40% whole cluster, 20% new French oak. This has lovely flesh with some nice tannic structure and supple green hints from the stems that integrate beautifully. Beautiful red fruits with nice texture and a real silkiness. This has a freshness, it has plenty of lush fruit, but it’s also brilliantly balanced.

From a vineyard at 1500-2000 feet in the south of the valley above Boonville. Four different clones. Sandstone soils. Foot tread in macrobin, press oxidatively, then in barrel without stirring lees. Lovely weight here: pear, peach and some fine spicy notes. There’s just a hint of flint in the background, with lovely depth and weight. There’s real finesse here.

50% new French oak, 777 clone leads (it’s the last to ripen and presents the black fruit character). This is the big one: lots of power and structure here with black cherry and blackberry fruit supported by some spicy oak that frames the ripe fruit nicely. This is bold and delicious.

Mostly 667 with some 777 and a bit of Wadenswil. 30% new oak, 30% whole cluster. This has beautiful black cherry, strawberry and plum fruit with a nice savoury twist. It’s really textural and pretty, but there’s some structure here. Has some generosity and an ease to it, with nice elegance.

This aims to express red fruit character, and leads with 115 clone. No whole cluster here. 10% new oak. This is focused and quite taut with lovely structure. This is nicely dense with some pretty red cherry and raspberry notes, with some restraint. Lovely red fruit focus here with nice weight on the palate. It’s not heavy, but there’s a good concentration here.

Old oak. Lovely weight and texture here with pear, white peach, a bit of table grape character, showing nice texture and some fine mineral notes as well as generous fruit. Lovely balance here with some generosity but also a bit of structure

The 2021 Chardonnay Machado is fabulous. All the brightness and energy of the year comes through in a wine that sizzles with tension. White flowers, crushed rocks, mint, white pepper and citrus lift this gorgeous, sculpted Chardonnay. Intense saline notes punctuate the finish. This is such a classy wine. The parent material here is from Sweeney Canyon, a vineyard that played an important role in the early days here but that is no longer planted.

This is a big wine, it’s deep almost purple hued tone is almost impenetrable. 60% Cab Sav 40% Shiraz, all from mature 1971 vines. Intense brambly black fruits, cassis, bay leaf, black olive, peppercorn, aniseed pastille with a slight potpourri note and a subtle campfire peatiness. Heavyweight, compact fruit is at the core of this wine, wrapped with experienced winemaking and new oak. Lifting its head through the tight weave is a nimble acid line, ducking and threading at a steady pace through the mouth. Tannins are firm and unrelenting, which will provide decades in the cellar. These muscles are so tightly knit, it will take a few deep tissue massages, a decant and time in the bottle to relax and open up. This is a power brokers wine, weighty and sure of itself, with well shined shoes. Would love to see this in ten plus years’ time.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon from three different blocks, a combination of 2002 and 1971 plantings. Destemmed and 60% new oak for 15 months. Tightly woven, savoury and an intriguing ferrous quality on the nose. Not what one would initially expect from Cabernet, but the glass immediately draws you in for more. Yes, there are the classic notes of red plum, blackcurrant, bay leaf, black olive and a hint of Dutch liquorish, an ever so slight medicinal menthol note and toasty oak woven throughout. This works so well – Cabernet that walks the stylistic tightrope of modern and old school. There’s a lifted minerality to this wine, and it’s both refreshing and heady at the same time. Sinewy long limbed tannins and an acid line that provides finesse and verve on a muscular frame. This is a tightly knitted, yet supple wine. It’s still a baby, decant if you must drink now or watch it blossom with time. A joy.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Julia's Signature Collection is dense, powerful and explosive, with a gorgeous feeling of inner sweetness that emerges over time The Julia's was fermented in barrel, so there is a touch of oak sheen here, but it all works. A rush of red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, blood orange and lavender all race across the palate. This wonderfully complex Pinot is a jewel.

The 2021 Chardonnay West Point is a classic Santa Maria Chardonnay aged in barrel. Tropical fruit, spice, mint, tangerine oil and a kiss of French oak all build effortlessly in the glass. The 2021 is a real stunner.

The 2021 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard Signature Collection is bright and super-focused. Citrus peel, mint, white flowers and tangerine peel all grace this exquisite, intense wine. The 2021 was fermented in tank and aged in barrel, of which 50% new. The Katherine's Vineyard comes from own-rooted vines planted in the 1970s. Readers should plan on giving this a bit of time, as it is quite nervous today.

The 2021 Chardonnay3D is a powerful, phenolic wine, tempered by the cool nature of the year. Citrus peel, white flowers, herbs, mint and crushed rocks abound. More than anything else, the 3D impresses with its textural resonance and palate presence. Superb.

100% Shiraz, mostly from fifty plus year old vines. Handpicked 20% whole bunch, 30% destemmed, 50% crushed. An elegant nose with abundant florals – crushed rose petals, candied violets and a very subtle menthol note paving the way for red and purple fruits, a dusty graphite thread woven throughout, and carefully handled oak. The palate offers up a continuation of the nose, with a tumble of red berries, tarry graphite, aniseed pastilles and a savoury finish that whispers of charcuterie. A fine boned framework allows a silky ripple of acid to lace its way along the long, nubile tannins. Supple and poised for action, this wine hums along gently while keeping its feet firmly on the ground. Lovely and polished.

Malbec 99%. Cab Franc 1%. This is the first release of this wine and certainly won’t be the last. This is powerful stuff. Ripe, concentrated fruit and that glorious shade of inky magenta that only Malbec can provide. Juby notes of redcurrant and salted red plum, with a lightly woven knit of spice and musk lolly. Cardamon, cinnamon and ruby red fruits – it’s like a journey down the silk route full of heady opulence and swaying bejewelled rose hips. Tannins are chewy and morish, weighted perfectly in line with the power of the fruit which is gently nestled in 60% new oak. It seems sizeable, but this fruit can hold it with ease. One of those wines you sip and forget to spit.

Cabernet Franc has the capacity to delight, enchant, and bewitch, however it so often is overlooked as a blending grape or it sits quietly in the shadow of its better known relations. The Nest ticks all of the above boxes, and it is a joy to find such a well-cared for iteration of the variety, placing Cab Franc front and centre instead of as an afterthought. This is a fuller bodied Cabernet Franc, dark and brooding. A woodland fairy-tale of a nose with briar rose, black rounded fruits, a summery floral prettiness, with an undercurrent of autumnal decay – a wine of contradictions. Succulence and youth framed with gnarly earthy notes that speak of age. A hint of fresh growth and the malleability of youth, paired with the slight decay of bushland underbrush. Resin, dark chocolate and spice, oak has stamped it’s signet ring on the wine. Freshness and complexity. Tannins are well-defined, the structure is firm and provides an ageworthy frame on which the fruit hangs before a slight bitter radicchio note on the finish.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Barbara's Clone 667 is a powerful, dense wine that is going to need a few years to soften. Black cherry, plum, spice, leather, cedar and blood orange fill out the layers nicely. Time in the glass brings out the wine's density and volume. The 2021 has a ton to offer. Its best days lie ahead.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Mesa Terrace soars out of the glass with myriad floral and savory top notes. Crushed flowers, herbs, mint, spice, cedar and pipe tobacco are nicely lifted throughout. This gracious, expressive Pinot Noir is a joy to taste.

The 2021 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard is notable. Bright and chiseled, the 2021 bristles with tension. Citrus peel, chamomile, white flowers, mint and tangerine oil are some of the notes that grace this exquisite Santa Maria Chardonnay. Partial aging in steel keeps the flavors bright.

The 2021 Chardonnay Fogtide is fabulous. Bright and expressive, with tons of nuance, the Fogtide is a superb Santa Maria Chardonnay. The Fogtide is done entirely in tank, but the oak is not at all missed. White pepper, chalk and mint brighten up the finish nicely.

The 2021 Chardonnay Hapgood shows all the exotic beauty that is typical of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnays. Ample and rich, the 2021 has gorgeous density and depth. Floral top notes lift the finish. The combination of Hyde clone Chardonnay planted on sand in a cold pocket yields a wine of tremendous distinction and class. I loved it.

The 2021 Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills) is such a beautiful wine. The appellation Pinot is often one of my favorite wines in this range, as it is again this year. The purity and exuberance of this fruit is compelling. Floral and savory nuances develop in the glass, but earlier bottling and a bit less whole cluster influence work well to accentuate the textural presence and intensity of the fruit. This is such a gorgeous wine.

The 2022 Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County is stellar. Powerful and textured, the 2022 is super-expressive from the very first taste. Even with very short élevage and blocked malolactic fermentation, the 2022 possesses tons of depth. Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers and tangerine oil are all beautifully amplified. All of this fruit is from Mission Hills in Los Alamos. Greg Brewer did a fabulous job with the 2022. With a production of 17,000 cases and a price of just $25, the Diatom Chardonnay is both delicious and a tremendous value. Bravo.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Element is a fruity, boisterous wine. Ripe red cherry fruit, kirsch, cedar, mint, white pepper and sweet spice are nicely pushes forward. This exuberant Pinot is a total charmer.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Machado opens with a good burst of fruit, but then loses much of that intensity on the majd palate and finish. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal and crushed rocks. This soft, very pretty Pinot Noir offers good depth in the understated style of the year.