Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Coming from an incredibly cold site in the Russian River Valley that was planted in 1975 to the heritage Martini clone, the 2017 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard was completely destemmed and spent 16 months in 44% new French oak, which is on the higher end for this estate. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, it offers a more fresh, focused, backward style to go with classy Bing cherry and raspberry fruits as well as notes of spice, sappy herbs, and spring flowers, It has a kiss of background oak (which will integrated with 1-2 years of bottle age), good acidity, and ripe tannins, yet unquestionably needs 2-3 years of bottle age to show its full potential. This beautiful, potential-packed beauty that will be one of the longer-lived releases here.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon (containing 10% Merlot) gives beautiful red, black and blue fruit notes with touches of dried herbs, spice cake and unsmoked cigars, plus a waft of cedar. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm structure with plenty of gregarious mid-palate fruit, finishing with a lingering herbal lift. This seductive blockbuster is temptingly drinkable now and it should age gracefully over 15-20 years.

Italy, Tuscany: Chianti Classico (New Releases) The 2013 Arcanum is a blend of 73% Cabernet Franc with smaller parts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Franc element is obviously strongest, and you get steely notes of black fruit follow by wild sage and rosemary oil. This is a powerful and thickly layered red wine that pushes the boundaries of extract and intensity, especially for a Tuscan red wine. Off the top of my head, I can count maybe ten wines from the region that take on such a full-bodied and opulent approach. This wine should age forward for many years to come.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana offers chocolate, sweet black cherries, a dense purple color, great intensity and purity – a real mountain style, but with surprisingly soft tannins. It is easily a 30-year wine. The good news is that there are 520 cases of this big, boisterous, yet voluptuously textured offering from Anakota.

The same can be said for the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard. However, it offers sweeter tannins as well as slightly more evolved and complex aromas of unsmoked, high class cigar tobacco, graphite, blackberries, cassis, spring flowers and a distinctive minerality. Although deep, full-bodied and backward, the sweet fruit and tannin provide a more upfront character than the 2009. It, too, is a 30-50-year wine.

From a vineyard planted in a more volcanic subsoil base, the 2002 Helena Montana is a powerful, chocolatey, dense, formidable, broodingly backward wine offering notes of subtle smoke, damp earth, crushed rocks, and oodles of blue and black fruits. The wine gives the impression of being totally locked away, but everything is in balance and the purity is impressive. It should be cellared for at least another decade, and will last for 20-25 years.

The 2013 Ironheart Shiraz is another total beauty from Yangarra. The perfume alone is enough to make you swoon! Laced with violets, molten chocolate, cherry liquor, lavender and exotic spices with subtle incense nuances, it's one of those glasses that compels you to sniff again and again. The palate is very restrained and taut at this youthful stage, with firm, grainy tannins and a lively backbone framing the concentrated fruit, finishing long and minerally. Simply stunning.

The 2009 La Muse (86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec; 14.5% alcohol) is a blockbuster offering complex, intense notes of Asian plum sauce, figs, black currants, white chocolate and cedar. The wine reveals an extra level of texture and richness along with full body, an unctuous texture, and a super ripeness and richness that does not go over the top. The tannins are noticeable, but well-integrated as are the new oak and acidity. This big, backstrapping, Merlot-based wine is meant for long-term cellaring. Give it 4-5 more years in the bottle and enjoy it over the following 30 years.

Composed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec, the 2008 La Joie (2,000 cases) is reminiscent of a California version of Chateau Montrose. Tannic, earthy and dense with lots of muscle, creme de cassis, underbrush and loamy soil notes, this wine should easily last 50+ years. Tremendous density and richness suggest a powerhouse that should be forgotten for 4-5 years and drunk over the following half century. Jess Jackson and his Bordelais winemaker, Pierre Seillan, have followed their 2007s (the finest wines they have ever made) with strong efforts in 2008. To understand these wines, readers must realize that they are not meant for near-term drinking, but rather for extended cellaring. Seillan truly wants to produce a wine with the ripeness of California fruit backed up by the structure and ageability of a top Bordeaux. All of these cuvees come from Sonoma County estate vineyards owned by Jess Jackson. The La Muse (dominated by Merlot) offering represents Verite's right bank Pomerol-styled wine, La Joie is their Medoc-styled effort dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Le Desir is more of a St.-Emilion, possibly Graves-styled wine dominated by Cabernet Franc blended with Merlot. These wines all need 4-5 years of bottle age, and are capable of lasting three decades or more. If you did not catch the 2007s that were released in 2010, my scores are as follows: 2007 Le Desir (98), 2007 La Joie (100) and 2007 La Muse (99).

Crème de cassis, cedarwood, graphite, and crushed violets all define the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Monolith, which is medium-bodied, concentrated, and moderately tannic on the palate. It’s nicely balanced and certainly promising, but I wouldn't open bottles for at least 4-5 years. This cuvée comes from vines planted in 1989 and spent 20 months in just under 50% new French oak. 257 cases.

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's is a positively stellar wine. Rich, powerful and unctuous, the 2015 possesses stunning intensity in all of its dimensions. Soaring aromatics, dense fruit and impeccable balance add up to a compelling Cabernet Sauvignon that shows all the best qualities of Stonestreet off to great effect. The transformation at Stonestreet in recent years is compelling. Nowhere is that more evident than in the 2015. This is a superb showing.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard contains a 1.8% splash of Petit Verdot and was aged 20 months in 64% new French oak. Deep garnet-purple colored, it features a knock-out perfume of candied violets, warm cassis, preserves plums and blueberry compote with hints of eucalyptus, dark chocolate, Indian spices and oolong tea with a waft of cedar. The palate is full-bodied, firmly structured and offers wonderfully firm, ripe, grainy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the vivacious black and blue fruits, finishing very long and very layered.

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s comes from a vineyard planted at 2,400 feet. Another 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, it was aged 21 months in 63% new French oak (486 cases produced). This profound Cabernet boasts an opaque blue/black color as well as a stunning bouquet of barbecue, charcoal embers, blueberry, blackberry and cassis. Long and full-bodied with an inky concentration, great fruit purity and no hard edges, this is a bigger-than-life, stunning Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next three decades or more.

Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 Huge swaths of tannin envelop the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Mt. Veeder). Iron, smoke, blood orange, cedar and tobacco add aromatic nuance to this sinewy, nuanced mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 is a bit stern next to the other Lokoya Cabernets in the early going, but it has plenty of depth and resonance in its fruit waiting to emerge over time.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain dazzles from start to finish. Iron, graphite, smoke, ash, crushed rocks, dark inky fruit, pencil shavings and tobacco emerge from a tightly-wound yet nuanced Cabernet Sauvignon loaded with character. The 2011 isn't an overt wine, rather it is a Cabernet Sauvignon that impresses with its persistence, energy and sheer class. Chris Carpenters makes the Diamond Mountain Cabernet from a parcel of vines planted on AXR rootstock that is slowly succumbing to phylloxera.

The stunning 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is more of a long distance runner. It boasts a dense purple color along with copious notes of graphite, plum sauce, blueberries, black raspberries, wet steel and damp gravel. Deep, full-bodied and powerful, it is quite compelling in its purity, texture and awesome potential. Forget it for another 3-5 years and drink it over the following three decades.

The 2014 Cabernet Franc comes from younger vines and was brought up in 70% new French oak. While Cabernet Sauvignon gets all the love in the Valley, this beauty offers sensational notes of black raspberries, crème de cassis, crushed flowers, graphite, and hints of crushed rocks. Deep, layered, and concentrated, yet also pure, elegant and seamless, it’s a gorgeous wine that can be drunk anytime over the coming two decades.

North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley’s Incredible 2016s The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain checks in as a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. It offers a sensational bouquet of blackcurrants, blackberries, black cherries, savory herbs, bay leaf, and earth. It's medium to full-bodied, beautiful, elegant, has vibrant acidity, fine tannins, and a smoking good finish. It’s another age-worthy wine from this terrific estate that needs short-term cellaring and will keep for 30+ years.

Checking in as a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is another gorgeous wine from winemaker Chris Carpenter. Brought up in 90% new French oak, this classic, tight, focused beauty boasts sensational notes of crème de cassis, graphite, toasty oak, and ample minerality. These all flow to a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, layered, tannic 2014 that has remarkable purity, impeccable balance, and a great, great finish. It’s classic, old-school, yet awesome Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will keep for 2-3 decades.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Chardonnay Nine Barrels simply sings of honeysuckle, lime blossoms and mandarin peel with a core of pineapple, nectarines, cashews and brioche. Full, rich, concentrated and featuring tons of spice and floral layers, it delivers layer upon layer of bold flavors and a very long finish.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2016 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block comes from an east facing slope just outside the town of Occidental and spent 16 months in 31% new French oak. It’s a complete, balanced, medium to full-bodied effort that does everything right, giving up a huge bouquet of smoky black fruits, tobacco leaf, forest floor, and wood smoke. This big, masculine 2016 has plenty of tannins, a great mid-palate, and no shortage of length on the finish, it just needs 2-3 years of bottle age to show at its best.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Jennifer’s sashays out of the glass with heart-stopping violets and lilacs over a core of redcurrants, Bing cherries, mulberries and black raspberries plus wafts of underbrush, spice box, black tea and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with spice and earth layers, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and finishing very long and mineral-laced.

The 2017s From Sonoma The 2016 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block is thrilling stuff sourced from the Arrendell Vineyard, which is a cool site in the Green Valley portion of the Russian River. Aged 16 months in 34% new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered, it has a big bouquet of black raspberries, blood orange, savory spices, and crushed violets. Incredibly complex, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated, with fine tannins, it’s another incredibly satisfying, complete Pinot Noir well worth seeking out. 248 cases.

Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Jennifer’s leaps from the glass with exuberant raspberry preserves, cranberry tart and black forest cake notes with touches of wild thyme, red roses and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate simply sings of red and black berry flavors complimented with dried herbs and savory notes, supported by firm, very fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing very long and perfumed. Should age wonderfully!

From a cooler, windy site south of Sebastopol, the 2015 Pinot Noir Jennifer's is a bigger, richer, structured effort. Blackcurrants, black cherries, graphite, scorched earth and beautiful violet notes give way to a concentrated, fresh, tannic Pinot Noir that certainly has the fruit and texture to shine now but will be even better in 2-3 years.