A real success story for this hot vintage. Feels gracious and generous in the mouth, offering complex, fat flavors of blackberries, cherries, raspberries, mocha and cedar that turn spicy on the finish. The tannins are elaborately ripe and fine. the well-known vineyard is on the Rutherford bench, and production was 2,300 cases. Drinkable now, and should age well for at least a decade.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche comes from a vineyard on the west side of Rutherford with gravelly, loam soil. A blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, it is an opulently textured, full-bodied effort displaying a complex nose of red and black fruits, loamy soil undertones (the Rutherford dust?), black currants and a hint of kirsch. (It is reminiscent of many southern Rhone wines.) The finish is long and authoritative with no hard edges. This beauty can be drunk now and over the next decade.

The superstar of this trio is the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore, which comes from a vineyard planted in gravelly soils about a mile south of the Bosche Vineyard. Composed of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc, it is a deeper, fuller, more complete effort displaying blacker fruit flavors. Notes of blackberries, cassis, licorice, charcoal, graphite and dark chocolate emerge from this opaque-colored, full-bodied, muscular, back-strapping Cabernet. Give it another 2-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 15+.

This wine simply stopped you short with its integration of almond, pear and apple elements, which play over your palate with tantalizing complexity. That sort of delight is all too rare in California Chardonnay in that the fruit components are wonderfully interwoven in themselves, amplified just as they should be by gentle application of oak.

2017 CHARDONNAY, SPEAR the nose is a crisp lemon and sour pineapple with underlying mineral. The palate is bright and forward with penetrating citrus and tropical fruits. Extra-nice acidity.

From the 3D Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2017 Chardonnay Santos Road offers light gold color and a beautifully classic (almost reserved compared to the other releases here) perfume of stone fruits, salted citrus, tangerine, leafy herbs, and ample minerality. It’s a salty, medium-bodied effort that blossoms with time in the glass and has good acidity, impeccable balanced, and a great finish. Classic, balanced, and lengthy are the buzzwords here and it’s another rock star effort readers should snatch up.

From an impeccable managed estate on the northern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2017 Chardonnay Hilliard Bruce is another brilliant wine from Greg Brewer. Ripe lemons, limes, spiced pear, honey, mint, and white pepper notes give way to a medium to full-bodied, straight up seamless Chardonnay that packs plenty of richness and power yet stays balanced, pure, and layered on the palate. It’s one of my favorites in the lineup and strikes that perfect balance between richness and freshness, and as with the other wines here, it blossoms beautifully with time in the glass. Drink it over the coming decade or more.

GrapeLive: Wine of the Day December 25, 2018 – Merry Christmas Greg Brewer’s Diatom 2017 Hilliard Bruce Vineyard is all Chardonnay clone 96, sourced from a steep, ultra cool climate north facing slope on the western border of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA that makes for an acid and mineral intense version that almost has Raveneau like presence in the glass, but with a touch more generosity on the palate, more perfumed with citrus blossom rather than hazel nut, impressive non the less. The severe ocean winds influence the land, Brewer notes, adding that the sand and gravel characterize the soil profile that transmits purply into this vibrantly expressive Chardonnay from one of California top winemakers and Chard masters, who’s best known for his efforts at his Brewer Clifton and his work at Melville Estate. I love all these 2017’s, but this Hilliard Bruce Vineyard shows a beautiful harmony between the bright minerality of site with the rounder mouthfeel characterized by this clone. Brewer’s approach to Diatom is to dig down to the purest form of Chardonnay he can, I like to think of it as a zen like focus that captures the grape in a vacuum, with the fermentations down at very low temperature in small stainless-steel tanks, or Innox, coupled with inhibited malo-lactic, so no cream or butter distractions, and short hose transit ensure precision and ultra sharp detail. This is wildly amusing and intellectually intriguing Chardonnay with ripe flavors, but with steely crispness, at 14.5% natural alcohol there is mouth feel and expansion on the vibrantly electric palate with fresh citrus, green melon and white peach notes along with wet stones, liquid mineral and tart herb, lemongrass, quince and hint grapefruit zest. The wine rounds out with warm and time in the glass revealing a touch of honeysuckle and lime. Ultra pale, clean almost devoid of color except for a faint greenish gold, the Diatom Hilliard Bruce Vineyard 2017 is an awesome if not super geeky Chardonnay that takes its style to the extreme, beware this is polar opposite to mainstream barrel aged Chard, and as I curious and adventurous wine professional I find it massively exciting and thrilling, though best with briny dishes, white fish, mussels, claims and especially oysters, drink over the 2 to 5 years.

White pepper, peach and citrus in the nose with underlying notes of licorice. The palate is nicely and well-defined lemon and grapefruit with notes of chalk and well-integrated acidity.

A larger scaled effort is the 2016 Chardonnay Santos Road. Buttered pineapple, citrus blossom, honeydew melon and hints of almonds all flow to a full-bodied, layered, multi-dimensional 2016 that loaded with character. It’s not a lean, racy Chardonnay that’s going to need time to drink well, but it’s going to surprise you with its longevity as well. The Diatom releases are made by Greg Brewer. I loved all these 2016s and they had vibrant purity and freshness, with plenty of textural richness on the palate. The Sta. Rita Hills appellation needs more Chardonnays like this.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Sea Lift Pinot Noir gives up intense black and red cherries scents with hints of mulberries, dried herbs, tilled black soil and truffles. The palate is medium-bodied with a great core of red berry and earthy layers in the mouth, supported by firm, grainy tannins and fantastic tension, finishing long.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Wendling is a total knock-out. Pliant, supple and engaging, with terrific fruit presence, the Wendling is superb. All the elements fall into place effortlessly in a textured, deeply layered Pinot that captures all the best qualities of Anderson Valley. Rose petal, lavender, mint and spice notes develop with time in the glass. The 2016 is endowed with compelling inner perfume, resonant fruit and total class. What a gorgeous wine it is.

The 2014 Syrah Hawks Butte is fabulous. Floral, lifted and exceptionally beautiful, the 2014 is all about precision and nuance. This is one of the most pedigreed wines in the range. Rose petal, lavender, sage, mint and violet notes are laced into the persistent, finely-knit finish. The 2014 is endowed with a real sense of energy.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a higher elevation site and all old Wente clone, the 2017 Chardonnay Skycrest reveals a medium gold color as well as beautiful tart lemon, citrus blossom, and a salty minerality. It's beautiful on the palate as well, with medium body, bright, racy acidity, and terrific balance. It needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will keep for a decade.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site on the same ridge of Hirsch, the 2017 Chardonnay Tidal Break is brilliant and has a richer, classic style of orchard fruits, crushed lemons, white flowers, and hints of flinty minerality. Concentrated, medium-bodied, rounded, and nicely textured, it has loads of class as well as length. This wine was fermented and aged all in neutral barrels, and there were 400 cases made.

A lovely California wine made from hands of French ancestry. Hélène Seillan has taken the reigns from father and mentor, renowned French winemaker Pierre Seillan to produce Cenyth. This wine is made from 100% Cabernet Franc picked from estate vineyards in Chalk Hill. Mirroring traditional rosé production in Champagne, the grapes were fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks. Offering all of the best elements Cabernet Franc brings to the table, namely rich red and dark fruit and savory herbaceousness. Enjoy with flank steak and roasted red peppers.

One of the flagship wines of the late Jess Jackson's Artisans and Estates limited production offerings is the 2001 Cardinale, a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot from some of the finest Jackson-owned vineyards on Mt. Veeder, Keyes on Howell Mountain, Alexander Mountain Estate as well as purchased fruit from the Stagecoach, To-Kalon and Peter Michael vineyards. This sensational, layered, opulent, voluptuous 2001 (the last vintage in which any fruit from Sonoma was used in the final blend) boasts a dense purple color along with a big, rich perfume of kirsch, creme de cassis, subtle toasty oak and incense. Full-bodied, round and generously endowed with an endearing corpulence, this fleshy, full throttle, juicy Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2001 can be drunk now or cellared for another 15+ years.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages This is a sneak peek at the brand new Cabernet Franc-based Cardinale wine! Blended of 81% Cabernet Franc and 19% Merlot, the 2016 Caladin is medium to deep garnet-purple colored with crushed black cherries, redcurrants and kirsch with hints of damp soil, pencil shavings, rose hip tea and lavender. Medium to full-bodied with a firm backbone of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, it delivers bags of perfumed fruit and a long mineral-laced finish.

The wine is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder Merlot. The wine begins with aromas of black cherry, Turkish coffee and tar. The texture is highly compelling as the wine yields black cherry, black olive and Turkish coffee flavors. Rich and decadent this will cellar well for a decade or more. The wine is a show-stopper right now.

The lovely bouquet of blackberry jam, oak with mint, cedar, and black olives draws you in. Broad and rich on the palate, with ample but fine tanins. Great depth of dark-berry fruit, with coffee and cedar shadings. The explosive finish just keeps going as intriguing sweet-tart fruit and bitter chocolate notes please all the way out.

There are 3900 cases of the prodigious 1997 Cardinale, comprised primarily of Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny dollop of Merlot. The whine has an opaque bluish black/purple color, a knockout nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, lead pencil, mineral, and smoky oak. The glorious richness in the mouth is backed up by a full-bodied, opulently-textured, super-extracted wine that is neither heavy nor ponderous. Stunning purity, a fabulous multi-layered impression & a finish that goes on for nearly a minute make this the most exciting Cardinale to date. For statisticians, this is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon & 9% Merlot, of which 79% of the grapes came from Napa & 21% from Sonoma. It spent 22 months in 100% new French oak before being bottled with neither fining nor filtration. It tips the scale at 14.2% alcohol. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2030.

The 2012 Cardinale Red Wine is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot. This begins with aromas of anise, creme de cassis, black tea and mocha. Dense and layered there are ripe black tea, mocha, crushed mint and blackberry pie flavors. Massive and still young, this needs another year in the bottle to fully evolve. There is a wonderful sense of elegance in this wine.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon from Cardinale is totally seamless and textured on the palate, with layers of ripe, racy fruit, tons of intensity and an opulent, voluptuous finish that captures the essence of this style to the T. Dark red stone fruits, cinnamon, cedar, tobacco and new leather linger on the creamy finish. Winemaker Chris Carpenter draws across the entire range of Kendall Jackson's Napa Valley properties to craft Cardinale. In 2012, the blend is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Merlot from nine vineyards in a total of seven AVA's (Howell Mountain, Diamond Mountain, Spring Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Stags' Leap, Yountville and St. Helena).

The vintage was generally a good one in Napa Valley, and with this ’09, Cardinale shows its usual sumptuousness. It’s beautiful and elegant, with hard, chewy tannins framing intensely concentrated blackberries and cassis. Blended from various vineyards by winemaker Chris Carpenter, the wine is as stylish as Napa Cabernet gets. Full bodied and heady, it should provide good drinking over the next 12 years.

Strikingly graceful, refined, dense and polished, this presents a tight-knit core of dark berry, black licorice, crushed rock and floral-violet scents, keeping its focus and ending with an amazing finish.