Silky and elegant with citrus and white peach; smooth, fresh and balanced.

Light yellow-gold. Ripe, lees-accented orchard fruit and melon aromas are complicated by notes of orange pith, tarragon and sweet butter. Smooth and expansive on the palate, displaying fresh orchard and pit fruit flavors and a hint of vanilla. Finishes on a refreshing note of lemon zest, with bright mineral cut and building smokiness.

Bright and juicy with citrus, stone fruit and tropical notes; lush and ripe, creamy and long, balanced and rich.

Leading off the three Chardonnay’s, the 2012 Katherine’s Vineyard offers beautiful flint-like minerality to go with stone fruits, white flowers, vanilla curd and brioche on the nose. Medium-bodied, tight, fresh and elegant, it’s a superb value to enjoy over the coming couple of years.

Light yellow-gold. Pungent citrus pith, poached pear and yellow plum aromas are enlivened by zesty mineral and floral nuances. Strikingly energetic as well as concentrated, with powerful pit and orchard fruit flavors braced by lemon zest and ginger notes. Finishes sappy and long, with building spiciness and a hint of toasty lees.

Rich, dense and creamy; ripe, thick and long with deep, round flavors; intense and long.

The 2012 vintage has been released, but many retailers still offer the 2011, which is showing beautifully right now if you like older Chardonnays. I certainly do, in fact I often find that slightly older vintages of well made California Chardonnay can be more appealing than current releases, which are sometimes jittery and slightly unfocused. What do I like about this wine from Cambria? I love its deep, gold color. I like that it speaks to me in a low, throaty voice rather than in the slightly shriller tones of youth. Its exotic, erotic aroma is thrilling, and the smooth, self-assured wave of flavor entering the mouth is a delight. With its richly defined notes of tropical fruit the wine still manages to be crisp and refreshing on the finish.

This Chardonnay carries a lot of oak, while underneath the fruit is charming, open and sufficiently edgy, with flavors of dried pineapple and lime. It has a structural grip that suggests more than oak is in play - something rocky and mineral, perhaps contributed by Cambria's extensive holdings of deep-rooted vines from the 1970's and '80's.

This Chardonnay carries a lot of oak, while underneath the fruit is charming, open and sufficiently edgy, with flavors of dried pineapple and lime. It has a structural grip that suggests more than oak is in play - something rocky and mineral, perhaps contributed by Cambria's extensive holdings of deep-rooted vines from the 1970's and '80's.

A beautiful Chardonnay, the 2011 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard is pure and detailed on the nose with crisp white peach, white flowers, crushed rock-like minerality and hints of creme to go with a medium-bodied, balanced and focused texture. Crisp, pure and downright delicious, enjoy it over the coming handful of years. Drink now-2016.

Pale gold.  Ripe, oak-spiced aromas and flavors of poached pear, peach and fig, with buttered toast and honey nuances adding complexity.  Fleshy and expansive chardonnay, finishing with strong punch and a lingering note of bitter pear skin.  Manages to be both rich and lively, and has the depth of fruit to work with strongly seasoned foods.

A bigger and richer wine than the Katherine's, the 2010 Chardonnay Bench Break nevertheless retains much of the vibrancy that makes that wine so appealing. The aromas and flavors are beautifully layered through to the rich, creamy finish. The higher percentage of new oak (50%) and more frequent lees stirring gives the Bench Break much of its personality. This is another absolutely delicious wine from Cambria.

Bright gold. Intensely spicy scents of melon, pear, lemongrass and anise, plus a hint of white pepper. Nervy citrus and orchard fruit flavors deliver refreshingly bitter cut, with a pleasant bite of white pepper perking up the lush back end. Blends ripeness and vivacity smoothly, finishing with excellent clarity and smoky persistence.

The outstanding 2008 Chardonnay Bench Break has delicate yet substantial fruit flavors, a light green hue to its straw color, terrific minerality, floral notes, honeyed citrus, and tropical fruits. It is rich and full-bodied, but a Chardonnay of finesse as well as power. Drink it over the next 3-4 years.

Vivid yellow. Aromas of lemon pith, nectarine, honeysuckle and salty minerals. At once dry and fleshy, offering powerful citrus and orchard fruit flavors and firming minerality. Rich but fat-free, in a very grown-up style; the finish is gripping, focused and long.

One of the most alluring things about this wine is a balanced richness that bursts onto the midpalate. Many California Chardonnays are surprisingly difficult to pair with food (they are often too fruity, too oaky, too buttery, too alcoholic-or all of the above), but this one has just the right equilibrium to pair well with a variety of foods, especially something along the lines of cream-based pastas or soups (I had it recently with a grilled sandwich of Morbier cheese and sliced pear-a terrific partnering).

This is a big, fat, unctuous Chardonnay marked by exceptional ripeness and smoky oak. Yet it never loses sight of balance. It's powerful in candied or pie-filling pineapple jam, Mandarin orange zest, apricot brûée and vanilla custard flavors that are completely dry and accented with crisp acidity. This is an amazing price for a wine of this quality. Sommeliers, buy this beauty by the case.

Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir John Sebastiano has an herbal and earth-laced nose, offering up black and red cherries with subtle cloves plus a waft of cedar. Medium-bodied, chewy and with a good core of earthy fruit, it has a long, earthy finish.

Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2015 Pinot Noir la Encantada Vineyard is very purely fruited with baked cherries and raspberries plus a tar and earth undercurrent with a waft of cedar. Light to medium-bodied, finely crafted and with a pleasantly chewy texture, it gives a good amount of fruit and a quiet intensity on the finish.

Here is a Pinot that is very much driven by concentrated, black cherry fruit, yet it is long on complexity with elements of tea, a touch of clean earth and complementary oak making for a fairly full and expressive presentation. It is a touch plump in feel and, if sufficiently rounded as to be accessible now, it is balanced to keep with integral acidity and temperate tannins pointing the way to better with additional age, and its quiet impressions of layering should become more evident with three or four more years of cellaring. 1 star.

A lighter side expression from this vineyard, with strawberry, rhubarb and a mix of damp and dry earth aromas. It’s bright in the mouth, with good translation of the nose elements, lively acidity and a long finish where a sweet oak spice note joins in. Stock up for Thanksgiving dinner.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard is scented of red currants, red plums, mulberries and earth with hints of tar, pepper and tobacco. Medium-bodied, with a good concentration of earthy/savory flavors, it has a broody, chewy character and an herbal lift to the finish.

Moderate garnet color in the glass. Heady aromas of purple berries and supportive oak. Silken in the mouth, featuring a discreetly concentrated core of cherry fruit and spice. This wine also leans on oak. Easy drinking with gentle tannins and an adequate finish.

This red offers length and concentration to the dried cherry, berry and plum flavors, flanked by plenty of savory notes. Hot stone accents show on the finish.

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard gives notes of mulberries, black raspberries, charcoal and dusty soil with a hint of bay leaves. It’s just a little attenuated in the mouth with grippy tannins and an herbal finish.