Got here too early for the wood, but supple sexiness awaits those who r patient. A-

Gold Medal

Uncorked: Spire Collection a portfolio of all stars Charlie Seppelt joined Carpenter to form a winemaking supergroup on Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz 2014 from McLaren Vale in South Australia. There’s a hint of wild game on the nose and flavors of plum and cranberry. The sloped vineyards have produced some of Australia’s most collectible wines and the Shiraz, from vineyards planted in 1971, is a dynamic wine that represented a historic site well.

Wine a gift that fits almost every taste and budget From the impossible-to-buy-for wine geek, to someone who has gone out of their way to make your life better in 2017, we have the solution. It’s a column tradition at this time of the year to offer several wine picks you might consider buying as gifts for friends and acquaintances. This isn’t the throwaway bottle, but rather the thoughtful selection tailored to the likes or wants of the recipient. From the impossible-to-buy-for wine geek, to someone who has gone out of their way to make your life better in 2017, we have the solution. Just remember no matter who you are buying for, you should never spend more than you can afford because it’s the thought that matters... THE CARNIVORE There will always be a market for big, rich, reds, although we draw the line at the surging trend of sweet reds with growing levels of residual sugar. In the dry sector, the go-to grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Shiraz and even Zinfandel — or most any red blend that combines these grapes. Origins span vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, the Languedoc, Uco Valley, the Maipo Valley, the Barossa Valley to start. Two we love: Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 , (McLaren Vale, South Australia, $89.99)...

My Ten Best Wines of 2017 The product of a winemaking partnership between Charlie Seppelt and Chris Carpenter, this McClaren Vale wine is crafted from vines planted in 1971. It is deeply complex wine with layers of polish and finesse, dark black cherry notes and tart savory threads. A truly stunning wine with velvety contours that harmonize on the palate…drinks like an aria but has a bluesy soul.

There are four wines in the first, 2012 vintage release from this vineyard under Jackson/Yangarra ownership: a Shiraz, a Merlot, a Cabernet/Shiraz blend and this varietal Cabernet, which, for me, is far and away the best of the bunch. There’s a very special spot in the Clarendon vineyard, down at the bottom of the hill, where vines give way to gum trees lining the slow-moving waters of the Onkaparinga River. When I taste this Cabernet, with its intense flavours of dark, dusky berries and damp composty undergrowth, I’m taken back to that special place on the riverbank.

It has pure fruit aromas, flavors of plush cherry and crushed strawberry, with notes of anise, vanilla and spice. The velvety texture is wrapped around a powerful, well-structured core. Delicious.

Very deep color; lovely black cherry aroma; layered fruit, silky and sensuous; long balanced finish.

Deep, dark ruby purple color; rich black cherry, chocolate, earthy notes on the nose; dry full, lots of black cherry and plum notes, incredible depth, toasty oak, great balance and a finish that goes on forever. Incredible concentration of flavor, rich and mouthfilling! Hartford Court is making some of the finest Pinots in California. The Arrendell is no exception-truly exceptional Pinot. (originally published in the 7/1/03 issue.)

rich, complete and quite spectacular

Violet aromas, dark fruit, juicy, succulent, powerful.

Decanter Wines of the Year - Whites

Makes for a noteworthy trio of priceworthy performers and warrant repeated mention.

Powerful, complex, and voluptuous; filled with explosive raspberry fruit.

recommended wine

Berry, spicy oak nose; deep, smoky ripe-fruit and black currant flavors; full tannins; long fruity finish. Perfect with tarragon chicken, duck pate, stuffed morels.

Intriguing notes of smoke and soil rise as accents to blackberryish fruit in the rich, but not-quite-outgoing aromas, and, once in the mouth, the wine displays the same kind of oaky-earthy richness but with an amplified sense of depth and supportive fruit. Nicely integrated tannins that should help see it through some four to six years.

New release from this winery, it doesn't show the balance and depth of previous pinots. Tart cherry flavors leave a hot alcohol impression.

The nose has appealing hints of richness while sweet oak tones provide the seasoning to what emerges as fairly deep varietal fruit aromas. Round and well-balanced but never succulent or particularly supple, this is a firm, tough wine that has noticeable tannins and needs three to five years of cellaring to come into its own.

Very rich in the nose with a fine balance of deep fruit and sympthetic oak, this sizeable, comparatively chunky Pinot is anything but refined in the mouth. It tastes of ripe plums and lots of oak, but its richness comes at the cost of no small degree of phenolic toughness. Elegance may well be beyond the wines ken, but a few years of softening will certainly help here.

Nicely focused in the nose, yet a bit shy on intensity throughout, this well-polished, medium-bodied Pinot gets good marks for its proper fruit, its extra bit of oaky richness and a lengthy finish. Never a flamboyant, it can improve for a few years in bottle.

Ripe plummy nose with spicy oak and violet accents; richly textured black cherry, plummy flavors, spicy; full finish. Try with lamb with white beans, grilled portobellos.

This dramatic pinot has great depth and a spicy cherry aroma.

An ample Pinot Noir that never stints in its delivery of ripe cherries and very rich oak, and its solid sense of fruity extract is fully up to the task of supporting its lavish barrel influences. Fat, full, genuinely mouthfilling and quite long on the palate, the wine demands to be partnered with foods of corresponding richness.

Spectacular, well structured, complex with very long finish. 3 stars, superb.