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.

Napa Cabernet Sauvignon worthy of your cellar 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot. Noticeable maturity with lovely aromatics of dry cassis macerated in reduced balsamic and berries of the forest. Seasoned by spicy vanilla, clove and hint of charcoal. Rich, dense palate with sweet tannins and richly textured fruit leading to the lasting finish.

A perfect balance of the rich and the vibrant, this is a textbook Napa Valley cabernet. It's blended from vineyards on Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Stags Leap District, Spring Mountain and Oakville (To Kalon). The flavors layer black currant and black cherry with redder fruit tones and floral notes. Remarkably, it maintains that detail and freshness even with the youthful potency of its structure and the aggressive power of its extract, you can virtually see the tannin dripping down the sides of the glass. A lovely young wine to decant for Kobe beef, this has the stamina for aging ten years or more.

This 1,000-case cuvee from three separate Napa vineyards – the Veeder Peak Vineyard high up on Mt. Veeder, the Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain, and the Stags Leap Vineyard on the valley floor – is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot. Deep ruby/purple to the rim, with notes of graphite, black cherry and black currant liqueur, licorice, and spice box, the wine has silky tannins, full body, a gorgeously layered, rich mouthfeel, and a long finish with moderately high tannins and refreshing acidity. It’s a big wine for sure, but it has uncanny elegance, purity, and length.

Consistently one of the best proprietary blends of northern California, Cardianle's 2004 is 100% Napa fruit (from Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Stags Leap District, and Oakville). This blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot boasts a dense purple color in addition to sweet aromas of kirsch, black currants, licorice, olives, and spice box. Fabulous texture, full-bodied power, pure fruit, and an opulent, voluptuous finish nearly conceal significant tannin. This beauty should drink well young, yet age easily for 15 more years. Not yet released. Previously recommended: 2003 Proprietary Red Wine (95).

It boasts an inky/purple color as well as a beautifully perfumed nose of creme de cassis, smoke, cedar, licorice, and spice box. A sweet, expansive, full-bodied attack is followed by impressive purity, elegance, and concentration as well as layers of flavor and ripe, well-integrated tannin. It can be drunk now or cellared for 15+ years.

This inky/purple-colored Pauillac-styled red boasts notes of cedar wood, licorice, and black currants along with smoky, ripe, full-bodied palate impression, terrific concentration, sweet tannin, and multiple layers. It should hit its peak in 2-4 years, and last through 2020.

The 2017s From Sonoma As to the reds, the 2016 Innovant Red Wine checks in as 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot that spent 20 months in 45% new French oak. It’s a beautiful bottle of wine that has loads of blue fruits, violets, and subtle earthy minerality as well as medium to full body, incredibly polished tannins, and a great finish. Coming all from the Alden Vineyard in Alexander Valley, it represents a good value even at the $50 price point. Drink it over the coming 15 years or so.

South Africa 2018 Special Report 2015 Capensis Chardonnay, Western Cape – Jackson Family Wines and its South African winemaker Graham Weerts set out to make a top of the range Chardonnay, using fruit from vineyards in Stellenbosch, Overberg and Robertson. This is the best release yet, with a winning combination of stone and citrus fruit, subtle oak and a taut, mineral-edged finish.

Bruised strawberries and ripe red plums are leveled by iron, ginger snaps, crushed slate and soy on the umami-laden nose of this bottling by Winemaker Jonathan Nagy. Intriguing river--stone minerality powers the palate, where black plums and olallieberries meet with black spice and lots of florality.

This is one of the stunning array of vineyard designated Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley that Byron made in 2006. The vineyard, planted in 1974, contains a healthy proportion of mature vines that contribute to this wine's complexity and depth. Ripe black fruit flavors and succulent, not overdone, and complemented by savory, herbal notes. Despite the 14.6% stated alcohol, it's not heavy or overdone, showing you cannot judge wine solely by the numbers. Its wonderful balance and complexity persists into the long finish because of uplifting black cherry-like acidity. Not a Burgundy wannabe, it's a great Pinot Noir from California.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Hapgood was my one of my favorites from among these offerings from Brewer-Clifton, wafting from the glass with an incipiently complex bouquet of plums, spice, raspberry, currant and rich soil. On the palate, the wine is medium to fullbodied, with the most volume and dimension of all the winery's Pinot Noirs at this stage, with its structuring tannins more supple and velvety than those found in the 459 and its saline finish reflecting its whole cluster fermentation.

2016 PINOT NOIR, HAPGOOD The density and purity of the fruit is notable here with well integrated oak. The palate entry is supple red fruit – polished Luxardo cherry, spice and fine-grained tannins.

2016 PINOT NOIR, MACHADO The nose is a sweet cherry and carbon with a dry spice core. The palate is ripe red berry and tomato tapenade with a core of full on intensity and floral notes in the finish. Beautiful balance throughout.

Explosive floral and fruit aromas leap from the glass in this brilliant bottling, which is bursting with plump red cherry, bundles of rose petals and just a touch of green peppercorn to keep it herbally intriguing. Lively and fresh on the palate, that deep pomegranate and Montmorency cherry picks up an herbally laced line of thyme, oregano, white sage, green cardamom and white pepper.

Coming from a north facing slope just across from Melville and all clone 828, the 2015 Pinot Noir Acin is a deeper, richer wine than the 3D and is up with the crème de la crème in the region. Spring flowers, wild strawberries, black raspberries and spice all flow to a layered, incredibly seamless, pure Pinot Noir that has integrated acidity, a gorgeous texture and a finish that carries plenty of fruit and length. It’s not a big wine, yet it has plenty of intensity as well as complexity. Drink it anytime over the coming decade or more.

More like a focused fruit missile than an indiscriminate fruit bomb, this bottling shows flashy, vibrant waves of pure strawberry, red cherry and black raspberry that are edged by hints of dark earth, light spearmint and sweet bay leaf. The sip offers tart and exotic plums wrapped up in an herbal cape of thyme and potpourri. This will please many palates.

Pale ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir 459 (made with 459 clone) has a very pretty perfume of violets, red roses and fragrant soil with a core of mulberries and red cherries plus hints of chocolate box and oolong. Medium-bodied, it delivers very intense red berry and savory layers with a grainy backbone and tons of freshness, finishing long.

The stunning aromatic profile on this bottling compellingly combines candied fruit with the lift of crushed herbs, while blending cherry and grenadine with mint, bay leaf, a hint of green olive and a touch of crushed gravel on the nose. That lovable core of plush red fruits rides tight tannins on the palate, where bay leaf, thyme and green peppercorn flavors complete the sip.

Washington Wine Blog Top 100 of 2018 - #78 The 2015 Brewer-Clifton ‘Machado’ Pinot Noir is a simply sensational effort from this storied property. A saline whiff comes connected with the delightful feminine aromatics of rose petals and red cherry candy on the nose. Substantial on the palate, with a gorgeous salinity, the wine shows wonderful poise, richness and terroir. A long aged, this has the stuffing to cellar over the next fifteen years.

100% whole cluster fermented and aged in older barrels. Aromas of tilled soil and desiccated rose petals precede strawberries and delicate nuances of floral brush.

This fantastic Pinot Noir comes from the Hapgood Vineyard, which is located across the road from the Machado vineyard and is situated immediately next to the Acin parcel. The vineyard consists of slightly richer soils with elevated clay loam content, and is planted to the Merry Edwards clone. The 2015 Hapgood Pinot Noir begins with bright aromatics of red cherries, guava, pomegranate and orange rind. The round texture is absolutely stunning, with flavors of red cherries, red raspberry, sage and baking spices which site alongside light tannins. While already delicious, this is a simply stunning Pinot Noir will also cellar beautifully for many years.

A Spotlight on Santa Barbara The 2013 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is flat-out gorgeous, and certainly on par with the more expensive single vineyard releases from this estate. Terrific notes of black cherry, kirsch, leafy herbs, game, and spice all emerge from this gorgeously layered, rich, concentrated Pinot Noir that hits all the sweet spots. It’s a beautiful wine.

The 2007s From Santa Barbara County Fresh and elegant, the 2007 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel (100% whole clusters aged in neutral oak) has tons of depth and mid-palate oomph, and is a seriously impressive wine. Black cherry, raspberries, earth and dried herbs flow to a fresh, medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced Pinot Noir that has integrated acidity and clean finish. It still has plenty of ripe tannins and will easily keep for another decade or more.

The 2016 Chardonnay 3 D was my favorite of the whites this year, wafting from the glass with a lovely nose of pastry cream, lime, popcorn, fresh guava and citrus zest. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, with a glossily textural attack, excellent concentration and mid-palate depth, and juicy acids that lend precision to the long FInish. This is beautifully complete and should be long lived.