Hand-picked, wild yeast, co-fermented in small open fermenters with 50% whole bunches, matured for 5 months in large French oak vats. A very cleverly made wine (in terms of preplanning) that is yet another example of the intrinsic worth of this blend, red and black cherry, spice and pepper all held in a fine net of tannins.

The latest vintage of this noteworthy producer's Chardonnay is singing. A harmonious, multifaceted nose offers notes of bright citrus, fresh melon and flowers, while a chorus of sun-baked stones and freshly baked bread linger behind. Beautifully textural and salty on the palate, it crunches with minerals and vibrant fruit. The oak is tucked away and the finish long and salty. Drink now–2030.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2018 VintageThe 2018 Pinot Noir Machado has a medium ruby color and deep, layered aromas of pure violet, garrigue, laurel, aniseed and forest floor, seamlessly accenting a core of black and red berries. The palate is medium-bodied with loads of lift and silkiness, elegantly fruited and with a long, ethereal finish.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2018 Vintage"We made this from 1997-2000," says winemaker Greg Brewer. "In 2001 we went purely Sta. Rita Hills and stopped making this. Now, with the acquisition by Jackson Family Wines, we have been able to revisit some cuvées." The 2018 Pinot Noir Julia's has a medium ruby color and savory charcuterie, aniseed, smoked blackberries, laurel and potpourri on the nose. The medium-bodied palate has a dichotomy of earthy bass tones and bright, juicy, crunchy fruits in a finely grained frame, and it finishes long and nuanced. This small cuvée of 96 cases has a touch more power and oomph than the rest of the lineup this vintage and is immediately accessible, although it will continue to age well in bottle.

The nose is dense black plum, blueberry and licorice with a palate entry of tobacco, herb and juniper. The core is bright and vibrant with youthful mouth-coating acidity. Decant or cellar. Drink 2022 - 2032.

The Mt. Veeder vineyards that face east are typically firmer in structure and slightly more tannic than the reds produced across the valley in the west-facing mountains. This vintage from Mt. Brave is rich and powerful, with firm tannins and a tight structure that will benefit from another few years in the cellar. It shows ripe notes of cherry and currant, a touch of graphite/lead pencil and the requisite wood spice.

Thanks in part to the relatively cool year, this is a wine that manages refinement, restraint and beautiful expression of place. The nose is a neatly woven basket of aromas: crushed flowers, red and blue fruit, pepper, mint and cigar box. The palate is full figured and highly textural. There’s a line of powdery, spicy, ultrafine tannins and a streak of high-end oak. Set up for a long life, drink from 2022–2045 at least.

Complex, with lithe minerality and rich savoriness to the concentrated raspberry, red plum and currant flavors, backed by crunchy acidity. Delicate and well-spiced on the pure-tasting finish. Drink now through 2026.

While this has structure, depth and a certain power, it's also finely crafted and elegant. Excellent colour, savoury yet a whisper of florals and dark fruit, cassis among the oak spice, dried herbs and black olives. Fuller bodied and expansive tannins with an appealing Amaro like finish. Not quite tamed, only time can do that.

Very deep, bright red/purple colour, with a superbly ripe, fruit-driven bouquet displaying ripe mulberries and blackberries, with traces of raspberry and violets - and barely a glimpse of leafy pyrazines, although the ripe fruit conveys undeniable cabernet varietal character. The palate is medium to full-bodied and firm of tannin, a thread of sinew, with all things in perfect balance. Superb cabernet.

A superb wine of great depth and dimension, without any crushed-leaf greener-spectrum cabernet notes or gumleaf-mint. Dark fruits, black olives, earthy and mysterious with lashings of fine-grained tannins, excellent texture and persistence. 

Deep, dense, red/purple colour with a black tinge, the bouquet oaky and blackberry-scented, and the oak is smoky and charred. The wine is concentrated, deep and compact, the tannins and flavours dense and packed. The wine is powerful and searing, the finish long and satisfying. This really has a lot of stuffing. A serious cabernet, well worth cellaring. 

A robust and concentrated aroma of ripe mulberries, blackberries, dark chocolate and tar. A generous, intense, and opulent palate with plentiful fine tannin and balanced acidity. It is a bold, full-bodied wine that has been very well-made, and it will cellar long into the future

1971 plantings in Clarendon, which is a very beautiful part of South Australia, and indeed, the world.Violet, tobacco and earth, black fruits and a little pepper. Full bodied, fleshy and flavoursome, with a juicy core of black and blue fruit, a wonderful chompy set of tannin, balanced acidity, and a succulent and savoury finish of considerable length. Here’s a wine! Took me about one minute to form the opinion that it’s an absolute beauty. That tannin on the finish, too. Yes.

One of the stars of our recent regional tasting. Serious, brooding bouquet of red and black berries, briar, clove and cinnamon wood as subtle backdrop, bitter dark chocolate, just a whiff of Aussie bush character. Beauty. Medium weight, glides gloriously and evenly across the palate, a quiet lake of dark fruit, spice, wood, swirls of graphite-like tannins. It’s superb. Shuts you up.

Dark garnet with a purple hue; while the aromatics are lively, the palate has clamped shut, no matter the hallmarks of a superb wine are here. Fragrant cassis, tobacco, black olives, eucalypt and black plums dipped in chocolate with some fruit sweetness getting through on the firm palate, but the tannins are powdery yet intense and the oak (70% new) a little unforgiving. Come back to this in '0925.

Black raspberry, damp thyme and white pepper make for a brilliantly fresh while intoxicatingly herby nose on this singlevineyard expression. The palate sticks to that story, offering crisp pomegranate alongside thyme, marjoram and more white pepper.

Fresh black-raspberry aromas meet with pinches of thyme and sage on the nose of this herby bottling, which also shows a wet gravel minerality. The fresh berry flavors mix with peppercorns, thyme and eucalyptus on the complex and intriguing palate, which finishes with a boost of acidity.

From a site planted in 1995 to a myriad of clones, Three Jacks is richly woven in a mix of tropical pineapple, succulent peach and crème brûlée. The mix contrasts well, offering both richness and juicy freshness, compelling in the glass in lengthy tension and grace.

From a late-ripening site in the cool, windy Sebastopol Hills, Jennifer’s gives off a rounded richness and voluptuous texture, alongside flavors of pear compote and baking spice. Classically structured and racy, it has undeniable weight and concentration that taste unexpectedly light on the palate.

A tempting fresh-bread aroma tops this ripe, buttery and creamy-textured wine that is medium bodied and beautifully concentrated. It offers complexity of flavor, as notes of earth and mineral join in, and a rich lingering finish. Built to improve with age, it should keep gaining through at least 2028.

This elegant, superbly balanced wine offers tempting, just-ripe fruit flavors on a medium to full body, and has a lively, slightly grippy mouthfeel that showcases the vivid redand black-cherry flavors and subtle baking-spiceaccents. Best through 2027.

Santa Barbara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018sThe 2018 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard is a total rockstar. Deep, resonant and luxurious in its beauty, the 2018 possesses tremendous texture and exceptional balance. Red/purplish fruit, lavender, licorice and blood orange build as the 2018 shows off its layered personality. More than anything else, the Radian is a Pinot built on depth and a real sense of volume. Don't miss it.

Santa Barbara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018sThe 2018 Pinot Noir Rita's Crown Vineyard shows all the natural intensity and depth that are such signatures in this rugged district within the Sta. Rita Hills. Black cherry, plum, hard candy, lavender, menthol, licorice and graphite all run through the Rita's Crown. Readers will find a deep, potent Pinot endowed with tremendous depth and structure.

It’s not always easy to find a new release Pinot Noir with a little bit of bottle age, but here it is. La Crema’s 2016 vintage from the iconic Saralee’s Vineyard offers a Pinot of uncommon depth and complexity, shows beautifully integrated tannins and it’s ready to drink now. Complex notes of raspberry, strawberry and cherry come together in a dazzling display of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir at its very best.