chive, and grapefruit. Medium-bodied, notes of ripe citrus and
tropical fruit fill the palate, with a soft texture and a clean finish. It is fresh with ripe peach and candied citrus and has no harsh edges. A Drink now.

“Steel and spice, some dry pear, citrus, apples, preserved lemons and pink ginger. Wonderfully intense but at ease with it; what this wine does is take its intensity and run with it. This is a wine. Upfront and backwards at once. Go.”

Under wax and cork. I received this from the great people at Jackson Family Wines (who acquired B-C shortly before this fruit was harvested) in December 2021, shortly after my annual American Pinot Noir tasting. Oops. Well, this had been sitting in my cellar until my wife randomly grabbed it tonight. Good choice. Whoa. The nose is rich, fruity, brambly, and loaded with character. The palate is all New World in style, this would never be confused with a Pommard or a Nuits-St-Georges, but nor does it try to be. Rich, even unctuous, loaded with red and dark brambly fruit, this would likely piss off every French wine drinker on the planet, but this is a big, tasty gem. Outstanding.

“Dry, grapey, and yet inherently savoury. This is pretty wild, pretty exotic, flowers and herbs flying. Cranberry, strawberry and red cherry with twig and herb notes. The finish here is so dry, with so much crunch and grip, that I’ve underlined the words ‘crackle and squeak’ in my notes. And yet – importantly – all this dryness is served with a juiciness running through it. If you like the lighter/more structural style of Yarra Valley pinot, then I’d reckon that you should be bullish on this.”

From the Upper Barn vineyard at over 480m in the Alexander Valley planted in 1982 to Old Wente clone Chardonnay, old vines in this part of California for Chardonnay. This wine shows a wonderful elegance and depth of rich stone fruits. Honeyed pear and ginger mark the aromas, followed closely by white flowers and beeswax. The palate flashes opulence while maintaining a delicate character. Honeyed apricot flavours, grilled peach richness and lifted seaspray minerality. There is ample verve and freshness to this wine to complement its depth.

The fruit meets the structure of the wine in the plush palate of this wine at 16 years. Aromatics of violets meeting cinder, blackberries and fresh mint. The lushly fruited palate is a core of blackberry fruits, dusty gravel, and finely built tannins that compel this wine ever-forward.

A stunning wine at 12 years on from a cool and raining vintage, winemakers recall it was hailing on the crush pad. Gorgeous herbal aromas of fennel, dill, and eucalyptus. Shows the complexity of cool vintage Cabernet, flashing elegance along with structure. Savoury notes of bay leaf, forest floor, currants and smoked cedar plank all come together beautifully before a finish marked with mineral character and bright acids.

Cabernet Franc dominant this blend offers wonderful savoury freshness and complexity; from a warm vintage that started with plenty of winter precipitation, the wines show a corresponding balance and longevity: fresh herbes de Provence, pencil lead, violets and oak-derived notes of cassia bark. The palate reflects the wine's rich aromas, with anise, fennel and dark chocolate embracing a core of fresh brambleberry fruits and a kiss of fresh spearmint. The structure is something to behold, with fine tannins that show perseverance and elegance.