Fresh aromas of lemon balm and lemon verbena meet with exotic melon, blistered almond and sliced tangerine on the nose of this bottling. The palate is a bit more ripe, yet still chiseled in tone, offering crushed white rock, apple flesh and more tangerine before the vanilla and caramel spices pop on the finish.

A 100% varietal white fermented and aged in concrete egg and neutral French oak, this wine succeeds in its gorgeously sleek, focused and fresh lemon and earthiness. Crisp and bright throughout, it has a succulent, memorable finish of light spice and stone.

This wine’s bold, succulent black cherry flavor has the energy to override its oak aging, layering that tight fruit ripeness over sweet touches of caramel and almond. This is clean and spicy in its flavor detail, its acidity gentled by supple sweetness even as it keeps moving the flavors forward. Delicious with tea-smoked duck.

Enticing notes of pencil shavings and sweet spice are front and center on the nose, with additional aromas of baked apple, pressed yellow flowers and orange oil. The palate shows great balance, with a bright seam of acidity that keeps the apple and orange fruit pure and focused. Lovely accents of toasted brioche and wood spice carry the enduring finish.

Give this Yarra Valley Chardonnay, from renowned producer Giant Steps, some time in the glass or decanter to open up, for it's a subtle and somewhat reductive wine at first that needs some air (it also may need a few more months in bottle to knit together). With time, it unveils delicate, pretty notes of citrus blossom, ginger and flinty minerality. While there's less texture and complexity here than on this producer's Sexton Vineyard Chard, this is nevertheless a balanced and ultra food-friendly drop.

Coming from vines 200 meters higher and nine years younger than this producer's other single-vineyard Chard, Tarraford, this wine is clearly made in the same vein, but shows distinctive differences. Less fruity, this vintage is initially a touch reductive and oaked, but as it warms in the glass, notes of salted nuts and honey, along with delicate citrus, float to the fore. The palate is richly textured and laced with minerals. The wood is present but not overwhelming. It's very approachable now, and while it may not age quite as long as its counterpart, there's enough length, depth and harmony for another six to eight years of happy cellaring.

Special Report: Chianti Classico This 2,500-acre estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, owned by California’s Jackson Family Wines, sources grapes for its Riserva from south-facing blocks, where the fruit ripens into flavors of black raspberry, cassis and roasted red pepper. Ten months of aging in French oak barriques enriches those deep fruit tones with notes of dark chocolate, vanilla and peppery spice. Best Buy.

From rolling hills in the shadow of the Santa Lucia Highlands, this wine leads with scents of cedar, hinting at oak; its flavors are lined with wintry spice, the textures silky, finely woven and calling for sturgeon.

White and yellow peach aromas meet with seared pear, grapefruit rind and sea salt on the nose of this bottling. It's very lively on the palate with a strong citrus tang that cuts through the underlying viscosity, finishing on a nutty kick.

This impressive wine is sourced from stellar sites, including Stagecoach, Cardinale and Bosche. Made in a 100% varietal manner, it is plush and expansive on the palate, rich and round in smoothly integrated red plum and cherry with accents of herb, tobacco, leather and black pepper.

This grows at a Jackson Family vineyard in Occidental, neighboring Coastlands. Jeff Stewart captured the cool site in a brisk 2017 with vibrant notes of sour cherry and nori that contrast with the smoky, black density of its tannins. The extract is a little bitter for now, the wine needing bottle age to mellow and integrate.

Scents of lilac and creosote give the wine a strong chaparral feel. The flavors are all dark cherry, the texture tense and compact at once, with the stuffing to age. Cellar.

This has a brooding scent of tobacco, burnished wood and a whiff of blood. It’s compact and savory, with a spicy finish for beef stew.

Fruity, smooth and slightly spicy, this medium-bodied wine is a crowd-pleaser. Still one of the best Chardonnays with the broad California label designation, it offers delicious peach, ginger and vanilla flavors, and a good balance between ripeness and crispness.

Herbal, meaty and generously fruity in plum and dark cherry, this wine is approachable and deeply concentrated, with ample complexity around its soft, supple tannin profile and integrated oak. The finish is textured and dusty in crushed rock.

Earthy forest and damp earth make it clear this is from a wild, mountainous site, the texture rich and rounded with a pronounced profile of oak and tannin. Red and black cherry combine with the savory characteristics to flesh out the full-bodied concentration.

Opulent aromas of butter cream, orange rind and lime balm show on the nose of this widely available and ever-popular bottling. Roasted apples, clove and more baking-spice flavors arise on the smoothed-out palate.

French CandorSonoma’s Vérité Winery ups the ante on Bordeaux-style vintages to Create A Category All Its OwnTasting the three Vérité wines together is an exercise in hedonism...The 2016 Le Désir (82 percent Cabernet Franc, 12 percent Merlot, and 6 percent Malbec) tastes aggressive and spicy on entry but is followed by an unctuous midpalate and poised mouth feel.

French CandorSonoma’s Vérité Winery ups the ante on Bordeaux-style vintages to Create A Category All Its OwnTasting the three Vérité wines together is an exercise in hedonism...2016 La Joie (84 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 percent Merlot, and 5 percent Petit Verdot) emanates elegant complexity, with spice and pinpoint acidity highlighting hints of blackberry and black plum.

French CandorSonoma’s Vérité Winery ups the ante on Bordeaux-style vintages to Create A Category All Its OwnTasting the three Vérité wines together is an exercise in hedonism. The 2016 La Muse (93 percent Merlot, 5 percent Cabernet Franc, and 2 percent Malbec) exudes aromas of black cherries and fresh herbs; it sits rich and luxurious in the mouth, with an opulent texture full of black fruit flavors that echo on a long finish.

Light reds, rich whites pair well with Easter fareCalifornia pinot noir can be very rich and flavorful, and strong enough to cross over to lamb and kielbasa. One of those is Cambria Clone 4 Santa Maria Valley 2015 Pinot Noir, with spicy cocoa smells and an earthy, cherry character with a very soft landing.

Roussanne, an important white grape in the Rhône Valley, has taken hold in Australia. Though usually blended with Marsanne and other varieties, Yangarra uses it exclusively in this wine. The grape takes its name from the russet (roux) like color of the mature grapes, according to Jancis Robinson et al’s Wine Grapes. That explains the name Yangarra uses for the wine. It's apt because the wine is beautiful, though not for everyone. You need to like minerals and bitterness. Slightly floral, it conveys stone fruit-like flavors with a hint of bitterness in the finish. Though by no means voluptuous, it is gorgeously textured. It expands and draws you in as it sits in the glass. The wine screams for food, a sautéed chicken with mushrooms, perhaps.

Opens with steely elegance and gently expands and fleshes out, featuring refined apple, spiced pear and mineral flavors that glide on a vibrant finish.

Many consumers shy away from Riesling because it comes in a range of sweetness, which is not always apparent from the label. Penner-Ash uses the scale developed by the International Riesling Foundation on the back label that indicates this wine is “medium dry” on the scale that goes from “dry” (the least sweet) to “sweet” with “medium dry” and “medium sweet” in between. Basically, a 1 to 4 scale going from dry to sweet. What’s really important though is the wonderful balance of this Riesling. There’s terrific ying-yang of a hint of sweetness offset perfectly by a lime-like zing. There’s a hint of sweetness in the finish, but the overall impression is one of zesty minerals. It would be a perfect choice as a refreshing aperitif, with full-flavored Asian cuisine or with cheese at the end of a meal.

Twenty years ago world-class Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands was a mere pipe dream. Today this cool region in the midst of Monterey County stands as one of finest sources in California – along with the Russian River Valley and the Anderson Valley – for top-notch Pinot Noir. The 2017 La Crema offers a richly layered palate, with aromas of cherry and strawberry, complemented nicely by a touch of wood spice.