Offers a vibrant structure, with sea salt, mineral and savory notes flanking the dried red berry and cherry flavors. Violet and floral accents emerge on the taut, leafy finish. Best from 2022 through 2025.

There's a minerally core to the intense and powerful ripe red fruit and berry flavors. Underbrush notes midpalate lead to a sanguine essence on the structured finish. Drink now through 2025.

Well-focused and juicy, with loamy hints to the red plum and berry flavors, featuring a cedar note. Leafy accents emerge on the rich, minerally finish. Drink now through 2023.

Harmonious and polished, featuring elegant raspberry and blueberry flavors, laced with cinnamon and spice details and finishing with sleek tannins. Drink now through 2025.

Hints of gunflint and graphite accent the dried dark fruit and spice flavors, backed by firm acidity and tannins. Forest floor elements show on the savory finish. Drink now through 2024.

Explosively fruity, featuring raspberry, red currant and red plum flavors, with zesty acidity and minerality. Pastry accents linger on the spicy finish. Drink now through 2024.

Firmly structured, with focused flavors of dark currant, green olive and dried raspberry flanked by accents of beef carpaccio and savory minerality. Drink now through 2024.

Firm, with a flinty aspect to the dried dark fruit and cooking spice flavors, framed by medium-grained tannins and leafy accents. Loamy finish. Drink now through 2023.

Crushed cherry and raspberry tart flavors are lively and open-textured in this fruity style. Red licorice hints emerge on the zesty, lightly spiced finish. Drink now through 2023.

Fresh and fruity, with buoyant raspberry and cherry flavors, backed by crisp acidity. The lithe finish offers light mineral and spice notes. Drink now through 2023.

Well-built and elegantly focused, with expressive raspberry, sweet anise and black tea flavors that take on richness toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2026.

Freshly crushed plum and cherry flavors are supported by crisp acidity. Flinty accents show on the juicy finish, with cocoa powder and floral hints.

Juicy, with flavors of raspberry, red currant and cherry tart, backed by crunchy acidity. Hints of red licorice show midpalate, leading to a snappy, spicy finish. Drink now through 2022.

Trim, with juicy red plum and strawberry flavors, backed by crisp acidity. Undercurrents of fresh herb show on the finish. Drink now through 2022.

Mineral-driven, with freshly crushed red cherry and macerated plum flavors that offer plenty of toasty accents. Spicy finish. Drink now.

Intense notes of underbrush flank the crushed red fruit flavors, offering hints of dried mint. Delivers a crisp finish, with accents of white pepper. Drink now through 2022.

Creamy, with hints of sandalwood and crushed stone to the dried red fruit flavors. Plush and well-spiced finish. Drink now.

A beefy aroma introduces this red, with concentrated dried thyme and minty notes accenting the dried berry flavors. Cedar spice on the finish. Drink now.

Back when things were normal, I met and chatted with La Crema’s winemaker, Jen Walsh, at our Rancho Mirage Wine & Food festival. She was pouring the 2017 La Crema Chardonnay Russian River Valley Saralee’s Vineyard. The wine is elegant and focused on the Chard grape. Catch the apple, pear tart, and dried apricot aromas & flavors with hints of crème brûlée. Fresh minerality shows throughout. It’ll be a treat for the holiday table.

Today’s featured wine for Merlot Month is the Mt. Brave Merlot 2016, Mt. Veeder, a wine that qualifies on any scale of grandeur, seriousness and Olympian stature. The property occupies the old Chateau Potelle estate, acquired by Jackson Family Wines in 2007. The vineyards lie at 1,400 to 1,800 feet elevation, above the fog line; the thin, nutrient-poor soil consists of gravelly loam and various size rocks that require the vines to work hard for water and sustenance. This is a blend of 82 percent merlot and 18 percent malbec, fermented with native yeasts, aged 20 months in French oak, 73 percent new barrels, bottled with no fining or filtering. The color is opaque purple-black; the first impression is of mountainside grape character — mint, iodine and iron, cedar, sage and bay leaf; it takes a few minutes for intense and concentrated elements of black currants, raspberries and blueberries to assert themselves; another few moments bring notes of crushed lavender and violets; the wine is — no surprise! — dense, chewy, lithe and supple, bolstered by deeply-rooted dusty tannins and bastions of burnished oak; black and blue fruit flows sleek on the palate, propelled by blazing acidity and a scintillating quality of chiseled granitic minerality. 15.1 percent alcohol, but the alcohol level does not dominate a young, bold, muscular package. Now — somewhat guardedly, with a medium-rare ribeye steak, hot and crusty from the grill — through 2028 to ’32.

Freemark Abbey traces its history back to 1886, when it was one of the original 13 wineriesoperating in Napa Valley. The 2015 vintage was produced by winemaker Ted Edwards, whorecently retired after working at Freemark Abbey for 40 years. Full-bodied and richlystructured, this is a serious expression of cabernet, with a core of dark fruit, firm tannins and apersistent finish. It’s built to last. Drink now to 2035.

Matanzas Creek Winery Sonoma County 2018 Chardonnay was a medium yellow gold color clearing towards the rim.Smells of Mandarin zest, green melon rind, Lemon meringue pie, and a hint of white pepper were excellent.Medium-plus body managed soft acidity, and good flavors of cantaloupe and apples, with a touch of vanilla and ginger.Finished well on a balanced 14.1% alcohol (I thought it might be a tad higher), a whisper of oak, and the fading palate.Paired perfectly with my salt and vinegar fried chicken wings.

This is nice composite of Napa's smooth styling a cabernet's rugged character. The nose shows generous blackberry, herbal, tobacco and oak notes, while the mid palate delivers body, some lushness and sweetness. The alcohol is warm, the tannins are quite chewy and drying. The length is very good to excellent. I would age this five years.