Medium ruby; forward, deep, earthy, spicy, dark cherry fruit aroma with hints of mocha and baking spices; medium body; cherry and red berry fruit flavors with a slight tartness on the finish; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Easy to drink and enjoy now and over the next year or two. Highly recommended.

Medium-light to medium ruby; assertive, earthy, fragrant, red cherry and cranberry fruit aroma with floral notes, and hints of clove and cocoa; medium to medium-full body; nicely balanced and easy to drink red fruit flavors; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Highly recommended.

Medium-light to medium ruby; attractive, moderately intense, raspberry and cherry fruit aroma with hints of baking spices; medium body; rich, layered, red fruit flavors with good depth and acidity; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Enjoyable to drink now. Highly recommended.

Medium ruby; initially subdued, cherry and raspberry fruit aroma that developed with airing in the glass to show floral and spicy notes; medium body; somewhat delicate, red fruit flavors with good acid balance and a slight plushness in the silky mouthfeel; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Enjoyable to drink now. Highly recommended.

Medium-light ruby; fragrant, floral, raspberry and cherry fruit aroma with a light note of charred oak, and hints forest floor and baking spices; medium body; forward, elegant, silky, red fruit flavors with a hint of cola, and fleshy richness in the mouthfeel; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Enjoyable now, though would also benefit from a few more years of bottle aging. Highly recommended.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills offers more obvious oak (even though it spent less time in oak) as well as notes of black raspberries, toasted spice, new leather, and dried earth. It's a rich, nicely concentrated Pinot Noir that shows the more savory, mineral side to this appellation. It will keep for 3-5 years.

The value-priced 2016 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County sports a medium ruby color as well as a pretty perfume of ripe red cherries, underbrush and spice. It's medium-bodied, has remarkable typicity at this price point, is elegant, and nicely balanced. It's a steal and will dish out loads of pleasure over the coming 2-4 years.

Apple blossoms, honeyed citrus and white flower notes emerge from the 2016 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County, another charming, rounded, undeniably delicious wine from winemaker Ryan Pace. Drink it over the coming year or two.

Tight and rosy, this wine’s red-berry flavors are light and clean. The tannins have the prick of a rose thorn and the spice of cracked peppercorns. Pour it with roast quail.

Freemark Abbey Napa Valley 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, 88 points, poured a medium brass color clearing two thirds of the way toward the glass edge. Opening sniffs were soft and unremarkable unripe cantaloupe, citrus, and a furtive mint note, but with air, grass aromas developed. Light-bodied with good acidity carried intensifying flavors of grass and sweet hay nuanced with red dragon fruit. Finished well with a candied ginger note and a nicely balanced 13.8% alcohol. Paired perfectly with my Atlantic salmon cakes.

Bright ruby color. Nose boasts strawberries, raspberries, red cherries, fresh but ripe with some rhubarb, rose petals, eucalyptus and cedar. This is really refreshing on the palate with lovely brightness and a crisp feel, with light tannins. Plenty of juicy raspberries, cherries and strawberry fruit, not too rich or dark, which I love. Raspberry leaf, rose hips, nuanced cola and coffee. Fun and inexpensive, but also balanced and complex, so good for the price. Aged eight months in 30% new French oak.

Medium yellow color. Smells of yellow apples, apricot, lemon-pineapple cake, along with honey, almond and green olive notes. Creamy texture, vibrant acidity, with lots of yellow plum, apricot and lemon crème flavors. Notes of honey, almond, sea salt and white tea add complexity. Rich flavors but that classis Santa Maria Valley freshness keeps it bright and inviting. Aged six months in 21% new French oak.

Earthy, foresty berry and cassis aromas are in the lead. Hard tannins and a shock of acidity make for a dry, cratered mouthfeel. Heavily toasted black-plum and cherry flavors end quickly, with a hint of bitter chocolate.

Tenuta di Arceno is spread across 1000-hectares of classic rolling hillside containing vineyards, forests and medieval stone castles. The vineyards have been replanted and expanded into a series of micro-crus relating to the property’s 12 distinct meso-climates over the last 20 years vastly improving the fruit that gets to the winery. It’s cooler year and the aromatics are front and center along with the red fruit and garrigue notes. The texture is supple with more liquorice and savoury, dried herb nuances. Wild boar pappardelle or pecorino cheese are fine matches. The mix is 85/15 sangiovese/merlot.

The 2016 Pinot Blanc is a solid, deliciously drinkable white that has plenty of white peach and citrus fruit, a balanced, charming style, and a good finish. It's going to be versatile on the dinner table and could even handle some spicy food.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Blended of 90.3% Sauvignon Blanc and 9.7% Sémillon, the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Alexander Valley is scented of ripe peaches, green apples and passion fruit with hints of dried herbs and struck flint. Medium-bodied with a racy line cutting through the intense tropical flavors, it finishes on a mineral note.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Chardonnay Alexander Valley gives up lovely honeydew melon, ripe apricots and apple pie notes with touches of croissant and honeycomb. Medium-bodied, the palate struts plenty of uncomplicated apple and stone fruit flavors with a nice spiciness to the finish.

Lean and clean, this simple, peppery pinot is gentle and a touch sweet. For beef stew.

Light and simple, this is a clean, juicy red with enough grape-skin tannins to keep it savory. For burgers off the grill.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 La Muse is composed of 93% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. Wow—it comes strutting out of the glass with flamboyant crème de cassis, ripe plums and black cherries notes followed by nuances of aniseed, chocolate box, wild thyme, violets and chargrill plus a fragrant suggestion of potpourri. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, the densely packed perfumed black fruit layers are beautifully framed by perfectly ripe, finely grained tannins and fantastically knit freshness. It finishes long with the most incredible display of mineral sparks.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with gregarious crème de cassis, wild blueberries and black raspberries with nuances of black tea, violets, aniseed, truffles and new leather plus wafts of charcuterie and chargrill. Full-bodied, very firm and very tightly wound at this youthful stage, the palate is absolutely packed with black fruit and earthy layers, finishing with epic persistence.

The fruit on this pricey pinot from La Crema is front-loaded. There's plenty of red-berry goodness, and the wine shows impressive weight on the palate. The rub for those who would rush home and open it tonight is that the finish is a work in progress. This wine needs another year or two in the bottle for the finish to lengthen. If you can be patient, you've got a winner.

Light yellow hue. Fresh yeasty and faintly almond-like aromas, the palate light and tight with good intensity and drive, length and a clean, dry finish. It's fairly straightforward in its youth, but very pleasant drinking - soft, flavoursome and balanced, with rewarding depth and persistence. I suspect it will build more interesting flavours and aromas with a little time in bottle. (35% grenache blanc, 30% clairette, 20% roussanne, 10% picpoul, 5% bourboulenc. The unclarified juice was fermented in ceramic eggs.)

Bubbling Brew Sparkling bewitches Oregon industry Dusty copper robe fizzes with high intensity beads charged with raspberry, brioche and stone fruit aromas. Exotic flavors of fleshy orange fruits, Fuji apple and sour cherry juxtapose against restrained acids to a chalky, mineral finish.

The sand is deepest at the highest point in the Yangarra vineyard, where this 4.2-acre block of grenache, planted in 1946, grows as bush vines, dry farmed under biodynamics. Peter Fraser allows the wine to ferment spontaneously in open vats, half of it as whole berries, then ages it in older French oak. It’s a lean, peppery grenache with a dark raspberry bite, chewy in its broad tannins, lasting with a black savor. The tight structure benefits from time in a decanter, as it will from the company of grilled lamb.