Siduri Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton 2016 is lush and long, with tastes of black cherry, blackberry, and blueberry playing tag team. Impressive, beautiful. While 14.5% ABV, the seductive, hedonistic fruit tango of the attack and mid-palate hides the heat. After the foreplay of dark red and blue fruits, the alcohol coyly reveals in the very long finish. You easily can enjoy this as a cocktail, solo pour, or matched with neutral wine crackers and cured-meat-centered charcuterie board. For food pairing, go with turkey, baked chicken, salmon, pork tenderloin, slow-cooked lamb chops, lighter cuts of beef, veal.

The wine displays a deep ruby color. A basket of red fruits, flowers and spices show off in the nose. The palate displays a fine complexity of ripe red fruit, pepper, mineral and licorice extending in a long, complex finish with refined tannins. This wine is enjoyable now but will evolve over the next 15 years.

13 ‘Perfect’ 100-Point Cabernets You Can Buy Right Now

13 ‘Perfect’ 100-Point Cabernets You Can Buy Right Now

This opaque and dark purple colored Cabernet Franc from Mt. Brave opens with a vanilla and blackberry bouquet with hints of nutmeg and violets. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied, balanced, smooth and rich. The favor profile is a tasty black currant and blueberry blend with notes of black raspberry, oak and black tea. We also picked up some hints of black pepper and pomegranate mixed in. It was very complex. The finish is dry and its dusty tannins stick around for a very long time. The Panels suggested pairing this Cab Franc with several dishes. Roy’s rib roast, braised short ribs and roast duck were suggested.

Reliable wines to make season merry and brightIf a classic California Chardonnay is on your holiday to-do list, they don’t get much more classic than the Kendall-Jackson 2018 Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. Pale straw and clear in appearance, this has all the aromatic hallmarks of California Chardonnay one would expect — ripe apple and peach, tropical fruit, vanilla and hints of spice. It’s medium-bodied and fairly viscous, with ripe, almost-sweet apple, peach and pineapple flavours along with a rich, creamy oak component. While many producers in the Golden State are moving in the direction of less rich and oak-driven Chardonnay, there’s still a market for this style.

This slightly opaque and dark garnet colored Cabernet Sauvignon opens with a fragrant black cherry and eucalyptus bouquet with hints of red currant, cedar and moist pipe tobacco. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, balanced, smooth and silky. The flavor profile is a tasty graphite influenced black currant and gentle cedar blend with hints of herbs, cherry licorice laces and nutmeg. The finish is dry and its refined tannins are nicely prolonged. The Panel suggested pairing this Cab with a pan-seared duck breast or Italian beef braciole.

A captivating wine. It sweeps from brooding purple aromas of violets to classic Bordeaux aromatics of leather and cedar.

A full bodied Californian red. Smooth and lush with ripe blackberries and spice. A good accompaniment to game, roasted chicken, stews and lasagne.

If you want to get to know the Santa Rita Hills style of Pinot, this wine makes a good starting point. Bright and fruit-driven with a faint salinity, it is a pretty Pinot with plenty of character and a punch of exotic spice–maybe cardamom?–on the finish.

10 Great Wine Gifts That Speak To This Challenging and Eventful YearHere are some ideas based on our work this year and on current events (and, yes, we saw face masks with wine themes). In most cases, these will require some early work, which is why we’re running this column now. In addition, many are pricey. It has been a tough year and maybe we’re in the mood to spend more than usual on someone special.An amazing Cabernet Sauvignon from the USA to celebrate one of the many things this country can do at its best. And, given some predictions that climate change will make Napa less of a Cabernet paradise in the future, this could be an opportunity to savor something that could be lost. Don’t scoff at that possibility: UC-Davis just had a webinar during which that was discussed. Among our favorite high-end Napa Cabernets this year: Cardinale Winery 2016...

The 18 Best Wines and Bubbly to Gift This HolidayFrom bottles of red to bottles of white, we've selected the most palate-pleasing wines to gift this season.

The Best Wines to Buy This Holiday SeasonThis wine from Copain is a 50/50 blend of pinot noir and pinot gris. The winery calls it a bridge between its rosé and red offerings, with crisp and fresh notes of summer berries and herbs on the palate. This will drink as nicely in the cold winter months as it would if you decided to save it for next summer.

The Best Wines to Buy This Holiday SeasonTry this white pinot noir from California winery Maggy Hawk for something a little different this winter. Made from grapes typically used for red wine, this 2018 vintage is full-bodied and bright, with notes of peach, pear, and quince on the palate.

Vibrant garnet color, rich plum and vanilla, velvety texture, lush, deep and showing plum and toasted vanilla oak, all subtly combined; I guess Chris Carpenter can make Merlot too; elegant, stunning and superb, long and memorable.

That rare domestic rosé that captures the vibrant acidity of Champagne, offering delicate strawberry, raspberry flavors laced with steely minerality and sprinkle of graham cracker on the finish. Drink now through 2022.

Chris Carpenter’s finest wine, a generous, stunningly elegant combination of impeccable grape source and brilliant winemaking; rich, deep and loaded with beautiful components. Perfect.

Chocolate and Cheese Is the Perfect Salty-Sweet IndulgenceVegan Cheese + Vegan ChocolateAll chocolate is inherently plant-based, as cacao grows on trees, but this pairing keeps it pure without any additional milk or milk products (i.e., whey, casein, milk fat, etc.). Try the vegan Dark Chocolate Bar from GoodSam ($4, Thrive Market) or Divine Treasures’ vegan Chocolate Disks with a light spread of a soft vegan cheese such as Treeline’s Sea Salt & Pepper or Cavendish Woodland from The Mansion’s Pantry. Make it a pairing trifecta by pouring La Crema Russian River Chardonnay (also vegan!) to accompany the chocolate and cheese pairing.

The Very Best Red Wines For Christmas 2020 – The LLM Expert GuideThis truly special wine hails from Sonoma County in California and is one of only three wines produced from Vérité, all based on the traditional varieties of Bordeaux. Though yields were low on the harvest, the quality of grapes in this vintage was outstanding and this offering comes highly rated across the board.Aged 17 months in 100% French oak, this blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot boasts aromas of mint, sage and lavender. Black currant, cherries, damson plum fulfil the promise of new world wines, while a brooding finish and grippy, well-integrated tannins pay homage to the old world.The Vérité signature, the message of the soil, is here captured in undertones of granite, iron and limestone. If you want to save this for another Christmas then rest assured that this wine will mature gracefully for many years to come.

The Very Best Red Wines For Christmas 2020 – The LLM Expert GuideThe 40-50-year-old vines of this Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux-based vineyard are blessed with extraordinary soils and sun exposure., while soils of clay and limestone add exquisite minerality to their fruit.Aged for 12 months in French oak, this wine comprises 70% merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and boasts a deep colour with a beautiful floral bouquet of violets lilac and rose alongside leather and pencil lead. On the palate, expect red and black fruits such as red cherry, black currants and the like alongside oak flavours and rich notes of vanilla, toast and cedar.

A beautiful wine from the vintage, with 5% Merlot, this opens in soy, cedar and leather. Grippy in its youth, it is integrated, cohesive and elegant in its firm grasp of power and intensity, with nuanced layers of black currant, blueberry and dried herb. This will only get better; enjoy best from 2027–2037.

Extremely floral and subtle red fruit, such as redcurrants. Medium-to full-bodied with tight, caressing tannins that lead you down to the finish. Tight and reserved. Shows finesse and beauty. Lovely to taste now, but it will be so much better in three or four years. Drink after 2022.

A top bottling of the variety, this small-production wine is structured and strong, opening reductively, with elements of tobacco leaf, oak and sage. The savory character persists in the form of leather and black pepper, allowing just a touch of sharp red fruit to enter and complement. This wine has further secrets to be revealed; enjoy best from 2027–2032.