The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota is a slightly softer, but still structured, meaty effort with impressive levels of black cherries, black currants and a steely, crushed rock-like minerality. Like its sibling, it is full-bodied, tannic and deep, but with less of the burning ember/scorched earth character. It offers pure floral, concentrated fruit and beautiful purity, symmetry and balance. Nevertheless, it, too, will benefit from 3-4 years of cellaring and should drink well over the following three decades.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota's vineyard is planted in more reddish, loamy soils mixed with the white volcanic ash. It is a deeper, fuller-bodied effort with an inky/purple color as well as sweet aromas of blueberries, blackberries, graphite, and subtle new oak. With beautiful purity as well as hints of crushed stones and flowers, a wealth of fruit, an extravagantly rich mouthfeel, sweet tannin, and a long finish, this seamless Cabernet should drink well for 15-20 years.

Bush vine grenache, planted 1946. Hand picked, wild fermented, 50% whole berries, cold soaked, open fermenters, matured in French oak but none of it was new. Certified organic/biodynamic. Released May 2018. Keen fruit, pure tannin, a keen line of acidity and stunning length. If there’s oak here it’s so hand-in-glove that you’re hard pressed to detect it. Kirsch, redcurrant, fennel and generous flings of dry spice. It needs a little time but it’s a ripper wine.

High Sands is a delineation for this grenache that comes from the highest vineyards on the Yangarra estate from bush vines planted in 1946, of course on sand. The estate is tended biodynamically and a less-is-more mantra follows in the winery, again with attention to biodynamic cycles. Wild yeast, 24 months in used oak, winemaker Pete Fraser at the helm. They call this patch of dirt 'the beach'. 135 cases produced. Immediately you notice the gravelly, dusty texture. A wine for aesthetes in a way, you have to let the wine unfurl a bit, drink in small sips and appreciate structure, appreciate the clarity of fruit and glorious perfume, or get blown away by oscillating in the finer detail. I shared the wine on day two with wine-savvy and non-wine-savvy friends who thought it was the best wine on the table out of a series of luminaries, and drained the bottle first - it's got a lot of easy charm. Definitively shows how grenache and power can work hand in hand, serious stuff here with firm tannins, grunt of fruit and savoury disposition. Impressive, and look forward to seeing the wine with time notched into it too.

With a very deep garnet-purple color, the 2010 Ironheart Shiraz has a wonderfully expressive nose of red and black cherries, violets, licorice, cloves and chocolate. The firmly structured, taut palate has a generous amount of youthful, muscular fruit with ripe grainy tannins, refreshing acid, and a good long finish. Drink this one 2014 to 2025+.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale ruby-purple in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir Emery has a nose of sweet fruits —strawberry, raspberry and peach jam—with underlying broody notions of cardamom, leather, forest floor and pipe tobacco—there are a lot of layers on the nose. Light to medium-bodied, it has wonderful layers of savory spice, fruits and earth. It's got very fine, grainy, pixelated but powerful tannins and juicy acidity carrying the very long, spicy, sweetly fruited finish. This is beautiful now but will benefit from a couple years in bottle.

Mocha, bittersweet chocolate, tobacco, menthol and savory herbs meld together in the 2010 Le Desir. Like all of the 2010s here, the Desir is going to need time to unwind and fully come together. There is wonderful definition in the flavors, along with vibrant structure and plenty of intensity. Savory herb and tobacco are some of the notes that inform the powerful finish. Like all of the 2010s, the fruit is a bit suppressed by the wine's imposing structure today. There is no shortage of personality, though. All the 2010 needs is time.

The 2009 Le Desir blasts across the palate with layers of deep, sumptuous fruit. This is an especially deep, plush wine packed with fruit. Hints of mocha, espresso, licorice and tar wrap around the finish in this muscular wine as varietal Cabernet Franc notes take shape in the glass... The 2009 Le Desir is 74% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029.

Bright ruby-red. Black fruits, tobacco leaf, licorice and violet on the nose; a bit like Cheval Blanc on steroids. Broad, ripe and plush but still a bit youthfully aggressive and in need of softening. Showing little easy sweetness; in fact, there's an inky, graphite mineral character that makes this wine seem a bit youthfully brutal. Finishes firm and alive, with the spine and energy for a long evolution in bottle. The broad tannins became increasingly chewy--even a bit youthfully tough--with air. This is still a baby. Extended time in the recorked bottle brought sexy game and coffee elements without any loss of freshness, and, if anything, the wine gained a bit in sweetness.

Bright ruby-red. Perfumed aromas of cherry, coffee, red licorice and minerals. Suave and vibrant, with lovely lift and musky complexity to the juicy red fruit and mineral flavors. Powerful and deep but with superb elegance. Finishes youthfully tight and very long. A baby today. These 2005s were bottled in November of 2007.

(87.5% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 2.5% malbec) Bright ruby-red. Perfumed aromas of cherry, coffee, red licorice and minerals. Suave and vibrant, with lovely lift and musky complexity to the juicy red fruit and mineral flavors. Powerful and deep but with superb elegance. Finishes youthfully tight and very long. A baby today. These 2005s were bottled in November of 2007.

Exhibits an opaque purple color along with scents of incense, fruitcake, black currants, mocha, and berries. Rich, concentrated, tannic, and dense, it appears to be even more backward than La Joie. Nevertheless, it possesses tremendous upside potential. Cellar it for 3-4 years and enjoy it over the following three decades.

Exhibits sumptous aromas of sweet saddle leather, cigar smoke, chocolatey black currants, and blackberries. Sweet, rich, full-bodied, complex, and tasting like a Bordeaux on steroids, this is an enormously endowed, classic, distinctive cuvee that must be tasted to be believed. It represents a synthesis between France's Medoc and Northern California's ripe fruit. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2022.

Graphite, plums, smoke, licorice and incense jump from the glass in the 2010 La Joie. Rich, sumptuous and beautifully layered, the 2010 captures the essence of the vintage. The fruit is intense and super-concentrated, but at the same time, there is plenty of vibrancy and sheer verve in the glass. The 2010 needs at least a few years in bottle for the Cabernet Sauvignon tannins to start softening.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Bear Point Vineyard is another powerful wine in this range. Next to some of the other Cabernets, the Bear Point is much more reticent and inward. Layers of blue/purplish berry fruit, spice, gravel and savory herbs are present, but the wine remains compact and not fully expressive, though there is plenty of richness lurking in the background. I wouldn't touch a bottle for at least a few years.

A big, sweeping wine, the Stonestreet 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall is also the most vivid and complete of these Cabernets. Mocha, black cherry jam, spice, licorice and leather are some of the signatures. The Rockfall is unusually polished for such a big, mountain wine. With time in the glass, the Rockfall gains volume and intensity. Today, the 2013 is naturally quite young, but it is shaping up to be a gem.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cougar Ridge seems similar to the Monolith, with an opaque purple color, a big, sweet kiss of cassis and blackberry, licorice, camphor and, again, wet rocks conveying its minerality. It is interesting that this is the wine that has the lowest percentage of new French oak its aged in, coming in at 31%.

Graphite, smoke, tobacco, new leather, licorice and gravel are some of the signatures in Stonestreet's 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall. The most savory and mineral of these Cabernets, the Rockfall is also arguably the wine that captures the greatest amount of site specificity. The firm tannins are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit, but they are there. In this vintage though, the contours are a bit softened, which does have the benefit of making the wine more accessible early, but at some expense of vineyard nuance.

Perhaps the most backward and hulking wine of the group – mirroring the personality of Jess Jackson’s son, Christopher, who is now in law school – is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s Vineyard from the highest elevation, 2,400 feet. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 21 months in 63% new French oak shows terrific concentration, a big, skyscraper-like mouthfeel, and loads of blackberry, cassis, white chocolate and wet rocks. This is a long-term proposition and a wine that probably has 25-40 years of aging potential built in. Forget it for 4-5 years.

Equally powerful is the broodingly backward, foreboding, opaque purple-colored 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s, which comes from the highest elevation vineyard at 2,400 feet. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon spent 19 months in 70% new French oak. Another behemoth with a blue/black color, it possesses lots of creme de cassis, graphite, spring flower and new oak characteristics. This rich, full-bodied, muscular, powerful wine is oh, so backward, even in the forward, precocious 2011 vintage. Forget it for 5 years and drink it over the following 20 years.

The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's is a huge, wonderfully complete wine. It boasts considerable inner sweetness and perfume, but has more than enough fruit to match its tannic heft. Black cherries, blackberries, mint, menthol, mocha and spices are all woven together in this exceptional, refined Cabernet. Layers of fruit build to the huge, opulent finish. The minerality and acidity of this great hillside site comes through in spades. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.

Slightly more opulent with a sumptuous perfume of espresso roast, chocolate, and creme de cassis as well as superb fruit density, richness, and length, this killer Cabernet can be drunk now or cellared for 20-25 years. These are far and away the most impressive group of Stonestreet Alexander Mountain estate wines I have ever tasted.

Another blockbuster and a rather massive, backward, full-bodied wine is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s Vineyard, no doubt named after the exuberant and burly son of Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke. This wine comes from the family’s beloved Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, from a 2,400-foot elevation vineyard, and is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest other Bordeaux varietals. Infantile, opaque purple, with beautifully pure blueberry and blackcurrant fruit, floral notes, a striking liquid-rock minerality, good acidity and ripe tannin, this wine has future greatness written all over it, but it is too young to drink. It is certainly one of the youngest and most backward of the 2005s, but the promise is exceptional. Forget it for another 3-4 years and drink it over the following 2-3 decades.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Chardonnay Red Point is powerful, inward and quite structured, with bright citrus and floral notes adding character. It is also the most reticent of these Chardonnays. While the other 2017s will drink well pretty much right out of the gate, the Red Point is going to need at least a year or two to be at its most expressive.

The only block that doesn't get afternoon sun and from gravely soils, the 2016 Chardonnay Gravel Bench (aged all in new barrels) boasts a medium gold color as well as classic spiced orchard fruits, buttered citrus, charcoal, and hints of white flowers. It's concentrated, has beautiful purity, integrated acidity, and a good finish. It has absorbed its oak beautifully.