Stunning--a rich nose of coffee liqueur, cassis and chocolate, pencil shavings and lavender lead to a palate with equal depth and generosity. It has a supple weight and concentrated flavours of inky black and purple fruit and spice. Delightfully fresh even with some maturity; it is harmonious and fleshy, the tannins sweet and polished.Outstanding.

Bright and structured flavors of cherry and pomegranate gather accents of orange tea and cardamon, building richness toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2027.

This dark ruby colored Pinot Noir from Siduri opens with a spiced plum and black raspberry bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with medium acidity. The mouthfeel is smooth, soft. and approachable. The flavor profile is a gentle black cherry and plum blend with hints of spiced tea. The finish is dry, and its flavors and very fine tannins fade away nicely. This wine is food friendly and would pair well with veal scallopini.

No additions of any kind here, not even sulphites. It's deeply coloured with a wonderfully vibrant, sweet raspberry and blackberry nose, with some spice. The palate shows dense fruits, with a touch of blackcurrant jam.

Dark fruit notes with hints of black licorice,olives and leather. Grapes from high elevation to render a medium body but serious merlot.

Also made by Chris Carpenter but using grapes from Mt. Veeder, this merlot is lusher with forward, concentrated black cherry and cassis flavors with hints of cedar. Very delicious.

Winemaker Chris Carpenter takes advantage of the Howell Mountain fruit to craft a bold merlot that is blended with a bit of petit verdot and tannat. Although it shows promise for a long and illustrious future, the wine has approachable plum and blackberry fruit character. Nice dried herb aromas and long finish.

The Best Low-Calorie Wines, from Cabernet to Rosé1. Kendall-Jackson Lower Calorie ChardonnayBEST OVERALLKendall-Jackson is a California winery that makes affordable wines and regularly racks up awards, including a winery of the year award in 2017. They also have a line of low-calorie wines, such as the Avant Chardonnay. It has just 85 calories and 3 grams of carbs per serving.

This bright ruby red colored Pinot Noir from La Crema opens with red plum bouquet with hints of cinnamon and clove. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with pleasant medium acidity. It has a rounded mouthfeel. The flavor profile is a loam, black plum and graphite blend with notes of clove and black raspberry. I also detected some hints of cinnamon and oak in the background. The finish is dry, and its acidity and flavors linger for a while. I would pair this Pinot with Texas slow cooker pulled pork sandwich.

These Are The Best Wines to Sip On for the 2021 Holiday SeasonChardonnay is notoriously rich in texture for a white wine, and this particular vintage plays up its characteristic fullness to delightful effect. With notes of pear and cream, this delicious vino hails from the Yarra Valley of Australia, and its vineyard has been named in Wine & Spirits' Top 100 Wineries of the Year six times since 2013.

The 20-year-old Primavera Vineyard up in Hoddles Creek has really performed well in 2020. This offers such a showy and attractively expressive style with an abundance of fresh-sliced strawberry, blueberry and red cherry fruit on the nose, fragrantly sweet and exuberantly sappy. The palate is succulently plump and has plush bright mixed berry fruit flavours. Acidity elevates this beautifully and the plush, ripe tannins roll deep and even. Drink over the next six years.

Fermented entirely with whole bunches which has given this a spicy and gently reductive edge to the nose with bright red cherries and strawberries and a lick of amaro-like herbs. The palate has a very soft and slightly peppery stream of red cherry and fresh crunchy texture.

Sourced from the Coal River Valley, this has all the ripe and concentrated red and dark cherry fruits as well as modern spicy oak, some sappy notes, too. Rich fleshy depth to the cherry fruit on the palate is matched with freshness and nicely groomed tannin.

The 2020 Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir is the most sappy and brambly of the 2020 single vineyard pinots. It has plenty of fragrance with deep-set spice beneath herbs and florals as well as fresh strawberry, raspberry and red cherry fruits. A little flint, too. The palate has a taut, elegant and fine feel with tart red fruits delivered amid bright acidity, a real stamp of the season. Holds tight on the finish for now. Try from 2023.

The 2020 Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir sits more in the blueberry fruit zone with less of the redder fruits seen in the other single vineyard pinots. It has brambly aromas as well as an earthy edge, the oak is very much in the background. This vineyard always delivers quality skin tannins and they are well-placed here adding some good depth and smoothly ripe texture to bright blueberry and plum flavours. Finishes smoothly. Drink over the next six years.

Appearance: Deep opaque ruby.Nose: Blackberry fruit, mint, pencil lead and coffee bean. Palate: A tightly woven, almost ungiving, wine that reflects its youth and Howell Mountain origins. The most pronounced flavors are blackberry, oak, herbs and coffee bean. Look for more forward as this wine acquires some age. Best to keep this wine for several years before serving with steak or prime rib.

This bright red colored Pinot Noir from Copain opens with strawberry jam and red plum bouquet with hints of pine sap and cinnamon. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with mild acidity. The mouthfeel is delicate and gentle. The flavor profile is unique. It features a crushed stone and loam influenced strawberry with notes of red raspberry and cedar plank. I also detected hints of cola and a touch of cinnamon in the aftertaste. The finish is dry and its mild flavors fade away nicely. This old school styled Pinot would pair well with smoked sausage and creamy mushroom risotto.

Notes of espresso, dark chocolate, and toast follow ripe blackberry, minerality and weight on the palate.

Since its beginning in 1977, this Sonoma County winery has been crafting award-winning wines. Some of the earlier vintages were crafted by the great Merry Edwards and the legacy continues on today. The winery is located in Sonoma's Bennett Valley and is known for their Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. The 2019 is showing awesome now and will be a real crowd pleaser. Aromatics of passion fruit, white peaches and jasmine notes fill the glass. Succulent flavors of honeydew melon, ripe pears and hints of spice coat the palate. The wine has mouthwatering acidity and excellent balance.

Matanzas Creek, founded in 1977 in Sonoma County’s at-the-time remote Bennett Valley, built its reputation on merlot and sauvignon blanc. Presently, the winery releases five separate bottlings of each of those grape varieties, as well as a bit of chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. Since October is Merlot Month (#MerlotMe), I’ll focus today on the Matanzas Creek Merlot 2018, Alexander Valley. The wine aged 533 days (!) in French oak, 32 percent new barrels. I’ve never seen a producer list length of aging in days, a device that seems counterintuitive. Anyway, the color is opaque ruby-purple with a transparent magenta rim; florid aromas of ripe black currants and raspberries are permeated by notes of iodine, mint and graphite, lavender and bittersweet chocolate; a few moments in the glass bring out touches of woody spices like cloves and allspice; the wine is quite dry, animated by keen acidity for a lively mouth-feel, and juicy with black fruit flavors, abetted by hints of blueberry and pomegranate; dusty, velvety tannins provide support and lend some austerity to the finish. 13.8 percent alcohol. Now through 2024 to ’26. Winemaker was Marcia Torres Forno. The winery, part of Jackson Family Wines, is certified sustainable. Excellent.

Harmonious, with melon, peach and yellow apple flavors that are fresh and juicy, with details of dried flowers and crushed rocks on the finish. Drink now.

This midnight purple colored red blend from Bootleg is a big boy! It opens with a blackberry and boysenberry bouquet with hints of black licorice, graphite, and oak. On the palate, this wine is full bodied with medium acidity. The mouthfeel is round and lush. The flavor profile features delicious concentrated fruit. Those fruit flavors are ripe blackberry and stewed black plum with notes of black jellybean, clove, and acai berry. We also detected hints of cardamom, black tea, graphite, and black cherry. The finish is rather dry, and its big boy dusty tannins stick around for a very long time. This blend is perfect for sipping by the firepit on a cool fall evening or with food, it calls for a well-marbled ribeye steak.

Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of forest floor, thyme and rosemary, licorice and black fruits. In the mouth, gorgeous, powdery tannins wrap around a core of black cherry, blackberry, dried and fresh green herbs. Wonderful bright acidity and freshness still. Outstanding. 14.2% alcohol. Tasted out of magnum.

Giant Steps' higher-elevation sites, as in this and Applejack Vineyard, have turned out racy, long and superfine wines – it’s the moreish, mouth-watering acidity. Of course there’s more: the complex flavours and heady aromas. Smoky, slinky and talc-like texture to the acidity, with a dab of creamed honey and citrus on the palate. There’s a lot of precision and it’s a pure wine in a way that evolves superbly in the glass.

This vintage sees the split at 59/40% merlot/cabernet sauvignon and that all important 1% petit verdot. Made with the same exacting attention to detail as all the wines in this range: hand-picked fruit, vinified separately, natural fermentation, aged in French barriques for 14 months. Don’t be fooled by its approachability. This is a classy, medium-bodied rendition that will unfurl and garner more complexity given more time. Today, it’s almost pretty, with its array of red and blue fruits, finely chiselled tannins and a smooth texture across the palate.