Opulent and spicy, this medium-bodied wine shows tempting dark spices of clove and toasted oak along with ripe black-cherry flavors and a velvety texture. A good structure of fine-grained tannins adds an appetizing grip. Bestthrough 2027.

An enticing aroma of violets and dark chocolate leads to concentrated, deep flavors that are beefy, berry-like and a bit peppery, giving the wine lots of complexity and interest. Fine-grained tannins add nicely to the mouthfeel. Best from 2024.

Fermented in French puncheons, matured in new (20%) and used French oak for 10 months. Nutty, spicy oak and yeasty lees character (despite no bâtonnage ) is the first impression on the bouquet; green apple and citrus in the background. Taut and acid-driven as it is through the palate, there's also subtle fruit sweetness there, and both aspects linger in the finish and aftertaste. Cool and classy.

Parcels of whole-bunch and destemmed fruit; both small oak and open ferments; 8 months in French barriques, 25% new. Cherries and floral notes the main theme on the bouquet, some whole-bunch character and oak in the mix as well. The warmth of the vintage presents itself in the sweet-tinged feel, but the generous flavours of red fruit and spice are attractive and balanced by the lightly grippy finish.

Not your average buttery Chardonnay, this dry, subtle and bracing wine is driven by minerality, as a chalky and almost metallic sensation dominates subtle apple, almond and lemon-zest notes. Best through 2025.

This flavorful and well-balanced wine offers generous strawberry and cherry flavors, a broad mouthfeel and just a touch of tannin for texture. It’s full bodied, moderately spicy and quite expressive overall. Best through 2027.

Nicely ripe fruit aromas and flavors meet seductive baking-spice and chocolate accents in this medium-bodied, poised and silky textured wine. It’s surprisingly elegant and well balanced for a wine so concentrated.

Fresh Granny Smith–apple crunch and vibrant lime zestiness focus this wine on the coast and the grape, tamping down the oak influence to a structural component. The grapes are predominantly from Tom Dehlinger’s vineyardon Laguna Ridge, where the vines are more than 40 years old. They deliver a tight wine with firm minerality, giving it a brisk uplift in the end.

Cambria’s clone 4 selections trace their lineage back to the Martini selections propagated by UC Davis professors in the 1950s. They grew a wine that feels rich and tropical at first, then becomes complex with exposure to air, with notes of golden apple, raisin and nutty sunflower seeds. Broad, powerful and focused, this should reward some cellar time.

This layered wine comes from the neighbors’ grapes, largely the noted Ferrington Vineyard, and offers enticing apple-pie aromas, ripe and zesty citrus and apple-skin flavors and a nicely tangy, almost chewy texture. Aged in95% used oak barrels, it’s a complex and tempting wine.

Wild in forest floor, with a velvety texture, this coastal wine shows elegant layers of plum, wild strawberry and black tea. Additional savory components of clove and cardamom contribute sizzle to its exotic, ethereal nature.

This relatively light-bodied wine is broad and delicious, layering baking spices like cinnamon, vanilla and clove over considerable black-cherry flavors. It highlights the Anderson Valley’s fresh fruitiness and supple texture.

Graham Weerts blends this wine from two of the top parcels at the Jackson family’s Alexander Mountain Estate, Upper Barn and Cougar Ridge. It’s a bold chardonnay, powerful in flavor yet integrated, its oak prominenteven as the wine feels tense and clean. As it opens with air, the flavors take on the layered richness of an almond confection while the fruit sustains a bright, refreshing lift.

Katherine’s Signature fairly screams benchland, big skies, wispy fog and a warm, sunny oasis of fruit in a cool Central Coast valley. This has a sweeping oak presence, with hints of vanilla and sweet corn. The flavors are rich, the fruit caramelized and broad; a crowd-pleasing white for scallops in brown butter.

Crisp and clean aromas of strawberry, watermelon, chalk and citrus pith make for a very compelling nose on this bottling. There’s a great snap to the palate, where pure but delicate strawberry flavors leveled by an ashy streak.

A broad, substantial chardonnay that focuses on earthy notes and buttery richness, this is tightly structured and firm for its size. Full and generous, it will stand next to roasted white meats and creamy mushroom sauces.

This marks Ryan Zepaltas’s first vintage at Copain, after years of splitting his winemaking style between the opulently ripe Siduri releases and his own tight cool-climate wines under the Zepaltas label. He made thiswine from a vineyard in the eastern hills of Anderson Valley, the vines planted in 2011 at 2,200 feet in elevation. It balances a feeling of cool altitude with leesy, oxidative notes of buttered almonds and floral spice.

This starts off all smoke and lees, then becomes loamy and rich, with caramelized apple flavors and a honeyed texture, rich and composed.

Part of the Jackson Family portfolio, this widely-available wine marries spicy berry and black-cherry fruit to barrel flavors of cocoa powder. Tannins are buffed to a fine gloss, and come to a final focus with a hint of green tea. Some 23% was aged in new French oak.

Lots of bright, ripe fruit flavors and great acidity give this full-bodied wine plenty of charm. Tangy citrus and apricot aromas meet zesty but rich flavors in this superconsistent wine.

This is a ripe, rich and smooth wine that coats the palate with delicious blackberry and baking-spice flavors. It’s full bodied, moderately tannic and has a good, mouth-filling texture.

A generous chardonnay that smells of benchland warmth, this leads with aromas of nougat and roasted nuts, opening to tropical fruit flavors, with a hint of lemon. It’s got the brightness for savory dishes, like black cod.

Salty and lean, with a sea-wrack scent and lemon-lime flavors framed by nutty lees notes, this is chalky and brisk, well put together for char-grilled chicken.

This is a steal: Simple and clean, with scents of lemon and lime dusted with zinc, this has a brushed-steel smoothness and invigorating acids; for a chicken sandwich.

The 2016 Les Cadrans de Lassegue Saint-Emilion Grand Cru is a shining example. Winemaker and co-owner Pierre Seillan selects specific blocks of the vineyard to harvest and vinify for the second-label Les Cadrans de Lassegue. The warm, dry summer and harvest season yielded richly flavored fruit with good tannins and acidity, making 2016 another sought-after Bordeaux vintage in a string of five, starting with the 2014.Made from a blend of 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc, Les Cadrans’ opaque black color, and intense black fruit and coffee aromas and flavors have a New World style. It opened up and showed better balance after being in a decanter for two hours. This is a second-label wine that will benefit with two or three years cellaring.