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.

Hickinbotham's 2018 The Nest Cabernet Franc—only the second vintage bottled—aged in 50% new French oak. Winemaker Chris Carpenter says that proportion will be reduced going forward to preserve the wine's cherry blossom and violet characters. This wine is a bit toasty and cedary, then adds floral notes, black cherry fruit and hints of tobacco. More obvious notes of vanilla and mint mark the streamlined, medium to full-bodied palate, which glides into a silky, focused and lengthy finish. Nicely structured, more than rich or voluptuous, this should drink well for a decade or more.

Pale straw colour with some green notes in the rim. Roast nuts, lemon balm and a whiff of struck-flint. Tight and driven on the palate, a bright citrus core flows front to back, with a smoke and mineral savoury line alongside. Quite narrow along the palate but walks the line of tight and skinny very well showing enough weight and concentration through to the finish. A lovely modern example of Yarra Valley chardonnay.

2011 California Cabernet - 10 years onFrom a volcanic site above 730m. Dried flowers, cracked earth and dried mulberry aromas precede similar mouthcoating flavours on a generous, sturdy, broad-textured palate. It is slow to open but evolves considerably with time in the glass, revealing a dense, powerful structure.

2011 California Cabernet - 10 years onSpry and minty nose of incense, cedar, and a subtle note of red bell pepper. Fleshy and round on the palate, showing notes of black plum, cola, and wet gravel. The structure reflects the current state of the vintage, with a rustic, earth-forward tone throughout. The blend is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% each of Merlot and Petit Verdot.

California Syrah: top Mendocino County winesSubtle on the nose at first, then aromas of seaweed, clay and parsley. The palate balances plush richness and sappy intensity through to an expansive, nuanced finish. A blend of Yorkville Highlands vineyards that needs a several years for Mendocino's classic savoury notes to awaken.

California Syrah: top Mendocino County winesInitially muted aromas, so give it time in the glass. The palate is reminiscent of a barbecue with charred earthy mesquite wood notes and grilled black fruit flavours. Energetic on the finish, carrying through the meaty, roasted elements that eventually express themselves on the nose.

This pours beautifully ruby and translucent. The bright nose includes aromas of plum, cherry, mulling spice, white pepper, and scorched earth. Medium-bodied with smooth, velvety tannins that envelope the mouth with smoothness pair well with a nice core of restrained but bright acid. The structure is spot on. The flavor profile leads with brilliant strawberry, blueberry, and red and black plums, but the wine doesn’t give the sensation of fruit-forwardness. There’s a touch of black pepper and licorice as well, and kiwi skin on the finish. Drinking really well now with a short bottle decant.

USA, California, Napa Valley: More New 2018 ReleasesMade from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall Vineyard was aged for 20 months in French oak, 58% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it comes prancing out of the glass with gregarious crème de cassis, camphor, wild blueberries and black raspberries notes, plus suggestions of pencil shavings and wild thyme. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is jam-packed with lively, expressive blue and black fruit flavors, framed by ripe, fine-grained tannins, finishing long and layered.