Fresh, bright and juicy with tangy acidity and lively black raspberry fruit; long and showing smoke, spice and chocolate.

The one-star, 90-point Edmeades Mendocino County 2010 is certain to find favor with fans of bold, big-bodied Zins that hold nothing back...

Edmeades Zins are typically on the riper and weightier end of the varietal spectrum, and this one is just that, but its primary message is one of deep, very honest blackberry fruit. It eschews jammy sweetness and shows the grape’s more serious side with blackberries, sweet oak, briary spice and suggestions of dark soil running its length. It is full, fleshy in feel and solidly built, with a little more tannin than is the varietal norm. It would be best to wait for a couple of years here, and the wine has the potential to improve for a half-dozen or more. Good Value.

This Zin delivers what in the right hands makes the variety so appealing--bright, juicy flavor with a hint of sweet spice and a briary finish. There’s nothing very complex or remotely subtle about it. There’s instead just tons of up front fruit flavor, without excess alcohol or heat. Delicious.

The 2007 Zinfandel Mendocino is a super-generic cuvee boasting a deep ruby hue as well as a stunning nose of sweet, briery black cherries, black currants, spice, and an underlying floral character. Abundant flavor, medium to full body, impressive purity, and fine elegance suggest this delicious Zinfandel should drink well for 2-3 years.

Supple and appealingly ripe, with cherry pie aromas and soft, jammy wild berry, toasty vanilla and spice flavors.

This is a beautiful 2006 Zinfandel that sells for a song. This has got to be one of the better values, and of course, 2006 looks to be a vastly superior vintage to 2005 for Zinfandel. This wine, which has some Petite Sirah, Merlot, Syrah, and Grenache blended in, exhibits deep ruby color and a big, sweet nose of peppery black cherry and raspberry liqueur intermixed with spring flowers and earth. The wine is medium to full-bodied, ripe, and altogether a hedonistic mouthful of big Zinfandel. Drink it over the next 3-4 years.

Made in the Edmeades style of high alcohol and exceptional ripeness, this is a powerfully explosive Zin. Fully dry, it's packed with black currant, cassis, plum jam, dark chocolate and spice flavors that are wrapped into hard tannins. Will soften in time. Best now through 2012.

This zin ripened to lush blackberry and fig flavors. It's enriched by oak, smooth and supple, delicious sweet. Catch it as a young wine with roast squab or other game birds.

Edmeades, a true Mendocino pioneer, has crafted an enormously likeable Zin, deeply flavored in black currant, cherry and black raspberry-pie filling and chocolaty, spicy desirousness. But for all its size and high alcohol, the wine retains a silky, elegant mouthfeel.

Exhibits a smorgasbord of aromas, including resiny pine forest notes, black currants, cherry jam, licorice, and incense. Deep and full-bodied, with great fruit, tremendous freshness, and a vigorous, exuberant, flamboyant finish, it will provide pleasure of the next 4-5 years.

This dramatic, perfumed offering reveals resiny notes intermingled with red and black fruits, flowers, and forest floor, medium to full body, outstanding fruit concentration, good underlying acidity, and a touch of tannin. Drink this beefy, bigger-than-life Zinfandel over the next 4-5 years.

Similarly-styled, the 2000 Zinfandel Ciapusci Vineyard is a fat, heady offering with high alcohol, loads of fruit, a mouth-coating style as well as good purity and depth.

Classic Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer. A fragrant wine, brimming with floral, litchi, tangerine, and cinnamon-allspice aromas. Rich, ripe, supple, and frankly delicious. Bone dry, but the fruit is so ripe the wine tastes sweet. Steely, with great balance and harmony.

Remarkable for its creamy peach and pear flavors, it picks up a nice smoke and toast nuance and then keeps the flavors lively through its long, complex finish. (Also appeared 6/1/97).

Santa Barbara Dreamin'…Part Two The 2017 Chardonnay Spear is attractive with terrific energy and cut. Citrus and floral notes are nicely delineated. The Spear is not as focused or layered as the best wines in the range, but that is almost certainly a function of vine age. I expect this bottling will become more complex in future vintages.

Focused and vibrantly fruity, with notes of wet stone to the peach, white berry and green apple flavors. The spicy finish offers dried savory and honeyed accents.

Steals - $25 & Under Delicate and lively; a thirst-quenching treat that’s fantastic with the foods of spring and summer.

California vintners, after decades of fear and loathing, are finally getting dialed in to the beauty of dry rosé. And this one is a beauty, showing floral notes, a touch of citrus, savory herbs and lifted strawberry. Crisp, with lip-smacking acidity, it’s built to pair with grilled chicken and sausages, salmon or simply on its own.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site that's close to the Petaluma Gap, the 2017 Pinot Noir Côte Bannie offers a smoky, darker style in its black cherry, blueberries, scorched earth, ground herbs, and pepper. It's medium-bodied, racy, and has tart acidity, yet it also has purity, balance, and outstanding length on the finish. Aged 16 months in one-third new French oak, give bottles a year or three.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Pinot Noir Edmeades Vineyard is lifted and understated, with lovely floral and savory character. Crushed flowers, herbs, spice and dried cherry are all laced together. Medium in body and gracious, the 2017 is shaping up to be a terrific wine. Stylistically, it is a bit more savory and less fruity than other Pinots in the range.

Exploring The Best New Releases from Sonoma and Beyond The 2017 Pinot Noir Les Voisins is a pretty wine with lovely floral and savory character. Sweet red berry, crushed flowers, mint. This mid-weight, gracious Pinot will drink well with minimal cellaring.

As with the En Haut cuvée, the 2016 Pinot Noir Kiser En Bas saw malo in barrel and was brought up in just over 20% new French oak. However, where the En Haut saw some whole cluster, this was completely destemmed. It offers ripeness in its Bing cherry, dried earth, licorice, and leafy herbs notes, and while it has plenty of fruit and depth, it doesn’t come together with the same elegance and balance found in the En Haut cuvée. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years.

Leading off the Pinot Noirs, the 2016 Les Voisins saw a malo in barrel followed by aging in 19% new French oak. This light ruby-colored effort has a terrific perfume of spiced cherries, dried flowers, and wild strawberries. It’s fresh, lively, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with a charming, albeit slightly short style. Nevertheless, I love its complexity and balance.