This vineyard is a real Zinfandel treasure – its dry farmed, head trained, hand farmed century old (plus) vines are sourced by several famed producers. Hartford’s offering shows lively black cherry fruit with complementary notes of tea, pie spice and fennel. It’s got great acidity that carries the ripeness of the fruit into the distance. The finish is fully integrated, showing all the components and inviting you back for more. Supple tannins keep the flavors pumping, and there’s an elegance here that is elusive at this ripeness level. This will suit a variety of foods, from a medium strength cheese selection to grilled red meats. Delicious!

A deep well of aromas fill this wine: plum, cherry, cocoa nibs, rose, violets, earthy herbs, baked clay and a charred note, like the pan scrapings of a roast. The palate is velvety and downright sexy, with spicy tannins and terracotta components adding complexity and austerity to the plush, almost playful fruit. It shows a power play of muscle and elegance. Drink now with a slab of charred red meat or age through 2030.

Thanks in part to the relatively cool year, this is a wine that manages refinement, restraint and beautiful expression of place. The nose is a neatly woven basket of aromas: crushed flowers, red and blue fruit, pepper, mint and cigar box. The palate is full figured and highly textural. There’s a line of powdery, spicy, ultrafine tannins and a streak of high-end oak. Set up for a long life, drink from 2022–2045 at least.

Densely built in cassis, dried herb, cedar and sage, this lovely wine from the great appellation shows structure and grip in its youth. Dusty gravel adds to the weight and texture, with ample acidity to keep it fresh in the glass.

This wine is a beauty, balancing a band of subtle flavors with a polished texture and vibrant acidity that give it a lively presence on the palate and a lingering finish. Mild baking spices and toast in the aroma give way to baked apple and cream flavors that are delicious to linger over.

A rare 100% varietal bottling, this impresses vintage to vintage, this time as a thick concentrated expression of dusty, brooding dark fruit and herb. The full-bodied intensity rides serious structure and refined oak, with accents of leather and sage. This will do well to cellar; enjoy best from 2027–2032.

From the relatively cool 2017 vintage emerges a Cab of elegance and class. It’s layered with heady characters of mint, tobacco, licorice root and cherry cordial, with floral nuances and a spine of polished, high end oak. Sculpted with fine, firm, talc-textured tannins, there’s a lovely lift of acidity and purity of fruit. Drink through 2030.

This is a beautifully expressive and textural Grenache, from a subregion celebrated for this variety. The nose is like a sea swept Mediterranean hillside: fresh red berries, scrubby sage, thyme and softly fragrant wildflowers. All focus should be on the palate, which is beautifully layered in juicy fruit, savory herbs and taut, fine tannins. There’s elegance yet structure to take this many years into the future. Drink 2021–2035.

Hickinbotham’s Bordeaux varieties are made by Napa Winemaker Chris Carpenter. The latest Merlot is up a quality notch from most Down Under. A mélange of cherry, licorice and scrubby Mediterranean herbs and spices is coated in a cola-driven sheen of polished oak. Lighter than others under this label, this is nonetheless a big wine which captures the juicy red fruit via lifted acidity and well-structured, savory tannins. Drink now–2028.

Intense, deep ruby color; ripe plum nose; silky and smooth with rich, toasty plum and toast, lush but modern in style, juicy and long. Jess Jackson's Bordeaux property, under the direction of the brilliant Pierre Seillan, is a lovely posthumous tribute to Jess's vision.

Graham Weerts makes the Legacy wines at the Field Stone Vineyard, a property acquired by the Jackson family in 2016. He includes fruit from that vineyard as well as the family’s Jimtown and Alexander Mountain properties, focusing this blend on cabernet sauvignon (74 percent), along with small amounts of four other Bordelais varieties. Fermented in small French oak uprights and aged in French oak barrels (60 percent new), the wine is generous in its tannins, showing notes of lanolin, black mushroom and full-on chocolate richness. Everyone on the panel went immediately to an herb-roasted leg of lamb.

This Pinot-centric Jackson Family brand expands into Oregon with this smooth, dark and toasty wine. It’s layered with whiffs of smoke, espresso and black licorice, matched with dark fruit flavors of black cherry and cassis. It’s a big, balanced, sexy wine with polished tannins that leave a trail of tobacco highlights.

This ruby colored Pinot Noir from Oregon opens with a cherry-cola and oak bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with plus acidity and a little sizzle. The flavor profile is a tasty blend of black cherry-cola and oak with notes of plum and mushrooms. I also detected hints of red currant and black pepper towards the end. The finish is dry and its flavors, managed acidity and gentle tannins drift away nicely. This very good value Pinot would pair well with a pork tenderloin seasoned with sage and garlic.

A light, elegant approach is taken to this mountain wine, robustly seasoned in sage, dried herb and clove. Herbaceous throughout, it represents the variety, vintage and provenance well, showing balanced, bright underlying acidity that softens the inherent power.

Made in a light, buzzy style, this red is juicy in wild strawberry, accompanied by savory threads of black tea and forest floor. Soft integrated tannins make it appealing in the glass, the acidity lively and complementary.

This is the first vintage of Hickinbotham Cab Franc, planted by American Winemaker Chris Carpenter. McLaren Vale’s Mediterranean climate and the use of quite a lot of new French oak gives this a riper feel. A perfume of ripe red and blueberry fruit is backed by savory, earthy nuances, green herbs and a blanket of highly polished, mocha-like barrel influence. There’s a tangy lift to the fruit, with textural, granular tannins. Drink 2021–2030.

Made in a light, delicate style, with ample acidity and a minimum of subtle French oak, this tastes of cinnamon and cherry, with citrus-laden undertones that emphasize its brightness.

Tempting vanilla and butter overtones meet slightly tangy fruit flavors in this full-bodied white wine made from dark grapes. It overflows with ripe peach notes and has a mouthfilling texture.

Simple red fruit is lifted by moderate acidity in this light, softly approachable wine. There’s an underlying firmness of tannin that meets the brightness halfway, adding weight to the finish.

Half-Bottles for the Holidays: 10 Small-Format Sonoma Wines That Are Mighty GoodThis wine has a little bit of everything most chardonnay fans love: juicy tropical, peach and citrus fruit; palate-cleansing acidity and subtle notes of oak and baking spice. Head winemaker Craig McAllister, a native of New Zealand, sources grapes from throughout the Sonoma Coast AVA and is able to bottle this wine with a consistency of style, no matter the vintage. If you find another vintage of the La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, expect a very similar wine (though the older the vintage, the more evolved the wine will be).

Merry MeunierAromatic notes of strawberry, cherry, rose and spice entice. On the palate, the wine tastes juicy and refined, offering a pure and transparent expression of the varietal.

31 Wines and Spirits to Get You Through the Holiday SeasonTenuta di Arceno considers this Bordeaux-inspired wine—a blend of 73 percent cabernet franc, 17 percent merlot and 10 percent cabernet sauvignon—its finest, and you can taste why. The Arcanum is a robust but not overpowering wine, with notes of flowers, fig, chocolate and fruit, suitable for drinking now or waiting a few more years.

6 Of The Best Wines For The Holiday SeasonAn ode to merlot, Verite La Muse is inspired by the rich and powerful, yet beautifully refined wines of Pomerol. Offering a bold blend of 85% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, it promises to be a solid favourite at any Christmas dinner party. Allow 4-5 minutes for it to open up.

Powerfully structured, with crackling acidity backing the intense red fruit flavors, layered with minerality. Savory flourishes show on the finish. Best from 2021 through 2025.