Murphy-Goode California Merlot is a rich and velvety smooth crowd-pleaser you’ll want to try this fall and enjoy all year round. Chalked full of ripe dark berries, cherry, plum, vanilla and sweet spices, this easy-going California red is ready to enjoy now with wood-fired pizza, BBQ fare, or even spicy cuisine. Enjoy 2022-2024.

Meaty, spicy, and impressive, and quite self-aware of all three.

Arguably the prototype for California's iconic barrel-aged Chardonnay style, this sustainable wine has maintained its position as the most popular Chardonnay inthe US for many years. With plenty of oak spice and whiffs of vanilla from sur-liebarrel ageing and monthly battonage, the nose is layered with baked apple,hazelnut and a bit of the butter true to the malolactic style. In the mouth, thewine is well-balanced if a little simple, with tropical pineapple and mangofl avours brightened with Meyer lemon.

Much of California is too hot to grow finicky Pinot Noir.
However, Murphy-Goode sources the grapes for its 2019 Pinot Noir from coastal vineyards in Sonoma and Santa Barbara, which are kept cooler by Pacific breezes.
The resulting grapes maintain good acidity and fresh fruit flavours for a Pinot with a plush, cherry-and-vanilla profile.

The undisputed champion of California white wines is Chardonnay and the 2019 Murphy-Goode Chardonnay is a prime example with the right balance of fruit and oak for a drink that's rich and full-bodied and reminiscent of grilled pineapple and crisp apple.

The 2020 La Crema Pinot Noir Rose fits the bill with a fresh, light and glamourous profile of sweet ripe raspberry and tart orange peel.

This is great. A great wine and a great drink – and all at 13.5% alcohol. So what’s the secret of the Yangarra King’s Wood Shiraz 2020?
It obviously starts in the vineyard (hello cliche!). This comes from a patch of vines planted on an ironstone sandy outcrop on the certified biodynamic Yangarra McLaren Vale. In other words, a choice block, inside a celebrated old McLaren Vale vineyard, farmed to the highest standards. Check. Then in the winery – there are some whole bunches included in the (wild) ferment before maturation in very big 25hl foudre, a mix 50% new, 50% one and two year old oak. Those big barrels ensure that you get much less wine surface area in contact with the oak, and they tend to have less oxygen ingress – so less oak flavour, and more vibrancy.
The end result? A lovely, entirely moderate McLaren Vale Shiraz. Mid weight, this kicks off in the red (rather than purple or black) end of the fruit spectrum, with an unforced, gently spiced feel. If anything, it’s a style more akin to some of the Tyrrell’s classic Hunter reds rather than classic plump and purple McLaren Vale Shiraz, which are more vibrancy rather than impact (indeed, Tyrrell’s pick early, and use very large oak too). There’s still some plummy ripeness through the middle, but it’s not heavy, and then the wine finishes with very fine fruit tannins. In some ways, it would be easy to mark a wine like this down – and it’s not going to win show awards as a result. But that’s kind of the point – this isn’t out to win show awards, just hearts and minds. It got mine.
Best drinking: now, ten years time, twenty. It will still be going strong. Would I buy it? Definitely.

I jumped the gun with my original International Grenache Day post a few weeks back, so here is another super wine on the actual Grenache Day. This Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2020 is right up there too.
Sourced from a block planted in 1946, the fruit is fully destemmed and spends 180 days on skins in 675L concrete eggs.
What a lovely, lucid, red fruit laden, yet structured, Grenache it is too. There is this interplay between tannic picker and glacé raspberry that is a delight, even if the tannins hit like a wall. Formidable Grenache. In fact, the only question is whether it’s a more perfect wine than the Clarendon Grenache? This wine is more intellectual, that wine nor seductive. Both are bloody great. Interestingly, I don’t see the compactness and the drying finish that marks some 2020 McLaren Vale reds.
Best drinking: good now, good in five years, good in ten. I like these younger though tbh. Just go now, you won’t regret it. Would I buy it? Sure would.

The 2019 Ironheart Shiraz beats with an oxblood character upon opening: it is rich, deep and staining. The oak is prevalent; however, it is high quality and well-matched to the fruit, so it is hardly a problem. Awesome. There are pink peppercorns, meat, salted licorice and a firm tannic structure through the mid-palate and finish. The wine is abundant, but it is stabilized and grounded by a flurry of savory tannin and a spine of fine, salty acid. The fruit is really impressive; it almost overflows the glass, but it’s brought to heel by acid and tannin, so you know it only needs a decant to allow it to unravel and unfurl.

The beautiful 2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon has 5% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc blended in. Needing an hour in the decanter to be fully aroused, this delivers ripe cassis and huckleberry notes that combine with wet stone and suggestions of sandalwood on the nose. The palate is refined and elegant, with plenty of dense dark fruits and power — yet comes off quite weightless. Refined tannins and bright acidity frame this outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon that is only starting to come into its own.

The absolutely delicious 2019 Mt. Brave Merlot comes from eastern-facing slopes on Mt. Veeder.. It immediately gratifies with chocolate covered kirsch notes alongside black raspberry, graphite and loamy soils. The intense aromatics bring you back to the glass for more enjoyment. The wine showcases velvety tannins that frame a beautiful core of red and dark fruits, with espresso grounds, mocha and lighter dried herbal notes. Finishing very long, this is soft, complex and stunning high-elevation Napa Merlot to consume now and over the next twenty years. Give this at least an hour in the decanter if enjoying now.

Luscious fruit defines this 2020 King's Wood Shiraz, but it morphs through the middle palate with shades of meat, red licorice, dark chocolate and mulberry—it’s very sweet in character. There is blackberry, raspberry and licorice on the nose, however on day two it feels much softer and lighter, with deli meat, star anise, clove bud, green tea and layers of red apple, eucalypt and crushed granite. Kind of a loose, sandy disposition. Really impressive. Dappled and beautiful.

I tasted this 2014 Brooks Road Shiraz as a second-round release in 2022. This wine was made by Charlie Seppelt and not by Pete Fraser as the more recent ones are. This is great. It is pure and savory, with attractively fine tannins through the middle palate and tail. A cascade of salted red fruits that tumble over each other and really spool out through the long finish. Smart. Very smart.

This 2020 Brooks Road Shiraz is littered with rendered lamb fat, BBQ char, clove bud and licorice on the nose. In the mouth, the wine is defined by red fruit, and it is savory and fine. This is not at all a big wine. It is medium-bodied and carries its fruit and freshness well. Much of this cuvée is from the 1971 plantings outside the house I am sitting in right now (in Clarendon). Saline acidity curves through the fruit, and the tannins shape the course of the finish. Lovely wine. Classy. (The plus sign in the score relates to the fact that I am sitting here also tasting the 2014 alongside, and if anything, it's a better wine, as it has gained momentum in the spice and character department; so, it follows that this wine will only improve in time.)

One of several Yangarra Grenache iterations, this one unique in its ceramic, egg-shaped vessel winemaking as well as individual block sourcing. Fragrance parameters sit in a familiar frame – bush florals meet crushed berry, meets kitchen herbs, especially dried thyme. Keep swirling the glass and you’ll disappear into its vapours, as you will when you sip, all those aromatics echoing as flavour whirlpools in the mouth, coated with a pretty decent cloud of fine tannins that are pliable enough to still allow the wine’s inherent juiciness and spice-like seasoning to remain front and centre. There’s a lot to calculate here besides the pure expression of the variety at its most enjoyable. Let it sit in the glass. Let it dwell. It’s gorgeous.

The 2019 Cardinale Red WIne is a stunning effort by winemaker Chris Carpenter. Needing two plus hours in the decanter to fully develop, the wine leads with layers of toasty oak and blackberry compote that mingle with dark chocolate covered Arabica bean, and huckleberry cordial notes. With more air the beautiful aromas become more intoxicating. Once on the mouth you sense the core being beautifully textured and structured, with firm tannins holding everything together. Rich anise, and black currants amalgamate with espresso grounds, and creme de violette, with copious minerals. Try to avoid consuming this beautiful wine for at least another year. Drink 2024-2048

Sappy and bright with red cherries and redcurrants, as well as some appealing spicy hints. This has some savouriness. Juicy and expressive with good focus.

Supple and fresh; juicy and bright. Light red cherry and plum fruit with good acidity. Shows freshness and poise, and a tapering finish, with a hint of pepper and cedar.

La Crema's pinot gris is a ripe, fullish, fleshy and fruity white wine, with white pepper flavour and well-measured lees influence, and long, warm, pleasantly bitter finish. There's considerable depth and concentration on offer in the category, also very good length. Clearly well-made wine from carefully tended vines.

Textured with sweet redcurrant fruit and a touch of raspberry. Nice weight: fruity and lively with cherries and plums and good balance.

I was doing a bit of cellar management (emphasis on “bit”) when I came across this bottle. Sure, it was in my inventory, but it was in a generic area (“My Cellar”). In actuality, it was in a rack, in the temperature-controlled cellar and, well, it was time to open up that space. Faintly hued, slightly more orange than pink, with tart cherry on the nose, with a touch of minerality and yeast. The palate is heavy on tartness, with subtle fruit, and multiple layers. Yeah, I could hang out here for a while, even a long while. Really delightful. Outstanding.

A warm and really quite inviting pinot gris of a purpose that’s truly about fruit, raised in stainless steel, dry as can be and more than moderate of alcohol (13.7 per cent declared). Finding this to be more of a food pairing wine than it is a sipper, first because it’s not all that simple and second for reasons already mentioned. There is a candied feel, not sweet but like ginger or citrus peel, without the crunch of sugar. Grilled pork tenderloin me thinks, generously dry-rubbed.

Dense with some flirtatious mulberry fruit working the edges, this is an excellent Shiraz from Yangarra Estate.
Sourced from a 2.3 hectare block with its feet deeply rooted in sandy ironstone soils, 20% whole bunches were used and it was matured in 25hL French oak Foudre (50% new) for 16 months.
Blueberries and dark plums build delicious momentum and roll forward with charismatic ease. Some smokiness and meatiness builds depth too. The dense fruit has a soft caress through the mouth before tensing up on close with a shimmer of fine spices. Give it a decant for now or embrace its beauty later.
Certified organic and biodynamic.

This is has picked up very feint "gris" coloration from some skin contact. The nose is very soft and vague with green melon, green peach fruit and not much other complexity. It is medium weight, smooth and almost creamy in its California way, yet there is enough acid ballast. Very simple flavours here. The length is very good with a touch of grapefruit on the finish.

One of the things that distinguishes Oregon Pinot Noir from much of California is there is an earthiness that California does not possess. This 2020 certainly offers bright and expressive Pinot fruit – strawberry, Bing cherry, red raspberry, along with pomegranate and cola notes, but also an earthiness similar to mild mushroom. The acidity is in check, the fruit and oak nicely balanced, and you’re left with a solid wine that reflects its place of origin. Siduri produces wines from many different Pinot regions in Oregon and throughout California, and one of the reasons they are so successful is they understand the place where the fruit comes from. This Willamette will not disappoint and will give you a taste of Oregon.