This dark yellow colored Chardonnay from Kendall Jackson is very good. It opens with a fragrant pineapple, oak and lemon bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced and has a very soft and round mouthfeel. The flavor profile is a grilled pineapple and toasted oak blend with notes of lemon. I also detected a hint of minerality, vanilla and green apple. The finish is pleasant and drifts away nicely. I would most likely drink this very nice Chard on its own. With food, I would pick a lobster.

Savory nose; toasty and fresh, smoky and balanced; earthy, restrained and long.

Vibrant and floral, with expressive honeysuckle, peach and lemon flavors that dance on a sleek and supple finish.

Fruity, with touches of richness and flinty hints accenting the red berry and plum flavors. Light raspberry cream notes show on the spicy finish. Drink now through 2022.

Juicy, with concentrated raspberry and red cherry flavors that are lightly spiced. Forest floor notes show on the finish. Drink now through 2022.

Lip-smacking flavors of plum tart, raspberry and loganberry are supported by medium-grained tannins. Hints of tangerine show on the crisp finish. Drink now.

Crisp and focused, with vibrant cherry and raspberry flavors. Pretty floral notes show midpalate, featuring a fruity finish that lingers with hints of cardamom. Drink now through 2021.

Snappy, with red currant and cherry pie flavors that feature smoky and steeped tea notes. Crisp finish. Drink now.

Crushed cherry and macerated red plum flavors are fresh and crisp. The lightly minerally finish offers underbrush hints. Drink now.

Offers a vein of dried strawberry notes to the baked cherry and plum tart flavors. Features a crisp, juicy finish. Drink now.

50% Zinfandel; 36% Syrah; 5% Petite Sirah; 9% other. Redolent of ripe berries and plums on the nose and geared to fairly direct, very like-minded fruit in taste, this easy going wine is balanced and rounded in feel with a trim of next-to-unnoticeable tannins. It is far from soul-stirring stuff, but it is a tasty, well-made effort that is priced right for unceremonious drinking with summery grilled meats of all kinds. Good value.

19% Petite Sirah; 3% Syrah. Sporting enough blackberry fruit to work its way into clear varietal territory and ripe to the point of flirting with notes of dark chocolate throughout its length, this beefy youngster wants for a little more brightness and bounce and its evident finishing tannins speak clearly of its considerable percentage of Petite Sirah.

This wine is sourced from a number of vineyards throughout the Sonoma Coast, using inland vineyards to give a soft plushness to the wine and southern vineyards for fruit and mineral verve. This pleasing Chard is bright and fresh with yellow apple, peach and subtle baking spice flavours. Invitingly creamy on the palate with a bright zip of mouthwatering acidity, this is a great pairing for grilled freshwater fish, turkey burgers and mango salads. 3½ stars

This light-ruby rosé comes from an appellation that is blessed by the cooling winds off the Pacific's Monterey Bay. That freshness translates to aromas of strawberries and watermelon, vanilla, cedar and tangerine, which lead to a tangy and off-dry palate with exuberant fruit and a slick, fresh finish. 4 stars.

The Vintner's Reserve label is best known for its rich and ripe Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings, which are staples on Canadian wine shelves. Made in a similar vein, here's a ripe and fleshy style of Pinot Noir with a crowd-pleasing full-body and smooth texture. A mix of spice and smoke notes add interest to the core of fruit, which reveal sweet strawberry and plummy notes. The rich and flavourful style makes it easy to appreciate. Drink now to 2022. 4 stars.

Thirty years on and Kendall-Jackson's Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay continues to be one of California's most successful brands. Made in a rich and rewarding style, this attractive Chardonnay offers appealing tropical and peachy fruit accented by smoke, toast and sweet oak notes. The rich and flavourful style is mouthfilling yet balanced, with a long, persistent finish. Drink now or over the next two years. 4 stars.

Look for very attractive flavours in this food-friendly Cabernet. They're concentrated but by no means intense, and in fact the wine is balanced and judiciously crafted throughout - an excellent answer to the widespread notion that California Cabs are all heavy fruit. The acidity is fresh and well calibrated and the tannins have a slight nip and are easily managed. 4½ stars.

This pale pink colored Rose of Pinot Noir from WillaKenzie is very good. It opens with a red cherry and orange zest bouquet with a hint of watermelon. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied and nicely balanced between its acidity and flavors. Those flavors are a gentle minerality mixed in with watermelon. I also detected hints plum and a touch of nectarine. The finish is dry and refreshing. This Rose is a quaffer and will be a crowd pleaser. Share it slightly chilled at the beach with friends. It won’t last long. Very good.

Drink Like the Monterey ‘Five’ and Try These California Wines while Watching ‘Big Little Lies’ This rosé is as delicate as our dear fragile Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) but it still radiates with vibrant personality similar to the woman we knew before she fatally pushed Celeste's abusive last season. Aromas of pink grapefruit and guava are unmissable while the wine fleshes out with crisp notes of watermelon, strawberry and blood orange.

Red Hot? Hot and cool on new Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from Siduri A cooler customer yet, Siduri's 2017 Edmeades Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ($50) has an even more limpid, raspberry red hue, and a charming scent of raspberry pastille—pardon the fancy wine argot, but Jolly Rancher just won't do—and milk chocolate. This is silky, too, but higher acidity lends it a sterner, more structured palate impression. The better option to serve with lighter summer fare off the grill, or to put in a bag and blind taste alongside a wine from Burgundy, France—where it's forecast to hit 100 degrees on Wednesday, June 26.

Red Hot? Hot and cool on new Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from Siduri Siduri's 2017 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ($40) blends fruit from three vineyards, up to 2,000 feet in elevation. This silky, light-hued Pinot shows woodsy and spicy, like split redwood. With flavors of strawberry and cranberry jam, and a hint of mint—or that Anderson Valley hallmark, pennyroyal—it's on the warmer side of cool Pinot. Crack the screw cap and sip as an aperitif.

A few suggestions make life rosé-ier THE SPLURGES 2018 La Crema Monterey Rosé of Pinot Noir, California

La Crema 2017 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast, Ca.) offers moderate oak spice, butterscotch and vanilla, but plenty of bright apple fruit with lemon, too.

Light yellow hue with a spicy, stone fruit bouquet, apricot and fig flavours predominating. There is richness and roundness, with a substantial phenolic grip and a faint trace of bitterness, which is perfectly acceptable. A full-bodied, ample white wine with generous flavour and some viscosity. It would make an excellent food wine. (Fermented in ceramic eggs. Two-thirds fermented on skins with extended skin contact; one-third fermented without skins)

The wine showed a pale pink color. Cherry, strawberry, cream, raspberry, slate and pithy lemon all arrived on the nose. Cherry, watermelon, raspberry, lemon, slate and hints of peach followed on the palate where the berry and stone fruit showed a lovely marriage as the wine opened up. The wine exhibited great acidity and minerality, along with good structure and length. This wine would be a great aperitif on a warm afternoon and would pair nicely with steamed clams or grilled salmon.