20 Wines Under $20 You Can Keep In Stock All Year Round

Wine+Food pairing recommendation

Pinot Noir and Copper River Salmon - Part 1 Jackson Estate wines showcase the company’s cherished vineyard estate properties located in the prime growing areas of California. The Petaluma Gap AVA is east of the town of the same name and refers to a gap in the Coast Range that allows cooling ocean breezes to moderate the warm summer California days. The wine offers ripe Pinot Noir aromas and flavors of dark cherry and pomegranate with ample toasty oak, caramel and vanilla to please modern palates.

Wines of the Week 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 adds interest to the core of fruit, which reveal sweet strawberry and plummy notes. The rich and flavourful style makes it easy to appreciate. Four stars.

Napa, Sonoma dominate California Cabernet Sauvignon Over in Sonoma County, several valleys produce really good cabernet. Alexander Valley cabs, especially, can rival Napa. And the prices usually compare favorably. 2014 Kendall-Jackson’s Jackson Estate ($40). The Jackson family has been winegrowers since 1974 and produces a number of excellent Alexander Valley cabs. This one under their flagship brand showcases several estate vineyards with bright fruit, notable structure and rich tannins.

National Chardonnay Day, The K-J Way Always one of the most elegant and well-balanced of the “popular” Sonoma Chardonnays, it shows lots of buttery, tropical fruit, baked apple, clove, and macadamia nut on the nose, with a rich but well-balanced layering of sweet pear, mild vanilla, and a dollop of caramel. National Chardonnay Day may have came and went, but that’s no reason to stop enjoying Chardonnay-based wines … and the Kendall-Jackson “Vintner’s Reserve” Chardonnay 2017 is a great place to start.

Santa Barbara Chardonnay And Pinot Noir Are Made By The Ocean 2017 Kendall-Jackson Estate Camelot Vineyard Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley: orchard fruit, floral, salinity, dried herbs, lean and savory.

Delicious and full-bodied, this Australian gem is loaded with ripe dark fruit and spice. Great, hedonistic texture.

How to Read the Label of a Sonoma Pinot ADVANCED PLACEMENT / Sonoma Pinot Noirs Brimming With Terroir Jeff Stewart makes a range of first-rate, single-vineyard Pinots and also this one, from a blend of several of those sources. Ripe and fairly full bodied, it’s full of juicy red fruit.

The Best Chardonnay Wines That Bordeaux Has To Offer If you are looking for Chardonnay wines in which the elements are made of tropical fruit splash, then the 2016 Hartford Court Chardonnay Four Hearts deems the perfect choice. A bottle of this wine opens an excellent pink grapefruit, pineapple, lemon tart, with apple notes, croissant and nutmeg elements.

For all of its sexy polish, there’s no denying it’s a wild child deep at heart. A-

The wine showed a pale pink color. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry, lemon and slate were each discernible on the nose. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry, peach, lemon candy and slate followed on the palate where the hint of minerality elevated the red berry fruit. The wine exhibited great acidity and balance, along with good structure and length. This wine would do well for solo enjoyment on the patio on a warm spring afternoon. It would also pair well with grilled salmon or a watermelon salad with mint and ricotta salata.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This is an extraordinary wine with blackberries, blackcurrants and minerals. Full body and powerful tannins that melt into the fruit. I am in awe here.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines The violet and lavender aromas are so beautiful. Berries, black olives and spice. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a gorgeous finish. Wonderful. 77 per cent merlot and 23 per cent cabernet sauvignon. The Masseto of Napa.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the grandeur and majesty of the overachieving 2015 Arcanum. The blend is 74% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot. This full-bodied wine is mostly defined by its texture that is exceedingly rich and smooth with significant infusions of blackberry, plum, spice, tobacco and cured leather. The wine achieves beautiful balance, yet it remains intense and powerful all the while.

Whole bunches, wild yeast, open fermenters and all-French oak (35% new). The quality here is sensational. It delivers a power of fruit in the freshest of ways, its glove of smoky/cocoa-like oak the perfect partner. Seriously ultra-fine tannin, and accompanying length, completes what must be described as a beautiful picture.

An outstanding colour with a mulberry hue. Glorious sweet-fruited aromatics. Vibrant, pure, mulberry aromatics. Tight, pure, poised, lively. Not a foot out of place. Perfectly integrated acidity. Magnificent in its composure. Stylish. Will age gracefully. Vibrant and full-bodied.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Wonderful purity of cabernet on the nose with blackcurrants and fresh lavender. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and great beauty in the texture and flavors. It changes all the time. Extremely complex. 84 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 11 per cent merlot and five per cent petit verdot. So approachable, but needs at least three to four years to come together completely.

This light yellow colored Chardonnay from Stonestreet is Excellent and one of the best Chardonnay's that I have covered in a while. It opens with a pleasant pineapple and oak bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium to full bodied, extremely well-balanced and smooth as silk. The flavor profile is a delicious oak and creme brulee blend with notes of mild butterscotch and ripe pear. I also detected hints of pineapple in the background. The finish is dry and its yummy flavors fade away nicely. If you know someone special that loves Chardonnay, share this wine with them and make their day!

From Block 30 (2ha) planted '46 adjacent to the High Sands Block. Hand-picked, destemmed, mechanically berry-sorted, crushed, fermentation and 138 days on skins in 675l ceramic eggs, pressed and returned to the eggs for a further 6 months maturation. Clear, bright crimson, it is 100% fresh and firm, almost to a fault. If this be an issue, all you have to do is watch its triumphal march over the years in your cellar.

A rare mix of power and restraint. Perfectly ripe, bright, concentrated fruit in the red cherry, raspberry and red plum sphere. The palate is captivating with its plush, supple, velvety nature. All of the elements are perfectly integrated. Certified organic and biodynamic. Highly recommended.

A sublime example of McLaren Vale Shiraz. Superbly handled, this has nothing but a beating heart that oozes class and precision. Sourced from a 1.8 hectare site which lies on a gravelly ironstone outcrop. Handpicked with 25% whole bunches used, wild yeast fermented before seeing 15 months in French oak (35% new). The fruit is elegant and glides through the mouth. Beautifully weighted, the balance of fruit and oak is insatiable. Delicate savoury influences are highlighted by fennel, clove and licorice which mesh with ease culminating in a finish which rides long leaving a sexy spicy hum in its wake. Just wow.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines Aromas of dust, currants and black olives. Full body and round, chewy tannins. This is soft and round textured. Juicy and flavorful at the end.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This is a fabulous, merlot-based red with blackberries, blueberries and rust. Ink, too. Medium to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish. 93 per cent merlot with the rest in cabernet franc and malbec.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond One of the highlights in this range, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rockfall Vineyard is laced with the essence of crème de cassis, mint, crushed rocks, licorice, cloves and grilled herbs. Unctuous in feel, with plenty of backing structure, it feels wonderfully complete. This is an especially brooding, savory Cabernet, with everything in the right place.