Fragrant, creamy, rich merlot with a sweet impression on the palate, abetted by a significant dose of sweet oak influence, this wine is made for maximum appeal, and achieves it. Tannins are broad-grained and plush, and the flavours spin in the black fruit spectrum, ripe and slightly jammy-sweet. Broad and plush, satisfying, a cold winters' nigh sort of wine. Tasted August 2019.

Here's a very fragrant merlot with nicely lifted red berry, herbs, vanillin, spice and some toast. A modern classic. It is full bodied, fairly dense, warm and juicy with good acidity and firm, slightly green tannin. Good tension here if still riding roughshod and warm at the moment. The length is excellent. Best 2020 to 2025. Last tasted August 2019.

This ruby colored entry level Cabernet Sauvignon from Kendall Jackson is a nice everyday offering. It opens with fragrant cranberry and red currant bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, round and pleasant. The flavor profile is an oak influenced black cherry with hints of craisin and red raspberry. The finish is dry and subtly fades away. While this Cab is not complex, it is quite friendly and would pair well with many foods off the grill. I would pair it with a bacon burger. Very good.

This domestic producer offers a lot of fruit in the nose and mouth of their rosé . Notes of strawberry and citrus dominate this luscious wine ending with a pleasant mouth filling experience.

Smooth and silky, Julia’s Vineyard 2015 Pinot Noir offers hints of blueberry and cranberry with a subtle tug of earthiness underlying the basic flavor profile. Soft tannins and a finish that lingers are among this pretty wine’s attributes.

The Tuscan Masters 2019: Gold

The Tuscan Masters 2019: Gold

The Tuscan Masters 2019: Gold

Wines of the Week: Bargains for Your BBQ This labor day weekend (or any weekend for that matter), if you’re getting together with friends and family to enjoy some good,old-fashion BBQ, then our tasting panel has some wines for you. They’re all reasonably price and tasty. Cheers and enjoy! Blackberry, cherry, and plum aromas come together with accents of dark chocolate and toasty brown spice on the nose. With a sip, flavors of red plums and cherries unfold into elements of cocoa, cinnamon, and clove. Offering plush tannins and a balanced acidity, it will pair well with a hamburger.

This medium golden yellow colored Riesling opens with a yellow peach bouquet with hints of overripe mango and matchstick. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced and soothing. The flavor profile is a tasty mild lime and gentle mineral blend with notes of Chamomile tea. We also detected hints of yellow grapefruit. The finish is dry and drift away nicely. I would pair this Riesling with swordfish skewers.

Gamay Noir Wine Is a Cult Classic That’s Here to Stay For a version that shows darker-toned fruit, this wine is still nice and zippy. It’s still plenty fresh, despite being in the bottle for a couple of years.

Among the reds, it is worth noting that Tuscany offers an enormous amount for the fine wine lover, with greatness found in the famous names of the area: Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, and Montalcino, as well as wonderful offerings beyond the established – the IGT classified wines can really deliver. And, as we are focused on the latter, one name that attracted plenty of praise, picking up three golds, was Arcanum, for its wonderful, structured reds employing Bordeaux grapes. Using fruit from the southeast corner of Chianti Classico, this brand – which is owned by Jackson Family Wines – specialises in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, not Sangiovese, hence its wines are classified as IGT Toscana. All the labels from this name were delicious, but the most impressive was the Merlot-dominated Arcanum ‘Valadorna’ from the 2013 vintage, with layers of fleshy ripe Morello cherry, sweet balsamic, vanilla and plenty of firm tannins to clean the palate. Delicious now, but with great potential to age and develop greater complexity over time.

Among the reds, it is worth noting that Tuscany offers an enormous amount for the fine wine lover, with greatness found in the famous names of the area: Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, and Montalcino, as well as wonderful offerings beyond the established – the IGT classified wines can really deliver. And, as we are focused on the latter, one name that attracted plenty of praise, picking up three golds, was Arcanum, for its wonderful, structured reds employing Bordeaux grapes. Using fruit from the southeast corner of Chianti Classico, this brand – which is owned by Jackson Family Wines – specialises in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, not Sangiovese, hence its wines are classified as IGT Toscana. All the labels from this name were delicious, but the most impressive was the Merlot-dominated Arcanum ‘Valadorna’ from the 2013 vintage, with layers of fleshy ripe Morello cherry, sweet balsamic, vanilla and plenty of firm tannins to clean the palate. Delicious now, but with great potential to age and develop greater complexity over time.

Among the reds, it is worth noting that Tuscany offers an enormous amount for the fine wine lover, with greatness found in the famous names of the area: Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, and Montalcino, as well as wonderful offerings beyond the established – the IGT classified wines can really deliver. And, as we are focused on the latter, one name that attracted plenty of praise, picking up three golds, was Arcanum, for its wonderful, structured reds employing Bordeaux grapes. Using fruit from the southeast corner of Chianti Classico, this brand – which is owned by Jackson Family Wines – specialises in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, not Sangiovese, hence its wines are classified as IGT Toscana. All the labels from this name were delicious, but the most impressive was the Merlot-dominated Arcanum ‘Valadorna’ from the 2013 vintage, with layers of fleshy ripe Morello cherry, sweet balsamic, vanilla and plenty of firm tannins to clean the palate. Delicious now, but with great potential to age and develop greater complexity over time.

Aromatic, creamy, classic, pure red fruit flavours with vibrant, smooth textures that envelope your palate from front to back is the short story. It’s 14.5 percent alcohol, but you feel none of it amid the savoury mix of minerals and fruit. What makes this so attractive is the exquisite use of not noticeable oak, adding texture and mouthfeel with only the lightest of exacting tannins. Grenache doesn’t get a lot of love from wine critics, but this one should change a few minds about the real potential of this grape variety. Brava Mr. Fraser. High Sands is 100 percent estate-grown grenache from Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. Its gnarly old bush vines were planted in 1946 at the highest point of Yangarra’s white/grey dunes at 210 metres above sea level. Block 31 is 1.7 hectares of dry-farmed 70-year-old bush vines sitting on the deepest sand with the lowest vigour and yield. The vineyard is certified biodynamic. Famed winemaker Peter Fraser employs a wild yeast ferment for the hand-picked fruit and spends 11 months maturing in older French oak. It’s bottled with no fining and light filtration.

Fortress Cabernet Sauvignon – Mighty Tasty Well-built and strongly satisfying Cab from Sonoma County, the Fortress Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 Fortress Cabernet Sauvignon begins with very pleasant aromas of blackberry and vanilla along with some lovely baking spice notes and hints of smoke. Tasting reveals similar flavors on the palate with some nice chocolate and sweet tobacco notes underneath. It’s balanced, smooth and has great depth. The wine ends dry, grippy and long with lingering oaky spice and juicy dark fruit. It’s really good right now, but will probably get even better over the next few years. This is a wine with the unmistakable character of Sonoma/Napa Cab aged for a significant amount of time in oak and that’s a very good thing! Highly Recommended.

A great example of this is the La Crema Chardonnay 2017 from the Sonoma Coast. It is a great wine for summer because it is so crisp and refreshing, but it is a white wine you can drink all year long because of the rich fruit and complex flavors. Above all, it is a round, balanced wine with concentrated flavors of lemon, apple and apricot. A crisp acidity gives it a lively and lingering finish.

Wine of the Week This pinot is a standout because of its complexity and the purity of its fruit, all riding on crisp acid. It’s elegant like a French Burgundy, but you can’t deny its California leanings. What’s remarkable about this Old World/ New World pinot noir is its pitch perfect balance. It’s impressive, a steal for the caliber of pinot. 4½ stars.

Sourced from coastal vineyards in three Cailfornia counties, this unoaked and cold-fermented chardonnay has crisp apple flavors with a touch of lemon and pineapple. It is quite a contrast to the delicious but oaked 2017 Grand Reserve chardonnay we tasted alongside of the Avant.

Sourced from coastal vineyards in three California counties, this unoaked and cold-fermented chardonnay has crisp apple flavors with a touch of lemon and pineapple. It is quite a contrast to the delicious but oaked 2017 Grand Reserve chardonnay we tasted alongside of the Avant.

From Yangarra's highest blocks of 1946 bush vines, planted on soils so sandy they resemble a beach, this biodynamic Grenache is remarkably complex and ageworthy. Driven by minerals, the hot stone and iodine aromas weave seamlessly into softer ones like drying violets, crunchy red fruits, ground pepper and a basket of freshly picked herbs from the garden. The palate has focus, structure and finesse, the signature of a sensitive and highly experienced winemaker (Pete Fraser). Tannins are chalky and fine, pinning in the crunchy high-toned fruit, corset-like, and allowing more terroirs-driven elements to shine through. A berry and wild herb finish lingers on the close.

This is the second release of this wine, sourced from the estate's old bush vines and fermented on skins in large ceramic eggs. The nose is a complex medley of aromas like dried rose petals, brambly red berries, mushrooms, damp earth and what seems like a whole garden of herbs. Texturally, it's like chalk dust, sliced with laser-sharp acidity and wound with tight-grained tannins. A tightrope walk of power and elegance, the bright, juicy fruit and savory, mineral nuances flow right through to the finish.

This packs a wallop of blueberry, açaí and blackberry compote flavors at the core, backed by juicy energy that seemingly won't quit, as waves of anise, bramble and sweet tobacco course through on the finish. Solidly built, with energy and vibrancy to match the density and muscle.

Chockablock with dark fig, boysenberry and blueberry fruit paste flavors inlaid with singed vanilla and apple wood notes, backed by a tarry edge on the finish. A hefty red that needs some cellaring to round into form, but there's fruit to burn here.

This is well-packed, with a range of açaí berry, blueberry and black currant fruit looking to spread its wings, but held in check for now by a wall of graphite-edged grip. Mouthwatering apple wood notes show on the finish. Delivers plenty of energy, so you can wait it out in the cellar.