This is a blend of five vineyard-designates and it shows serious power and elegance in one cohesive body of thick richness and weight. Tightly wound in tannin, with ample toasted oak, it offers satisfying layers of black raspberry, cherry, cola and white pepper, overdelivering on its price.

Rose petal, crushed rock and baked cherry accent this structured, complex wine that is tremendously balanced and full of elegant depth. Fleshy, lush and creamy on the midpalate, it evolves to show a hint of cola, black tea and black pepper, forest notes never far behind.

This slightly cloudy and deep yellow colored Chardonnay opens with a musty green apple bouquet with hints of lemon and almond. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied and slightly acidic. The flavor profile is a tart green apple and light lemon blend with notes of mild minerality and chamomile tea. There is some hints of oak towards the end. The finish is dry and its acidity and flavors fade away nicely. This Chard would pair well with halibut chowder.

The sandy loam soils at this seven-acre vineyard on Wood Road have sustained zinfandel vines planted in the early 1900s, now farmed by Don Hartford’s team using organic practices. This 2019 has the juiciness of fresh blackberries in the middle of summer, and rich wine with energy and pungent, old-vine tannic grip. That structure will sustain it in the cellar, though it’s lovely to drink now with meats off the grill.

Crisp lemon and lime aromas meet with a crushed sea-shell tone on the nose of this bottling. There’s a taut feeling to the palate, where pome-fruit and stone-fruit flavors wander through the engagingtexture.

Vivid fruit, toasted oak and black-tea flavors find excellent balance and make a great impression on the palate as this full-bodied wine layers complexity on depth. It shows a nice tension in the texture, lifting black-cherry, rhubarb and hints of mushrooms.

Peter Fanucchi farms seven acres of 100-year-old vines on a rise above Wood Road. Jeff Stewart ferments the concentrated fruit without added yeasts, then ages the wine in French oak barrels (41 percent new). The old-vine fruit comes across in flavors of tiny purple berries, umeboshi plum and a lasting herbal savor. It’s pungent and perfumed, a sleek zin for yakitori beef.

Peach blossom, warm buttercream and Nilla wafer aromas make for an invitingly rich nose on this bottling. The palate grabs attention with a lemon-pith grip, as white-peach lushness battles with an alkaline minerality, making for a flavorful yet not overdone expression.

Very rich, extra-ripe fruit flavors fill out this full-bodied wine, getting support from mild tannins and ample baking spices from French barrels for a broad, rounded texture.

The fruit of 100-year-old vines treated to nine months in French oak barrels (43 percent new), this is a heady wine packed with fruit tannins and fruity black-mushroom umami notes. It has the primary flavors of freshly stomped grapes, enjoyable in its youth with grilled shitakes or beef with black trumpets. Best suited to several years of bottle age for the fruit to mature.

This represents solid value for the solid quality—an expressive wine in dark rich cherry, cinnamon and vanilla notes and one that is sticky in tannin and shows plenty of structure. Blended with small amounts of Cab Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, it remains light on the palate in integrated oak.

A blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, this offers subtle aromas of green bell pepper, gooseberry and roasted coffee bean. The concentrated palate recalls blackberry jam, mocha and tobacco alongside closegrained tannins. Drink through 2026.

Lightly smoky with a satiny mouthfeel, this young wine brings tart flavors of rhubarb and peppery strawberry, accented with juicy acidity. The citrus flavors push lemon zest into the mix, and aging in 30% new French oak adds a toasty frame around the tannins.

An herbal array of thyme and light bay leaf meet with dark pomegranate on the nose of this bottling. It’s delicate in texture and light in mouthfeel, offering flavors of dried oregano and tarragon against a plummy core.

With its dense black-currant savor, this is a spicy zin that lasts on dried fruit notes and cinnamon. Pour it with southern Mediterranean grilled lamb.

A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this presents subdued aromas reminiscent of tilled soil, mocha and toasted oak. The dense palate suggests baked plum, grilled sage and roasted coffee bean alongside assertive tannins.

Soft and smooth, this plays out broadly across the palate with a lightly buttery feel. The clean but generic fruit flavors punch it up with hints of clove and bitter lemon. It was aged 10 months in 25% new French oak.

This lavish and buttery, full-bodied wine starts with candied apple and nutmeg aromas that lead to butter and butterscotch flavors on a smooth, soft texture.

Spirited Zine’s 2021 Father’s Day Gift GuideFather and son vignerons—Pierre and Nicolas Seillan produce this selection at Château Lassègue where ornate sundials adorn the façade of the 18th century château. This symbol of perfect sun exposure represents the message of the wines from the estate and can be found on the label. Lassègue is the flagship wine of the estate and is Saint-Émilion at its most opulent. Old vines grow on the south/southwest hills which are the prolongation of the Côte de Saint-Émilion, and whose soils of clay and limestone add exquisite minerality to their fruit. Rich, aromatic Cabernet Franc married to the dense concentration of old vine Merlot and seasoned with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon results in a wine that is at once powerful and elegant.

The notes in Cambria Katherine's Vineyard 2017 and La Crema Sonoma Coast 2018 are of citrus blossom with a touch of peach. Apparently the effect of the climate is to lengthen the growing period, which gives depth to the flavours. Deliciously different.

The notes in Cambria Katherine's Vineyard 2017 and La Crema Sonoma Coast 2018 are of citrus blossom with a touch of peach. Apparently the effect of the climate is to lengthen the growing period, which gives depth to the flavours. Deliciously different.

Gumbo & Wine in New OrleansGumbo Pairing: Brewer-Clifton 2018 Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay

Wines We LoveA great example of why grenache is so hot right now. Savoury, aromatic, refined and with a commanding web of tannin, this is compelling stuff.Raised in ceramic eggs, this spent 158 days on skins post fermentation, resulting in a wine that is both delicate and savoury. There’s a perfume of red fruits and florals, with dried orange peel, sun-warmed terracotta and dried cranberries. It’s hard not to think of nebbiolo, but it’s firmly grenache, even if the assertive but finely textured tannins pull you further in the other direction. There’s a fineness through the wine, a neatly pitched elegance, but with the generosity of the variety underpinning it, too.

Very spicy and intense, this complex pinot shows blueberry and dark-cherry aromas, as well as some sappy notes, roses and forest wood. The palate is weighty with plenty of ripe fruit flesh. Quite supple and velvety with flavors that run from red to dark cherries. Flavorful finish. Drink or hold.