The 2008 Grenache presents an inward yet expressive core of dark red fruit, flowers and Provencal herbs. There is a gorgeous fleshiness in the glass, but the wine needs time to soften and open up. Today, the 2008 shows quite a bit of promise. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. This is a fabulous set of wines from John and Lorraine Alban. Quite simply, I was blown away by what I tasted. As I noted last year, the whites are increasingly made in a more energetic style, not a bad thing as the fruit is already so expressive from the start. Over the years, a similar evolution has taken place with the reds. The inky, black color of the Syrahs is now gone. Today, Alban favors lengthy barrel aging for his top reds, a technique he compares to “braising” in cooking, which requires softer and gentler fermentations at the outset. Beginning around 2006, Alban started doing fewer pump overs and in general encourages longer, slower fermentations. The wines used to go into barrel with some sugar still left to ferment, while today they go in drier than in the past. Over the years, new oak levels have also come down. Most of the current releases are 2008s, a vintage Alban describes as characterized by a spring frost, drought and cloudy days with less heat and sunlight than is typically the case. Readers may want to check out my video interview with John Alban for more on current and upcoming vintages. Tel. (805) 546-0305; www.albanvineyards.com

The 2008 Viognier may be one of the finest white wines John and Lorraine Alban have produced. This effort continues to go from strength to strength, and the 2008 appears to be just as strong as the 2007 (another sign that 2008 was a very strong vintage for Central Coast whites). This effort exhibits plenty of lychee nut and honeysuckle notes intermixed with hints of marmalade, flowers, and tropical fruits. It is a full-bodied, blockbuster Viognier to enjoy over the next several years. (Not yet released)One of the pioneers of world-class Rhone varietal-based wines produced in California’s Central Coast, John Alban had the courage and foresight to plant Viognier, Syrah, Grenache, and more recently, Mourvedre, in a region where no one else believed these grapes would thrive. His wines offer off-the-chart levels of concentration, and many of them are capable of lasting three to four decades. These flavor-filled wines are all made from frightfully low yields, and are now being given extremely long aging in barrel, the top Syrah cuvees spending 36-40 months in barrel. The results are wines that are nearly beyond belief in terms of richness and density. These are true artisanal wines meant for long-term cellaring that should only be purchased by patient connoisseurs who are able to defer their gratification for 8-10 years. Still in barrel, the 2006 Syrahs, which will be bottled after 40 months of aging, are all remarkable wines that flirt with perfection.Tel. (805) 546-0305; Fax (805) 546-9879