Earthy and savoury nose with lots of ripe black fruit and creamy oak notes. Serious and classic, with grippy tannins.

Aromas of cinnamon, red cherry, and an earthiness were pleasant.
This was a medium-bodied dry red wine with good acidity, supportive layer of tannin, and excellent flavors reflective of the aromas with a touch of red pepper.
Finished long on the trailing palate, a touch of red raspberry, a hint of watermelon, and a well-balanced 13.8% alcohol.
Paired perfectly with my baked ham dinner.

This medium ruby colored Pinot Noir from Oregon opens with a fragrant and inviting blueberry and black cherry bouquet. On the palate, this wine is full bodied with medium acidity. The mouthfeel is balanced, smooth, viscous, and dense for a Pinot Noir. The flavor profile is a stewed black plum and cola blend with notes of smoky oak, earthy loam, and cinnamon. I also detected hints of stony minerality and pomegranate towards the very end. The finish is dry, and its flavors are nicely prolonged. I would pair this Pinot with a juicy and tender pork tenderloin roast.

A juicy and friendly version, with a core of strawberry, blackberry and plum flavors that are lined with a subtle black licorice note and glide through easily. Offers a toast-influenced finish, but the fruit keeps the upper hand. Drink now through 2025.

Firm, with an appealingly chewy quality to the chamomile, melon and apricot flavors. Generous and focused on the lush, spicy finish. Drink now.

Medium ruby-red hue. Wood oil, plum jam and cola spices. A rich and full style, plummy fruit fills the middle then the remainder of the palate relies on oak richness and complexities. Decent length and is very silky into the finish.

This medium purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Arrowood opens with a black cherry and mild craisin bouquet with hints of cola and violets. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with integrated medium acidity. The mouthfeel is balanced, smooth and lush. The flavor profile is a juicy black currant and cherry-cola blend with notes of oak and mocha. There is a hint of cranberry and oregano at the very end. The finish is dry and its mild tannins and flavors drift away nicely. This Cab is a very good mid-week offering. It would pair well with grilled steak tips or with your favorite juicy burger.

This lively and robust styled Pinot Noir from Kendall Jackson is a translucent medium ruby color. It displays aromas reminiscent of a walk through a raspberry patch, with earthy bramble and juicy red raspberry, along with violet floral notes. On the palate, it is super-smooth and focused, with medium body and fine well-managed tannins and bright plus acidity. I found flavors of red raspberry, strawberry, crushed stone, and hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. The finish is long with a hint of spiced plum. This Pinot will appeal to most guests at an impromptu wine and cheese gathering.

This large estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga is owned by Jackson Family Wines. This wine, from a single block of sangiovese vines planted in 1998, shows deeply concentrated flavors of black cherry and plum framed by fine, polished tannins. Notes of vanilla and sweet spice are balanced by earthy tones that emerge on the finish.

Soft and mild in its tannins, this has an intriguing wild berry fruit savor that last. One taster described it as the earthy brown flavor of “late-summer meddlers and rowanberries,” placing it with duck confit.

Smoky and dark, with scents of cocoa-dusted espresso beans and beetroot, this begins to show beguiling raspberry red fruits as it opens with air, while crisp acids penetrate the more sanguine, rooty notes. For the cellar.

Light red-berry flavors of raspberries and thimbleberries meet the woody herb scent of rosemary, coming together in a creamy, ripe and supple pinot noir. The gentle spice of the tannins will add depth to roast beef.

The wine that Randy Ullom made famous continues to amaze as the largest selling estate-grown chardonnay in America. Ullom has made subtle tweaks to the wine over the last decade, tightening the structure, restraining the fruit and oak in favour of a livelier palate, and keeping the brand's millions of fans happy. It all begins with some impressive fruit sourcing up and down the Golden State's coolest hillside vineyards influenced by the Pacific Ocean from Mendocino to Santa Barbara. The fruit is whole cluster pressed and kept in small vineyard lots throughout the winemaking process, barrel fermented, and sur lie aged with monthly bâttonage. Silky, creamy tropical fruit is supported by a citrus undercurrent with a lime butter finish. Impressive for the price and quantity produced. 2020 was aged six months in French (4.5% new) and American oak (6.5% new). The alcohol is 13.5%, and the sourcing is 54% Monterey County, 25% Mendocino County, 20.5% Santa Barbara County, and .5% Sonoma County.

This dark and chocolaty wine is smooth and delicious, showing ultraripe blackberry and blueberry flavors shaded by vanilla and cocoa. It’s full-bodied and mouthfilling but not very tannic so it’s easy to sip.

Precise and focused, featuring yellow apple, pear and lemon zest notes that are fresh and bright, with accents of lemon verbena and white tea on the finish. Drink now through 2030.

We love Gran Moraine's Pinot Noir rosé and are just as enamored with their dry red Pinot. There is a lot going on on the nose here from classic cherries to savory notes of rhubarb and a whisper of anise. It is also nice and unctuous with a hint of a distant barnyard. The palate has nice natural acidity with a slight tannic frame. The mouthfeel is a little lean but there is so much here to make up for that.

The 2019 Lassègue is packed with super-ripe dark cherry, plum, sweet spice, new leather, licorice, kirsch and a kick of sweet French oak. This is an especially ripe, succulent style, but it works well.

Spiced, herbal and powerful on the palate, this is a sound wine with plenty of richness and plushness to appeal widely. A length of blue and red berries is cradled in oaky vanilla and spice.

Dense and brooding in blackberry, currant and crushed rock, this wine is refined and moderate in style, with wellintegrated oak and lengthy tannin. Structured and graceful, it offers understated power.

This is a rich, tropical white from the great site, oak-driven and floral in jasmine, with wisps of green apple, peach and pineapple. The woody notes are spiced in nutmeg and vanilla bean.

Dried lime peel, seared lemon pith, white flower and a hint of grass show on the nose of this bottling. There’s an earthy, crushed rock element to the palate, where dried apple and herb flavors also arise.

2019 offers pomegranate, dried cranberry and tart cherry aromas. On the medium-bodied palate, smooth tannins, pinot berry fruit, barrel spice and earthen notes. Long, clean, smooth finish extends the flavors. 2019 is already drinking well.

2017 has dried cherry, strawberry and sage aromas, raspberry and thyme flavors with a long finish that has pleasing vanilla notes.

Brilliant red. Aromas of black raspberry, cherry and pungent flowers pick up hints of licorice and vanilla with aeration. Juicy and broad on the palate, offering spice-laced bitter cherry and dark berry flavors that turn sweeter on the back half. The floral and spice notes repeat on a persistent, gently tannic finish that shows no rough edges.