USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2018 White Pinot Noir, made without oak, is shy on the nose to begin, giving up crushed rocks, tarragon, white fruits and quince peel with notes of lemon pith and raw almonds. Medium to full-bodied, it offers citrus blossom-laced stone fruits with juicy freshness and a long, textured finish. Drink this in place of Pinot Gris or Rosé! 361 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 Aged in about 17% new Damy oak barrels, the 2018 Chardonnay is scented of poached pears and sliced Red Delicious apples with accents of crushed hazelnuts, baker's yeast, spring honey and citrus blossoms plus a minerally undercurrent. The palate is light to medium-bodied, bright, vibrant and juicy, with good intensity of flavor and a long, mineral-driven finish. Winemaker Tony Rynders says this is an "unplugged, acoustic Chardonnay." 549 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2017 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast comes from fruit across the appellation including Russian River and Carneros. It aged nine months in 25% new oak. Pale to medium ruby, it has a bright, inviting nose of cranberries, woodsmoke, cola, bergamot and crushed black cherries with accents of earth, sweet spice, citrus peel and flowers. It's light to medium-bodied, silky and bursting with ripe fruits, enlivened by juicy acidity and finishing long and lifted. This is a great value! 253,000 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2017 Chardonnay Russian River Valley is sourced from seven vineyards across the appellation. It was barrel fermented and aged 10 months in 33% new French oak. It opens with toast, fresh pear and apple fruit with notes of lemon cream, honeysuckle, pie crust and sweet spices. Medium-bodied, it's rounded and creamy in the mouth with good fruit intensity tempered by toasty oak notes, enlivened by refreshing acidity and finishing long. Well done! 25,000 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve, aged nine months in 25% new French oak, opens with cinnamon stick, dried red cherries, black raspberries, pomegranate and autumn leaves with notes of cola and sweet spice. Light to medium-bodied, it's silky with perfumed fruits, a soft frame and great freshness to lift the finish. 3,707 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot aged in 94% French and 6% American oak for 20 months. Deep ruby-purple, it offers cassis, vanilla bean and sweet spices on the nose with cedar, coffee grounds and blue fruit sparks. Medium to full-bodied, it offers great intensity and a firm, chewy frame, with just enough freshness and an oak-laced finish. This is approachable now but is a bit more powerful than the Vintner's Reserve in terms of both tannin and oak. This is for you if you gravitate toward a beefier style of Cabernet. 8,914 cases produced.

USA, California, Sonoma: 2017 Vintage – Part 2 The 2016 Les Voisins Chardonnay aged 16 months in 10% new French oak. It opens with youthful notes of toast and light oak spices, slowly revealing almonds, golden apple, dried hay, chamomile and an orange blossom hint. The palate is medium-bodied and rounded and offers lovely balance between toasty oak and ripe fruits, with juicy acidity and a long, textured finish. This will benefit from another year in bottle. 1,000 cases produced.

This generously filled, very well-focused offering is a textbook expression of the richness, the fruity succulence and supple feel that have made the Napa Valley version the standard by which all others are measured, and it does so at a price that makes it one of the best buys to be had among collectable Cabernets. It fixes on ripe currants and cherries early on with accents of briar, dusty soil, dried herbs and root-beer-like sweetness all in tow. If far from hard and standoffish, it is a wine not to be wasted by hasty drinking, and it fully deserves five or six more years of age. GOOD VALUE

Here's another success story from the difficult 2011 vintage. It's well rounded and rich, with classic Cabernet character -- blackberry, cassis, mild dried herbs and soft fall spice are knit together in a fruit forward package that goes beyond a simple Napa fruit bomb. It's got age-worthy structure and a finish that's already keeping all the elements in balance. Nicely done! Contains 19% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec.

Bright, spicy and sophisticated, this takes a cool, red-fruited approach to the 2008 vintage. There's shape to the wine, the tannins made supple by their time in oak, the wood lending a hint of butterscotch sweetness. The tannins become earthier with air, the wine lean enough to target roast lamb.

Deep medium ruby. Lively nose combines black raspberry, blueberry, violet, licorice, coffee, mocha and tobacco. Very rich, dense and concentrated but not heavy in spite of its almost liqueur-like ripeness. The flavors of dark berries, bitter chocolate and licorice are nicely framed by slightly elevated acidity. Finishes with big, broad, dusty, chocolatey tannins and excellent length. Still young.

Supple red cherry flavors more than match the oak influence of this wine, which deepens those flavors to chocolate richness. It finishes on a savory note. For roast lamb.

The biggest production cuvee is the seductive 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa, a 14,000-case blend of 78.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.1% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and a tiny 2.8% Syrah. It was aged 24 months in French oak prior to bottling. Fully mature with an opaque plum/ruby/purple color, it offers up enveloping aromas of ripe black currant and black cherry fruit, cedarwood, licorice and dusty, earthy, red soil scents. With luscious fruit as well as an expansive, savory, broad palate with no hard edges, this beguiling, high class Cabernet Sauvignon will provide plenty of pleasure for another 5-7 years.

Creamy and lush with lovely smooth fruit and tangy acidity; bright and classic with superb balance, depth and style.

This wine has a lovely floral aroma, with accents of peach, lime and honeysuckle. This being an oaked Viognier, the wine has some richness, but it's nicely integrated. It has well-balanced flavors of ripe peaches and lime, with a nice bit of acidity.

A beautiful Viognier that showcases the variety's rich, exotic side. Offers a mouthburst of ripe grilled peaches, pineapples, green apples, honeysuckle and vanilla wrapped into a creamy, buttery texture. Try as an offbeat alternative to Chardonnay.

This straw-colored Sauvignon Blanc from Freemark Abbey opens with a mild and attractive Honeydew melon bouquet with a hint of banana. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied and nicely balanced between its fruit and acidity. The flavor profile is a very tasty mild ripe Honeydew melon with notes of gentle minerality and faint pineapple. I also detected a hint of lemon verbena mixed in as well. The finish is pleasant and smooth as it drifts away nicely. I would pair this food friendly Sauvignon Blanc with pan-seared grouper with a key lime butter sauce.

Who knew that Freemark Abbey made excellent Sauvignon Blanc? Of course, they are an iconic producer of Cabernet Sauvignon and some incredibly lush sweet wines. It’s crisp and laser-like, with a snappy bite that is not aggressive. Plenty of body and depth balances its knife-like cutting edginess. It has none of the tropical fruit-like over ripeness that can plaque so many Sauvignon Blanc from Napa. Try it this summer before it fades with grilled fish, shellfish, or frankly, anything.

Light yellow; pleasant, floral, moderately grassy, white peach, lemon-lime, and melon aroma with a hint of green bean; medium-full body; citrus and melon flavors with herbal and grassy notes, and zesty acidity; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

Napa 2016 Vintage: 5 Consecutive Years of Fantastic Wines This is a very pretty and bright white with sliced apples and pears. Some cream, too. Medium to full body, lovely fruit and a clean and fresh finish. No malo leaves it bright and lively.

A pretty ribbon of gardenia opens the nose of this rich, concentrated wine, creamy in texture with a viscosity of vanilla and oak. The richness continues in deep caramel notes, as baked pear provides fruit and nuance.

Weekend Wine Picks Expect an expressive ripe, fruity nose of pineapple, guava and peach reflecting a mix of cooler sites including Coombsville, Howell Mountain, Carneros, and Suscol Creek. The palate is fresh with a linear tone and a complex, spicy nutmeg underbelly with creamy pear, citrus, green apple. The wood and lees is subtle but present with 67 per cent of the wine barrel fermented and no malolactic fermentation. A solid, fair-priced California Chardonnay. Perfect for a lobster dish.

Aged in stainless steel and small barrels of French oak, this wine remains smooth and silky with interweaved acidity, a classic, fresh expression of the variety with very subtle oak. Vanilla and pear find their way onto the finish, providing additional layers of flavor and finesse.

The 2014 Chardonnay is a non-malolactic 100% Chardonnay that’s 45% barrel-fermented. The wine is sensational. There are nearly 10,000 cases of this wine, which shows loads of white peach, honeysuckle, green apple and melon notes in a distinctive, clean, steely Chablis-like style. There is some tropical fruit, such as pineapple, but the overall character is one of great acid, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and no real oak influence.

There's not much Chardonnay grown on Howell Mountain, but here's one to check out. It has an unusually pungent earthiness, leading to rich flavors of yellow apricots, lemon tart and kumquats, with a complex touch of mushroom. Bone dry and crisp, it should develop bottle complexities over the next 5-6 years.