The 2005 Nebbiolo Sisquoc Vineyard has the classic tobacco leaf, licorice, truffle, red cherry, and kirsch notes. It is medium to full-bodied, more powerful than its two predecessors (14.5% alcohol) with good freshness, and a long, heady finish. As I have written in the past, no one in California (and probably in the New World) is doing what Steve Clifton has managed to do working with Italian varietals in selected micro-climates in the Santa Barbara area. From the get-go, his dry, crisp, light to medium-bodied whites were a revelation for California, and he continues to dial up the quality of the Italian varietal reds, even managing to come close to conquering the hardest varietal of all for anyone outside Northern Italy – Nebbiolo.