This opaque and dark purple colored Syrah from Copain opens with an appealing black cherry and rose like bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, slightly acidic and very juicy. The flavor profile is primarily plum with notes of boysenberry and some hints black raspberry and minerality and touch of black licorice. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins drift away nicely. This Syrah is food friendly and would pair nicely with a lamb burger.

The 2014 Syrah Tous Ensemble is a delicious entry-level offering laced with scents of lavender, plum, licorice, sage and menthol. I would prefer to drink this delicate, mid-weight Syrah over the next few years, even if the tannins are a bit present. This is a very serious wine for the money.

Copain's Syrahs are Aging Wonderfully Good stuff inside for sure, it just stayed tight the whole night, even Day 2 it wasn’t as expressive. Gobs of dark fruit on the nose. Structured tannins provide lots of grip, medium acidity. Dense black fruit, iron, smoke, graphite, pepper and violets. Young still, I’d let this sit for three or four years. Damn, Wells’ wine age for quite a while. Iconic Paso Robles vineyard, 10 miles from the ocean, clay over ancient seabed soils.

Copain's Syrahs are Aging Wonderfully Dark and plummy on the nose with violets and black olives. Surprising grip on the tannins, this is quite dense actually, but some fresh acidity. Black currants and rich black cherries, quite “purple” in its approach. Floral as well with potting soil and violets. One of the wines that needs more time, which I found surprising and interesting. A Lake County vineyard, in red volcanic soils, above the beautiful Clear Lake in Southern Lake County.

This beautiful Chardonnay is an inviting yellow gold color. It has a fresh bouquet of golden apple, honeysuckle, lemon and green melon. It is medium bodied, very round and smooth, with bright acidity. The flavors, while simple, are refreshing green apple, lime and stony minerality with a hint of almond; no oak. The finish is moderate in length with some citrus. I would pair this very nice Chard with poached salmon with a creamy dill sauce.

From the 6- to 8-year-old vines of a site called Wild Ridge Vineyard, the 2016 Chardonnay Tidal Break is another racy, vibrant effort from winemaker Wells Guthrie. Tart citrus, crushed rocks, lemon, and floral notes flow to a pretty, lively, juicy wine that, like the Tous Ensemble, has a Chablis-like character.

Soft vanilla nose; crisp and fresh with juicy fruit and bright acidity; long and balanced.

The 2015 Chardonnay Tous Ensemble is a silky, voluptuous wine with lovely creaminess and intensity, while retaining its mid-weight personality. Baked apple, pear, white flowers and mint all open up nicely in the glass. This is a striking, value-priced Chardonnay from Copain.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Laureles Chardonnay features honeydew melon, nectarines and guava notes with suggestions of beeswax, cashews and chalk dust. Medium-bodied, elegant and lively in the mouth, it gives plenty of savory flavors and a toasty finish.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2015 Chardonnay Brosseau is scented of baked apples, apricots and poached pears with touches of fresh straw, allspice and lightly browned toast. Medium to full-bodied, it gives a good amount of restrained, understated flavors with great freshness and a citrus-laced finish.

This comes from vines planted on sandstone at 1,500 feet in the western coastal hills of Anderson Valley. The wine's oak feels raw for now, but the site comes through with a compelling vinosity - a bold salted-apple flavor that lasts. Decant it to reveal the wine's refreshing power.

In 2014, the Chardonnay Laurales Grade is an intense, powerful wine with a huge core of fruit and a palpable sense of weight. There is plenty of depth and richness, but the 2014 doesn't quite have the nuance or finesse of the finest Copain Chardonnays. Today, the 2014 comes across as a bit monolithic.

Pierre and Monique Seillan partnered in this property with Californians Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke in 2003. Its 60 acres of vines are located on a hillside of chalk and clay facing south and southwest. Pierre Seillan is not afraid of extract or new oak, and Lassègue is typically a rich wine. The 2014 is powerful juice, rounded with notes of cedar and spice. It’s a lovely wine in a clean style.

A lush, velvety and toasty style, with lots of linzer torte, plum and fig notes pumping along, spiked with anise, violet and black licorice snaps accents. Briar and toasted wood spice pack the finish, lending a slightly chewy feel that should unwind a bit in the cellar.

Powerful and rich, this has sweet tannins that overlay a juicy blackberry-jelly flavor. It is sumptuous and opulent, squeezing out every bit of richness. It has weight, and its tannins offer a fine future.

Its ferocious tannins still need some resolution, and the wine is definitely what the French call a “vin de garde,” needing probably 8-10 years of cellaring. It is certainly concentrated, dense purple in color, with notes of iron, crushed rocks, black currants, kirsch and toasty oak. This is a chancy wine given the history that tannins always outlast the fruit, but there is a lot here and I wouldn’t want to dismiss it, considering all the good stuff it appears to possess.

A french sommelier on our panel described the aroma of this wine as traditional, which is probably the best compliment winemaker Pierre Seillan and his American partner Jess Jackson could get. This is the second vintage of Lassegue since Jackson bought this property on a hillside adjacent to Pavie. It starts off with floral currant and blueberry scents; the fruit stands up to generous, satin-textured tannins and lasts right through the wine. The fine texture and lingering fruit is there, still fresh, a day later. Check on this eight to ten years from the vintage.

Big licorice, tobacco, spicy, peppery, orange, saddle leather, meaty, coffee, savoury, chocolate, mineral aromas. Round, dry, rich and supple but has some youthful, tight tannins. Black olive, licorice, coffee, vanilla, carrot, orange, plum, black cherry and resin flavours with a peppery, clove finish. Good acidity, length and potential, needs 5-7 years.

A beautiful cool-climate Pinot Noir made from Dijon clones 667, 777 and 115, this wine was aged nine months in 30% new French oak. The wine, from a high-elevation vineyard and one of the estate vineyards of the Jackson family, offers up notes of raspberry, strawberry, and a subtle hint of blueberry fruit. Lovely soil notes are intermixed in this decidedly cool-climate, fresh, lively, mid-weight Pinot Noir to drink over the next 3-4 years.

Bright ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes sappy red berries, Asian spices, herbs and potpourri, with a smoky mineral nuance emerging with aeration. Offers intense red berry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air and pick up a rose pastille note. Clinging raspberry and vanilla qualities sweeten the finish, firmed by tangy acidity and dusty tannins.

Only a single wine, the 2012 Pinot Noir (5,548 cases) emerges from this Kendall-Jackson-owned estate vineyard near the town of Booneville. Planted at 1,400- to 1,800-foot elevation with Dijon clones 667, 777 and 115, this wine spent nine months in 32% new French oak prior to being bottled. The soil layers are alluvial, uplifted seabed, stuffed with natural sea shells embedded in many of the fractured rocks. It’s also above the fog line in this area. The resultant wine from these soils is lush, with raspberry and blueberry fruit, a seductive, flowery bouquet, medium body, sweet velvety tannins and a layered finish, which seems to build incrementally on the palate. This is an impressive Pinot Noir that sells at a realistic price. Drink it over the next 5-7 years.

Generous, juicy and inviting Californian Pinot Noir, with fleshy red cherry aromas and flavours. Full-bodied and satin smooth. Pair with planked salmon.

Hélène Seillan, the daughter of Verité’s Bordeaux-trained winemaker Pierre Seillan, works alongside her father; but she also has a new label of her own: Cenyth. This crisp and refreshing rosé, made from Cabernet Franc, nods to Bourgueil with its notes of rose hip, white cherries and chalky soil. A delicious bottling from a name to watch.

The 2013 Red Wine (Sonoma County) is powerful and incisive, with plenty of Cabernet Franc top notes that add lift to the dense fruit. Linear and pulsating with energy, the 2013 is super-expressive today, but will be even better in another few years. Sweet red berry, pomegranate, spice and mint are all nicely delineated on the vibrant, saline finish.