The 10 wines of this fall release span three vintages and represent half-a-dozen grape varieties from eight appellations. These wines are marked by both a strong degree of differences in the growing season-- 2010 and 2012 were very good, but very different years, while 2011 was one of the most challenging years I have encountered in California.

But perhaps even more remarkable than the differences in temperatures or rainfall is the number of different people—friends, interns, colleagues—that shaped these wines from harvesting the grapes to pressing the fruit to performing punchdowns with their bare arms and legs.

The same wine as 2010 Chuy Chard, but aged for an additional year in stainlesss steel. From an old, dry-farmed vineyard on the west-facing slopes of Spring Mountain. Available in magnum only.

From Sonoma Mountain, a sauvignon blanc marked by its power and acidity. Gently pressed and protected from oxygen and malolactic fermentation, the wine is a true expression of this rocky, dry-farmed vineyard. Beautiful, rich and mineral, this wine will develop over the next six years.

In 2011, due to frost and early season rain, we were only able to make one barrel of wine from Steve's incredibly rocky vineyard in Sonoma. Never topped, stirred or racked for the first 15 months of its life, we feared the wine would be a totally normal California Chardonnay. But days before bottling, the Jura character of 2010 manifested itself; with no visible surface yeast, we think this Sherry-like character may be as much the vineyard as the microbial nature of the wine. Beautiful, evolved, structured and mineral—the wine is perfectly ready, but will develop for at least a decade.

For the first time in 2012, we fermented 100 percent of our Sonoma Mountain sauvignon blanc in puncheons without destemming. I feared at first the wine would be too harsh, the tannins too persistent. But already they are integrated, giving the wine length without bitterness. Fierce, briary, and richly honeyed all at once, this wine needs about a year of additional bottle age and will develop for a decade.

For the second time, we have made a fantastic red wine from the incredibly old Cinsault vines of Bechtold Ranch in Lodi. Powerful yet delicate. It is more floral than any wine we have made. Gorgeous, silky, seductive. Medium in body and well structured. Ready immediately, will develop for 3-5 years.

In 2011, Martinez didn't have any problems with rot or ripening and we harvested twice as much fruit as we did in 2010. A blend of merlot and sangiovese, the wine is also richer and riper. Punishingly intense, extracted, with amazing tannic structure, this wine is rich but not coarse or harsh. It needs about 10 years to become friendly and should develop 10 more after that.

A blend of syrah and grenache from Anne Kramer's remarkable vineyard in Amador. The grapes were harvested on the same day and fermented with their stems in a sealed bin for 45 days. Drained and pressed, the wine spent 32 months in neutral oak with no So2. This is the last year we will make Courier. Beautiful, soft and mineral, with a subtle, serious structure and vey good acidity. Perfect now, will develop further for at least five years.

A really good year of perfect ripeness with low yields from Steve Tenbrink's petite sirah vineyard in Suisun Valley. A rich, tannic and structured wine, more on the side of unsweetened chocolate. Ready to drink, but will show much more complexity in three years and will develop for at least 10 more.

Harvested from one row of dry-farmed petite sirah in Suisun Valley after an almost perfect growing season. Since 2008, the model for this wine has been the Amarone producer Quintaralli--so far, the 2010 is the best version. Very intense and rich, with surprising acidity and hidden tannins, the wine is interesting and amusing now and will mature for at least a decade.

Harvested from the western-most edge of the Widowmaker block in Lee Hudson's vineyard, the Golgotha is a very different manifestation of Syrah than the Andro. It's a powerful wine, not marked by the cool vintage at all. Intense, well structured, tannic, but not the least forbidding. Perfect now, will develop for at least six years.

You may order these wines here.