I had the absolutely life-altering opportunity to stand in the middle of this vineyard four days ago and smell the fresh petrichor from the morning's rain. This is one of a handful of special vineyards on the Diamond Creek property and this is the one that becomes drinkable and approachable the soonest. Think lush red fruit, spiced apples, blackberries, mint, sandalwood and bay leaves. Diamond Creek was planted by Al Brounstein in the 1960s. Even though he was a lover of West Coast wines, at heart he was a Francophile and spent time in Bordeaux learning from the vineyard hands and tasting some of the greatest wines of the left bank. The vine cuttings for the Diamond Creek property were brought by Al in a suitcase to Mexico (not directly to the US) and then flown by him in his own light plane into California. He propagated an entire estate off of these cuttings and many of the original plantings are still thriving and going into this incredible Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon.

If it's good enough for François Pinault - the owner of Château Latour - it's good enough for us. This iconic Calistoga estate has been making inspiring Cabernet Sauvignon and blends for many decades. One of the wines grown here placed in the top three at the 1976 Judgement of Paris competition where French wines were defeated by American wines - predominantly West Coast wines - in a blind tasting. It was the 1971 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon made by Paul Draper at Ridge. Since those days, the wines have been produced under their own label, Araujo, and now they carry the Eisele name front and center on their label after the Pinault family purchased the estate. It's an important property that commands hushed reverence and the wines have the stuffing to show it. These aren't inky and overblown wines at all – they display tremendous ageability and elegance, especially when vinified as a blend. Consider this 2013 Altagracia red blend with its notes of ripe red currants, black plum, fresh mint, pipe tobacco and cedar wood. This can drink now but will reward even more with further aging.

Kongsgaard is synonymous with excellent Napa Valley Chardonnay. John Kongsgaard learned his craft at Newton, where the great Ric Forman had planted and built the vineyards and then started his own winery in 1996. Their West Coast wines are made with low-intervention, Old World winemaking techniques and this produces some of the greatest Chardonnay in all of California. Sure these wines are broad and rich, but they never lack focus. There's always a gorgeous note of lemon curd and tart yellow apple beneath all the rich tropical fruit and very subtle oak tones. If you haven't broached the subject of refined Napa Chardonnay in a while, let this wine be your re-entry point.

Does the name Mondavi ring a bell? Although the classic Robert Mondavi winery in Napa Valley was sold off long ago, there is still a boutique winery with a Mondavi at the helm and that is Continuum. Tim Mondavi has been making red blends with tremendous structure and concentration since Continuum's first vintage in 2005. They're based high on Pritchard Hill overlooking Lake Hennessy on the east side of Napa Valley and this slightly elevated vineyard land produces wine with great intensity. The famous Chappellet winery sits not too far away. The fruit of wine from this area always has a wonderfully brooding, dark quality to it and can age in bottle for a long time. This would be a good one to lay down for a couple years, as they are most certainly not making shy wines at Continuum.