Napa Valley & California Cabernet Sauvignon 2015: Panel tasting results Very rich, oaky nose, backed by vibrant blackcurrant fruit. Fleshy and concentrated, leading to a long, refreshing finish. Shows presence and force.

Earthy, textured and thickly rich, this is a well-made full-bodied wine, with grip and power to spare. Dark-cherry cola mixes with cardamom and orange peel, the oak and tannin behaved but undoubtedly present.

How to buy wine for a party on a budget A brilliant party pour would be 2017 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay from California. It totally overdelivers with its come-hither aromas and flavours of toasted hazelnut, cooked apples and crème brûlée that taste elegant, long, and more expensive than the bottle prices suggests.

Up From The Cellar #7 & Misc New Releases The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Knights Valley comes from a warmer appellation yet still has vivid, bright aromatics of green citrus, peach, honeysuckle, and a distinct minerality. Rounded, medium-bodied, and beautifully textured on the palate, it's already hard to resist, yet I suspect it will evolve nicely on its depth of fruit and balance.

Up From The Cellar #7 & Misc New Releases From a cooler, higher elevation appellation in Sonoma, the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Bennet Valley offers more purity and precision as well as terrific notes of tart citrus, salty minerality, sappy flowers, and mint. It's another beautifully balanced, medium-bodied, high-quality Sauvignon Blanc from this estate that's going to have at least 4-5 years of prime drinking.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The 2017 Chardonnay Jackson Estate Santa Maria Valley offers a solid bouquet of caramelized citrus, orange blossom, brioche, and a hint of spice. It's rich and medium-bodied, with terrific purity, plenty of ripe, sweet fruit, and a great finish.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s More reserved aromatically, the 2017 Chardonnay Camelot Highlands is another ripe, textured, medium to full-bodied Chardonnay that has plenty of orange blossom and spice nuances, integrated acidity, and a good finish.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s Similarly colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley is a bigger, richer wine loaded with notions of chocolatey dark fruits, notes of loamy earth and cedar, medium to full body, and a charming, delicious, mouthfilling style. It's another outstanding wine from this team that has loads to love.

Central Coast: The 2017s and 2018s The furthest west vineyard they work with, the 2017 Pinot Noir La Encantada Vineyard is a windy, cooler site, and the wines see just a touch of stems, 30% new oak, and bottling after 11 months. It has a slightly reductive bouquet that carries plenty of blue fruits, crushed violets, blood orange, and scorched earthy aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, juicy, elegant, and nicely balanced, it drops off slightly on the finish but has a beautiful Old World, elegant character.

Bright and juicy, with concentrated cherry, currant and red plum flavors, supported by zesty acidity. Mineral and spice notes show on the lively finish.

Refined and well-structured flavors of dried red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate are accented by notes of cedar and slate. Balsam and sandalwood hints emerge on the finish.

This yellow colored Chardonnay opens with a fragrant coconut and lemon custard bouquet. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, balanced and smooth. The flavor profile is unique. It features, coconut cream pie and vanilla with hints of buttered popcorn. The finish is dry and its flavors drift away nicely. This Chard would pair well with coconut shrimp.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Aurora Point Vineyard is intensely scented of lime leaves, lemongrass, wild sage and pineapple with hints of peach blossoms and wet pebbles. Medium-bodied, zesty and elegantly played, it has a wonderfully minerally character coming through on the long finish. 327 cases produced.

USA, California, Napa Valley: 2017 — Napa's Perfect Storm The 2017 Pleinair Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a very deep garnet-purple color and bursts from the glass with crushed blueberries, black cherry compote and boysenberries with touches of raisin cake, Chinese five spice and potpourri. Full-bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, it has lovely freshness and a lovely bit of chew texturing the finish. 810 cases produced.

Fall reds to remember The Brewer-Clifton Pinot is an assembly of three Sta. Rita Hills AVA sites: 3D (Swan, Pommard and 667 clones), Machado, and Hapgood (Merry Edwards clone). The style is in-your-face Pinot with full-on fruit aromas and flavours. It may be intense from a European standpoint, but it is restrained by New World standards. The nose is a dusty mix of sandalwood, brown spices, and tea leaf undercut by an earthy/forest floor, raspberries and pomegranate. The fruit rests in all neutral barrels; stems are an essential part of the structure and earthy characters of the Sta. Rita Hills fruit. Warm, mouth-filling and ready for rich duck or pork dishes.

Case Buy: 2014 Freemark Abbey Merlot This really benefited from a 3 hour decant, which allowed the tannins to smooth and integrate nicely. The modest nose features cocoa dusted cherry, light roast ground espresso bean, graphite, blood orange and faint camp fire. This is full bodied on the palate with juicy acidity and tannins that are initially broad and densely grainy, but which smooth around the edges with air. The structure has achieved a uniform feel. The flavors ride the boisterous acid with evident joy as they hit on red currant, plum, cherry, strawberry, graphite and dry dirt, finishing with a small floral flourish.

Polished and expressive, with pretty violet and raspberry aromas that open to elegantly tiered cherry and cola accents that flesh out on the finish. Drink now through 2026.

Rich and full-bodied, with lusciously spiced dark plum, blackberry and dark currant flavors that feature accents of dark olive. Cream and dark chocolate notes show on the ripe finish. Drink now through 2024.

Sleek and delicately layered, with strawberry blossom and raspberry aromas and supple cherry and dusty tarragon accents that build structure toward fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2024.

Bright and juicy, with savory richness to the mineral-infused plum tart and dried cherry flavors. Pastry accents show midpalate, with slate and spice details lingering on the fresh, crunchy finish. Drink now through 2023.

A selection of Napa Valley vineyard sites including Huichica Hills (37.9%), Rancho Sarco (29.6%), Ahmann Vineyard-Carneros (24.3%), Keyes Vineyard-Howell Mountain (6.7%) and Spring Mtn AVA (1.5%) presents a much welcomed lighter impression of chardonnay, that beguiles with a fragrant, honey aroma flecked with citrus washed pear and green apple. The oak is subtle, and with zero malolactic, the wine is fresh with an excellent mid-palate. The fruit was harvested before the October fires, leaving the wine clean and a perfect match for halibut, turkey, or lobster. Only 15 percent of the wine is aged in new French oak, and a total of 84 percent is aged 4½ months in wood.

Sleek and polished, with elegantly layered raspberry, orange peel and savory cinnamon flavors that linger toward refined tannins.

A fleshy, full-bodied red, with powerful minerality and hints of salinity to the dark currant, plum pudding and black olive flavors. Mocha and baker's chocolate notes flood the richly textured finish. Merlot, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2023.

The nose is a bright vanilla-kissed white stone fruit and a palate of juicy golden peach with a silky feel of spice, vanilla and toast. Drink 2019 – 2023.

This Sparkling Wine from La Crema is a new offering and made a very good first impression on the Tasting Panel. It is light coral colored and displays lots of medium sized streaming bubbles. It opens with a bread dough and red cherry bouquet with a hint of strawberry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, frothy and slightly acidic. The flavor profile is a mild mineral influenced strawberry with notes of saline and yellow grapefruit. Finally, the Panel enjoyed its nicely extended dry finish. We suggested pairing this very good Sparkler with oysters Rockefeller, bacon wrapped scallops or crispy Thai rolls.