The 2013 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard is another drop-dead gorgeous wine in this range. Bright, floral and exuberant, with superb delineation and class, the Fanucchi-Wood Road possesses remarkable complexity. Silky tannins provide the backdrop as this polished Zinfandel shows off its personality. Hints of pomegranate, blood orange and flowers add the final layers of nuance. This is one of the best wines I tasted at Hartford on my most recent visit.

The 2013 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard (264 cases produced) was aged in 100% French oak of which 51% was new. This killer Zin includes a dollop of Petite Sirah. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by notes of licorice, incense, blackcurrants and black cherries, bay leaf, spice box, and pepper. This full-bodied stunner should drink well for 7-8 years or longer.

The 2012 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard, a site that is half head-pruned and half on a high wire trellising system, sees more new French oak (52%), and achieved 15.5% natural alcohol. A dense ruby/purple color is followed by a rich, full-bodied wine displaying lots of boysenberry, black raspberry and cherry fruit intermixed with hints of incense and Asian spice. Supple tannins and a big, pedal-to-the-metal, juicy, succulent style suggest it will drink well for 5-6 years.

The 2009 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard is the only parcel of the Hartford Zinfandels where 50% of the vineyard is head-pruned 99-year old Zinfandel and the balance is wire-trained, which is unusual. It exhibits a beautiful floral berry note, a Pinot Noir-like delicacy and sensibility, medium to full-bodied flavors and stunning purity, fleshiness and texture. Like its siblings, it is complex, supple textured, full-bodied, and a tour de force in Zinfandel wine production. It should drink nicely for 5-7 years. One of the top Zinfandel specialists in California is Don Hartford at Jess Jackson's Hartford winery. They also produce an impressive portfolio of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays under the Hartford Court label. These five Zinfandels all come from dry-farmed, low-yielding, old vine Russian River sites.

There are nearly 300 cases of the 2009 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, another century old vine Zinfandel. The most concentrated, lavishly rich, exuberant offering in this portfolio, it boasts a dense ruby/purple color in addition to an extra gear or two as well as abundant amounts of boysenberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with spice, pepper and hints of wood. With beautiful purity and vivaciousness, this prodigious Zinfandel is about as good as it gets for this varietal. Drink this opulent, flamboyant Zin over the next 5-7 years. One of the top Zinfandel specialists in California is Don Hartford at Jess Jackson's Hartford winery. They also produce an impressive portfolio of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays under the Hartford Court label. These five Zinfandels all come from dry-farmed, low-yielding, old vine Russian River sites.

The powerhouse 2008 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard, from 95-year old vines, hides its rather formidable alcohol level beautifully (it's a great example of why technical numbers add up to nothing). A deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by glorious aromas of blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, earth, and spice. Full-bodied as well as remarkably elegant and textured, this beauty is an exquisite example of old vine Zinfandel from northern California. Drink it over the next 7-8 years. …proprietors Don and Jennifer Hartford not only produce superb Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, but also some of the finest Zinfandels made in northern California.

Oregon Displays Collective Greatness: 400-Plus Wines Rated A super rich pinot with so many attractive fruit aromas and flavors, as well as deeply plush and fluid tannins that carry ripe black-cherry flavors long into a convincingly deep finish.

2017 Oregon Pinot Noir All-Americans Second Team Wines ….aromas rise up over time….onslaught of flavors….big by Oregon standards….great depth of fruit….soothing texture….a good friend now but will benefit from cellaring.

Aged in a combination of concrete egg, stainless steel and new French oak, this winning white is a study in peach and apricot—it’s incredibly inviting in both taste and aroma. A layer of honey adds succulence without sweetness, as it remains dry and balanced through the mineral-laden finish.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Composed of 77.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9.2% Petit Verdot, 8.9% Merlot and 4.3% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford gives up exuberant notes of crème de cassis, preserved plums and kirsch scents with nuances of Marmite toast, truffles and tapenade. Full-bodied and firmly structured with taut, grainy tannins, it has a lively line lifting the dense, muscular fruit to a long finish.

Outstanding California Cabernets of 2014 Powerful black currant nose, with slightly charred oak. Very rich without being jammy, it packs a punch. An assertive and very youthful style, but good acidity and tannins means this should go the distance.

Outstanding California Cabernets of 2014 Intense, youthful and fruit-forward nose. This is softly structured but with a good level of tannins. Violets and rose petals lead up to a lengthy finish. Great purity and clarity here.

Outstanding California Cabernets of 2014 A bit Port-like on the nose to begin with, but there is a good depth and the brightness increases in the glass. The palate is succulent, and appealing and has potential to age. Very good.

Ted Edwards brings us another fine expression of Rutherford's top vineyards, including Bosche, Sycamore, Red Barn Ranch, Round Pond and Wood Ranch. The complex aroma mix includes blackberry, cassis, high-toned cherry, clay, wildflowers, fall spice and a hint of citrus zest, all of which are beginning to show themselves as flavors, with bright pepper notes added. It's pretty firm at present, but is quite approachable with a good decant. I'm going to opt for a long rest in the cellar to really get at the promised elegance.

This winery has been a class act over the past three decades, led the entire time by Ted Edwards, perhaps the most underrated winemaker in the Napa Valley. Edwards has always crafted his cabernet for the long haul and this muscular effort from the excellent 2013 vintage has all the power, layered depth and rich fruit aroma anyone could want. That said, it is well balanced, shows inviting notes of wood spice, and it wouldn't disappoint if you pulled the cork tonight. But don't do that. This beauty needs another five years minimum to approach its peak.

Lemon barley, pie apple, honey and white flowers, touch of cedar and spice. Smooth, mellifluous tone, savoury and earthy with poached chicken and lemon zest. Super length. Beautiful complex wine.

This is the first time that this is majority Cabernet with recent replanting, the aim being to adapt the vineyard to global climate change; it’s also the first vintage as a Grand Cru Classé. Violet, crushed rose petals and blood orange intermingle with the dark berry and stone fruits. Green peppercorns bring their own freshness. The florality is revealed slowly and progressively. In the mouth this is both fluid and crystalline, more delicate than it used to be. It is both mineral and spicy on the finish, with the salinity of black liquorice. Very clean and linear on the finish after the amplitude, opulence and richness of the attack and mid-palate. Nicely chiselled by the calcaire tannins. Very beautiful, showing nice restraint and glorious in its floral Cabernet fruit – one sees the future of the appellation here. And we have something resembling the tannic quality of Vérité itself. Lifted and elegant. 

The first vintage of this wine, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Collina was set to be bottled in January 2024, after my late-year visit. Marked by scents of cedar and cherries, with a subtle herbal undercurrent and hints of mint and vanilla, it's medium to full-bodied in the mouth. Elegantly framed by fine-grained tannins and long on the finish, it's not a show-stopper, just a really nice, balanced Napa Cabernet.

There is a laser-like focus to this large-scaled, inky/purple-tinged 2003. Notes of graphite, pen ink, black currant liqueur, smoke, crushed minerals, cedar, spice box, tobacco leaves, and gravity/hot rock characteristics emerge from this sensational, tannic effort. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.

The 2018 La Joie exudes class from the very first taste. Firm underpinnings of structure provide a gorgeous framework that wraps around a core of intense dark fruit. Lavender, sage, mint and grilled herb accents exalt the aromatic intensity of Cabernet Sauvignon.

For the first time ever, Le Désir is 100% Cabernet Franc in 2018. Vivid and brilliant in the glass, Le Désir bristles with energy. A vivid array of dark fruit, leather, spice, licorice, chocolate and espresso captivates all the senses. The 2018 Le Désir is a very special wine in the making.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages A barrel sample, the deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard gives up a gregarious nose of crushed black and red currants, warm plums and charcuterie with touches of truffes, dried herbs and black soil. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and chewy with loads of expressive black fruit and savory layers, finishing on a mineral note.

We will not see the 2013s for a number of years, but the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) looks to be spectacular. It may be the finest Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon yet made by Pierre Seillan. Gorgeous levels of blueberry and blackberry fruit, graphite, wet rocks, a certain freshness and focus, enormous fruit extract, and full body suggest a wine that should last for three decades or more.

Awesome, boasts a saturated purple color as well as aromas of blackberry liqueur, cogar tobacco, chololate, licorice, minerals, and cocoa. The knock-out aromatics are followed by a compellingly concentrated, layered wine of exceptional harmony, purity, and richness. Purchasers are in for a religious drinking experience, send in the angels! Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025.

Its saturated purple color is accompanied by an extraordinary perfume of smoke, roasted meats, blackberry and crème de cassis liqueur, super richness, a viscous texture, and amazing length (the finish lasts nearly a minute). Pure, sweet, and bull-bodied, this blockbuster will be at its finest between 2006-2025.