This blend shows a deeply saturated ruby color with lots of juicy boysenberry and blueberry aromas on the nose. The palate shows candied raspberry fruit alongside leafy tobacco flavors and peppery spice, dancing between lively acidity and drying tannin.

This wine is a beautiful, vibrant gold in the glass, conveying delicate floral aromatics on the nose. On the palate, very ripe pear, marzipan and sweet cinnamon emerge. There’s also a potent, perfumy dried-floral component that some drinkers will love.

The nose of this wine is dominated by dusty black cherry aromas and a hint of cocoa powder. On the palate, a mélange of cranberry, black plum, earthy shiitake mushroom and grilled meat flavors create a savory experience. This wine is surprisingly grippy, with a lot of dry tannin balancing out the juicier acidity. A few years in the cellar should smooth this out nicely.

This ruby colored Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast opens with a cranberry and pomegranate bouquet with hints of raspberry and rhubarb. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with medium plus acidity. The mouthfeel is balanced, round, fresh and bright. The flavor profile is an oak and red plum blend with notes of tea and black pepper. I also detected hints of loam and strawberry in the aftertaste. The finish is dry, and its flavors, gentle acidity and friendly tannins linger nicely. I would pair this versatile Pinot with pork tenderloin with roasted figs. 

La Crema continues to elevate its Monterey Pinot Noir by doing a diligent job of expressing the character of its AVAs. 2022 has just the right amount of sweet strawberry to counterbalance the red florals and cool, red plum, rhubarb on the mid-palate. It was a wet spring and a regular growing season before a warm fall culminated in slightly lower yields. It aged 8 months in new and used French oak barrels. Ready to drink and an excellent match for a sweet soya poke, salmon steaks, or duck pizza.

Toasted brioche, butterscotch and salted butter notes are lush in this white, with notes of grilled peach, mango and dried pineapple on a smooth, creamy frame. Fresh acidity keeps the flavors light on their feet, while spice notes linger on the finish. Drink now. 6,000 cases made.

This white's flavors of plump nectarine, melon, pear and lime are fresh and focused, with hints of lemon blossom and litsea oil. Offers sleek details of salted, preserved lemon on an elegant, supple frame. Drink now. 513 cases made, 150 cases imported.

Elegant, with lemon sorbet, Fuji apple, pomelo and tangerine flavors that are vibrant and aromatic, lingering with a drizzle of wildflower honey, a note of candied ginger and a touch of salted butter shortbread. Drink now. 15,500 cases made.

Easygoing, fruity and refreshing, with stone fruit, ripe lemons and mixed spices on the nose following through to a medium body with crisp acidity. Mellow and creamy with a mouthwatering finish. Drink now. Screw cap.

The 2022 Chardonnay Yarra Valley offers up an engaging mix of grapefruit, pear and citrus aromas, with savory layers of nutty barrel ferment and spicy oak. It presents good volume of flavor in a creamy package, with chalky acidity adding energy and tighterning up the finish. This is good now but wull get better in time.

Aromas of red cherries, moist earth and dried flowers leading to a refreshing palate of red and dark fruit. A medium-bodied wine with smooth tannins and nice balance that has a crunchy, satisfying finish. Drink now.

Scents of oak and dark berry compote give way to a plump and generous red, saturated with plum-skin flavor and rich fruit. It needs something big to pair with, like duck. (650 cases)

Bright and loaded with tension the 2022 Rose by winemaker Erik Kramer offers red rose water with orange rind and pretty guava and red raspberry fruit flavors. Enjoy this beauty now and over the next several years to come. Drink 2024-2028.

Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands flies out of the glass with gregarious notes of raspberry coulis and wild strawberries plus nuances of dried herbs and wet slate. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling red berry and savory flavors with a lively line and fine-grained texture, finishing with a refreshing lift.

Very well crafted and quite versatile in style, this rings true to Cabernet’s reputation for rich, robust flavors while finishing with sufficiently soft structure. Aromas and flavors of blackberries and dark cherries are pure and very appealing, its firm tannins without any drying effect.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Estate Cuvee is dusty and floral with pretty wild berries and sweet spices. This soft, juicy effort shows crisp red berry fruits and rosy inner florals forming toward the close. It finishes fresh and with medium length, leaving hints of licorice.

The 2021 Chardonnay Willamette Valley is nuanced in the glass, mixing crushed yellow apples with chamomile and hints of vanilla custard. This is round and softly textured with pretty orchard fruits and inner florals that soothe the palate. It finishes crisp and fresh, yet a bit short.

It is basically about the sweetness and how to tame it in the wine, without it going beyond the character of the grape itself. The wine here has an admittedly sweet, slightly jammy nose of plum, cherry, boysenberry and vanilla. But it is not heavy in smell and makes you want to taste the wine, which is soft and has enough acidity to balance the sweetness. The components of licorice, dark berries, chocolate and pepper show that this zinfandel is true to its origins and never goes overboard. An easy-drinking Californian that hits the spot when the spirit of Christmas comes to the table.

This is a beautifully constructed Chardonnay that interweaves delicate oak notes of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg among the bright, fresh aromas and flavors of lemon, lime, cream, green and yellow apple, and poached pear. —S.B.

Youthful, vibrant, ripe red fruit aromas, dried herbs and a hint of spice with lifted toast. Round and creamy with a warm, citrussy concentration layered with ripe, juicy dark fruits and balancing freshness.

93% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot. There’s no questioning the presence of oak here. It’s hand in hand with the bright fruit on the nose in tension with a deep earthy and brackish, musky note of scuffed up autumn leaves and damp soil. Gentle on the approach, this wine will have its fans in those that appreciate the plushness Merlot can deliver; light footed and gliding over the palate in soft focus. The acid provides a bright note, and puts a shine on the fruit. It finishes a little more abbreviated than anticipated, with the oak trailing in the fruit’s wake.

Vivid and expressive Pinot, aromas of red fruit, earthy and leafy notes, sage hebs with smoke, cherry and pepper. Good concentration, refinde tannins and pleasant freshness. Drink 2023-2030.

Shy but with promising aromas of ripe dark fruits, pure and precise. On the palate it is forward, dense and silky with excellent concentration of fruit, rounded tannins and balancing freshness with a drying finish.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard is supple, fruity and easy to like. Sweet dark plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice and a kiss of French oak are pushed forward in this silky, open-knit Pinot. The 2021 is quiet and understated but also nicely balanced.

The nose is supple raspberry and strawberry with graphite, a polished background of vanilla bean and pie spices. The palate entry is lean with a drier presentation of cherry and pomegranate in the midpalate. A 20 minute decant will open the wine up. Drink 2023-2028.