The 2021 Pinot Noir Element is a fruity, boisterous wine. Ripe red cherry fruit, kirsch, cedar, mint, white pepper and sweet spice are nicely pushes forward. This exuberant Pinot is a total charmer.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Machado opens with a good burst of fruit, but then loses much of that intensity on the majd palate and finish. Dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal and crushed rocks. This soft, very pretty Pinot Noir offers good depth in the understated style of the year.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Hapgood is a powerful wine, but it is also the Pinot in this range with the most pronounced stem character. Blue fruit, sage, leather, spice and dried flowers fill out the layers. Theold personality of this site and the year are very much in evidence.

Opens with captivating sandalwood and incense aromas, then moves into a wine with fresh, lively flavors of cherries, blueberries, lavender, and earth ending with a whoosh of minerals and a salty/peppery “bite.” Very structured. Very nice balance.

The 2021 Brooks Road
Shiraz is incredibly perfumed,
with field flowers, herbal tea,
graphite, pencil box, spiced
blood plum, aniseed, clove
and Peking sauce. In the
mouth, the wine is medium
weight and dark, dark, dark,
littered with exotic black
things. A nighttime wine.
14% alcohol, sealed under
screw cap.

The renaissance at Freemark Abbey continues under the Jackson Family Wines banner, and in 2018, even the fruit cooperated. Winemakers Kristy Melton and Ted Edwards are behind his classic rendition of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Fragrant, mouthfilling, and awash in perfectly ripe fruit doused with cigar, cedar, and baking spices that linger forever on the palate. The tannins are dense but supple, providing just the proper structure for a wine you can drink now if you must. That said, it’s going nowhere for the next 20 years. What is more a reserve style red, 2018 mixes 87% cabernet sauvignon, 14% merlot, 6% petit verdot, 2% malbec, and 1% cabernet franc. The fruit comes from all over the Napa Valley, including the east and west valley floor and mountain sites. Primary vineyards include Keyes on Howell Mountain, Stagecoach Vineyard on Atlas Peak, and JFW Oakville Vineyard, with a smattering of cabs from Oakville, Calistoga and Rutherford. It all aged 27 months in French oak barrels, of which 40% were new.

A vivid, deep-gold color
concurs with ripe, buttery aromas and sunny pineapple and mango flavors in this soft, smooth and
deceptively light-bodied wine. While low-ish in
alcohol, it is beautifully balanced by a rich, melted
texture. —J.G.

Fascinating aromas of Asian pear, lime and white rocks create a cohesive combination on the nose of this bottling by Greg Brewer. The palate is tremendously tense and lively, using crushed seashell and yuzu flavors to offset the tropical hints of guava peel and spicy pepper touches.

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard was picked on September 11 and matured for 13 months in 90% new French oak. It has broody aromas
of blackcurrant, damp tobacco, aniseed, clove and lavender, offering up more detail as it spends time in the glass. The full-bodied palate is light on its feet with
rounded acidity, clay-textured tannins and a fragrant, graphite-driven finish. 595 cases were made.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley is the second vintage of Anakota's second-label Cabernet, meant for drinking in the near term rather than the cellaring required for the Helena Dakota and Helena Montana. "I may make more in the future where I can, but it depends on the vintage," assistant winemaker and second-generation vigneron Hélène Seillan says. It's blended with 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot and was matured for 12 months in 30% new French oak. Already bottled, it offers pretty aromas of blueberries and cassis with tones of violet, coffee grounds, earth and mushroom. The medium-bodied palate is supple and juicy, with ripe yet not over-the-top fruit and a long, graphite-laced finish. There's a lot less new oak on this cuvée, and it really works! Around 1,500 cases were made.

Wild strawberries, sappy flowers, rose, and earthy
mineral notes define the 2021 Pinot Noir
Soberanes Vineyard, another terrific Santa Lucia
Highlands release from this estate. It has beautiful
purity, fine tannins, and a great finish. Fermented
with 15% stems and aged in 40% new oak, it will
evolve nicely for 7-8 years.

Savory cherries, dried herbs, spices, and hints of
iron all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Sierra
Mar Vineyard, a medium-bodied, concentrated,
wonderfully balanced, elegant Pinot Noir. It shows
the cooler, elegant style of the vintage and is well
worth seeking out.

From one of the great sites in the Santa Lucia
Highlands, the 2021 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard
has a bright, juicy, medium-bodied style as well as
perfumed red fruits (strawberries, cherries), lots
of floral nuances, nicely integrated acidity, and
fine tannins. This cuvée was completely
destemmed and was brought up in 40% new
French oak. I love its purity and elegance.

Black raspberries, tart mulberries, scorched earth, and leafy herb notes all emerge from the 2021 Pinot Noir Perilune Vineyard, a tighter, more structured Pinot Noir from a site in the Sta. Rita Hills. I like its balance, and it opens up nicely with time in the glass. It's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for a decade.

A blend of various vineyard sites, ranging from 122 to 732 meters in altitude. Raspberry and blueberry meet tart red berries and creme de cassis on the nose and palate. It’s a rather floral Cabernet, with rose petals and violets, which gets counterbalanced with dried herbs, graphite, and mineral notes. Tannins read as sweet and voluptuous but acidity itself throughout.

Aromas of cherry chocolate, dried orange peel, rose petals and nutmeg on the nose, following through to a medium body with crunchy tannins and polished texture. Hints of fresh cherries and dried flowers with crushed stone character at the end. Drink or hold.

Cedary oak with plenty of dark chocolate, tapenade, black beans, roasted pepper and blackberries. Recognizable cabernet characters give this depth and a demureness. Full-bodied on the palate with fine, dusty tannins and a flavorful middle extending to a long, solid finish. Some bitter chocolate at the end. Drinkable now, but better from 2025.

Vibrant and snappy, with fresh cherry and pomegranate flavors that take on accents of pepper, meat and grilled anise as this builds richness and focus toward fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2032. 585 cases made.

Shows the flashy ripeness of the vintage, with a mix of plum, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors pumping through, inlaid with roasted mesquite and sweet tobacco accents. Packs a nice finishing kick of warm earth that keeps this just grounded enough. Drink now through 2035. 2,839 cases made.

Firm and concentrated, this wine is aromatic in cedar and cinnamon,
laced with delicious blueberries, blackberries and a hint of cocoa, and lifted by medium tannins that give a lightly gripping texture. It represents the top tier of the Kendall-Jackson organization’s Cabernets. —J.G.

A rather closed aroma gives way to subtle but rich almonds, butter and vanilla bean in the flavors. This exceptional wine is full-bodied, broad and creamy in texture. Its pastry-like flavors glide into a lingering finish.

Tempting spicy, earthy, toasted oak aromas lead to densely layered pears, almonds,wood char and crème brûlée flavors that fill the palate and echo for minutes on the finish. The wine is full-bodied, almost thick in texture and powerful in flavor.

There’s a steely minerality on the leading edge of the nose of this bottling,
which also includes Mandarin orange zest and a touch of dairy. A grippy tension wraps around the lemon pith and apple flesh core of the palate, which picks up a toasty note by the finish.

Subtle and yet expressive in measured ways, this bottling offers lychee, lemongrass, Mandarin orange pith and wet rock aromas on the nose. The palate lands softly at first and then comes the rising acidity and chalky texture, framing lemon-spiked meringue and toasted pine nut
flavors.

Raised for a year in 30-40% new German oak, the pure ruby-colored 2021 Pinot Noir iselegant with wild raspberry, fresh roses, and well-managed sweet cinnamon spice. Thismedium-bodied red has super-fi ne tannins and a clean, polished lift, with notes ofpomegranate and fresh forest herbs, as well as a soft stony texture. I enjoy the balanceand elegance this wine expresses. Well-balanced and fl oral, drink it over the next 10-12years. It’s set to be released in Fall 2023.