Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part Two The 2016 Syrah is a very pretty wine from Greg Brewer's Ex Post Facto project. Racy and perfumed in the glass, with striking aromatic presence, the 2016 makes a strong opening statement. The red and purplish berry fruit is nicely lifted by floral and savory overtones from the whole clusters. It will be interesting to see where this wine goes in the future. Certainly the debut vintage is promising. Brewer gave the fruit, from Spear, 4-5 days of cold soak followed by a lengthy fermentation/maceration of 45 days or so. The 2016 spent 16 months in neutral French oak.

Good Petite Sirah is generally not for the faint of heart, but those of us who love it think that the bigger and bolder the better. This offering from Edmeades has all the requisite intensity and firm tannins to show off its juicy blueberry and other dark fruit flavors, but it also has a kinder, gentler side. Even non-Petite Sirah fans will love this unexpected showing of finesse and elegance.

This petite was grown at a vineyard on the Talmage bench in the foothills of the northern Mayacamas range, the vines between 20 and 60 years old. It has a brightness that balances the toughness of its structure, making its density feel layered rather than monolithic. The fruit's a bit purple and primary at first, but as it takes on air it harmonizes with the tannins, moving toward a clean black-currant scent and cool minerality that feels dynamic. It's a petite to age for a few years before opening with braised meat, or cassoulet.

They say these vines are 121 years old, and certainly, the wine they produce is concentrated. The winemaker, Van Williamson, finds nutmeg, fir, white pepper, tobacco, raspberry and strawberries, which sounds about right. It's also a little more tart than the magnificent Zeni bottling.

Same vineyard (as Claudia Springs 1998 Eagle Point Ranch Zinfandel), different producer, making for an interesting comparison. There's 19% Syrah and 5% Petite Syrah blended into this wine, which is succulent and delicious, with spicy, lively fruit leading the way. There's enough acid to give it structure and balance, but not so much that the wine seems edgy or sour.

Eagle Point Vineyard. There's 19% Syrah & 5% Petite Sirah blended in, making for a succulent wine, with spicy, lively fruit leading the charge. There's enough acid to give it structure & balance, but not so much that the wine seems edgy or sour. Full bodied, mouthfilling, flavorful & distinctive.

From an underrated North Coast winery making some of the best Zins in the state. You'll go wild over the bold complexity of this beauty. Packs twice the power of most Zins and gets away with it. This is a wine to show a visitor form foreign shores what California Zin is all about.

An amazing single-vineyard Zin. Oaky, but packed with berry fruit.

One doesn't expect to find fruit this ripe and fully formed in Mendocino Zinfandel, but then 1994 was an exceptional year for this cool-climate region. You'll find cedary overtones from barrel aging, medium body and delicious drinkability. You might have to hunt a bit, as production was not large. Don't be daunted by the price; the wine is worth it.

Dark, rich, intense and concentrated, packed with complex wild berry and cherry flavors.

Black fruit, leather, bacon, lilacs. Full-blown style, with inky fruit concentration made elegant by a silky mouthfeel and extrodinary balance of all components. Cellar Selection.

This knock-out wine reveals a well-developed yet compelling bouquet of black fruits, tar, herbs, and smoky scents. There is lavish richness to this full-bodied, deep, concentrated, lusciously-textured, expansive, mouthfilling wine. This terrific, full-flavored, broad shouldered Zinfandel should drink well for 7-8 years.

Intense fruitiness along with touches of mint and baking spices make this full-bodied wine impressive as well as complex and layered. The vivid, ripe strawberry and blackberry components are well balanced by firm tannins and a light oak coating.

Another hit from this Zin specialist; dense and packed with rich, ripe blackberry and spice.

A steep site at 1,500 feet in the coastal ridges above the Anderson Valley, this windy vineyard catches the sun when the valley below is socked in with fog, allowing zin to fully ripen while holding onto its acidity. In 2012 the vineyard grew a zin of captivating intensity, its ripeness feeling warm and energetic, charging forward coastal scents of spruce tips and crushed blackberries, its texture posh in the middle and firm at the end.

Edmeades has been setting the standards for California Zinfandel for decades. Winemaker Ben Salazar must have had the stars aligned for a fermentation of the most wonderful kind when he put this wine in the barrel. Huge and hulking with finesse like a runway model’s walk inside a body builder’s physique, the 2012 Edmeades Zinfandel delivers a package that is more than the sum of its parts. Concentrated fruit flavors have mellowed since release, presenting a much more approachable wine that drinks with ease rewarding the consumer with brambly dark berry, chocolate cherry cordial painting a wide swath across the palate. The soft dusty tannins of the Edmeades Zinfandel echo in the background as the mouth-cleansing acidity sets you up for the next sip. Worth seeking out even if it takes a little work. Excellent.

This briary red is loaded with jammy fruit, showing very ripe, supple black cherry, sage and smoky cracked pepper flakes.

From a steep hillside site planted in the 1800's, only ten miles from the Pacific Ocean, the 2007 Perli Vineyard exhibits a deep ruby/garnet color as well as an intoxicatingly heady nose of spice box, herbs, blue and red fruits, pepper, and incense. The wine is rich and full-bodied with tart acids as well as heady, but well-concealed alcohol. It should drink well for 3-4 years.

While Diatom was formerly wedded to sites in the Sta. Rita Hills, Brewer-Clifton produced a Chardonnay from Katherine's Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley (neighboring Bien Nacido) in the 1999 vintage, so in a sense this cuvée represents a return to old haunts. At 445 cases, the 2017 Chardonnay Katherine's is also by some margin Diatom's largest bottling this vintage. Notes of peach, grapefruit, pastry cream and lime cordial precede a mediumbodied, glossy, saline, acid-driven wine with beautiful purity and concentration.

Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part Two The 2017 Chardonnay Santos Road offers a super-appealing mix of textural density and freshness. A wine of real presence and power, the Santos Road is wonderfully complex and multi-dimensional.

2017 CHARDONNAY, SANTOS ROAD The nose is a tart lemon and chalk with green apple and wet stone. The palate is bone dry with underlying peach, pear and mineral.

Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part Two Intense aromatics give the 2017 Chardonnay Machado an exotic Sauvignon or Riesling-like character that is beguiling. Intense saline notes bring out a bright, energetic profile. Deceptive in its feel, and yet wonderfully persistent, the 2017 Machado has a lot to say and offer.

The 2017 Chardonnay Hilliard Bruce—which hails from a northfacing site on the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA planted with clone 96—reveals crisp notes of pastry cream, Asian pear and citrus blossom. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, glossy and fine-boned, with taut, stony structure and a pure, tangy finish.

2017 CHARDONNAY, HILLIARD BRUCE The nose is a juicy tropical fruit with honey, peach and chalk. The palate is crisp peach with notes of honey and golden currant. Lovely texture.

The 2016 Chardonnay Spear Vineyard has pristine, unadulterated and fresh lemongrass, orange blossom and white peach notes with touches of wet pebbles and coriander seed. Medium-bodied and with a pleasant oiliness to the texture, it delivers a great intensity of spicy flavors, finishing with lingering pepper notes. 97 cases were made.