Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Far Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir shimmies out of the glass with energetic scents of Bing cherries, fresh strawberries, and mulberries followed by hints of roses, forest floor, and blood orange. The medium to full-bodied palate is very tightly wound, with impressive tension and a very long minerally finish. Native strains were used for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and the wine is unfined and unfiltered. It is sourced from a block located on a mountain ridge north of Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast. The well-drained soils at an elevation of 800-1000 feet produce wines with a great sense of focus and minerality.

The 2022 DuPratt Vineyard Chardonnay springs with vivacious notes of lime leaves, orange blossom, and Granny Smith apples followed by suggestions of fresh grapefruit and yuzu zest. The medium-bodied palate is tightly knit and lively, with energetic citrus layers and a zesty finish. This wine was barrel fermented and aged in French oak. Native strains were used for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and the wine is unfined and unfiltered. The DuPratt Vineyard, planted in the early 1980s, is nestled among coastal redwoods at 1,500 feet, in the Mendocino Ridges AVA.

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Arrendell Vineyard Pinot Noir slowly reveals notes of black cherries, fresh raspberries, and redcurrant leading to suggestions of bay leaves, mossy tree bark, and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is plush and refreshing, with loads of savory sparks and a long lifted finish. Native strains were used for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and the wine is unfined and unfiltered. Arrendell is a vineyard planted in 1975 to the heritage Martini clone. The vineyard, one of the coldest in the Russian River Valley, struggles to ripen less than one ton per acre of Pinot by Halloween most years.

The 2022 Winberrie Knolls Old Vine Zinfandel is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It bounds out of the glass with exuberant notes of juicy plums, boysenberry preserves, and fruitcake plus hints of Indian spices, dried mint, tobacco leaf, and potpourri. The full-bodied palate is jam packed with black fruits and exotic spices with a racy line and lightly chewy tannins, finishing very long and earthy. The vines are more than 100 years old.

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 Jolene's Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel bursts with bold notes of Morello cherries, rosebud tea, hoisin, and unsmoked cigars giving way to hints of rose oil and sandalwood. The full-bodied palate has great tension and wonderfully velvety tannins, with a compelling mintiness lifting the concentrated black fruits, finishing long and spicy. It comes from head-trained vines planted over 100 years ago.

The leading release of Pinot Noir from Giant Steps in this vintage is the 2022 Pinot Noir Primavera Vineyard. Beautifully perfumed, it teases as it opens up with subtle aromas of potpourri, fennel seed, dark cherry and warm earth. Elegant and ethereal, it delivers wild and intriguing flavors of strawberry, aged meats and spice, with herbal undertones. The finish exceptional and promises to offer plenty more with time in the cellar.

The most complete of the Giant Steps Chardonnay this vintage, the 2022 Chardonnay Sexton Vineyard, from a lower north facing slope, offers up a rich core of powerful nectarine and spiced pear lifted by French nougat and gentle oak spice. It displays an excellent volume of flavor, with a fresh line of acidity and superb balance- a hallmark of a long, silky and stunning finish.

Deep and bright red-purple colour; the bouquet has a patina of meaty reduction at first, then terracotta earthiness, nicely ripe berry and plum aromas with it. The wine is intense and powerful, with a good backing of firm tannins which harmonise well, the finish long and balanced. Good now and has potential for the future.

Fresh red and black fruit backed up by a crushed stone character. This is a full-bodied wine but with smooth tannins. It exhibits good balance and tension, with multiple layers. Ends with a long, savory finish. This is a wine not to be missed. Try after 2026.

The nose of orange peel and lemon zest gives way to a creamy texture with very fine bubbles. Outstanding length and focus. This is serious sparkling wine with a dry and delicious finish. Mostly stainless steel and some neutral barrels. Dosage of 3 grams per liter. Disgorged August 2023. 191 cases made. Drink or hold.

As its name suggests, this wine is deep, dark and steep, full of powerful black fruit backed by firm but fine-grained tannins. Dense and saturated, with hints of graphite, cocoa and oak char that layer between the velvety tannins. Made from certified sustainable grapes. Tempting to drink soon with a grilled steak, but best from 2028.

Barbara Banke, like her late husband, Jess Jackson, left law to focus on building their vast vineyard estate, with a side-hustle in thoroughbred race horses. Maggy Hawk was one of those horses, as well as a property Banke purchased in 1994 with the last legal fees she collected before retiring from the profession. The Jackson Family team planted the site in 2000, 58 acres of vines in the far northwestern corner of the Anderson Valley. Sarah Wuethrich has made the wines since 2017, after seven years as assistant winemaker to Well Guthrie at Copain. Afleet is one of four selections from the property, a delicate wild-mountain-strawberry essence in the scent, fat and fleshy in the finish as its darker cherry scents deepen and lengthen out. There’s beautiful earthiness integrated into the fruit, leaving a sense of refinement. What pinot should be. The wine feels healthy and ready to cellar. (150 cases)

A superb vintage for this, the the finest iteration of Ovitelli Blanc thus far. Aromas of freshly made lemonade, herbal tea, salted quince and raw almonds, with a bitter kick of quinine at the finish. Full-bodied with just the right amount of pucker and a salty lick at the end. A brilliant expression that should age very well indeed. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Fragrant and vital, with crushed rose petals, dried thyme, strawberries and lavender. The tannins are long, lithe and detailed. Full-bodied yet floral. The feel is ethereal and the texture diaphanous until the ferrous, somewhat rustic tannins show in the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

A classy, polished, consummately detailed, full-bodied shiraz. Not an ounce of flab or extraneous sweetness on its refined structural bones. Anise, blue fruit, grilled meats and mace on the finish. Tension across its classy oak and grape tannins. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Sierra Mar Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple in color. Crushed stones and iron overtones on the nose give way to an underlying core of blackberries and black cherries with a hint of wild thyme. The full-bodied palate is laden with crunchy black fruit layers supported by grainy tannins and oodles of freshness, finishing long and savory.

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard slowly unfurls to reveal graceful notes of red roses, forest floor, and fertile loam leading to a core of kirsch and pomegranate with a waft of rhubarb. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound and energetic, with a refreshing line and fine-grained tannins, finishing long and perfumed.

A broodier bottling than the more gregarious 2020, this vintage still offers oodles of concentrated dark fruit, a slightly charred veg note, toasty spice and a frame of fine, cola-like oak influence. Constructed for the long haul, with intensity and focus, a lift of acidity and muscular, chiseled tannins woven between the supple fruit and spice, this should continue to evolve until 2038, at least. Majestic Imports. Cellar Selection.

Plush and compelling, with elegantly layered flavors of raspberry and tart cherry that take on black tea and rose petal accents as this builds richness and tension toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2033. From Oregon.—T.F.

Sourced from a special block (Flowers) of mostly 95 and 96 clones within the estate’s Fijnbosch vineyard at almost 600m altitude, only 100 cases were made in this vintage. The wine is refined, creamy and and sensuous. It reveals minerals with understated fruit and a broad, full mouth feel. While it sees a little more new oak (40-45%) than the regular bottling, it’s completely integrated with the fruit.

Vibrant ruby and bright purple tones shine in the glass. Raspberry, dried clay and anise spice aromatics. Palate sings with red fruits, Turkish Delight and a mélange of North African spices. Tannins are fine and sandy but have great persistence and power so the whole palate is carried to a prodigiously long finish. There’s so much to discover here that you’ll want to sit in quiet introspection when drinking it.

Intense and deep ruby with a rich purple rim. Mulberry, black pepper and nori aromatics. Weighty and powerful with intense blue fruits wrapped by fine gravel tannins that accentuate dark minerality and black spice notes. Very long and focused right to the end, a hint of acidity lifts and fans out the finish. Serious gear this.

Juicy and in a really great spot, offering freshness and a slight brambly accent to the damson plum, red licorice and black cherry fruit. Not as dark as the ’12 but clearly its younger sibling in profile. After coaxing in the glass, the finish really opens up, with a long, bright, mouthwatering minerality that cuts a wider swath than in most of the other vintages in the flight. This dials both the fruit and minerality up a notch. Drink now.

Taut and coiled, with plenty of energy in reserve, this still seems to be holding back. There’s a vibrant, bristling core of rooibos, bitter cherry and damson plum, plus a splash of licorice root, but this hasn’t unwound yet. A touch of pleasant rusticity holds sway on the savory and stem-accented finish. Perhaps the slowest-evolving vintage in the flight. Drink now through 2030.

Throws off some gorgeous aromas and flavors of cherry and kirsch, giving this a very youthful and overt persona. Subtle hints of anise, apple wood, savory and warm earth fill in slowly on the finish. Offers the polished and racy combination that marks this wine, with a black tea note that lingers prettily on the finish. Shows plenty of latent energy. Drink now through 2035.