Santa Barbara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018sThe 2018 Syrah Ex Post Facto is bold and beautiful. Dark plum, blueberry, lavender, licorice and cloves give this dark sepia-toned Syrah much of its dark expression. Time in the glass brings out hints of citrus and black pepper that brighten up the flavor profile nicely. The 2018 has real depth and intensity, not to mention tons of character. Greg Brewer gave the 2018 45-60 days on the skins, with virtually all whole clusters, followed by 18 months in barrel.

Santa Barbara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018sThe 2018 Chardonnay 3D is the most powerful of the wines. Tropical, dense and plush, the 3D possesses notable richness, yet retains the energy that runs through all these wines. The 3D is marked by a real sense of oiliness and texture. The mix of Wente and Mt. Eden clones work so well here.

Santa Barbara: An In-Depth Look at the 2018sThe 2018 Chardonnay Machado marries textural depth, aromatic brightness and structure. Citrus peel, mint, savory herb and orchard fruit are supported by bracing mineral notes that lend energy. This is such an elegant style. The cooler growing season yielded a Machado that is a bit more vibrant than is often the case.

Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed using a basket press, wild-fermented in used French oak, 7 months in barrel with lees stirring. The wine has wonderful texture, and enjoyable fruits that suggest some brioche may be around the corner.

The 2018s from Santa Barbara CountyFrom a great site in the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2017 Chardonnay Radian Vineyard from Hartford Court reveals a medium gold hue as well as a rich, powerful bouquet of mulled stone fruits, nectarines, toasted bread, and sappy flowers. Medium-bodied, nicely balanced and concentrated on the palate, with the more focused, tight style of the vintage, it's going to benefit from a year in bottle and should see its 10th birthday in fine form.

The 2018s from Santa Barbara CountyThe 2018 Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard comes from the Santa Maria Valley and was all destemmed and brought up in 65% new French oak. As with all these wines from Byron, it has wonderful purity of fruit as well as complex spice, peppery herb, and earthy aromas and flavors. Fresh, focused, beautifully balanced, and elegant on the palate, it's another winner from this estate.

The 2018s from Santa Barbara CountyFrom a vineyard outside of Santa Maria, the 2018 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard was all destemmed and spent 17 months in 70% new French oak. Rocking levels of black raspberries, toasted spice, and floral notes all emerge from the glass, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a fresh, focused texture, wonderful purity of fruit, and just a kiss of background oak. I like it today, but the oak adverse should give bottles another year or so. It's going to evolve for a solid decade.

The 2018s from Santa Barbara CountyMore iron, leafy herbs, and forest floor notes emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Q Block (which is classic Bien Nacido). It has a core of red (almost blue) fruits, a touch of violets, medium-bodied richness, bright acidity, and a great finish. It's another beautiful Pinot Noir from this estate.

The 2018s from Santa Barbara CountyStarting with the Chardonnays, the 2018 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills is a winner and is ideal for readers looking to understand the Sta. Rita Hills as well as the style of the wines at Brewer-Clifton. Medium gold, with a great nose of Meyer lemons, caramelized orchard fruits, hints of sappy herbs, and a touch of seaside-like salinity and minerality, it's medium to full-bodied and has a rounded, elegant texture, nicely integrated acidity, and a clean, classy finish.

Hints of cedar and vanilla accent cherries and raspberries on the nose of the 2017 Ironheart Shiraz. It showcases the vintage's cooler character in its red fruit, but doesn't lack for ripeness or power. It's full-bodied, supple and velvety on the palate, with great persistence on the mouthwatering finish. Stylistically, it's a hypothetical blend of the 2015 and 2016 vintages—and a nicely balanced Shiraz for drinking over the next decade-plus.

The debut vintage, the 2017 The Nest Cabernet Franc is a stellar effort. Perhaps because of the cool vintage, it captures those elusive herbal-floral notions that make Cabernet Franc special, with scents from black tea to violets accenting the cherry fruit core. It's medium to full-bodied, with creamy-supple tannins and bright acids. Engaging and complex, it finishes long, vibrant and refreshing. Bravo!

The Pinot Noir Zena Crown Vineyard is an elegant wine offering a medium ruby color and aromas of black cherry fruit. On the palate it displays a beautiful silky texture with perfect balance and acidity, round firm tannins and a lengthy finish. A gorgeous wine! Premier Pacific Vineyards developed this vineyard in the early 2000s. It’s located due east of the Van Duzer corridor, which allows cool Pacific breezes to flow through, decreasing temperatures beginning in the late afternoon, helping grapes retain acidity, thickening skins, and firming tannins. Jackson Family purchased the 115 acre Zena Crown vineyard in 2013, their first foray into Oregon. The southwest facing vineyard is diverse in terms of clones, aspects, and altitude, ranging from 300-650’.

The Pinot Noir Pratt Vineyard-Sexton Ranch is a beautiful wine offering pure dark red berry aromas and flavors. It is soft and delicious on the attack and is intensely flavored of dark berries, black cherry and dried herbs. It reveals an elegant texture and mouth feel and is beautifully balanced with soft round tannins and a long finish. The Pratt Vineyard is south of Graton and west of Sebastopol in an area known as the Sebastopol Hills. It was developed by Jim Pratt in the late 1990s. It’s a southwest facing vineyard at 453’ with 2697 GDD and Goldridge soils.

The Siduri La Encantada Vineyard is a hedonistic wine. Semi opaque, it offers pure and spicy dark cherry and plum fruit on nose with a touch of cola. On the palate it is silky smooth, ripe and rich tasting with a hint of chocolate on the finish. Originally planted by Richard Sanford, La Encantada is located close to the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard on Santa Rosa Rd.

Soft herbal and berry nose, deep color, rich, lush with velvety texture; dense and complex with notes of spice, toast, blackberry and mocha, long and lovely.

A creamy, polished red with blueberry, fresh-plum and some floral character. Medium body, fine tannins and a fruity finish. Reserved and refined. Linear freshness to this. Drink now.

A rich, powerful super Tuscan that reminds me of some of the cult wines of Napa. Yet, there’s underlying freshness and brightness to the blackberry, mineral, stone and floral character. Extremely rich and opulent, but shows tension and focus. Better after 2022.

From a low-yielding, head-trained vineyard planted more than a century ago, this wine tastes of dried fruit, dust and nutmeg, with a depth of rich black cherry. Leathery texture leads to an elegant length of velvety softness.

Dusty sage, earth and leather exude out of 100-plusyear-old vines from this famous dry-farmed site in the heart of the appellation. The fruit is intensely brambly and feral, a mix of blackberry, black cherry and dark fig with dustings of cocoa powder and clove.

Tangy in strawberry and dark cherry, this impressively full-bodied, richly constructed wine is expansive and elegant. Tremendous structure upholds its core of tannin and oak, finishing with a tangy, high-acid crispness and length.

From a stellar site planted in 1975 to a heritage clone, this wine is aged in French oak for 16 months. Plum, strawberry and blood orange flavors contribute a palate of balanced richness that is both complex and wide in appeal.

This is an outstanding wine for the price, made from a majority of estate-grown grapes across the appellation. Given 10 months in French oak, 27% of it new, it is designed to be delicious out the gate, with a lush opulence that is soft, broad and supple across the palate. Plummy and brimming in dark cherry and cola, it finishes with moderate structure and baking spice.

Robust in oak from barrel fermentation and 10 months of aging, this wine is made from four sites within older plantings within the appellation—a showcase of blending and vine age that delivers fleshy lushness and texture. A tension of acidity boosts strong flavors of apple, nutmeg and pear.

This is an outstanding appellation wine, made in larger quantities at a remarkably fair price. Grapes come from throughout the diverse valley and the wine barrel fermented and given nine months to rest. Full bodied, layered and widely appealing, it shows a density of peach, pear, baking spice and sweet oak, all of the components coming together seamlessly at the end.