The Freemark Abbey winery was originally founded in St. Helena, in the Napa Valley in 1876 by Josephine Tychson, one of the first women winegrowers on record. A revival of the winery after prohibition saw the current name created by partners Charles Freeman, Markquand Foster and Abbey Ahern – a combination of their names. Now known for their stylish Cabernets and Chardonnays, the 2014 Chardonnay presents a classic Napa Valley profile of lemon and stone fruits with spicy oak and toasty vanilla on the finish.

This wine from California’s Santa Maria Valley was known for many years as “Katherine’s Vineyard” and is now designated Benchbreak for geographic features found in the estate vineyard. Crafted in an easygoing style, this Chardonnay has been a perennial favorite with my tasters. Look for aromas and flavors of apple, pineapple and citrus zest with round notes of toasty oak and vanilla.

Deep red/purple colour, youthful and bright. Intense bouquet of plum and dark cherry laced with toasty char oak. Herbs and Chinotto, too. The flavour is concentrated and bold, bright and very much alive, with high but invigorating acidity, delicious flavour and firm but balanced tannins. Oak has been used fairly liberally for a straight grenache. It's a strongly built wine which needs time and promises much if cellared. An idiosyncratic style of grenache, a far cry from your cuddy, fruit-sweet, soft Aussie styles. It needs time: I wouldn't touch it for at least two years.

Sonoma Coast vineyards enjoy a long, cool growing season due to the moderating influence of the Pacific Ocean, and its fogs and winds that blow inland. This is perfect for slowly ripening grapes to develop complex flavours and nuances without lots of sugar that translates to heavy alcohol. Classic Californian Chardonnay with toast, oak and green apple on the nose. Full-bodied, and generously layered. Generous flavours of pear and peach on the palate with a long, dry finish and a hint of wild white flowers in a spring rain. Perfect for roast chicken or mild curries.

This new venture in Oregon for La Crema is a study in terroir. Decidedly lighter end leaner than its California cousin, it offers a cherry cola nose and flavors with pleasant spicy notes, in a very food friendly style. Nice spicy finish.

Floral aromas, flavors of lemons, limes and grapefruit, light, lively and crisp.

This Pinot is off a remote vineyard on a high ridge in Northern California’s Anderson Valley where the thin, rocky, powdery soils are similar in profile to the famous Goldridge soils of the Green Valley in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley AVA. It’s a Pinot with veiled muscle and powerful fruit that will wake up your senses with intense aromas and 15 percent alcohol. Dark and red berry fruit penetrates aromas and coats the palate with supple tannins and flavors of cherry, raspberry, blackberry, dark plum and brown cooking spice. It’s aged 11 months in mostly new French oak.

These grapes are sourced from a site high above Sonoma’s Alexander Valley on a west-facing slope with volcanic soils. Large temperature swings at this elevation build complexity and give elegant muscular strength to the wine. Soft, velvet tannins caress the palate. Flavors are dark cherry, red currant, dark plum and molten dark chocolate. It’s aged 18 months in mostly French oak.

Strap yourself in: This Chardonnay is just about as full-bodied as they come. Plus-size? Yes, that would describe it. Camelot Highlands is a vineyard near Santa Barbara planted on an uplifted seabed from prehistoric times. It’s along the Tepusquet Bench in the Santa Maria Valley where the growing season is long. Vines are more than 40 years old and are still on their own rootstock. The wine is practically an essence of Chardonnay — creamy and lush and concentrated on the palate with an infusion of brown spice off the French oak and tons of juicy tropical fruit flavors.

The 2012 release was brilliant.
This release is a different story. Strong blackberry, choc-cream and earth flavours, bold and brilliant, but the back half of the wine turns gamey and hard. It has ample redeeming features and the fruit itself is sensational; but in the end it’s out of whack.

This approachable sauvignon blanc is aromatic with notes of orange blossom, and on the palate, grapefruit, tangerine and a hint of lime. Tasty.

The prestigious Gran Moraine Vineyard – five miles west of Carlton, Oregon - was planted in 2005 to several different Dijon clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The production regimen of this wine included barrel fermentation and lees stirring while completing 14 months in barrel. Gran Moraine Chardonnay is a fantastic testament to the potential of the varietal in Oregon, offering Burgundian character of earth and chalky mineral with complex aromas and flavors of lemon, peach and floral perfume and hints of toast and buttery caramel.

Notes of apple, melon and toasty oak. It has bright acidity and good balance. At this price point, it will please chardonnay-lovers on a budget, and even appeal to less devoted chardonnay drinkers.

The aroma of this fascinating, dry white wine has hints of blossoms and a nice delicate herbal varietal note. The entry is crisp and aimed at tart foods, and the aftertaste is just slightly more complex than past vintages because the wine had some barrel fermentation. Excellent and stylish wine from winemaker David Ready.

Ted Edwards, director of winemaking, said it took all of his 30 years of winemaking at Freemark Abbey and his history of working with the vineyards to make the 2011, produced in the most difficult California vintage in memory. And if you give this still-young wine time to get oxygen in your glass, you will see he really pulled this one off. It's rich, layered with flavors and complexity, nicely infused with smoky, spicy oak and framed in supple tannins and firm acidity. You get the sensation of bright red berries, plums, dark cooking spices, cedar. It's full-bodied and opulent. It's produced off the historic Bosché Vineyard in Rutherford and Veeder Peak on the ridges of Mount Veeder.

What tension between alcohol, oak and fruit. It's a full-bodied Chardonnay; alcohol is 14.5 percent. The fruit and acidity are juicy - flavors of apple, pear, toast, spice, lemon meringue. It has beautiful integration of oak, fruit, acidity, and is sweet and juicy on the midpalate. A portion is fermented in barrels, the remainder stainless steel. Freemark looks for fresh fruit flavor in their Chardonnay and never puts it through malolactic fermentation.

The 2012 Matanzas Creek from Sonoma County had plum, cherry and a hint of incense on the nose, plus some savory spice.

Inhale the spice, the dark berries, dark plums, dark chocolate, vanilla and smoky oak. The flavor profile, the depth of the flavors, the acidity, the weight in the mouth, the density in the glass: It's just so Napa. It's off five noted vineyards in Napa, including Suscol and Stage Coach. It has small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec blended in.

SIDURI Willamette Valley 2014 is thoroughly enjoyable now yet has the balance to age and improve for several years.

2014 Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia highlands, shows a dollop of strawberry on the nose, with beautiful richness, supple tannins and attractive floral and spice notes. High marks for its purity.

2013 Keefer Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, exhibits wonderful depth with impressive weight on the palate and exceptional complexity. It shows aromas of strawberry and black cherry, with notes of spice and a touch of earthiness.

2013 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir offers exceptional richness for an appellation pinot at this price point. It delivers darker blue fruits in its flavor profile and sports surprisingly good backbone given its richness and palate weight.

This Cabernet comes in three different labels, displaying the archetypes of the explorer, the business man and the adventurer. In taste, the wine is smoky and soft, with plum, cassis and dark cherry all making a play.

271 cases. 210 meters above sea level. 1946 planting. Only old oak. 50% whole bunch. The 2012 was very easy to judge in the glass, while this 2013 took a while to get my head around. As an aside, a Nebbiolo/Burgundy glass ended up being the best vessel for delivery of this wine. Needs a decant or plenty of air, if you open one now. Very earthy, peppery and spicy, boot polish, Old Jamaica chocolate, dried roses, raspberry, cherries, dried mint - so much going on! Medium bodied, deeply fruited, tannic, but in a very silky way (likely that will make sense should you taste it). Plush raspberry flavour, meat and spices, fresh acidity, distinct 'mineral' feel. Long and almost blackcurranty in the aftertaste, with a trail of fine silty tannin. A vin de garde; feels unevolved and painfully young at present. Challenging. I thought about it. And thought some more. Drank some. Then drank some more. And in the end? A conclusion and a score.

From bush vines planted '46 at Blewitt Springs, cold soak, open-fermented with 50% whole berries, wild yeast, matured in used French oak for 9 months. Lightish colour is misleading: the wine has a cascade of red fruits, with a slightly unexpected brush fence of ripe tannins, important now as much as in the future when they will fuse back into the wine.