Smoke, crushed rocks, apricots and dried pears are some of the many notes that jump out from the glass in the 2011 Chardonnay Bench Break. A layered, textured Chardonnay, the 2011 blossoms on the palate with tons of depth. Even with all of its richness, the 2011 remains light on its feet and a model of pure grace. There is so much to like here, including the exceedingly fair price.

Great price for a Chardonnay this rich and attractive. Although the alcohol is relatively high, the wine feels balanced, with a proper tension between ripe fruit, oak, alcohol, lees and acidity. Offers savory flavors of lemondrop candy, pineapple tart and buttered toast.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard is slightly deep ruby-colored and has a distinctly floral, perfumed character in its red fruits, violets, iris flower, and orange rind aromas and flavors. Like all these releases from Byron, it's elegant, silky, and pure on the palate, with beautiful balance. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years.

Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part One The 2016 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano Vineyard is another of the more powerful, deep wines in this range. The 33% whole clusters are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the dark-fleshed stone fruit. Lavender, licorice, menthol and dark spice notes add to the wine's imposing personality, an impression that is reinforced by the potent tannins. There is no shortage of character, but the wine needs a few years in bottle to be at its finest.

From a beautiful vineyard on the southern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2015 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard reveals a medium ruby color to go with a terrific bouquet of black raspberries, cranberries, spice box, pepper, and earth. It picks up some gamey, exotic notes with time in the glass, is medium-bodied, seamless, and elegant, with a vibrant texture. It’s going to drink nicely for a decade.

The nose on this bottling from a vineyard first planted in 1970 starts with woody sagebrush, forest floor, mushroom and moss aromas, but leads into ripe cranberry and rose petals, with the slightest hint of game. Bay leaf, marjoram and tangy cranberry touches complete the palate.

This iconic vineyard has graced many bottles and certainly shows respect for the fruit in this savory red. Hints of portobello mushroom, tilled soil, and tart cherry seem reserved at first, but once the wine opens up, their aromas seem to sweeten the air. Earth-kissed red fruit, cranberry tea, and that familiar forest-floor effect chime in as the acidity keeps flavors bright. Black olive and balsamic contribute, but raspberry and cherry lead the way.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard comes from a site in the Santa Maria Valley and spent 16 months in 45% new French oak. It’s a slightly deeper, more mineral-driven effort that has classic notes of blackberries, crushed rocks, gunpowder, and spice. It's deep, rich, and concentrated, yet also elegant and seamless, and has terrific purity.

Fairly tart and juicy on the nose, this bottling from one of the region's oldest vineyards offers raspberry, baking spice and a hint of wild boar flesh on the nose. The flavors are full of barely ripe red fruit and more gamy qualities, and there is plenty of acid cutting through the rounded mouthfeel.

The best thing about this wine is the scent, as if you’d stuck your nose in a spring rose. The fruit lives up to that scent, hinting at rose gelée and salty umeboshi plum, along with zesty, nori-scented tannins. It’s a little soft and creamy in the end, but the overall impression remains delicate, fragrant and pretty.

2015 PINOT NOIR, BIEN NACIDO VINEYARD The nose is spice box, tomato, dried cherry and powdered blueberry. The palate is a bright rhubarb and silky tomato tapenade with a well-integrated sour berry note.

Moderately dark garnet color in the glass. A deep well of blackberry fruit aromas gain traction over time in the glass. Velvety and luxurious on the palate, with a luscious array of dark fruit flavors including boysenberry and blackberry. A wellmannered oak compliment adds to the satisfaction as does the finish that is both ostentatious and lengthy.

Forest floor, earthy herbs, ripe black fruits, and some scorched earth notes all emerge from the 2015 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard. Lively, elegant and juicy on the palate, with a terrific core of fruit, this is a savory, complex Pinot Noir that still hangs onto its California fruit. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years. This wine spent 16 months in 36% new French oak.

Fresh blackberry and boysenberry aromas meld with rose petal and hickory smoke on the warm entry of this bottling from Jonathan Nagy. The palate is packed with peppery spice, bright red cherry, thyme and root beer flavors.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Aromas of black cherry and subtle oak leave a good impression. Mid weight flavors of dark red cherries and berries with a very appealing expression of cherry fruit, especially on the finish. The tannins are silky, there is good acidity, and the oak offers subtle seasoning. A highly respectable wine that can be enjoyed now but will last in the cellar.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Rita's Crown is my favorite in the lineup and has a similar toasty, vanilla hint (which is present in most of these latest releases), with terrific framboise, strawberry and spice nuances developing with time in the glass. Medium-bodied, impressively concentrated and elegant, with a great finish, give bottles a year or two and drink through 2026. This is a terrific site located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, the this 2014 saw one-third whole clusters and 15 months in 46% new French oak. Originally founded in 1984, Byron is now owned by Jackson Family Wines with the wines made by Jonathan Nagy. The oak treatment sticks out slightly in a number of these wines, but as I hope the scores show, there’s tons to love here. These are ripe, classic Santa Barbara wines.

Lush and juicy with intense cherry and red currant fruit; racy acidity, lively style with good depth; smooth, savory and long; balanced and generous.

Silky and smooth with bright, intense raspberry and cherry fruit; juicy and generous with tangy, rich style; long and balanced.

Candied cherry, flowers, lavender and spice all emerge from the 2014 Pinot Noir Sierra Madre Vineyard, which is another silky, seamless and incredibly elegant Pinot Noir from winemaker Jonathan Nagy. Like all of these latest 2014s, it's a sexy, charming, hard to resist effort which should evolve nicely on its balance.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Sierra Madre Vineyard comes from the Santa Maria Valley and is all Clone 667. Completely destemmed and 50% barrel fermented, it is a rounded, seamless beauty that gives up plenty of caramelized currants, cherries, spice and hints of white pepper in a silky, polished, straight up delicious style. It has no hard edges, the forward, charming nature of the vintage, impeccable balance, and a great finish. Originally founded in 1984, Byron is now owned by Jackson Family Wines with the wines made by Jonathan Nagy. The oak treatment sticks out slightly in a number of these wines, but as I hope the scores show, there’s tons to love here. These are ripe, classic Santa Barbara wines.

Moderately light reddish purple color in the glass. Shy initially, picking up character over time in the glass to reveal aromas of cherry reduction sauce, spice and biscuit. On entry, there is an explosion of blackest cherry, blackberry and cassis fruit flavors that are refined and dance in a flirty manner on the palate. Very classy, with considerable polish, and remarkable intensity and length on the notable finish. The noteworthy finish still stood out the following day when tasted from a previously opened and re-corked bottle. A beautiful expression of Central Coast Pinot Noir.

There’s an amazing array of fruit on the nose, from the deep richness of blackberry to the tartness of cranberry, all set against wet-slate minerality and dashes of clove cigarettes, soy sauce and white pepper. It proves light and airy on the well-balanced palate, with dark fruit, sandalwood spice and the right amount of acidity and tannins to finish clean.

Berry fruit leather, raspberry iced tea and dark spices weave together on the intriguing nose of this wine, which is as good if not better than similar wines from the appellation charging twice the price. Roasted figs and black cardamom rise on the palate, yet the wine remains light on its feet.

Berry fruit leather, raspberry iced tea and dark spices weave together on the intriguing nose of this wine, which is as good if not better than similar wines from the appellation charging twice the price. Roasted figs and black cardamom rise on the palate, yet the wine remains light on its feet.

Firm in acidity and tannins, with an earthy minerality, this is a Pinot Noir you want to stash away for a few years. It's very dry and quite balanced, with a deep core of black cherries, currants, mushu plum sauce, anise, pepper and sandalwood. The window of drinkability extends until 2015, but give it a brief decant if you open it now.