How To Drink Like A Royal: California Wine Breaks New Ground At England’s Guards Polo Club A Cabernet Sauvignon focused wine with a pinch of Merlot and bit of Petit Verdot. Dominant notes of red currant, plums and dried herbs are supported by beautiful structure and polished tannins.

How To Drink Like A Royal: California Wine Breaks New Ground At England’s Guards Polo Club A Merlot-dominant blend with a bit of Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The palate is rich with blueberries, blackberries, earth, cassis and chocolate. Finely tuned, built to age but polished enough to open now.

Well aren't you adorbs. Here we have a really nice American Cab that’s wrapped up in a nice little package checking off all the boxes; and it’s only a little over twenty bucks. Dark fruit vibes, check. Cracked black pepper woven in, check. Good tannin structure that is prominent but blended well, check. If you bring this to any gathering let’em know who brought it and tell’em VinePair sent ya. B+.

Aged in 100% French oak for 10 months, this is a Pinot with definite echoes of Old World flavors. Cola, tea and baking spices are apparent on the nose with predominant black plum flavors and a hint of chocolate or cocoa. Round, integrated tannins lead to a lengthy finish.

A little pricey, but worth it, complex fruit, layers of flavor, spice, cedar.

VALUE FOR THE MONEY $24 buys you a first class Napa Chardonnay.

Very well made SB, smooth with perfect bracing acid, bright flavors.

We may be going back a bit into the Global Masters archives, but with California Wine Month well under way, we wanted to celebrate a brilliant bottle that’s distinctly Golden State. This wine hails from our Sauvignon Blanc Masters in 2015, where it took the position as the outstanding sample of the day, becoming the only entry to gain the title of Master: the ultimate accolade for the very best examples of their type. The wine was from Stonestreet Estate Vineyards in Sonoma, a property spread across the Mayacamas Mountains on California’s north coast, and one that’s best known for its seductive and refreshing results with Chardonnay as well as Cabernet. But, as we discovered that day, this estate, with vineyards at around 300 metres above sea level, also produces first-rate Sauvignon Blanc in a similar mould to its other wines, and by that, I mean a style that is rich, but also bright. Indeed, this particular wine, a top-end, barrel-fermented Sauvignon, is more like a great white Bordeaux from Graves, with peach, passion fruit, and a touch of cleansing pink grapefruit, complemented by a lovely creamy taste and texture, along with a hint of vanilla. Think of a freshly prepared salad of citrus and yellow fruit, topped with a touch of ice cream, and you can imagine the flavour combination – this is a wine that is both indulgent and cleansing, and, in terms of foods, a brilliant match for a range of demanding ingredients, from herbal garnishes such as dill, to buttery sauces on a wide array of dishes, from fish to white meats, or vegetables such as asparagus or artichoke. The wine we awarded was from the 2012 vintage, and the current release is 2015, as this is a wine that benefits from a bit of time maturing in bottle before consumption. In terms of the technical details, the Sauvignon for the Aurora Point comes from north east facing slopes at 300m elevation, and the grapes are harvested by hand, pressed gently, and then fermented in oak puncheons (500 litre barrels), followed by seven months ageing in “neutral oak” puncheons, before bottling in April. Fewer than 300 cases are made of this wine. Finally, for those of you who might be surprised at the decision to ferment and age a Sauvignon Blanc in wood – after all, the grape is associated with linear, lemongrass and lime-zest whites – it follows a long tradition of marrying this grape with oak in both Bordeaux but also California, where Robert Mondavi coined the term Fumé Blanc in the 60s to reflect the smoky, toasty, dry, fresh character of first-rate barrel-influenced Sauvignon – differentiating it from lesser-quality, often sweet examples (the grape had come from Bordeaux to California in the late 1800s).

Matanzas Creek has a long and storied history with merlot, good times and bad. In the beginning, Matanzas (along with Duckhorn and a couple of other notables) had the novel idea (at the time) to present merlot as a stand-alone wine. It had previously been used almost exclusively as a blending component of most cabernet-centric California wines. The Matanzas merlot of the 1980s was well-received and helped put the Sonoma Valley winery on the map. As if to confirm its faith in the merlot grape, nearly 30 years ago, the winery planted the Petrus clone of merlot and created its flagship red blend, Journey. Petrus, of course, is the infamous chateau in the Pomerol district of Bordeaux and 100 percent merlot. The 2015 Journey is an extension of the original concept: a rich, lush merlot-based red (approximately 70 percent merlot, 30 percent cabernet sauvignon) that is beautifully perfumed, with complex notes of red and black fruits, impressive depth and a structure that suggests it will age well over 15 to 20 years.

The 2015 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir underwent 50% whole cluster fermentation and is sourced from vines set on Jory soils. The nose shows really good range from blood orange zest to nutmeg to shades of white truffle that all excite in the glass. The silky texture glides through the mid-palate. Showing copious red and dark fruits with wild mushroom, this beautiful wine is drinking marvelously now but will have a long life in the cellar.

La Crema can generally be counted on to produce big, bold wines and this rosé is no exception. Although I generally prefer nuanced, more delicate rosés, perhaps what I particularly like about this voluptuous wine is the way it spreads juicily across the palate, a textural more than a flavor characteristic. The flavors themselves express full fruity charisma that’s nicely balanced by little starlight-bursts of acidity. The wine is the color of a ripe orange sunset hanging low in the late summer sky.

Beyond Biodynamics: 6 Sustainable Wine Brands To Try 1/6 Who said sustainability has to feel austere? This merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend from Jackson Family Wines of California’s Sonoma County was created to rival Pomerol’s Pétrus. With its luscious red cherry and undergrowth aromas (and the knowledge that it comes from a low water-usage, largely solar-powered winery), it will make you feel simultaneously indulged and deeply virtuous.

Forward, but not without focus; burly, but not without beauty. B+

Cherry, pencil and spice on the nose and palate. Lingering finish. Very good.

Enticing aromas of ripe red cherry and alpine strawberry are fruity but elegant on the nose, lifted by touches of rose petal and hibiscus. The palate offers pure flavors of boysenberry and black plum alongside touches of fennel, nutmeg, mace and a pinch of curry. It is very complex and vividly fresh.

Greg Brewer's hallmark on these wines are a purity of fruit, which, in this case, arises as strawberry sorbet on the nose, with hints of thyme and tarragon. That red-fruit focus spreads into the palate, where hints of cherry tomatoes and pepper dust lead into complex herbs and spearmint toward the finish.

Buoyant aromas of Bing cherry and raspberry sorbet are layered with lavender and rose buds on the elegant, approachable nose of this single-vineyard bottling. The palate is crisp in an underripe cherry flavor, with a taut texture and accents of mace and star anise on the finish.

Aromas of chamomile, lemon blossom and sweet lime peel meet with an underlying hint of walnut oil and sour cream on the nose of this bottling by Greg Brewer. The palate's compelling texture is simultaneously oily and chalky, with expertly integrated acidity carrying flavors of peach extract and labneh.

There's a purity of fruit and herb to Greg Brewer's style that shines through even on this appellation blend. Aromas of candied raspberry and strawberry pair with damp sage, pine oil and green peppercorn on the nose. The pristine palate's crisp pomegranate and fresh raspberry flavors are instantly cut by eucalyptus and green tobacco leaf.

South Africa 2019 Special Report Big, bold, rich and reflecting something of the heat of the 2016 vintage, this ambitious, high-end Chardonnay combines fruit from a series of selected Western Cape sites. Savoury, toasty and leesy, it needs a little more time in bottle to absorb its oak.

Broad aromas of pineapple, pear and fresh plumeria show on the nose of this bottling by Greg Brewer. The palate zips with acidity, delivering flavors of guava, Pink Lady apple, pineapple and more ripe pear.

Greg Brewer explores the savory side of Syrah in this bottling, which delivers aromas of thyme, green peppercorn, charred beef and elderberry on the nose. The palate packs in herbs and peppercorns but also thicker black-currant flavors, providing both flavorful depth and textural richness.

This bottling's nose is delicate yet focused with aromas of lemon blossoms, lemon candy, lemon balm and lemon verbena, as well as a touch of nectarine. The sip snaps with green-citrus flavors of grapefruit before warming up toward brioche with lemon filling, all surrounding lively acidity and compelling texture.

This appellation blend carries that aromatic hallmark of this winery's Chardonnays, with a streak of walnut oil that decorates the marmalade and toast tones. The palate is bright in acidity, giving energy to the flavors of walnut paste, dried orange peel and sun-dried honeysuckle.

Thick tannins wrap around juicy jammy flavors of blueberry and black cherry in this concentrated and savory, earthy wine. Additional aspects of dried herb, tobacco and a touch of vanilla round out the full-bodied experience.