Sleek and steely, with elegant lemon and kiwi flavors that end on a vibrant accent. Drink now.

This white is appealing for its soft pear and floral lime flavors that finish on a delicate accent. Drink now.

With a long growing season thanks to the influence of the Pacific Ocean on the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, Chardonnay fruit can often be harvested weeks after red wines of the region are picked. Fruit ripens slowly, giving a subtle, delicate undertone to concentrated, textured fruit. Brewer-Clifton Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay shines with lemon-lime citrus and lychee notes, melding with soft herbs, blanched almond, and a touch of crushed stone minerality giving the wine an earthy finish with ethereal elegance. An incredible wine for the price.

Family-owned Cambria Estate showcases cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir produced with passion, approachability, and character. Sustainably-farmed, ensuring the true character of the fruit shines through, Cambria Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay is fresh, and floral, showing notes of lemon blossom, honeysuckle, and lime leaf, melding with tangerine and Asian pear.

So many good things going on in this wine, it makes me want to drink more Cabernet from McLaren Vale. Classic cassis, fresh blackberry, and cedar notes on a taut, medium-bodied frame. I sampled with Coravin so I can save for another year. (Won’t happen.)

A reminder why Australian Shiraz was such a success in the first place. Balances ripe black fruits against the grape’s savory, smoky, meaty character. Not overblown or overripe, as some have come to view Aussie Shiraz. Follows the Goldilocks principle of “just right.”

Bright and tense while full-bodied and creamy, offers notes of white flowers, pears, and apples. The intersection of Burgundy and Australia.

The 30 Best Red Wines for 2021I can feel American wine diversifying by the year. More innovation and focus on soil and variety relationships are driving a bright diverse future. But we can’t forget how this all came to be. Founded by Josephine Tychson in the late 19th century, Freemark Abbey survived disease and Prohibition, entering both the red and white categories in the 1976 Judgement of Paris. Dark and brooding, this wine is deserving of aromatic descriptors such as mocha, blackberries, and hints of white and cracked black pepper. It’s still aging with a rustic edge, but is a pleasure to drink now. In a few years, it’ll soften into the legacy it holds.

Not sure what happened to the 2019 vintage. We must have missed it. Anyway, here we are. A blend of Sexton, Applejack, Primavera, Tarraford Vineyards, with 40% whole bunch and 10% new oak. Small yields, high quality, is the message from the winery.Aromatic and spicy, charred red capsicum and red fruit, subtle biscuity oak. Bright, energetic, fine emery tannin, a slight smokiness to taste, fresh raspberries, soft but sure grip on a long finish. Light, but with a fair bit of concentration and extract. Easy to enjoy.

This medium ruby colored Merlot opens with a blueberry, wild cherry and oak bouquet with hints of dried herbs and lavender. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, well-balanced, polished, elegant and nicely coats your mouth. The flavor profile is a tasty red plum and gentle oak blend with notes of cherry and hints of minerality and black pepper. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins drift away nicely. The Panel would pair this Merlot with veal medallions with mushroom-wine sauce or a Tennessee meatloaf (blend of beef, pork & veal)

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.

This Central Coast GSM has an Australian feel: warm and generous in its red raspberry and red cherry scents, bright on the edges, with a juicy core of red fruits and caramelly oak to back it up. This is modern and forward, for barbecue.

A generous grenache with notes of baked strawberry and rhubarb, this buzzes with red fruit and tangy orange pith acidity. This is biodynamically farmed grenache from vines planted at the top of the ridge in Blewitt Springs in 1946. Pour it with roast goat and orange and ginger chutney.

With its sweet baked raspberry and cocoa notes, this wine has the flavor of a chocolate-raspberry ganache. It’s simple and rich.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day With These Splurge WinesArcanum is the pinnacle of the estate’s Toscana IGT offerings. Based on Cabernet Franc, the true signature of the estate, this remarkable wine is built to age, yet is drinkable young, offering aromas of violets, roses and raspberries, with long and delicate spice notes; it is a wine that is seductive yet subtle. Arcanum is sourced primarily from the L’Apparita and Belvedere blocks of Cabernet Franc. With superb exposure and sandy clay soils, each year these blocks shine to produce the finest expression of the variety, and the leading wine of the estate.

The GS welcome matt is rolled out with this wine!Juicy, bright citrus and stone fruit characters, licks of salty nuts and faint honeyed toast. Rolls around the palate with a sense of high refreshment and pristine, youthful, tight-skinned green grapines – you know, pluck a berry off the bunch straight out of the fridge and chomp. That kind of deal. Such a delight to drink, super easy to drink, a little polish and spit shine and we’re here! Nice one.

Coming from 100-year-old vines, half of the Highwire vineyard parcel is head-trained and half is trained on a high wire, permitting greater sun exposure and promoting even ripening. The 2018 Zinfandel Highwire Vineyard was aged in French oak, 51% new, for 10 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, the nose is a little closed and broody to begin, giving way to notes of black cherry compote, blueberry pie and raisin cake followed by nuances of garrigue, fragrant soil, white pepper and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is lively and chock-full of juicy black fruits, supported by chewy tannins, finishing long and peppery.

From head-trained vines more than 100 years old, the 2018 Zinfandel Jolene's Vineyard was aged in French oak, 28% new, for nine months. Medium garnet-purple colored, it opens with notions of blackberry pie, fruitcake and plum preserves plus hints of Indian spices, sandalwood and fragrant earth with a waft of black loam. Full-bodied, rich, spicy and chock-full of black and blue fruit, it has a chewy texture and loads of freshness, finishing with epic length.

Don and Jennifer Hartford tend this head-trained, 100+-year-old vineyard in the backyard of their home. The 2018 Zinfandel Hartford Vineyard was aged in French oak, 56% new, for 10 months. Deep garnet-purple in color, it has a very peppery/spicy nose to begin—cinnamon, cloves and cardamom—with a core of blackberry pie, blueberry compote and warm plums plus touches of hoisin and unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied and laden with exotic spice and black fruit preserves layers, the generous fruit is well supported by velvety tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and opulent.

Coming from vines planted over 100 years ago, which have been trained up to chest level to increase air circulation and sun exposure to the berries, the 2018 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard was aged in French oak, 50% new, for 10 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it skips out of the glass with notes of red currant jelly, raspberry pie and wild blueberries plus touches of stewed plums, wild sage and tilled soil with a waft of cast iron pan. Full-bodied, the palate has beautiful elegance and fine-grained tannins with a lively backbone lifting the pure black and blue fruit flavors to a long finish.

The 2018 Zinfandel Winberrie Knolls was sourced from 100+-year-old vines coming from two vineyards farmed by Don and Jenny Hartford's neighbors. It was aged in French oak, 33% new, for 10 months. Medium garnet-purple colored, it charges out of the gate with rambunctious notes of raspberry pie, blackberry preserves and blueberry compote followed by nuances of Chinese five spice, black pepper and clove oil with a waft of plum sauce. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with spicy black fruit preserves plus a chewy texture and lively backbone, finishing long and exotic.

The 2018 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard was aged in French oak, 56% new, for 10 months. Deep garnet-purple colored, it has a wonderfully fragrant nose of red roses, spice box, tilled earth and truffles with a core of prunes, blackberry preserves and kirsch, plus a waft of licorice. Full-bodied, concentrated and wonderfully structured, it has a firm, grainy backbone and long, layered and refreshing finish.

The 2019 Zinfandel Russian River Valley was aged in French oak, 40% new, for 10 months. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it slowly emerges from the glass with notions of wild blueberries, black raspberries and raspberry pie plus hints of potpourri, incense, rose petals and hoisin. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is velvety and refreshing, featuring loads of baking spice and floral layers, finishing on an earthy note.

Napa Valley’s 2018sThe 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is a monster of a mountain Cabernet that has a primordial bouquet of blackcurrants, smoked earth, chocolate, and graphite. While Spring Mountain wines tend to be more aromatic and complex right out of the gate, that’s not the case here, and this is going to need bottle age to round into form. Full-bodied on the palate, with a rich, concentrated mouthfeel, it has serious tannins, notable purity of fruit, and a great finish. With air, it picks up more and more classic Spring Mountain floral and exotic notes, and it’s flawlessly balanced, with gorgeous tannins and a great, great finish. This is a brilliant wine in the lineup and unquestionably one of the true gems from Spring Mountain in 2018. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 2-3 decades.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is based on a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot that spent 22 months in 81% new French oak. It’s a wonderfully complete, borderline perfect wine that shows the class of this estate as well as the vintage, revealing a seamless, full-bodied style that carries lots of blackcurrant, graphite, lead pencil, and tobacco aromatics, a deep, layered mid-palate, ultra-fine tannins, and flawless balance. As with most of Chris’s 2018s, it’s a wine that builds slowly with time in the glass, offering a layered, singular character. It’s a gorgeous 2018 that can be drunk today with ample pleasure, but it will ideally be given 4-6 years of bottle age, at which point it should evolve gracefully for 30-40 years.