This is an impressive wine at the price and production level, a great go-to for multiple occasions. It delivers earthy, candied strawberry around a light, bright core, remaining soft and smooth in texture and intensity, finishing with a tease of milk chocolate.

This is an impressive wine at the price and production level, a great go-to for multiple occasions. It delivers earthy, candied strawberry around a light, bright core, remaining soft and smooth in texture and intensity, finishing with a tease of milk chocolate.

This lush offering opens with appealing aromas of rose petals and fresh strawberries, then glides into a smooth-as-silk midpalate. The berry/cherry fruit is nicely adorned with toasty barrel flavors, and it’s as satiny as new sheets. You’ll find it hard to keep from gulping this by the glassful.

Vivid ruby-red. Fresh red berries, cola, gingerbread and potpourri on the highly perfumed nose. Silky and sweet, offering intense strawberry and black raspberry flavors with suggestions of candied rose and blood orange. Shows excellent clarity and intensity on the spicy finish, with barely a hint of tannins. This suave pinot is delicious right now.

Smoky, Burgundian-like notes emerge from the 2012 Pinot Noir Ahmann Estate Vineyard, which is made from the Dijon clones 667 and 777, Calera, California Heritage clone of Swan, Wadenswill and Pommard clones. One-third new oak was used. The result is a wine that exhibits lots of black currant and black raspberry fruit intermixed with hints of mocha and wood smoke. This deep, rich, medium to full-bodied, impressive Pinot Noir can be drunk now and over the next 4-5 years. The good news is there are nearly 3,000 cases.

Bright ruby-red. Complex aromas of red berry liqueur, incense and rose oil, with suave vanilla and smoky mineral notes emerging with aeration. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, offering juicy raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that flesh out on the back half. Powerful but lithe and precise, finishing with strong thrust and silky, harmonious, slowly building tannins.

The nine-barrel selection 2012 Pinot Noir Nine Barrel finishes off the Dijon clones. It shows beet root, mulch, some herbaceousness, along with plum, black cherry and wild strawberry notes. If these wines can be criticized in any way, they’re probably not singularly different from cuvée to cuvée, but they’re all very attractive, fruit-forward, well-crafted wines.

Medium ruby color; deep, cherry/berry aromas with some toasty oak notes; rich, ripe, full berry and cherry flavors with earthy notes; some oak and tannin; good structure and balance; long finish. Full and rich Pinot that needs time in the glass to open up.

An intensely aromatic bouquet displays raspberry, blackberry, incense and vanilla. Lush and creamy, offering berry preserve flavors and a sexy rose pastille quality. Quite rich but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and lingering florality.

Liquid velvet! Black cherry seduction with mouth-watering yearning for more. Please!

The 2010 Pinot Noir Anderson Valley is a beautiful, layered wine graced with exquisite aromatics, delineated fruit and firm yet well-integrated tannins. Everything here is first-class. Sweet perfumed notes are the threads that frame the fruit in this expressive, juicy Pinot. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018.

Liquid velvet! Black cherry seduction with mouth-watering yearning for more. Please!

Deep ruby-red. Very ripe, fragrant aromas of cherry-cola, blackberry and licorice, with sexy oak spice and floral notes emerging with aeration. Deep and concentrated but vibrant, with ripe, penetrating cherry and dark berry flavors and good back-end lift. Finishes chewy and long, with firm tannins and a strong kick of bitter cherry. This will reward patience.

The outstanding, well-made 2007 Pinot Noir Carneros primarily comes from Dijon clones. Its dark ruby color is accompanied by complex aromatics of spice box, plums, black cherries, and forest floor. This velvety-textured, medium to full-bodied Pinot possesses silky tannins, good fresh acids and a vivacious, full-throttle style. Enjoy it over 4-5 years.

The Russian River pinot is hedonistic in style sporting plenty of mixed black fruits on the nose with streaks of barnyard in the background. Rich and supple, it is mouth-filling without too much sweetness. The finish is balanced with earthy strawberry notes. Delicious drinking pinot to accompany the turkey.

Medium-deep, ruby red color, deep plum and black cherry aromas with a touch of toasty oak; rich and concentrated black cherry and plum flavors, good structure, great balance and finish. This Pinot's balance just says it all. Everything is here that you want - all in balance.

Easily the richest La Crema of the crowd, this ripe and generous wine comes up long on fruit and richness, and it sports an extra sense of succulence to its accessible cherry, oak and orange-rind flavors. It is fairly full and viscous with a slightly softer feel than that of its mates, and it, too, is marked by scant touches of concluding heat and coarseness.

The terrific 2000 Pinot Noir Nine Barrels displays soaring aromatics of red fruits infused with smoke, mineral, and roasted meat aromas. More oak is obvious in the smoky, vanilla-like flavors. Dense, with good acidity, moderate tannin, and a chewy, fruit-filled finish...

Dark, earthy notes punctuate smoked-meat and bright cherry aromas. Turns leathery, spicy and meaty on the full-bodied palate, finishing with firm tannins. Structured, complex and built to age...

Unfiltered Chardonnays always give us pause because their hazy appearances can often be accompanied by an array of unusual and unwanted characteristics. Not so here, however. This wine is clean and fruity throughout with sweet, gala apple notes and creme brulee notes of oak showing the way. A similar sense of focus is integral to the wine's medium-intensity flavors, and while this version of Chardonnay is not the most dramatic to be found, it is, nevertheless, a wine that is sure to be enjoyed with a wide variety of foods.

This '96 reserve is what first rate Sonoma chardonnay is all about - powerful, sensuous yet finely tuned, with layers of texture and flavor. Scents of sweet pear and guava interplay with new French oak. It's ready to drink with something rich, like grilled quail stuffed with pancetta and white truffles.

This solidly oaked California chardonnay shows butterscotch flavor in moderation, with plenty of lovely fruit and its natural acidity in balance. Here's a match for thick-cut swordfish steaks, lemonbasted, grilled and scattered with pepper.

When it comes to solidly oaked California chardonnay, the resulting butterscotch flavor is all right when apparent in moderation, all wrong when it seems to be applied with a trowel. This wine shows that flavor in moderation, with plenty of lovely fruit and its natural acidity in balance. Here's a match for thick-cut swordfish steaks, lemon-basted, grilled and scattered with pepper.

The 2017s From Sonoma The largest production cuvée, the 2017 Chardonnay is still beautiful, with a richer, rounded, style. Ripe pineapple, citrus, white flowers, and brioche define the nose. Medium-bodied, rounded, and supple on the palate, with beautiful fruit, this is one seriously pleasure-bent beauty that represents a good value.

Focused and crisp, with touches of richness to the concentrated apple pastry, pear and quince paste flavors. Dried tarragon and sage cream notes power the finish.