Thoughts on a Surprising Bordeaux En Primeur Pretty core of black fruits enveloped in a ball of tight yet muscular tannins. Solid concentration, but it’s married with acid drive and finesse.

With American Jess Jackson's first venture into Bordeaux, he has shown that, along with his top-flight French winemaker, Pierre Seillan (of Verite fame), he is capable of achieving immediate success. This is a relatively hot micro-climate, and the vineyard is well-situated on both limestone and sand, several miles from Pavie and Larcis Ducasse. The 2003 was a good beginning, and the 2004 Lassègue, a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, is meant for patient connoisseurs. There are 4,500 cases of this deep ruby/purple-colored St.-Emilion. Its powerful, sweet nose of cassis, licorice, smoke, and damp earth is followed by a medium-bodied, tannic effort that is best cellared for 4-5 years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020+

Saturated red. Lively, focused nose displays spice-tinged aromas of raspberry and fresh flowers, with a mineral element adding vivacity. Smoky and gently sweet on the palate, offering nervy red and dark berry flavors that open slowly with air. Shows very good vivacity on the finish, along with easygoing tannins and an echo of floral pastilles.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Very shy nose upon opening and somewhat reserved on the palate initially. I was disappointed until I re-tasted this wine the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle when it really charmed me. Aromas of darker berries, shrub and iron led to a mid weight palate of darker red and purple berry fruits including ripe strawberry. Somewhat rustic and earthy with a riff of exotic spices in the background. A unique wine that offers plenty of discovery for the adventurous. Patience advised.

.medium to full-bodied, elegant wine with high tannin, plenty of power and richness (primarily minerals and cassis), but it is unevolved and extremely backward. This wine has impressive raw materials, and should round into shape with another 5-7 years of cellaring. It will no be the most flattering style of Cabernet, but for true wine aficionados who have the discipline to wait, it holds considerable promise.

Bright ruby. Sexy, high-pitched aromas of black raspberry, star anise, vanilla and smoky minerals. Sweet, seamless and expansive, offering lively red fruit flavors and a touch of candied rose. Open-knit and very fresh, with strong finishing cut and sneaky, fine-grained tannins adding grip.

USA, California, Central Coast: The 2017 Vintage in Santa Barbara County Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2017 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard opens with a touch of rubbery reduction, giving way to blackberries, damp earth, tree bark and spicy touches with notes of rhubarb and pomegranate. The light to medium-bodied palate is broody with earth-tinged fruits, a firm frame of grainy tannins and good freshness, finishing earthy. This will require another year in bottle or a long decant.

Vivid red. Musky cherry and dark berry aromas are complicated by licorice, underbrush and woodsmoke nuances. Bitter cherry and dark chocolate flavors show a slightly clenched quality, picking up spiciness and smokiness with air. Finishes with building tannins, chewy persistence and lingering notes of cracked pepper and licorice. Give this one some time to open up.

This is a juicy, easy-to-like red. Fruit-forward, raspberried/blackberried, deceptively tannic and with attractive mineral edges. Excellent length. Perfectly well balanced. Has a sweetness to it but it’s not a heavy or syrupy style; it’s more like an old McLaren Vale Burgundy style. Spice notes top it off. Light-ish but good.

The 2010 Roussanne is intensely scented of clover honey, apricot and allspice with jasmine, ginger and mandarin peel nuances. Medium bodied, dry and with concentrated spiced peach flavours, it has a good line of medium-high acid, a pleasant suggestion of silkiness to the texture and a long honeyed finish. Drink this one now to 2015+.

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard is a bigger, darker, more structured wine with firm tannins as well as outstanding purity in its blackcurrant-like fruits as well as notes of candied violets, tobacco, and gravelly earth. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and tannic, hide bottles for 4-5 years.

Italy, Tuscany: Chianti Classico New Releases & A New Wave of Italian Icons This wine just jumps at you with immediate notes of ripe cherry, chocolate, tobacco and toasted espresso bean. The 2017 Chianti Classico is robust on every level, a very modern and contemporary take on this Italian classic. There's a lot of sunny heat and energy in this vintage, a great choice for a cheerful plate of Tuscany's pici al buristo. The blend is 85% Sangiovese and 15% Merlot. With 95,750 bottles produced, you cannot beat this terrific value.

USA, California: More Napa & Sonoma New Releases Pale to medium ruby-purple colored 2017 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard opens a little broody, slowly revealing notions of black tea, tar and tilled soil over a core of black raspberries, Black Forest cake and dried herbs plus a waft of yeast extract. Medium-bodied, the palate takes a little dip in the middle with a light chew of tannins and finishes on a savory note.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Pinot Noir Signature Collection Julia's Vineyard comes from the Santa Maria Valley and spent 16 months in 35% new French oak. It has a big kick of oak as well as notes of ripe cherries, spice box, dried flowers, and underbrush. It's rich and medium-bodied, with good depth of fruit and ripe tannins. Give it a year or two to integrate some oak, and it should drink nicely through 2026.

From a well-known Rutherford vineyard, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche Vineyard is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot aged 29 months in 67% new oak. Backward with a Bordeaux-like framework as well as wonderfully sweet notes of unsmoked tobacco, cassis, fruitcake and cedar, this dense, pure, medium to full-bodied 2010 needs 2-3 years of cellaring and should age for 25+.

The wine is tremendously heady (one glass will provide and instant buzz), with a gorgeous bouquet of raspberry liqueur, cherries, incense, spice box, and other wondrous scents. Slightly sweet, perhaps because the glycerin is so high given the alcoholic power, this intriguing, fascinating effort should be shared among... many friends.

Impressively concentrated, backward, and full-bodied, it exhibits aromas and flavors of blueberries, minerals, cherries, and root vegetables. Tightly knit, full-bodied, structured, and concentrated, it needs 2-3 years of cellaring and should keep from 10-12+. If my instincts are correct, this is going to be a very special Pinot Noir.

A Bordeaux blend (I’m not sure of the varietal breakdown), the 2014 Harmonie Red Wine offers a firm, tight, even backward, style to go with plenty of blackberry fruit, graphite, and crushed rock. Medium-bodied, fresh and focused, with excellent purity and ripe tannin, it certainly has potential, but is going to require 2-3 years of bottle age.

Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard offers notions of ripe cherries, baking spices and potpourri with a hint of dried Provence herbs. Medium-bodied, 􀃒ne, fresh and elegant, it has great intensity in the mouth and a mineral-laced finish.

It exhibits more tannin along with similar floral, blackberry, and cassis characteristics, beautiful density, and full body. the day I tasted the wine, it was playing closer to the vest than the Saralee's Syrah. The Kuljian should evolve for 8-10 years. This is another impressive group of wines from one of the most consistent winemakers and long-time veterans of the California wine scene, Dick Arrowood. He has always had the Midas touch with white varietals, yet he also continues to impress me with what he can do with red varietals. Moreover, Arrowood is also one of the pioneer Rhone Ranger producers, and his Syrah program has been supplemented with red and white French Cotes du Rhone-like blends called Cote de Lune as well as an outstanding Viognier.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers Remick Ridge Vineyard (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) spent 23 months in American and French oak. It reveals a floral, creme de cassis-scented nose, a tannic, backward mouthfeel with a brooding, intimidating style because of its youthfulness and vigor. It is a big, muscular, masculine Cabernet Sauvignon that requires another 3-5 years of cellaring, and should keep for two decades.

Pale ruby-purple colored and just a tad murky, the 2014 has fragrant dried herb and lavender notes over a red currant and raspberry laced nose with earthy / gamey nuances. Medium-bodied and quite chewy with bolder structure in the mouth, it has a savory palate and good length. It seems a little youthful and shut-down right now and I've been rather conservative with my score, hoping it may blossom into an even more exciting wine with age, but judging it for what it is now.

Medium garnet-purple in color and redolent of warm black cherries and ripe black raspberries alongside nuances of black and white pepper and a touch of anise, the medium to full-bodied 2012 Grenache offers plenty of mouth-filling black and red berry preserves flavors, it has a good backbone of medium level, sandy tannins and a refreshing acid line before finishing long and peppery. Drink it now to 2018+.

Deep garnet-purple in color and showing aromas of blackcurrants, black plums and baker's chocolate with hints of tree bark, charcoal and bacon fat, the medium-bodied 2012 Shiraz is tightly knit on the palate with ripe tannins and fruit that are both elegant and nicely expressed in the mouth. It finishes with good persistence. Drink it now to 2018+.

The 2014 Roux Beaute Roussanne offers up a wonderfully spicy perfume of ginger and allspice over a savory / bready core with honeyed apricots beneath it all. Medium-bodied with a nice bit of grip to the texture, it has plenty of savory / spicy flavors on offer with great balance and length. Should age nicely over the next 5-7 years.