With rich and lush aromas of butterscotch and caramel apples, this mouth-filling Chard has crisp apple and soft vanilla notes, with a nice bit of acidity for balance. A very pretty wine.

Impressively ripe and lush, but not overly oaked, this Chardonnay comes from a winery that consistently produces first-rate examples of the varietal. As its name suggests, La Crema specializes in wines that taste rich and feel creamy on the palate. This particular example is made very much in that style, while maintaining sufficient acidity for balance, so manages to taste both soft and fresh--an enticing combination.

Soft and round with flavors of pear, nectarine and lemon candies, this wine's oak contributes a darker tone of toasted wheat and crème caramel. It's a gentle, slightly sweet style of chardonnay to pair with grilled fish and fruit salsa.

Bright gold. Ripe nectarine and honeydew aromas are complemented by sweet butter and herbs. Quite fruit-driven but also surprisingly lively. Full-bodied melon and pit fruit flavors are subtly sweet and expansive, with a hint of anise coming up on the back end. Finishes smooth, with solid punch and lingering fruitiness.

The excellent 2009 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is a crisp, elegant, fresh effort revealing notes of nectarines, honeyed citrus and zesty lemon rind in its medium-bodied, fresh, fragrant, pure personality. Representing elegance at its finest, it should drink well for several years. La Crema is an excellent value winery owned by Jess Jackson with an impressive group of winemakers, including Melissa Stackhouse.

The 2008 Chardonnay Carneros reveals a slightly weightier, bigger mouthfeel. It offers hints of caramelized citrus, honeysuckle, nectarine, and spice as well as an attractive steely minerality. Enjoy it over the next 3-4 years.

This is a strong effort displaying aromas of tropical fruits, poached pear, honeysuckle, and brioche. Drink it over the next several years.

Earthy mineral flavors and scents of gingery mead give this citrusy chardonnay plenty of grip. Serve it with roast monkfish wrapped in pancetta.

La Crema 2004 Chardonnay (Russian River Valley): Shows lots of polish in the ripe tropical fruit and green apple flavors that have a baked, buttery pie crust edge. brisk cool-climate acidity perks up these rich flavors and makes the wine clean and balanced. -- S.H.

2004 CHARDONNAY RUSSIAN RIVER The 2004 Chardonnay (8,000 cases) exhibits crisp orange rind, lemon oil, honeysuckle, and a hint of candied pear-like characteristics. Enjoy this perfumed white over the next 1-2 years.

Dry in the middle, with mineral and oak tones that combine into puff pastry scents. Then it's sweeter in the end, as the gentle finish turns toward butter almond flavor, a butter sauce for salmon steak.

Aromas of pear, stone fruits, nutmeg and vanilla, with a whiff of apple pie. Sweet, concentrated and urgent, with lovely pear-flavored fruit and considerable fat. Finishes with excellent length.

The fragrant bouquet reveals plenty of honeysuckle, macerated white fruits (especially peaches), spice oak, and caramel aromas. Medium-bodied with excellent purity, and good vigor, it will drink well for 12-18 months.

Smelling of sweet oak, pineapples and a hint of cream, this rich and nicely balanced bottling delivers a good dose of immediate fruit in the mouth and sports a lovely counterpoint of oak spice. Medium-full-bodied, slightly rounded in feel and bright without being unduly beholden to acidity, it progresses cleanly to a long and well-focused finish and should hold up nicely over the next two or three years.

This light pink colored wine from Kendall Jackson opens with a fragrant watermelon bouquet with hints of wet stone and strawberry. On the palate, this wine is light bodied and balanced. The flavor profile is a mineral infused strawberry with hints of red cherry and red grapefruit. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins drift away. This Rose is very food friendly and will be a crowd pleaser. Serve it with quiche Lorraine. Very good.

The sourcing of grapes for this Pinot Gris is primarily from Monterey County with small amounts from San Luis Obispo and Napa counties. More interesting is the multi-grape blend based on Pinot Gris with bits and pieces of Marsanne, Roussanne, Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay. It's a fruit basket blend featuring a slightly burnished light-medium gold color, ripe nectarine-scented nose, 14.2% alcohol, good texture and medium body, supporting citrus peel flavors with hints of spice. The finish is a bit short but with pleasant fruit accents.

Very good cherry-red. Red fruit, caramel oak, earth and underbrush on the nose. Supple, spicy, pliant fruit; flavors are more autumnal than primary.

Deep cherry red with a subtle garnet rim. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Mildly tannic. Brown spice, red fruits. Rich gamey aromas follow through on the palate with sweet red-fruit flavors and a delicate earthy persistence. Finely wrought and generous, with a spicy finish.

This dark ruby-colored wine, which is a blend of Sonoma and Napa Pinot Noir grapes, was fined with egg whites, but not filtered. It exhibits a smoky, sweet, black-cherry and vanillin-scented nose, round, long, expansive flavors, a seductive personality, and light tannin allied with gobs of fruit and glycerin in the lusty finish. It should drink well for 3-4 years.

Fruity, rich and oaky with great length and complexity. Black cherry and raspberry with excellent balance and a lush, creamy texture. Nice use of wood and moderate tannins appear on the finish.

Juicy, with good cut to the red currant, cherry and raspberry flavors, backed by crunchy acidity. White pepper notes show on the finish. Smart Buy.

This has intriguing notes of tart plum and peach pit before it heads into warm oak spice. It finishes round, smoky and smooth, with a touch of bitterness in the tannins. Those tannins will meld with roast quail.

The 2016 Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley) is attractive, but also a touch restrained, with less fruit density and overall depth than is found in some of the other wines in this range. There is good depth to the fruit, and yet the tannins remain forbidding. It will be interesting to see if the 2016 softens a bit in bottle.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve offers lovely juiciness to match its mid-weight personality. Sweet red berry and orange peel notes are given an extra kick of energy from the freshness of the year.

USA, California, Northern California: Napa & Some Sonoma New Releases Coming mostly from Monterey with about 9% from Santa Barbara and aged ten months in 25% new French oak, the medium ruby-purple colored 2016 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve gives up notions of forest floor, fertile loam and wild sage with a core of red currants and Bing cherries plus a touch of tree bark. Medium-bodied, finely textured and refreshing, it has delicate red berries and cherries coating the mouth with an herbal lift on the finish.