The wines of Ian Brand

Le P’tit Paysan Jacks Hill Chardonnay Monterey y County 2017 (12.5%, $22): A citrusy, mineralaracter driven Chardonnay that doesn’t sacrifice a bit of charfor its leanness. Aged in neutral oak with a partial malolactic conversion, the wine is round andd plump on the palate; clean, pure and bright with a hit of lemon curd.

Le P’tit Pape Central Coast 2016 (13.17%, $22): M eled on a Chateauneuf-du-Pape blend, this showcase Grenache at its most crowd-friendly. Lightly spicy, th wine has a core of tangy, dark cherry, accented by viiolets and blood orange peel. Heftier than the La Marea Gr naches, but just as sippable. 65 percent Grenache with Syrah, Mourvedre and Counoise. Le P’tit Paysan Cabernet Sauvignon Central Coast 2016 (13.4%, $25): Cabernet Sauvignons at this price point don’t often embrace herbal tones, but this wine deftly balances gratifying blue and black fruits with a soft, quiet green side. It’s light-bodied for a Cab, with sup tannins and a beautiful, graphite-laced finish. La Marea Old Vine Grenache Besson Vineyard S Clara Valley 2015 (14.5%, $38): A good example of where much California Grenache is going these days red-fruited, translucent and tactile. From the 100-yeaar-old Besson Vineyard just below the Santa Cruz Mountains, the wine smells like strawberries, yieldinng to a deeper set of flavors on the palate — cherry, forest floor and iodine.

I. Brand & Family Escolle Vineyard Chardonnay y Santa Lucia Highlands 2016 (13.2%, $30):

Chardonnay, from the northern end of the Santa Luccia Highlands, veers much richer than the lean, stony Le P’tit Paysan Chardonnay, but the richness iis cut with refreshing structure and acidity. The wine starts off creamy and tangy, turning ever so sligightly into butterscotch and vanilla — seductively, not excessively.

I. Brand & Family “58 Months in Barrel” Chardoonnay Monterey County 2012 (15.6%, $42): to might the Still, develop wine for be all is Brand’s a deeply that flor richness (a most golden veil unusual of of yeast, in flavor, color, wine, which the with a wine develops Chardonnay y that spent nearly 5 years in neutral oak barrels, left that feels irresistibible nuttiness that properly aged whites can take on. in sligght, with a screeching line of acidity. It tastes like soome types of Sherry) before bottling. As a result,

I. Brand & Family Bayly Ranch Cabernet FrancPaicines 2016 (12.8%, $30): Brand has a pene sea chant was slightly, bottle brine part for for jalapeño; of Cabernet and someone the hazelnuts. inaugural on who Franc, the likes palate I. and Brand vegetables his those rendition & Family sharp — or flavors from release. . The wine smells like pine needle and, ever so Chinon the Bayly Ranch in Paicines in San Benito County enenvelop a nucleus of concentrated, black fruit. A

I. Brand & Family Bates Ranch Cabernet Franc Santa Cruz Mountains 2016 (12.7%, $42): Bates

Ranch, Cruz sage and Mountains. in bay the leaf, fascinating Brand lightly makes grippy Redwood a tannins deeply Retreat savory and neighbor rhood in Gilroy, sits at the southern end of the Santa a hint wine e from these half-century-old vines, with aromas of oof sharp, spicy pepper amid warmer fruit flavors.

I. Brand & Family Enz Vineyard Mourvedre Lim me Kiln Valley 2016 (13.3%, $42):

Mourvedre who have tended isn’t Ian these Brand’s hundred-year-old best wine, it’s vines, surely etch cloose. Brand works closely with Bob and Sue Enz, Mourvedre the palate, leading is a layered, with spices densely — packed think anise wine and that clo ove — plus tart, red fruits — think cranberry and neevertheless ends refreshing. It feels satiny against pomegranate. A wine that doesn’t advertise its powe I. Brand & Family Monte Bello Road Cabernet SSauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains 2015 (13.9%, $65): The relationship is clear between this Caberneet Sauvignon, from a parcel next door to Ridge’s famed Monte Bello Vineyard, and Brand’s Cabernet Francs. This wine welcomes some of the same elegantly vegetal characters as the Francs, but there is a unique polish and power here. It frames rich fruit, spicy herbs, fresh minerality and juicy acidity within supple, sweet tannins.