The 12.5ha Applejack Vineyard, planted in 1997 (and bought by Giant Steps in 2013), is the apple of winemaker Steve Flamsteed's eye when it comes to Pinot Noir, rating it as one of Australia's best cool-climate sites. A mix of whole-bunch and destemmed fruit (depending on clone) were wild-yeast fermented, then the parcels matured for eight months in barrique, 25% new. As with the rest of the range, there's no fining or filtering, and racking and bottling is done by gravity. Quite a structured Pinot, with fine tannins and brisk acidity to ensure long ageing. Tart red cherry, berries and the vineyard's characteristic bitter-orange tang infuses both nose and palate, plus peppery spices and hints of tilled earth and undergrowth.

Sourced from several blocks within Zena Crown Vineyard, now more than a dozen years old. It’s aged 16 months in 53 percent new French oak barrels. Winemaker Shane Moore likes a high percentage of new oak with medium and medium-plus toast levels because new barrels breathe, permitting more oxygen ingress than wine-soaked neutral wood. The wine only moves once: into the bottle. If there’s one wine that reflects Zena Crown Vineyard, Moore thinks it is the 2017 Vista. The nose is savoury Oregon with coffee, toast and light-brown spice mixing with dark strawberry fruit. The palate is silky texture that seems to power up the spicy notes throughout the wine before a lengthy, earthy, wild pinot finish. Impressive.

This medium purple colored Zinfandel opens with a fragrant boysenberry and black raspberry bouquet with a hint of black cherry. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied with bright acidity. It was also juicy. The flavor profile is black raspberry and blackberry blend with notes of red plum and mild graphite. We also detected some hints of rum and Coke mixed in. The finish is dry and its flavors and moderate tannins drift away nicely. The Panel would pair this Zin with braised short ribs.

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 pale straw-colored Chardonnay opens fragrant honeysuckle and baked green apple bouquet with hints of Anjou pear and pineapple. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with medium acidity. We also found it to be nicely balanced, delicate, sensuous and smooth. The flavor profile is layered and features green apple, pear and lemon along with notes of chalky minerality. We also detected hints of almond and light oak mixed in. The finish is dry and its flavors are nicely extended. The Panel would pair this Chard with herb butter roasted squab or seafood scampi.

This medium garnet colored Pinot Noir opens with a black raspberry bouquet with hints of cocoa powder and mushrooms. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, round and luscious. The flavor profile is tasty red plum and black raspberry with notes of black cherry. We also detected hints of 80% cocoa and mild oak towards the very end. The finish is dry and its medium fine-grained tannins linger nicely. The Panel would pair this Pinot with a NY strip steak or smoked brisket.

Ripe, bold and soft, the Tenuta di Arceno 2017 Il Fauno di Arcanum is a hot-vintage blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Despite the difficult conditions of the vintage, which included spells of extreme heat and dryness, this wine hits an especially pretty balance that underlines the care given to preserving the best qualities of the fruit. It pours from the bottle with a darkly concentrated appearance and displays blackberry, plum, spice, tar and leather. There is softness here for sure, yet the wine's structure and carefully engineered construction is intact.

The Tenuta di Arceno 2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Strada al Sasso is a beautifully velvety and rich expression from one of the warmest and driest vintages in recent memory. Dark fruit, blackberry and dried cherry segue to leather, spice and tar. You also get hints of earthy potting soil and blue flower that come naturally to the Sangiovese grape. The finish ends with medium freshness and soft tannins. This is a solid Tuscan red to serve with grilled streak.

A quarter century of winemaking at Hartford Family Winery has seen incremental improvements, rewarding for all. The winery, located in Forestville in the heart of the Russian River Valley, is a vital part of the Jackson Family Wines collection, and specializes in small lot wines. Once rich, thick, and powerful, the wines have gathered a new sensibility over the last five years, reigning in the power and weight to some extent to let the fruit and terroir poke through. This 2018 is a great example of a more modern California chardonnay style, not screechingly acidic but rather hedonistically well formed with cooler flavours of pear, peach, ginger, pineapple, and warm brioche, finishing with honey, spice, and minerality. Lobster, crab, roasted chicken, and fish dishes all work here.

Appealing nose of peach, nuts and some crystalline lemons. The palate is soft, smooth and rounded with nice pear fruit and some fine spicy characters. Stylish and textural, this shows really good balance and a smooth, rounded character.

The use of 50% whole clusters here makes for a bright rendition of red cherry and plum with sappy, light herbal accents and deeper, spiced darker-berry tones. The palate is rich and sweeps broad strikes of plush, ripe and fine, soft tannins. Darker berries pervade the finish with blueberries, too. Drink now.

This offers attractively earthy and spicy nuances across ripe and rich dark fruit, such as plums and brambleberries. The palate holds such impressive depth and volume. Really rich, silky tannins here, carrying red and dark-fruit flavors long. Bold but drinkable pinot. Fine now.

Tenuta di Arceno: chasing perfectionIn the 2013 vintage, Strada al Sasso was not yet a Gran Selezione (the classification was introduced for the first time in the same year). Instead, it was classified as a Riserva. The vintage was very classic, being considered more cool than warm, not particularly rich yet balanced, and of great complexity. Indeed, this 2013 is complex with a wide range of tertiary aromas including tobacco, black truffle, liquorice, leather, and earthy minerality in depth. Both nose and palate are dominated by elegant red cherry fruit, with chalky yet ripe tannins bound tightly to chewy acidity, leading to a clean finish. A wine that's close to mature but not tiring.

From a 15-acre parcel of rolling hills north of Highway 246, this wine is ripe but manages to channel the appellation's coolness to remain lively and playful. It leads with scents of red berry, black tea and licorice, then the flavors are a burst of red fruits, becoming livelier with air, a juicy exuberance grounded by spicy stem tannin and mouthwatering acidity. Showing beautifully now, this is ready to pour with a pork chop.

Chili, blackberry and blueberry aromas with a full body, firm and round tannins and a flavorful, savory finish. Rather chunky. Drink after 2023.

Deep, dark, concentrated colour, with some purple as well as black tints. The bouquet is very ripe and sweet in cassis fruit and balanced, background oak. The tannins are quite chewy and the texture dense, almost thick. It's a big, slightly chunky, full-bodied cabernet, which finishes with a generous quota of tannin and good length. It's very enjoyable now but promises to richly reward patient cellaring. (Vines planted 1971. 75% new oak)

This medium purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Kendall-Jackson’s “Estate Collection” opens with a black currant bouquet with hints of toffee, violets and a touch of blueberry pie. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, balanced, soft and very smooth. The flavor profile is black cherry and black currant with notes of toasted oak and dark chocolate. We also detected hints of black raspberry and coffee. The finish initially has substantial drying tannins that build-up and linger for quite a while. The Panel would ideally drink this Cab on its own by the firepit. With food, we would decant it for a while and pair it with a well-marbled ribeye.

Elegant, refined, silky.For 30 years, the Jackson family has sustainably farmed and tended this Santa Maria estate. Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson's daughters, Katie Jackson and Julia Jackson, grew up among the estate's vines. Drawn to the grit and beauty of winemaking, Katie and Julia continue the family business.Cambria is shaped by these three women: Barbara Banke's keen knowledge of the industry and business sense, Katie's passion for sustainability and the land, and Julia's creative backbone and dedication to empowering communities.The vineyard was named for Julia Jackson in 1986, and this 2017 Pinot Noir is comprised of clones: 4, 2A, 23, 115 and 667 grow on the estate's ancient soils of fossilized seashells, shale, limestone and sand.It was aged 15 months in French oak (25% new) before bottling.An elegant red, it has a nose of red cherry and cranberry, carrot tops and savoury spice, dried roses, saddle leather and tealeaf. Sweet, tangy and juicy red fruits dominate the palate. Refined and silky overall; flavours of leather and orange peel trail across the finish. Pair with wild mushroom tartletts, beet salads, butternut squash ravioli or salmon.

Profound, outstanding, harmonious.Falling under the umbrella of Jackson Family Wines, this outstanding Chardonnay comes from Stonestreet's best estate vineyard sites (between 400-1800ft) on the North Coast of Sonoma in the AVA of Alexander Valley. Resting alongside the Mayacamas Mountains, the estate, which was established in the late 80s, specializes in Cabernet and Chardonnay.100% barrel fermented with native yeasts, this 2016 vintage continued through maloloactic ferment in barrel with monthly lees stirring and was aged 10 months in French oak, 63% new.Fleshy aromas of hazelnuts and browned butter, grilled lemons, honeysuckle, orange zest, yellow apples, vanilla and spice lead to a creamy, concentrated and stylish palate. Nutty and golden with a slick texture and harmonious character, it's a fresh but profound wine.

Winemaker Pete Fraser’s passion for Rhône varieties shines bright on this wild-fermented Roussanne, which is aged in ceramic eggs with half of the fruit on skins for several months. The nose is an expressive mix of orchard blossoms and citrus peel with a hint of honey, beeswax and a cool stone character often seen in “egg” wines. The palate also has a beeswax feel about it both in flavor and texture. Pale gold, it’s round and rich but buoyed by crunchy acidity. A characterful detour for Chardonnay lovers.

Where the cool 2017 brought increased elegance to Hickinbotham’s muscular reds, this vintage returns to the powerful expression of warmer years. A big wine it may be, with a nose of strawberry and cherry preserves, mint, medicinal herbs and a toasty, vanillin underbelly, but it’s also precise and site expressive. Tannins are fine yet powerful, and the oak is present, but this is a baby, worthy of many years in the cellar.

Showing excellent depth and impressive concentration, this full-bodied and well balanced wine impresses with focused black-fruit flavors, a creamy texture and beautifully integrated tannins that afford a velvety mouthfeel. So delicious now, but it will be best after 2024.

This is all about restrained richness. It’s a Chardonnay with some richer elements: some meal, toast and spice, together with pear, peach and pineapple, but also some finesse and some lean citrus and green apple notes. Shows purity and concentration, with a bit of crystalline citrus fruit. There’s a lot of latent potential here: while currently it’s a bit constrained and turned in on itself, with a primary sort of character, I think it could develop really well.

Cedar and vanilla notes—the wine aged in 50% to 60% new French oak—mark the nose of Hickinbotham's 2018 The Revivalist Merlot. It's round and plush, with black cherries and cola wrapped in a velvety blanket of dried spices, mint and mocha on the full-bodied palate. Rich and creamy in style, it's a lovely example of Merlot from an unexpected source.