I was able to taste the 2017 James Berry Vineyard beside the perfect 2016 and there’s not much difference between these two sensational wines. The 2017 reveals a deep ruby color as well as more straight, focused, yet beautifully concentrated style that reveals gorgeous black raspberry and blackberry fruits interwoven with pepper, spring flowers, earth, and incense. Pure, full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and an incredible wine any way you look at it, give bottles 2-3 years and it’s going to evolve effortlessly for 15-20 years.

Dark, vivid ruby. Highly perfumed, mineral- and spice-accented aromas of ripe dark berries and incense show superb definition, and hints of cola and candied lavender build in the glass. Shows superb depth and energetic lift in the mouth, offering powerful cassis, cherry preserve, black raspberry and floral pastille flavors and a suggestion of spicecake. Finishes with a jolt of juicy acidity, building sweetness and velvety tannins that lend shape to a strikingly long, blue fruit- and floral-dominated finish.

The 2017 James Berry Vineyard Red is made up of 55% Grenache, 29% Mataro, 13% Syrah and 3% Carignan. It was made with 13% whole cluster and aged 21 months in various vessels including 48% new oak and 28% foudres. Medium to deep ruby, it has bombastic raspberry, cranberry, strawberry and pomegranate candy aromas with pure notes of garrigue, dried roses, orange oil, potpourri and an undercurrent of amaro character. The intense, medium to full-bodied palate explodes with nuanced flavor layers in a finely grained frame, with seamless freshness on the long, super perfumed finish. Wow! It's hard to choose a favorite between the 2016 and 2017 vintages-they're both spectacular. 1,250 cases produced.