Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Light gold-hued with lots of lemon zest, white grapefruit, and a touch of crushed rock-like minerality, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Knights Valley hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, nicely integrated acidity, and a clean, balanced style. It's not the most complex Sauvignon Blanc in the lineup yet has a classic, balanced, impeccably made style. It's going to shine on the dinner table and should have 2-4 years or more of longevity.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Alexander Valley (89% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Semillon, and the balance Sauvignon Musque) offers more melon, white peach, and pineapple notes in a richer, more fleshy, textured style. It still has good acidity, terrific purity of fruit, and a deliciously balanced profile that's already a joy to drink.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Slightly more expensive, the 2018 Chardonnay Alexander Valley offers a more pure, classic, and medium-bodied style with impressive white peach, crushed stone, spice, and white flower-like aromas and flavors. It has beautiful balance, good acidity, and a clean finish.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Coming from a handful of sites in the Russian River and brought up in 34% new French oak, the 2017 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley offers textbook Russian River notes of mulled red and black fruits, spice box, cola, black tea, and autumn leaves. Rounded, medium-bodied, and supple on the palate, with beautiful fruit, drink it over the coming 4-5 years or so.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Moving to the Estate Collection Series, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estates Collection Alexander Valley is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot all from the Alden Park Vineyard in the Alexander Valley. Aged 19 months in 97% new French oak, its deep purple color is followed by a structured, medium-bodied Cabernet that has plenty of black cherry and blackcurrant fruits, some spicy oak, plenty of tannins, and outstanding length. It's going to integrate some tannins with 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for a decade.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018Just slightly more expensive, the 2018 Chardonnay Grand Reserve comes all from Santa Barbara County (Los Alamos and Santa Maria) and was basically all barrel fermented and brought up in 76% French and the balance American oak barrels. More Meyer lemon, orange blossom, and honeysuckle notes emerge from the glass, and it has a rich, textured, yet balanced mouthfeel as well as a clean finish. It's another high quality, rock-solid effort from this estate.

Sonoma: Another Brilliant Vintage in 2018White grapefruit, lemon curd, and a kiss of minerality all emerge from the medium-bodied 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Pine Mountain, which has a balanced, elegant texture, good acidity, and a clean finish. It's a quality, satisfying Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy over the coming 2-3 years.

Chardonnay is the second most-planted variety in Napa, following cabernet sauvignon, which represents 40 per cent of total production in the valley. This complex and easy-to-appreciate white draws upon chardonnay grapes grown in different parts of Napa, including cooler sites in Carneros and a higher elevation property on Howell Mountain. The result is a rich white wine that offers vibrancy and refreshment along with its creamy and honeyed character. Drink now.

Winemaker Randy Ullom does an admirable job with this label that graphically is even more boring than its Vintner’s Reserve moniker. That said, it’s a wine that has evolved over the decade and now is very reflective of the new California Chardonnay style and its top-flight fruit sourcing. Don’t worry, it is still lush and sweet-smelling with ripe peaches, a touch of caramel candy and buttercream, but it’s the acidity that sets the tone for the palate and its pineapple, peach, Meyer lemon flavours. Pair with lobster, crab, baked salmon or butter chicken.

This pitch-black colored Cabernet Sauvignon opens a black currant bouquet with hints of black olive, blackberry and black tea. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied, nicely balanced and silky smooth. The flavor is a refined graphite with notes of black olive, black tea, oak and blackberry. I also detected hints black currant mixed in. The finish is dry and its fined grained tannins stick around for quite some time. This Cab benefits from some aeration, so decant it for a bit before enjoying with a well-marbled ribeye over the next couple of years.

Medium ruby color. Bright and fresh aromas of wild raspberries and strawberries, some spice pepper, rose hips and tobacco. Medium-bodied, silky tannins, this has a fresh, crunchy, pretty feel. Vibrant red fruits (raspberries and strawberries) mix well with floral and herb tones (rose petals, clove, bay leaf) with some clay and earth undertones. Vibrant, accessible, yet complex, too. Fermented and aged in concrete, a process I’m a big fan of. It gives this wine airy, lifted aromas and keeps away the coffee and vanilla that would make this wine taste just like 100 other California Pinot Noirs. From winemaker and Siduri founder Adam Lee, this is well-done, exciting stuff for a great price.

Sleek and steely in structure, with precise black cherry, anise and pepper flavors that build toward fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2025.

Brooding and concentrated, with deep blueberry and blackberry flavors that build tension and structure, accented by stony mineral and sage details on the way to well-buffed tannins. Best from 2022 through 2030.

The grapes for this multi-vineyard bottling come primarily from the Sta. Rita Valley, whose east-west orientation is rare in California where most of the valleys run north-south. Sta. Rita’s orientation allows cool Pacific Ocean influences to reduce temperatures, especially close to the coast, making it an ideal locale for growing Pinot Noir, a grape that prefers lower temperatures to higher ones. Siduri’s Sta. Rita bottling is a fine contrast to their other two, falling somewhere in the middle. Slightly riper and more full-bodied that their Willamette offering, it is more restrained compared to the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, reflecting its cooler environment. This is a great trio. Thanks to Siduri for reminding us that France does not have a monopoly on terroir.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley opens with a mild red raspberry and faint Dr. Pepper bouquet with hints of cedar shavings. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, nicely balanced and very smooth. The flavor profile is a tasty red plum with notes of red currant and pomegranate. We also detected some hints of dried herbs. The finish is dry and its flavors and gentle tannins fade away nicely. The Panel suggested pairing this Pinot with a garlic and rosemary pork chop or veal milanese.

This outstanding-barrel selection from the winery is sourced predominantly from the producer’s Alexander Valley estate. Bright, sweetly fleshy peach and candied lemon highlight a robust core of oak and softly integrated tannin, finishing in spice and power.

Made predominantly with Napa Valley grapes, and a supporting cast from Alexander and Knights valleys, this hearty red overdelivers on its price point, offering thick, dusty tannin structure and well-integrated oak. Cedar, tobacco and crushed rock provide earthy, savory elements from which its richness of black cherry contrasts and complements.

Clean lines of lemon juice, lemon blossom, pomelo zest, chalk and the faintest hint of butter show on the nose of this bottling, a relatively small batch from a coolclimate site. Tight citrus-pith flavors wrap up the plate, where light peach and guava flavors also arise.

A well-made red blended with 14% Merlot as well as smaller amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot, this crowdpleaser is robust and leathery, with length and supple tannins. The oak is integrated and meshes well with the blackberry, cherry and currant, finishing in clove and toast.

This is a reserve-tier white wine, rich and rambunctious in style, with French oak, 50% of it new, at its core. The wine spent 10 months aging and it has a touch of reduction nipping at its thick, creamy layers of butterscotch and crème brûlée.

The nose is crisp red fruit, cherry and raspberry with notes of spice box. The palate entry is tight and youthful with elevated acidity fleshing out to a sappy ripeness in the core. Needs time. Drink 2021-2027.

The nose is red berry and plum leading to a palate entry of blueberry and tobacco that persists through the core. Finishes with lean and lively spice and acidity. Drink 2020 – 2025.

Katherine’s Vineyard 2018 Chardonnay from Cambria Estate Winery is quite a price performer! If you like Chardonnay, and who doesn’t, then consider this one. I think I can safely say use that adage because it is so widely planted in many nations.For example, in the mid-20th Century Chardonnay was 75% of Chile’s white grapes, and in the early 17th-Century it made up 93% of all of South Africa’s grapevines. Today Chardonnay comprises the most acreage of any wine grape in the world! However, Chardonnay’s ubiquitousness may be the very reason it isn’t easy to find the wine you like. Just too many choices to consider, and how many are well made? So, when an attractive Chardonnay presents itself, take action. I can safely say that the 2018 Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay is worth a go!The Cambria Estate Winery, sustainably farmed and family owned by the Jackson family, is located on California’s Central Coast where the foothills swell from the floor of the valley just off the Foxen Trail on the Santa Maria Bench, in Santa Barbara County a bit south of the city of Santa Maria. The winery’s address in point of fact is on Chardonnay Lane, perfect for this review.Jackson Family Wines established Cambria Winery in 1986 and Jess Jackson’s daughters, Katie and Julia, were raised near Cambria’s vines. Along with Barbara Banke, they are the proprietors, hence the designation Katherine’s Vineyard.The estate’s wines come from four dissimilar vineyards, each conveying its unique characteristics to the wines. The Chardonnay sources from Katherine’s Vineyard, consisting of 34 blocks of various clones on soils of shallow sand, granite, shale, limestone, and fossilized seashells.Winemaking consisted of whole cluster pressing, after which 75% of the juice went to barrel fermentation, with 25% to stainless. To finish, the young wine was placed in oak casks, 20% of which were new, to age sur lie for eight months. The alcohol level reached 14.1%.This straw colored, golden-hued, 100% Chardonnay opens with subtle aromas of Asian pear and citrus blossom, which are followed by Golden apple, quince, and a trace of butterscotch especially on the rear palate. Cambria has achieved a very user-friendly wine showcasing ripe fruit, a really pleasing roundness with smooth palate-feel, and good balance including the level of acidity. Finishes well.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe 2017 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley has a pale to medium ruby color and opens with crunchy cranberries, blackberries, pomegranate, dried herbs and dusty earth with touches of bitter peel and bark. The light-bodied, silky palate offers pure, earth-laced, crunchy fruits, finely grained and fresh on the earthy finish. "We picked some grapes early and some later and blended them, in an effort to retain natural acidity without having to acidify," says winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash.

Spicy, herbal and lively in robust layers of dark cherry and orange, this full-figured, textured wine is powerful and complex. The integration of oak is impressive, with lasting tannin structure on offer through a focused finish.