Honeysuckle, grapefruit pith and slight petrol aromas show on the nose of this bottling. The palate is wrapped in compelling tension, with flavors of lime balm, lemon verbena and brie rind complementing each other.

This is Merlot-dominant, full of plum and raspberry fruits, the silkiest of the three Vérités and the most approachable. Textured and rich, with grilled oak and cocoa powder, the tannins seductive but with big shoulders, and they do a great job of balancing out the more exuberant side of the wine. A long and relatively cool growing season at this estate.

There's glistening acidity to the richly spiced dried apple and dried apricot flavors in this lusciously spiced white, with a long, plush and mineral-filled finish that shows notes of dried thyme. Drink now through 2025.

Savory, shadowed by its oak and lees into supple complexities, this wine is layered in notes of baked apples and fresh autumn apples. Heady and rich, with a yeastiness that touches on a Saison beer, this wine continues to give more of itself the longer you spend with the glass. It would be delicious with wood-roasted oysters and duck-fat fries.

This wine gets its cool tones from the high altitudes at the Jackson family's Alexander Mountain Estate, a 5,000-acre property on the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains. Lisa Valtenbergs builds the blend from a range of parcels, at elevations from 400-1,800 feet. While the texture is soft and mellow, the wine sustains a crisp green freshness and bright undertones of lemon. Satisfying to drink on its own, this will readily take on soft-shell crabs or other rich shellfish.

One of the more challenging releases, this Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2019 is a fascinating, layered wine, if not as loveable as the current release High Sands.From the 2ha Block 30, planted in 1946. Destemmed, crushed and tipped into 675l ceramic eggs and spends 101 days on skins. Matured for a further 8 months on skins post-press. Numbers: pH 3.37 TA 6.5g/L.There’s a waft of VA to announce things, then a nose and palate that is so lucid. Raspberry and red texta, there is a glycerol roundness through the palate, but the tannins are sandpapery and firm. I get a little distracted by the volatility and a slight soapiness, but the vibrancy of the fruit is excellent. The tannins are going to be divisive too – they’re pronounced and grainy – though that just adds layers. Quality Grenache, although I preferred last year’s release more (and the Hickinbotham too).Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2019. Best drinking: It’s going to live. But I would drink it within the next five to eight years.

A precise, subtle wine with great balance between ripe pineapple and mango, crunchy saline acidity and a hint of roasted nut and vanilla oak. A youthful wine that can be drunk now but will reveal more exotic complexity and nutty character with age.

Tightly wound, pure and minerally, this is packed with vibrant, fine-textured dried red fruit and berry flavors. Forest floor notes lingers on the direct and powerfully structured finish. Drink now through 2026.

Pleasantly leafy and herbal—without getting into the vegetal end of things—Hickinbotham's 2019 The Nest Cabernet Franc is the third consecutive strong vintage for this wine, which is loaded with dark cassis and black cherry fruit. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and richly textured, it finishes long, with echoes of cigar box and pipe tobacco.

2019 Pinot Noir, Soberanes Vineyard The nose is sweet and concentrated dark cherry and plum with a forest floor spice. The palate entry offers nice density with impressions of licorice, sassafras and black plum in the core. Finishes with dried black fruit and polished spiciness. Drink 2021 - 2026.

2019 Pinot Noir, Ewald Vineyard The nose is cool forest floor and dried red berries. The palate entry is bright, focused pomegranate and cherry with well-integrated acidity leading to a sappy dark cherry core finishing with graphite and blossoms. Drink 2021 - 2027.

The 2018 Chardonnay Radian Vineyard comes from one of the top sites in the Sta. Rita Hills and was brought up in 30% new French oak. Spiced apple, lemon, brioche, honeysuckle, and hints of toasted almond emerge from the glass, and this beauty is medium to full-bodied, with a rounded, layered texture, beautiful purity, and a great finish. Readers looking for a classic example of Chardonnay from this appellation can't go wrong here.

The 2020 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County comes from the talented Greg Brewer, and it's been an incredible value in every vintage I've been lucky enough to taste. Revealing a medium to lighter gold hue, it's medium-bodied and juicy, with a lively, up-front nose of ripe Meyer lemon, tangerine, honeysuckle, and exotic white flowers. This pure, elegant Chardonnay brings beautiful fruit and texture, has plenty of acidity, and a great finish.

A big step up in price, the 2018 Chardonnay Signature Collection Katherine's Vineyard is similarly gold-hued and offers a beautiful sense of reduction in its ripe stone fruits, peach, and citrus-like aromas and flavors. Rich, medium-bodied, toasty, and mineral-laced, it has plenty of mid-palate depth as well as a great finish.

Lots of mulberry, cherry, and raspberry fruits as well as classic Santa Maria herbal, briny, peppery notes emerge from the 2018 Pinot Noir Signature Collection Barbara's Clone 667. Medium-bodied on the palate, it’s beautifully balanced and has an elegant texture as well as wonderful depth, all with a firm, focused, masculine vibe that should keep for a solid decade.

A ripe, toasty, yet pure, clean Chardonnay, the 2019 Chardonnay Nielson Vineyard, which comes from a site in the Santa Maria Valley, is medium to full-bodied and has a rich, layered textured, plenty of background toasty, nutty oakiness, and a great finish. This rich, satisfying, undeniably delicious Chardonnay should drink well for 3-4 years.

There's toasty richness to concentrated apple pastry and pear tart flavors backed by crunchy acidity. Lusciously spiced finish features accents of quince paste and hints of marmalade. Drink now through 2025.

Plush and powerful, with plenty of creamy richness to custard-filled white fruit flavors that offer unctuous buttery nuances. Toasty accents envelop the well-spiced finish. Drink now through 2026.

Lemon zest notes flank the concentrated apple pastry and white peach flavors that are supported by fresh acidity. Shows creamy accents midpalate, with a vibrant, mineral-filled finish. Best from 2022 through 2026.

Captures the best of Willamette Valley, with a layered structure that’s crisp yet supple with plump raspberry, orange peel and Darjeeling accents that glide toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2029.

A rockin' rosé that grooves to outputs of tangy cranberries, wild strawberries, toffee apple and a dusting of spices - but the key here is the savouriness. It's also textural and, importantly, dry.

Fruit off the trio of top sites – Sexton, Tarraford and Applejack – all adding their unique qualities to make a harmonious whole. It's a racy number thanks to a laser lightshow of acidity throwing sparks at the white not-quite-ripe nectarines, grapefruit and lemon oil flavours, with a flash of spices and fresh herbs. It's revitalising and will be even better in time.

Fermented in French puncheons, matured in new (20%) and used French oak for 10 months. Nutty, spicy oak and yeasty lees character (despite no bâtonnage ) is the first impression on the bouquet; green apple and citrus in the background. Taut and acid-driven as it is through the palate, there's also subtle fruit sweetness there, and both aspects linger in the finish and aftertaste. Cool and classy.

Parcels of whole-bunch and destemmed fruit; both small oak and open ferments; 8 months in French barriques, 25% new. Cherries and floral notes the main theme on the bouquet, some whole-bunch character and oak in the mix as well. The warmth of the vintage presents itself in the sweet-tinged feel, but the generous flavours of red fruit and spice are attractive and balanced by the lightly grippy finish.

Hand picked on a fruit day of the biodynamic calendar across the oldest roussanne planting, now 16 yo. 50% destemmed, crushed and fermented in ceramic eggs on skins, remaining with them for a convincing 96 days. The remaining portion, also in eggs sans skins. Upon blending, matured in eggs. Compelling aromas of apricot pith, bitter almond, pistachio, dried hay and a whiff of marzipan and rooibos. Expansive, broad and rich, with skin-inflected intricacy and a tangerine vibe of freshness, tangier than usual. Takes time to unravel. Still taut. But staining of extract and intensity as it does! I'd drink this after a few years.