Top Ten: California La Crema Sonoma Coast is cool climate California and over the years this pinot has been leaned out to reflect the site and frankly where this wine should go. Svelte by California pinot noir standards, it is a mix of clones fermented in small open-top tanks and aged in French oak, a quarter of which is new. Look for spicy red fruits, cherries and wild raspberries with earthy, cedary, savoury undercurrents. The style is soft and ready-to-drink. Try this with duck, pizza, roasted birds or salmon.

Top Ten: California La Crema pinot noir is always on the hedonistic spectrum emphasizing soft, ripe black cherry with a fair lashing of oak. In this case, there is a piney, spicy, smoky worsteshire ‘Oregon’ undercurrent that balances the overall weight and ripeness of this wine. This is just entering its prime drinking window but should be fine for another two or three years. Serve with turkey, pork or salmon to best effect.

Top Ten: California It’s nice to see this wine coming back into form and the 2013 is right on track. The Napa label may be commercial in size at 24,000+ cases, but it's reserve style in taste. Fresh, ripe, spicy black fruits greet the nose and tumble onto the palate flecked with tobacco, cocoa and cinnamon. The blend is 75 percent cabernet sauvignon with varying amounts of merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc and malbec, all spending 26 months in wood. We love the complete body of work here and suggest this wine could easily be aged through 2023 and beyond. Steak anyone? Fine value.

Top Ten: California I like the evolution of this wine, now a little less funky and a little more dependable, but still with that bright Mendocino fruit character. Now just under 30 years old the fruit is sourced from across 64 acres inside the Mendocino AVA, including Mendocino Ridge, Redwood Valley and the Anderson Valley appellations. Old fruit is a pillar of Edmeades, with Ciapusci Vineyard planted in 1878, Perli Vineyard planted in the late 1800’s, Zeni Vineyard planted in 1910 and Piffero Vineyard planted in 1930. Wines are made in an artisanal way, using small, open top fermenters, indigenous yeast fermentations, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. I love the peppery, blackberry jam aromas and a savoury undercurrent. It’s already delicious drinking but should be fine for the next three to five years. Perfect with grilled meat or chicken dishes. 89 points.

Although its stated 14.9% alcohol might reasonably lead one to expect a big, strapping wine, that turns out not to be the case here, and, while the wine is certainly ripe, it shows nary a hint of excess and is, if anything, a bit restrained in richness. It favors firmness in balance and has a good grasp on continuous, well-defined dark cherry fruit, and its closing combination of acidity and slightly cramping tannins makes a strong case for upwards of a half-decade of age. 89 points. One star.

Here is a ripe and well-muscled wine that speaks very much to its place of origin, and, if a little less rich than several of its Santa Lucia Highlands siblings, it will not be mistaken for a Pinot from a foggy, cold-coast site. It is a tad tough at the edges and a touch hot at the end, but it is kept on course by ample, extracted fruit and a bit of age and/or thoughtful mealtime matching will temper its slightly rougher nature. 89 points. One star.

From the cool Monterey region comes this refined Pinot. It features a bouquet of cherry, beetroot and carnation. On the taste buds, the fruit is sweet with earth, vanilla and spice adding complexity. 89 points. Very good.

Nicely ripe fruit flavors and a full rounded texture give this affordably priced wine more presence than most. The aroma is honeydew melon and the flavors are ripe apple and Anjou pear, while the acidity is on the soft side.

Lush and open-textured, with concentrated flavors of ripe apple, pear, dried peach and melon. Creamy midpalate, offering butter and spice notes on the juicy finish.

Top Ten: California Saline-scented, this dense Mendocino zinfandel is from nearly thirty-year-old vines, sourced from across the AVA. Old vineyards are the base of Edmeades, with Ciapusci Vineyard planted in 1878, Perli Vineyard planted in the late 1800’s, Zeni Vineyard planted in 1910 and Piffero Vineyard planted in 1930. Wild yeast fermented, this was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Dense smoked plum, cassis jam, ripe blackberries, violets, cracked peppercorn and a dusky, musk perfume. There is a swell of acidity here to carry, but the finish, at 15 percent, is still warming and cinnamon clad. 88 points.

Equal parts Malbec and Merlot add to the whole of this wine, which is thick and extracted in black fruit and firm tannins. With a floral undercurrent and spicy rocky tones, it combines blackberry and currant with a rich addition of caramel. 88 points.Very good.

Our favorite wine in Siduri's expanding portfolio of Oregon Pinot Noirs, this one from the Eola-Amity Hills appellation may be a little youthfully withdrawn at the moment but conveys a good sense of fruity solidity all the same. It is firmly structured with a steady, ripe cherry bias of which it does not let go, and if it gets a bit chalky and fairly tough at the finish just now, we see positive things down the line even if a wait of some three to five years may be needed. 88 points. One star.

Among its maker's heftier Russian River Pinots and a wine that verges on being downright swarthy, this mouthfilling effort wants for nothing in the way of substance and mass but could do with more nuance and finesse. It may or may not find special polish in time, and, in fact, we suspect it may not, but it will turn the trick in washing down savory braised meats whether held for a few years or enjoyed early on. 88 points. One star.

A little less precise and not as deep as its single-site mates from the same appellation but a Pinot that inclines to richness rather than subtlety all the same, this bottling smacks of black cherries to start with ripeness pulling even and then getting a bit ahead of fruit as its flavors progress. It is moderately full-bodied with well-considered acidity warding off heaviness, and it is, withal, a likeable, fairly straightfoward offering equally suited to mid-term keeping or drinking right now. 88 points. One star.

If at first a bit subdued on the nose and sending a message that it will be a somewhat lighter wine, this one proves to be better filled and fairly solid when allowed a chance to develop in the glass. It is not an immense wine, but it is no underdone weakling to be sure, and it tracks to firmness following a slightly supple start with a lengthy finish that convincingly keys on lively, very distinct, dark cherry fruit. 88 points. One star.

Year's Best US Chardonnay A golden, ripe chardonnay with coastal sea-spray tones held in a caramelized framework of new oak, this has a hazelnut-oil richness that will match Dungeness crab.

This medium-bodied wine has an abundance of spices in its aromas and flavors, along with a smooth texture and good balance between acidity and ripeness. The fruit flavors are plummy and straightforward and the easy drinkability is undeniable.

This firmly built middleweight sets its compass on clean, fairly direct red cherry fruit and flirts with tangy, cranberry traits here and there. It is pleasantly rounded on entry and briefly shows a touch of fleshiness but tightens and turns to acidity as it crosses the palate. It closes on a slightly chalky note that argues for a bit of age, and, while not one of Siduri's more expressively fruity wines, it should emerge from its youthful shell and show a little more richness with a brief cellar stay. 87 points. One star.

Although lighter and lesser in concentration than a good many of its cellarmates, this offering from Oregon's Willamette Valley is a bright, firmly balanced, medium-bodied Pinot Noir that favors the tart, red cherry end of the varietal spectrum. It is more pert than it is ripe and rich, but it does not wander off its fruity path and is a wine worth considering when the night's menu features slightly lighter fare. 87 points. One star.

Never a powerhouse and a less-than-effusively-fruity Pinot Noir, yet one that exhibits good energy with a fairly steady, black cherry focus, this wine starts out on a rounded, slightly fleshy note in the mouth before narrowing and firming up at the end. It is not overly tough, but it will not reward hasty drinking, and at least a couple of years of waiting are advised. 87 points. One star.

Lemon sherbet, lime zest and ruby grapefruit flavors are intense and refreshing, with a crisp finish. 87 points. Very good.

Fermented in both stainless steel and neutral French oak, this is a lightly bodied and balanced white with accents of grassy pea shoot, lemongrass and pineapple. Pithy and lushly layered, it finishes in a rich fistful of wild vanilla. 87 points. Very good.

Richly spiced, with ripe apple, pear tart and dried apricot flavors. Buttery notes carry through to the creamy finish, with dried savory herb accents.

Top Ten: California A steady-Eddy brand, the Murphy-Goode opens with a friendly, inviting nose that draws you into the glass. Spicy cherry, sweet black fruit aromas and flavours mark this modern commercial red blend that has a zinfandel lead. The fruit is a 34/27/16/13/6/4/ blend of zinfandel, merlot, petit verdot, syrah, and cabernet sauvignon. Ready to drink with smokies or burgers. Pricey. 86 points.

Wines of the Week Freemark Abbey winery dates back to the pre-prohibition days of the late 19th century when the historic stone winery was constructed by Antonio Forni and named Lombarda Cellars after his birthplace in Italy. Today, the winery follows traditions going back to 1967 when modern-era Napa winemaking favored Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. This rich and hearty Merlot was voted top marks by my tasters for its spicy dark fruits, smoky oak and lingering palate of plum, vanilla and caramel.