Wine of the WeekThis moderate priced Bordeaux is ruby red in color with ripe, red fruit flavors along with hints of spice and nutmeg. Silky smooth tannins and a long finish.

This midnight purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Anakota opens with a black plum and sour dough toast bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied, balanced and smooth. The flavor profile is mineral influenced black currant with notes black cherry and oak. We also detected some hints of black tea mixed in. The finish is dry and its dusty tannins stick around for quite some time. The Panel would pair this Excellent Cab with a ribeye steak.

If you’re a fan of Siduri you know their focus has always been pinot noir. That has changed. They have just released their first chardonnay coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. This is a mild chardonnay, subtle, subdued, not a big overwrought chardonnay. There is very much a lively quality to it, which makes it a very pleasant wine by itself and a great accompaniment to food. Though the elements of lemon lime, guava nectar, white peach and wildflowers, are all evident, these are all quiet elements. Even the fermentation, which one would expect would result in a larger wine is something more reductive. Therefore you end up with a chardonnay that is almost afraid to announce itself. And it is this subtlety that makes it all the more enjoyable. Aged in 25% new French oak for just 10 months, it was fermented in both stainless steel, concrete and barrel.

Apple and peach pastry flavors are lively and fresh-tasting in this open-textured style, with dried savory spice accents on the buttery finish. Drink now through 2023.

Hints of snap pea to this crisp style, which features McIntosh apple and ripe grapefruit flavors. Dried green herbal accents fill the crisp finish. Drink now through 2023.

Flavors of dried peach and pear tart feature plenty of savory herbal accents, with butter hints in the midpalate. Toasty notes on the svelte finish, which is open-textured with touches of richness. Drink now through 2023.

There's a minerally snap to the fresh-cut green apple and pear flavors that show citrusy accents. Lemongrass notes linger on the crisp and spicy finish. Drink now through 2024.

Fuji apple flavors are ripe and offer notes of nutmeg. The snappy finish has buttery accents. Drink now.

Ripe apple and pear flavors show some peachy accents, with a soft, spicy finish. Drink now.

Wine of the WeekThe aroma of this very nice Pinot Noir displays the classic Central Coast characteristics of green herbs, dried spices, and the wine has an entry that’s rich and medium bodied. The aftertaste shows good acidity.

Lovely light pink with an elegant nose of red flower, rhubarb, a tad savory. Another homerun on the palate, great fruit, acidity, the whole nine here. Outstanding.

Light orangish-pink with a tree fruit nose, intense fruit, even. It’s all about the peach on the palate, really peachy. But this wine works as well. Excellent.

Blackberries, plums, dried figs, herbs and dark chocolate on the nose. It’s full-bodied with chewy tannins and a grainy texture. Some toasted nuts on the finish. Drink now.

Good colour, although less deep thanthe conventional release, a novel approach in McLaren Vale, more frequently encountered in cooler regions; a robust wine is the result; at this early stage overwhelmed by new oak, but will settle down with time.

Grown biodynamically and matured in used oak. Tastes quite neutral at first but it reveals notes of nuts, ginger, honeysuckle and mineral as it opens and warms in the glass. Crisp finish but the palate is slippery and textural. Sweetish aftertaste. Delicious.

Clear honey-gold in color, this Pinot Gris opens with a burst of tropical fruit aromas followed by earthy components like mowed grass, basil leaf, wet slate, and ozone. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, balanced, and smooth with flavors of rum-soaked papaya, Meyer lemon, orange zest and a hint of clove. Crisp mineral-driven acidity supports the complex flavor profile and leads to a sustained tangy finish. Serve with warm lobster knuckle meat over brown-butter grits.

Dark ruby in the glass with a hint of garnet remaining, this wine smells of pencil shavings, cigar box, and red fruits. In the mouth, velvety and smooth, powdery tannins gently clasp flavors of cherry, pencil shavings, mulling spices, and dry earth. Wonderfully floral notes strike a perfumed tone above the mouthwatering core of the wine. Excellent acidity and seamlessness. 13.5% alcohol. Comes in a somewhat heavier-than-needed bottle that weighs 1.6 kg full.

Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherry and black currant with hints of dried herbs. In the mouth, fine-grained muscular tannins firmly grasp flavors of black cherry, black pepper, pipe tobacco, and a touch of espresso. Excellent acidity brings some freshness, with notes of dried herbs and dried fennel seeds lingering in the finish., 14% alcohol. Comes in a somewhat heavier-than-needed bottle that weighs 1.6 kg full.

Some wines to go with Father's Day barbecueMore from CaliforniaJackson Family Wines from California is also jumping on the Father’s Day bandwagon.The winery is showcasing its 2018 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay and La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018 as wines dads will love.Of course, that doesn’t stop moms and anyone else, for that matter, from enjoying these bottles from the Golden State.So, serve up roasted or barbecued chicken with the Chardonnay, which has a apple-and-butterscotch profile.And the Pinot Noir is a light-enough red from the cooler Sonoma Coast to pair with seared tuna or grilled salmon.

Some wines to go with Father's Day barbecueMore from CaliforniaJackson Family Wines from California is also jumping on the Father’s Day bandwagon.The winery is showcasing its 2018 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay and La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018 as wines dads will love.Of course, that doesn’t stop moms and anyone else, for that matter, from enjoying these bottles from the Golden State.So, serve up roasted or barbecued chicken with the Chardonnay, which has a apple-and-butterscotch profile.And the Pinot Noir is a light-enough red from the cooler Sonoma Coast to pair with seared tuna or grilled salmon.

Bright, medium to full red/purple colour with a sweetly raspberry-like aroma, a lovely fragrant perfume. Rose petals and pot-pourri. Light to medium-weighted, with a fine sheen of tannins contributing a nicely tailored firmness to the structure. A wine of real finesse. (A higher altitude site but the soils are grey clays usually found in the lowest parts of the valley)

Aromas of almond, malt, smoky-sulfides and cracked wheat. The 60% malolactic doesn't show. A supremely refined, delicate yet intense wine with lovely flow to the palate, the aftertaste has a distinctively malt-biscuit character and lovely citrusy mouthwatering acidity that is beautifully integrated into the seamless whole. Tremendous length, a very smart wine. (400m altitude. North and north-east exposures. The highest site in the Yarra to reliably ripen fruit, formerly a sparkling wine vineyard)

Medium to light red/purple colour. Very floral and rose-petally, with a tinge of lavender. Highly aromatic pinot. The palate is light to medium-weight and finely-textured, with a sheen of firm but fine tannins adding grip and structure. The aftertaste has a brothy umami savouriness and a lingering aftertaste. Compact and focused. An excellent Yarra pinot but if anything just a bit light. (Site is 230m, similar altitude as Applejack but the difference is the soil, which is red basalt)

Medium-depth red/purple hue. Lovely ripe red to dark cherry aromas, fresh and bright, already very accessible. Ample fine tannins , in balance. Beautifully made. A juicy pinot to enjoy relatively young. This gives a stack of pleasure. (One of their warmest sites, the earliest pinot harvested; 100m altitude, east facing. All MV6 clone.)

Slightly reductive at first—smoky, then talcy and restrained, fresh and crisply tart, refined and lingering, with a hunger-inducing saltiness and grip at the finish. A beautifully refined, subtle and harmonious wine. (300m altitude. Unfiltered. Tiny crop due to poor fruit-set)