f you think Californian Chardonnay is all about oaky, buttery wines at 15 per cent alcohol, try this. Made from vines over 40 years old, with just a touch of oak, this is more like a Chablis in style than most Californians: taut, elegant and retrained, but with nice apple and pear fruit and quite long

this is world-class South African Chardonnay made from grapes from two mountain vineyards, with 10 months in French oak. Bright citrus flavours and creamy depth, beautifully balanced and long

leading with Cabernet Sauvignon, this classic, oft 100-point wine also carries within its textural soul a good percentage of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a handful of Petit Verdot; this is a treat-yourself wine, and no one would be the wiser if you choose not to share

Probably Shane Moore's favourite wine, the blocks that go into this provide the wine with fantastic acidity. Dropstone references the glacial erratics, and there is almost no new wood year over year. The Dropstone is all about expressing power without oak or alcohol; it shows the concentration and pure fruit character of Pinot Noir from here in the Willamette Valley and the Yamhill Carlton. Intensity of fruit and character. 80-90% from the winery site, and "linear travel across the midpalate" gorgeous crushed strawberries, mint, white pepper, violets and exotic spices. It's a hell of a wine.

Two blocks with lots of structure, both southwest facing, with 667 and 115 clones, at about 450 ft elevation. This is good stuff, says Moore, the winemaker, so he started popping heads on barrels to manage the structure, adding to the elegance of the wine, which shows so much rose petal character. He's using 50% new oak, but the oak integration early on makes the palate more silken, says Shane Moore. Imagine a cool rose petal sitting on your tongue, elegant florals and blue and black fruits. The finish lingers long with fresh mint and a touch of smoky clove.

Two ‘dead south facing blocks’ toward the back of the vineyard, on a conical-shaped hill, winemaker Shane Moore believes these are among Willamette Valley's grand cru sites. ‘They're the best on our 200-acre vineyard,’ Moore says. 667 and Pommard clones, this Pinot Noir has a dark and savoury character to it, with savoury notes of roast seaweed, soy and balsamic. This is a wine that shows depth and concentration—showing elegance, depth and a brilliant acidity to finish.

They take the top 20% of their site for this wine, about 15 blocks, with a fantastic melange of fruits, blue and red brambles, sweet cherries, hints of herbs, and mint. It's a nice balance of fruit and spice; the tension is lovely in the 21s, says winemaker Shane Moore. Released early with the lack of a 2020 vintage for the brand.

Exuberant and refreshing, featuring juicy Fuji apple, peach and ripe melon flavors that complement the core of lemon and pomelo notes. Touches of fresh grated ginger and vetiver linger with green tea notes on the finish. Drink now. 38,223 cases made.

Lightly mulled cherry and raspberry notes mix with gently singed cinnamon and red tea hints. Streamlined and fresh through the finish. An understated style. Drink now through 2027. 236 cases made.

An approachable wine that captures the essence of Willamette Valley, with supple raspberry and cherry flavors that are laced with cinnamon and smoky spices as this persists toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2032. 26,250 cases made. From Oregon.

What must be one of the finest renditions of this wine, the 2021 Cardinale is composed of nearly all Cabernet Sauvignon (91%) with the remainder Merlot. Stored in 80% new French oak before bottling, this is a massive beast that really needs several hours in the decanter before consuming. A brilliant melange of mountain huckleberry and wild blackberry combine with tar, graphite, anise and creme de cassis on the palate. Big and round, with refined tannins and a generous mouthfeel, everything is firing on all cylinders here. This beauty will easy cellar for another twenty years. Again, this is not a pop and pour so give it plenty of time if you cannot resist opening it. Drink 2025-2050- 99

A world class wine by Chris Carpenter, the 2021 Mt. Brave Cabernet Franc shows off its inky core, revealing violets, tar and menthol tones in the glass, alongside a hedonistic black fruit aromatic backbone. The palate is plush and dense with a refined mouthfeel and glorious depth and complexity. Beautifully-structured, with heady black and blue fruits, enjoy this beautiful wine now and over the next twenty years to comer. Drink 2024-2044- 98

The world-class 2021 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon can benefit from a long decant. Once aroused this offers black currant cordial and creme de violette flavors that meld well with the stony accents, with touches of graphite and black cherry compote. The beautiful purple and black floral aromatics add to the enjoyment as this beauty could really use another year in the cellar prior to enjoying. Drink 2025-2050- 98

A stunning new bottling, the 2021 La Jota Merlot is sourced from this high elevation site on Howell Mountain. Deeply colored and perfumed, this leads with anise and black rose petal aromatics alongside wintergreen, fennel seed and suggestions of damp rock. The palate is fresh and vicious with great weight and tension. Loads of mouth-watering acidity invade the mid-palate, alongside heady black and blue fruits, with pencil lead and loamy soil accents. A joy to consume now, enjoy this beauty over the next two decades. Drink 2024-2044- 98

The 2021 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon is inky in the glass, offering mountain huckleberry and black raspberry notes on the nose alongside graphite and shades of dried herbs. The palate is rich and viscous with incredible underlying tension. Pencil lead, anise, creme de cassis and chocolate cake notes all combine on the palate. A joy to consume now, savor this beauty over the next twenty years to come. Drink 2024-2044- 97

Enjoyment of this special wine begins with admiring its notable hue and complex nose, followed by its strength, heavy body, balance and additional excellence on the palate.

Quite a treat to taste a McLaren Vale Cab like this one, which is just beginning to shift and settle into the mellow comfort of maturity. Red plums and black pu-erh tea, roasted-bone-marrow earthiness and sun-dried-tomato sweetness. Camphor notes of freshness. The tannins a swag of heavy silk. Autumnal leafiness shaping the finish. (TC).

Developing gentle gaminess and tamari-umami underlay, but the fruit is still succulent, red, very gently tea-leaf smoked. Iron and iodine, Sichuan-pepper lift and fragrance. The tannins are beautifully resolved, curving around the fruit and layers of flavour like an aggregate of slender fibres. In a lovely place to drink right now. (TC).

Smells like that moment when you're bubbling strawberries in a pot and suddenly the kitchen is filled with the knee-buckling heady joy of strawberry jam. Wonderful layers of velvet-kiss, scarlet-lip, ruby-pool, indigo-ink-stained fruit and husky, dusky tones of coffee, cocoa husk, star anise. Tannins like an ensemble of cellos. It tastes disarmingly easy and ready and arms-wide-open. Deceptively easy, because this is a beautifully made wine and there is nothing simple about this jewelled Grenache. (TC)

Egregiously heavy bottle. Complex blend and winemaking! Despite four years in bottle, it smells as youthful and fruity as a one-year-old wine. It smells like a bowl of fresh quinces, like daffodils, like wet chalk and bergamot and yuzu cordial. So fresh! And so fresh on the palate as well, although here that hint of wet chalk becomes structural and mineral, taking shape and deepening the curved carve of acidity, drawing the white-yellow notes of the fruit into length, allowing tiny white and yellow flowers to dance on the edges, just out of sight. There is absolutely no hurry to drink this wine that tastes as if it hasn't even begun to get going. (TC).

Transparent garnet. Delicate earthy nose followed by surprisingly full-on strawberry fruit. Still quite youthful with good acidity and smooth texture. I’d wait until at least 2025 to enjoy this but there’s no excess sweetness and hardly a trace of oak. Long. A bit of a charmer but less forward that its Bastard Hill stablemate. (JR).

Tense, intense nose with marked acidity promised. Gosh, and there is it on the palate! Stony texture and extremely youthful. Hovering somewhere between lemon and grapefruit flavours. It certainly has potential but I’d leave it alone for at least a year. (JR).

A little lean for a stereotypically Aussie Chardonnay but this is, on the other hand, eerily like a Chablis with its sleek, stony fruit. Juicy and appetizing. Lots of texture but ready to enjoy already! (JR).

Transparent garnet. Very fruity and forgiving on the nose. Violet scents. Really mouth-filling and already very welcoming. There’s a hint of white pepper on the end. This is a really interesting wine with fruit that subsumes the light tannin. (JR).

An intense, linear wine. So bright, tangy and cherry-like, with great acidity lifting raspberry, cranberry, sage, chalk and rooibos tea flavors. Made with 100% whole clusters. Drink or hold.