Deep, brilliant red. A hugely perfumed, complex bouquet evokes ripe red berries, cherry pit, Asian spices, incense and musky earth. Sweet, seamless and expansive on the palate, offering intense, mineral-tinged raspberry preserve, candied lavender, star anise, succulent herb and blood orange flavors that deepen with air while maintain ingurgency. Shows outstanding energy and delineation on the strikingly long, floral- and mineral-driven finish, which is framed by silky, harmonious tannins. This crazy wine was left on its skins for 191 days after fermentation. My guess is that it will be showing its best in the near term, while its intense fruit is to the fore.

Brilliant ruby. Heady, mineral- and exotic-spice-accented red and blue fruit, candied lavender and incense aromas show outstanding definition and lift. Sweet, seamless and penetrating on the palate, offering concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry, cola and spicecake flavors that become livelier as the wine stretches out. Delivers a compelling blend of richness and energy, with no rough edges. The strikingly long, floral-driven finish is framed by velvety tannins.

Brilliant violet. Vibrant dark berry, cherry liqueur, violet oil and exotic spice aromas show excellent clarity and mineral lift. Alluringly sweet and incisive on the palate, offering palate-staining black raspberry, boysenberry, vanilla and spicecake flavors and a late touch of cola. Supple tannins give shape to the penetrating, mineral-tinged finish, which hangs on with superb focus and tenacity.

Pale yellow. Bright and energetic in style, displaying Anjou pear, tangerine, floral and mineral qualities on the nose, along with a hint of smokiness that gains strength as the wine opens up. Shows superb depth as well as urgency on the palate, offering bitter citrus pith, pear nectar and honeysuckle flavors and an exotic suggestion of saffron. Finishes extremely long and nervy, showing sharp delineation and lingering floral and mineral qualities. This vibrant Chardonnay, which comes from a relatively warm site (by Giant Steps' standards), carries alow pH of 3.21, putting it smack in Chablis territory.

Shimmering magenta. Ripe red and blue fruit, rose oil and exotic spice scents take on smoky mineral, vanilla and mocha nuances with air. Sappy and expansive on the palate, offering appealingly sweet boysenberry, cherry cola and five-spice flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. The spice and floral notes repeat on an extremely long, focused finish framed by subtly chewy tannins.

An impressive blend that’s stylish and handsomely structured, this slowly unfurls notes of cherry and cassis accented by espresso, toasty spice and hints of flint as it promenades on the palate toward polished tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030. From California.

Dense with some flirtatious mulberry fruit working the edges, this is an excellent Shiraz from Yangarra Estate.
Sourced from a 2.3 hectare block with its feet deeply rooted in sandy ironstone soils, 20% whole bunches were used and it was matured in 25hL French oak Foudre (50% new) for 16 months.
Blueberries and dark plums build delicious momentum and roll forward with charismatic ease. Some smokiness and meatiness builds depth too. The dense fruit has a soft caress through the mouth before tensing up on close with a shimmer of fine spices. Give it a decant for now or embrace its beauty later.
Certified organic and biodynamic.

Unlike the Fijnbosch Chardonnay, which is a single vineyard bottling, the straight Capensis wine uses grapes from different selected sites in the Western Cape. Showing Graham Weerts' sure touch with the variety, this has enticing toast, cinnamon and beeswax aromas, impressive concentration, chiselled focus and minerality and pear and waxed lemon fruit.

Another wine of open fruit – lovely low acid red raspberry fruit, a glycerol ripeness, very fine sandpaper tannins. There’s the finest note of rosemary and garrigue too, like a seasoning of complexity. None of the dehydration of the vintage, but it’s more moody than bright and bouncy. Love the forest floor inflections. Love the low acid softness. I just want to drink this silken, perfectly ‘natural’ feeling, perfectly detailed red. High high quality. Best drinking: now and for years yet.

This is softer and easier perhaps, than in the recent past. Lilac, chilli, blueberry and a sapid thrust of red fruit, vanilla-pod oak and cedar oak, applied impeccably. Beautifully done. Polished, plush and certainly not devoid of personality. Australia meets Napa. Milk-chocolate layering. Bury this and believe.

Leading off the Chardonnay, the 2020 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills offers a gorgeous perfumed of orange blossom, honeyed almonds, brioche, and lemon oil. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, with great acidity and a distinct sense of minerality on the palate, this thrilling, deep, layered, singular Chardonnay will keep for over a decade.

The 2020 Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills) is fabulous. In fact, the appellation wine is my favorite Pinot in this range. The combination of the sites, and a bit less stem influence than the vineyard designates, works so well. There's a bit more fruit, more mid-palate sweetness and better balance overall, in my view. All the elements are so well put together. All of this fruit is from Machado and Hapgood.

Smart. Considered. Just ace. Another outstanding High Sands Grenache release.
Planted in 1946, these certified organic/biodynamic bush vines sit in pure silica sand that runs six metres deep. The wine was kept on lees for 21 days (50% whole berries were destemmed) and then saw time in seasoned French oak and ceramic egg for eleven months. This 2019 sees the RRP leap $50 - that's up $90 in total across the last two vintages.
Gloriously finely spiced, this is a delight to drink. Soft char and blackberries plus black cherries, it's tight and tense. Even after a couple of days of tasting juicy raspberries rise up and build some momentum through the mouth. I keep coming back to the purple flowers and purple fruit perfume - stunning. The juicy fruit then snaps to dry as fine, firm tannins ride throughout. Those tannins are just gravitating and draw you closer. Already three years young, it has a long future ahead if you've got the patience.

Pretty and almost skeletal, this is a joyous and dancy number. The fruit glides through unobstructed. Silk sheet material. Bring it!
Fermented in 1800L amphorae, the organically and biodynamically farmed Clarendon vineyard is perched 225 metres above and was planted in 1962. 72% sat on skins for 156 days for those that love extra detail.
Red and blue fruit highlights, super fine tannins, long and moreish - I just want more. Hints of burnt orange rise up late but the red fruits really gain some momentum with time in the glass. It's a wine that moves on the balls of its feet and maneuvers every crevice with grace. A big yes, yes and yes from me.

From the Zena Crown Vineyard, the 2019 Pinot Noir Warrior Princess is bright with dried roses, anise, and wild red raspberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied, with fresh crunchy red fruit, and poppy, snappy, fresh acidity. Refreshing and pretty in style, it can be drunk now or over the next 10 or more years.

There is a deeper tone to the 2019 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters that moves into notes of turned potting soil, cherry pit, and woodsy spice. The palate is full of candied raspberry, mineral rich earth, and crushed lavender. Drink 2022-2034.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block is rich with aromas of pine resin, mint, dark mineral richness, and juicy red cherry. The fruit is forward upfront, with ripe raspberry, but gives way to its more tension-driven structure. Drink over the next 10 to 15 years.

From a ridge-top vineyard at 1150 feet of elevation, located west of the town of Occidental, facing Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the 2019 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard is fragrant with dried roses and wild red raspberry, and savory with salinity. The palate is ripe and inviting, with gushy strawberry fruit as well as spice. With its silky texture, lift, and fresh acidity, it is drinking beautifully now and will drink well through 2030.

Sourced from both the Montana and the Dakota estate, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Anakota Knights Valley is focused and pretty in its aromatics, with dusty earth, currant liqueur, and crushed flowers. The palate is layered, with seamless, well-integrated structure, notes of plum candy and violets, and a soft stone mineral finish. Drink it over the next 15 years, but it will be tough not to drink this now.

Rumbles along with dark plum, black currant and blackberry reduction notes carried by a slightly chunky structure, with tar, dark tobacco and sweet bay leaf supporting the finish. Youthfully rugged and begging for some cellaring, but everything is there. Best from 2024 through 2038.

The 2014 The Revivalist Merlot is being released alongside the 2020 as a museum offering, and it is abundantly clear that it is really coming into its own now, at eight years old—there is very slow evolution, super impressive. The 2014 has gained in complexity, weight and polish over the years, but it has retained its leafy and detailed character. Very impressive, and given the arc of development, this has a long way to go yet.

An inviting, fruit-driven style, with a gorgeous display ofplum puree and blackberry confiture pumping along,flanked with licorice and apple wood and kept honestwith a loamy accent through the finish. Polished in feeloverall, but that belies the serious grip. Drink nowthrough 2036.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard comes from vines planted at 1,150 feet in elevation, facing the Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It features lush aromas of cranberries, blood orange and rhubarb, along with touches of loamy earth, tobacco leaves and woodsmoke. Medium-bodied with a very silky texture, it has refreshing acidity, generous spicy layers and a long, energetic finish.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Jennifer’s is juicy and alluring! It has a medium ruby-purple color and floral-laced strawberry, red cherries and raspberries on the nose complemented by integrated new oak spices. The medium-bodied palate is grainy and fresh, with intense, deep red fruits and a very long, ethereal finish. It has potential to develop in bottle over the next decade, although it's difficult to resist those alluring, perfumed fruits. It matured 15 months in 34% new French oak, and 307 cases were made.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block comes from a specific block in the Arrendell Vineyard in the Green Valley district of the Russian River Valley, with 25-year-old vines planted in silty soils. It has a medium ruby-purple color and a plethora of crushed raspberries, blueberries, cranberries and strawberries, plus touches of pepper, lilac and savory herbs. The medium-bodied palate explodes with hedonistic berry fruits, gliding across the palate with a silky texture and bursts of fresh acidity that call you in again and again for another sip on the long finish. It was matured for 15 months in 33% new French oak, and 211 cases were made.