The 2018 Grenache Brosseau is a bright, punchy wine. Sweet red cherry, hard candy, orange peel and sweet spice give the 2018 a decidedly exotic character.

The 2018 Chardonnay Tous Ensemble is a blend of mostly younger vines on the Sonoma Coast. Lemon confit, marzipan, chamomile and dried flowers all grace this expressive entry-level Chardonnay. The 2018 balances fruit richness and energy, while avoiding some of the austerity of the recent past.

It is year 19 for the Viognier label, and it arrives with a great flavour profile. It is 92 percent fermented in Stainless steel for freshness, with an additional 8 percent fermenting in a concrete egg to add some texture and mouthfeel to the finished wine. The growing season started cool before moving to a warmer than average summer followed by a cool finish — perhaps best for tuning all of the viognier’s panoply of flavours to a perfect pitch. Look for an exotic orange blossom and jasmine nose that spills across the palate that adds some green apple freshness and subtle notes of bitter lime for complexing — a delicious and stylish viognier that walks the tightrope of richness and leanness to a tee.

Tenuta di Arceno managed to succeed in a difficult vintage. Their bold style worked well in 2017 because they captured ripeness, good acidity and suave tannins simultaneously. Though rich and fruity, a subtly haunting bitterness in the finish reminds us, thankfully, it’s not just about fruit. There’s a lot of herbal earthy notes and energy to complement those juicy cherry-like flavors. This Riserva, unlike many, is ready to drink now because the tannins are finely polished and not intrusive. Still, a hearty beef dish would be a good match.

Mid-straw in colour, with some bronze tints. The aromas are of wheat, hessian, nuts and haybales, really savoury and expressive. The palate is mid-weight, with flavours of white peach and apricot kernel, there's also a nuttiness and a hint of honey. The wine has a little phenolic grip and combined with the acidity, it gives excellent structure and savouriness to the finish.

The colour is quite deep in colour, with bronzed hues. Aromas of cut-hay, candied orange and a nuttiness. A richly-textured wine that has a real presence on the palate. There's tangy, citrus flavours melding with a grippy, mealy, savoury, phenolic dryness that gives the palate some real length.

This medium ruby colored Pinot Noir opens with a black raspberry and pencil shavings bouquet with hints of blood orange and band-aid. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with bright acidity. We also found it to be juicy and have a round mouthfeel. The flavor profile is red raspberry and red plum blend with notes of cola We also detected hints of strawberry, fig and clove mixed in. The finish is dry and its flavors and acidity linger nicely. The Panel would pair this Pinot with duck breast with fig sauce or with a cassoulet.

This represents solid value for the solid quality—an expressive wine in dark rich cherry, cinnamon and vanilla notes and one that is sticky in tannin and shows plenty of structure. Blended with small amounts of Cab Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, it remains light on the palate in integrated oak.

It's cabernet sauvignon on the label, but a Bordeaux blend in spirit. It takes full advantage of California's ability to blend in a healthy dollop of other grapes into a single varietal wine, with merlot (16%), malbec (4%), petit verdot (3%), and cabernet franc (1%). It also blends valley floor and mountain fruit from five vineyards, to produce a wine led by cassis and backed by an appealing savouriness with graphite, mint, and a touch of developing cedar. The vanilla-tinged oak is present but balanced (35% new French oak), leading to a medium-full bodied palate that's linear in texture with firm tannins. Just starting to enter prime time, this is true both to Napa and the estate's house style.

This very pale pink colored Rose wine opens fragrant strawberry and maraschino cherry bouquet with hints of gardenia and tangerine. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied with lively medium plus acidity. The flavor profile is a stony mineral influenced strawberry and blood orange blend with hints of peach and watermelon. The finish is dry, extended and refreshing. The Panel would pair this very nice Rose with Rick’s shrimp cocktail.

This medium ruby colored Pinot Noir from Copain opens with a black raspberry and craisin bouquet with hints of strawberry and oak. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, slightly acidic and juicy. The flavor profile is an oak influenced black plum with notes of stony minerality. I also detected hints of red raspberry and mint. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins drift away nicely. This Pinot would pair well with cranberry-glazed pork chops.

Perfect for a quintessential Tuscan pappardelle al cinghiale with shaved pecorino, the Tenuta di Arceno 2018 Chianti Classico is a steady, fruity and fresh expression that delivers on and exceeds the basic promises of the appellation. Dark fruit and wild cherry segue to leather, spice and earth. The wine (made with Sangiovese and a small part Merlot for extra softness) offers a classic window onto the warm and sunny Castelnuovo Berardenga village on the southern side of the appellation.

2019 in Monterey was cool, with plenty of fog and overcast skies. No big heat spikes were leading to a slowly ripening crop of fresh fruit. Best of all, the acidity is juicy and the perfect foil to its ripe tropical fruit. Look for an aromatic nose with baked apples and pineapple dusted with butter scented brioche. On the palate, lemon and tangerine pull it all together along with a mineral coating. Balanced, fresh, and ready to drink. The wine is aged eight months in an 85/15 mix of oak (15 percent new) and stainless steel. The Monterey AVA consists of a long valley stretching from the uniquely cold Monterey Bay to the far southeast reaches of the Salinas Valley.

This bold, ripe pinot embodies the warmth of Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara. It's not shy on dark berry fruit, with cola, rhubarb, and sweet spices. It's drinking well now with a nice combination of fresh fruit and tertiary complexity coming from bottle age at five years. Medium-full bodied, it's dense and concentrated with impressively supple tannins. If you like pinot that's at the riper end of the spectrum, but without being over the top or just a fruit bomb, this is a winner.

This wine is from Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County, and proudly states the certified sustainable farming designation on the front of the label.The color is a pale ruby, very much on the pale side. It pours light but that’s not an indicator for what’s coming. It’s the nose that gets you right away. The aromas are super vibrant; fresh berries, spice and earth.Nice depth in the mouth with cherry, cola, strawberry flavors; toasty in the finish with a nice peppery spice and a little vanilla.Excellent wine, and an amazing value.

Rich and deep, with plenty of oak to gather the lush fruit, this is a broad-shouldered pinot with the power and generosity for braised beef.

This pinot comes from the Jackson family's estate in Annapolis, where the fruit grew to generous ripeness while still holding some coastal briskness. The sweetness of dimpled grapes lends richness, the wine lasting in a dusty, lively and elegant finish.

Allspice, coffee and mocha scents show the integration of the oak tannins in this wine, their subtle red spice lasting over the red fruit. The flavors are big rather than deep, their youth hiding what one taster described as "tantalizing complexity around the edges."

With its fresh raspberry and red peach-skin flavors, this is a lush and vibrant pinot noir with some transparency to its flavors. Its tense and lightly abrasive tannins will mellow with a year or two of bottle age, then serve it with grilled tuna.

Tangy and svelte with cranberry flavors that last, this wine has a tight frame of tannins to highlight the fruit. The structure and the content combine in a lithe pinot noir, fragrant and clean.

Plush and supple, this wine focuses on textural pleasures when first poured. As it opens over the course of a day, the notes of cherry liqueur feel increasingly grounded in mineral-edged tannins. Decant it for shredded duck with bamboo shoots.

Warm with a ripe cherry and berry scent and velvety red fruit flavors, this wine is simple, supple and rounded with a mild grip of tannin—just the right weight for braised chicken thighs.

This lean well-priced pinot doesn't pander with added sugar or extract. Instead, you can taste the wind off Monterey Bay, the flavors all tart cherry and berry, with a modest oak complement that doesn't get in the way of the vibrant fruit. A well-made, go-to pinot noir staple.

Fresh and juicy, with good cut to the red currant and dried berry flavors that feature bright minerality. Ends with a creamy, well-spiced finish, with notes of dried green herbs. Drink now through 2023.

2018 has given us a very pure Pinot Noir packed full of black cherry. The textures are similarly inviting with just enough structure to channel all the mouth-filling fruit along the palate to an even more impressive 13.5 alcohol content. Seriously Pinot-like, this was once thought unattainable in California. Delicious and friendly, you can serve it with duck, mushrooms, root vegetables, soft cheeses and pork. La Crema Sonoma Coast oversees a large production of estate and grower vineyards, all within the cool, marine swept boundaries of Sonoma County. Post ferment, it’s aged nine months in 98 per cent (20 pe rcent new and dwindling) French oak. Bravo.