The nose is a tropical banana and pie spice with whiffs of white pepper. The palate has a broader round quality in entry with a cut velvet texture of tropical fruits and well-integrated acidity.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site in the middle of Anderson Valley, the 2017 Pinot Noir Abel was aged 16 months in 15% new French oak. Black cherries, spice box, spring flowers, and forest floor notes all flow to a medium-bodied, juicy, incredibly elegant Pinot Noir that has bright acidity yet an upfront, juicy feel.

A harmonious blend of four vineyards; silky texture and bright cherry fruit with subtle notes of oak; a tangy, elegant finish that invites another sip.

Sweet red cherry, dried flowers, mint, white pepper and blood orange all meld together in Copain's 2015 Pinot Noir Kiser En Haut. Nervous and energetic, but with good depth, the 2015 is a very promising wine. The 2015 has begun to fill out since I tasted it a few months ago. All the elements are very nicely balanced in this pliant, mid-weight Pinot from Copain.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Kiser En Bas presents a much soft expression of this Anderson Valley site because of the greater presence of clay in this part of the vineyard. Ample and creamy, but in the restrained Copain style, the 2014 possesses striking immediacy and impeccable overall balance.

An addition to the range, the 2013 Pinot Noir Wendling is a powerful, immediate wine. Super-ripe red cherry, plum, chocolate and sweet spices give the wine its round, succulent personality. The 2013 is bold, ripe and voluptuous, with striking intensity and plenty of up-front appeal. This is one of the riper wines in the range.

The 2013 Wendling Pinot Noir is a complex and brooding wine, rich and bursting with aromatics, layered with earth and dark fruit flavors. One of the richest Pinots in the line.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Syrah High Rock Ranch is an intriguing wine from Copain. This site in the Yorkville Highlands yields an especially savory, tightly wound style. Dark fruit, game, licorice, smoke and tobacco all develop. The tannins remain forbidding though, and need time to soften. Readers should expect a brooding, inward Syrah.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The medium garnet-purple colored 2015 Syrah les Voisins (100% Syrah) displays bold black cherries, blackberries and warm plums scents with a very spicy undercurrent of baking spices and black pepper. Medium to full-bodied with firm, rounded tannins, it gives a great intensity of peppered black fruits, finishing long and perfumed.

From three Yorkville Highlands vineyards planted on schist, this is a compact syrah, its deep blue fruit juicy in its ripeness, with tannins as gripping as chokeberry skin. Hints of green olive and white-peppercorn spice place it with a lamb burger.

The 2014 Syrah Les Voisins is superb. Rich, pliant and expressive, the 2014 Syrah Les Voisins is beautifully layered in the glass, the 2014 exudes balance and class. Sweet red plum, blood orange, mint and pomegranate shape this creamy, deeply expressive Syrah. The flavors are bright and nicely lifted throughout. This is a terrific, mid-tier wine from Copain.

Copain's Syrahs are Aging Wonderfully Dark and fruity nose with rich plums and blackberries and a spicy/smoky element. Rich but bright on the palate with structured tannins, bright acidity, and I get a lot of tart currant and plum fruit. Charcoal, smoky bacon, roasted red pepper, coffee grounds, rich earth. On Day 2, this got even more expressive. Still time ahead, but this is very impressive. More put-together and prettier than a bottle of this I had in 2016. Lucky me! This site, north of Yorkville, is full of rocky soils and vines planted in a series of benches and hillsides at the base of Hawks Butte.

Copain's Syrahs are Aging Wonderfully Aromas of blackberries, tart cherries, a lots of smoke and meat. Crisp acidity on the palate, plump texture and the blackberry fruit is still going. Notes of violets, smoke, olive brine, pepper, beef broth and roasted red pepper. Nice and tangy with a peppery finish. Still going! From a vineyard 1,800 feet above Ukiah Valley in Mendocino County.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond A gorgeous wine, the 2017 Chardonnay Brosseau is also one of the distinctive Chardonnays in this range. Orange peel, dried flowers, chamomile and sage all develop in the glass, but it is the wine's feel - the single most telling signature of Brosseau - that stands out most. This is a strong showing from Copain.

The 2016 Chardonnay Dupratt comes from the Anderson Valley and was brought up in 20% new French oak. It’s a more racy, vibrant Chardonnay that offers lots of white fruits, wet granite-like minerality, white flowers, and hints of tart apple. It builds with time in the glass and is medium-bodied, has a rounded, supple texture, beautiful purity of fruit, and a great finish. While it plays in the lighter style of the estate, it has terrific intensity and depth. It’s going to keep for upwards of a decade.

From a great site in the Chalone AVA south of Monterey, the 2016 Chardonnay Brosseau is a classic, complete, and beautifully balanced Chardonnay that has loads to love. Sauteed orchard fruits, lemon peel, some slate minerality, and lots of spice give way to a medium-bodied, supple, seamless effort that shows the house style here nicely. It’s great today, yet I suspect will evolve nicely on its balance.

The 2015 Chardonnay DuPratt Vineyard is quite powerful and dense, but still very much within the understated style that is such a Copain signature. Pear, smoke, slate and flinty notes all flesh out in this textured, nuanced Chardonnay from Copain. The DuPratt is one of the more generous, creamy wines in the range. There is plenty of energy, but the DuPratt also has an extra kick of textural depth to balance things out.

Copain's 2015 Chardonnay Brosseau is distinctly mineral, structured and savory, as wines from Chalone tend to be. Even so, there is good depth to the fruit, within the restrained Copain style. Smoke, slate, dried herbs, lemon peel and crushed rocks add shades of nuance to this beautifully chiseled, pure Chardonnay. There is so much to like here.

Copain's 2013 Chardonnay Brosseau is powerful, rich and enveloping, with striking creaminess and textural richness throughout. There is a real sense of oiliness to the orchard fruit flavors. White flowers, chamomile, almonds, mint and sage add further shades of nuance. All the elements are impeccably balanced in a wine that captures the essence of this highly-regarded Chalone site.

This estate covers 36ha in total, with the grand vin coming from 24ha along the côtes, unaffected by frost. The vines grow on south-facing slopes on a mix of hard asteries limestone and softer molasses du Fronsadais. This is a rather lovely 2017 from winemaker Pierre Seillan, showing excellent density with touches of well-textured raspberry and crushed damson fruit. The austerity is evident, but it unwinds itself beautifully through the palate, and the harmony makes it one of the successes in St-Émilion. Harvested 21 September to 5 October. 80% new oak, a touch more than in 2016. 3.7pH.

Like the 2003, this is creamy and supple, but the fruit is fresher and livelier also. The result is a lovely blend of mocha, raspberry and spice accented by hints of vanilla and crushed herbs that linger elegantly on the finish.

This wine comes from Jackson Family Wines’ Boone Ridge Vineyard, planted in 2006. It’s full-bodied and rich, yet with crisp acidity and a spicy note that adds depth and complexity. Black raspberry, pomegranate and cassis flavors fill the mouth, and while there is an alcoholic kick (14.5% on the label), it will certainly please those whole love lusty, full-throttle Pinot Noirs.

This is the second vintage of the Jackson family’s Anderson Valley pinot noir project, from a high-elevation property that Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke purchased in 1999 and began planting in 2006. The vineyard sits above the town of Booneville at elevations approaching 2,000 feet, benefiting from plenty of sunlight as well as cooling ocean breezes coming over the hills to the west. The vineyard’s sandstone-based soils grew a concentrated, mineral pinot noir in 2011, a wine that feels both ample and focused, glowing with rich dark cherry tones and loaded with earthy scents of cedar bark and forest mushrooms, layered and complex. It’s beautiful now, and its structure has room to grow with time in the cellar.

The 2015 Red Wine (Sonoma County) is soft, lush and inviting. Smoke, game, gravel, tobacco and incense add wild, savory underpinning to this racy, Cabernet Franc-based blend. The 2015 is a very pretty and expressive wine with tons of Chalk Hill character. Plush fruit and silky tannins will make the 2015 easy to drink and enjoy young.

The 2012 Red Wine Sonoma County is one of the under the radar jewels of the vintage. Sweet floral notes meld into espresso, plum, dark red cherry and cedar notes. Perfumed, expressive and impeccably balanced, the 2012 impresses for its overall sense of proportion and harmony. The style is rich and quite textured, but younger vines and an overall approach that seeks to preserve freshness give the wine considerable energy. There is a lot to like here, including the price.