Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Inviting aromas of fresh, ripe strawberries and pie spices. Delicious mix of black cherry and dark red and black berry flavors. Impressive balance. Modest in weight but big in flavor with a succulent finish. The juicy fruit is a little riper in this vintage. Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir is always a standout.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Very fragrant with uplifting aromas of black cherry, spice and toasty oak. The fruit core really sings in this wine, featuring flavors of black cherry, black raspberry and plum, with accents of black tea and anise. The vivid fruit is brought to life with juicy acidity typical of Sta. Rita Hills. A touch heavy-handed with oak, but the fruit really pops in this wine, and the finish has amazing length. I continue to be impressed with wines from this vineyard.

Moderate reddish purple hue in the glass. Perfumed with aromas of black cherry, earthy flora and mushroom. Sensual and smooth on the palate with mid weight plus flavors of dark cherry, boysenberry, cola and dark chocolate. I was impressed by the seamless character of this wine. The finish had picked up intensity and length when tasted the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Very shy nose upon opening and somewhat reserved on the palate initially. I was disappointed until I re-tasted this wine the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle when it really charmed me. Aromas of darker berries, shrub and iron led to a mid weight palate of darker red and purple berry fruits including ripe strawberry. Somewhat rustic and earthy with a riff of exotic spices in the background. A unique wine that offers plenty of discovery for the adventurous. Patience advised.

Medium reddish purple color in the glass. Very savory on the nose with scents of underbrush, dried herbs, musk and black fruits. Long and lush, with oak-kissed flavors of black cherry and black raspberry, framed by defined tannins. Aggressive on the attack, with a broad presence on the palate, and good finishing length.

Moderately light reddish purple color in the glass. Great purity of Bing cherry fragrance, with added hints of cake spice, oak spice and chocolate, holding up beautifully over time in the glass. Nicely composed with supportive oak bringing out the best in the mid weight dark cherry core. The tannins are well balanced, and the pleasant finish has a bright tick of refreshing acidity.

Medium reddish purple color in the glass. A bit shy, with pleasant aromas of dark red and black berries. Bright cherry and raspberry flavors complimented with hints of spice and oak. Intensely flavorful, with soft tannins and welcome vibrancy. Excellent density and length for a representative appellation wine.

Moderately dark reddish purple color in the glass. Shy, but pleasant aromas of wild blueberries and blackberries. The most opulent, sappiest wine in the 2013 lineup with a plethora of blueberry, black plum and blackberry fruits backed by very firm, slightly aggressive tannins. The juicy finish is filled with expansive fruit, leaving behind a taste of oak and black tea.

Both the vineyard management and winemaking have become more refined over the years, so much so that this has become the quintessential go-to Santa Barbara County chardonnay in stores and on wine lists all over the country. And this vintage is particularly a great representative. On the seductive nose, aromas of citrus, white peach, apple and apple pie spice; it's fresh and breezy but seemingly promises complexity, too. The flavors are of ripe yellow apple, citrus (particularly Meyer lemon), mango and kiwi with butterscotch, clove and cardamom in a supporting role. Mostly aged in French oak (14 percent new), it has just enough wood to add an intriguing spice element that envelopes and embraces the fruit flavors. Lush and creamy finish, too.

The lighter color of this bottling indicates that it's probably not over-extracted as so many pinots seem to be these days. The aromatics are redolent of dark berry fruits with a savory bent plus rose petal and a hint of smoke. True to its color, the wine is elegant and soft in the mouth, with dark berry and red cherry fruit and a modicum of sandalwood, cardamom, white florals, plus a saline minerality. The lighter hand of winemaker Jonathan Nagy is at work here, making this pinot seem more like a ballerina rather than a sumo wrestler.

Plenty to like here on the nose with toast, wood spice, citrus and honey all woven together. Immediately fresh and appealing on mouth entry, it shows well-knit flavors wrapped into a ball of citrus, peach and honey, highlighted by ripe fig, clove and brown sugar. While Byron makes several chardonnay cuvees, this entry-level version, which sees some French oak, is surprisingly good, accomplished and accessible for a chardonnay at this price.

A very firmly reduced nose absolutely requires decanting though with air the notably ripe aromas of spiced red cherry and dark currant liqueur begin to emerge. There is good volume and verve to the sleek, round and nicely dense medium-bodied flavors that possess a dusty, sappy and reasonably persistent finish. There is a hint of warmth but otherwise this is well-balanced and should repay a few years of cellaring as well.

A notably fresh and spicy nose features notes of red cherry liqueur and menthol that introduce succulent, even luscious and suave medium-bodied flavors that possess a textured mouth feel, all wrapped in a palate coating, concentrated and ever-so-mildly edgy finish. I suspect that the finish will eventually harmonize but it's youthfully awkward at present.

Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve is a winemaker’s blend of mountain, ridge, hillside and benchland grapes grown along California’s cool coastal appellations. It is crafted from the top 5% of all Kendall Jackson lots. Selection of 66% of the grapes from Monterey and 34% from Santa Barbara ensures complexity and balance. The nose offers bright cherry with baking spice, herbs and floral perfume. The palate of spicy cherry and mineral pairs perfectly with salmon from the grill.

La Crema makes wines with good value - delicious and inexpensive for what you get. This chardonnay is very aromatic and loaded with juicy apple flavors and hints of spice and vanilla.

This big California producer doesn't make many single-vineyard wines and instead concentrates on using multiple sources for grapes. The result is an enjoyable - although often generic - wine that is reasonably priced and easy to find. That's certainly the case with this delicious chardonnay with tropical fruit flavors and a spicy finish.

At the high point and at the heart of the 100-hectare Yangarra estate is a block of Grenache bush vines planted in the 1940s: gnarly old plants basking in the sun in their bleached sandy home. Sourced from the lowest-yielding vines within this sprawling garden, the High Sands is a stunning example of why I think Grenache is a more eloquent teller of terroir tales than Shiraz in McLaren Vale: there’s a translucence to the wine, despite its power and intensity, an open, grainy, dusty quality to the tannin, an unmistakable sandy spiciness that takes me straight to that high point on the Yangarra hill.

Peter Fraser bottled his first preservative-free Shiraz in 2013. Because he was nervous about sending such a naked wine into the wilds of the marketplace without any preservatives, he sterile-filtered it. After tasting it in late 2013 I asked whether he’d bottled some of the batch unfiltered, as a comparison out of interest. He hadn’t, but the following year he did - and he and I both prefer the way the unfiltered version is ageing: unlike the round, sweet, softness of its filtered counterpart, the raw, completely unadulterated 2014 PF Shiraz (certified biodynamic viticulture, wild yeast, no added acid, no fining, nada, zip) has a lovely earthy complexity and sense of place. Despite the success of that trial, though, Fraser did filter his 2015 - partly because the success of the first two vintages has led to greater demand from more distant markets such as the US, and he isn’t confident that a totally unprotected wine will always be stored with appropriate care. Nevertheless, this young, vivid wine is beautiful: essence of purple fruit, lively, juicy, spicy.

Yangarra is home to more than 15 grape varieties traditionally associated with the southern Rhône, including Grenache, Carignan, Bourboulenc and - notably - Roussanne. This small-scale bottling is a blend of two batches of Roussanne fermented in Peter Fraser’s ceramic eggs - one on skins for 120 days, one just juice. At this early stage you can see both, slightly out of registration - fragrant and honeysuckly to smell, rich and savoury on the tongue - but a couple of years more in bottle should see the components merge.

Mostly Mendocino fruit raised in stainless steel, this is lightly floral with a pale fruit tone that's as clean as a just-ripe pear, lasting on bright acidity. For seafood pasta.

There are four wines in the first, 2012 vintage release from this vineyard under Jackson/Yangarra ownership: a Shiraz, a Merlot, a Cabernet/Shiraz blend and this varietal Cabernet, which, for me, is far and away the best of the bunch. There’s a very special spot in the Clarendon vineyard, down at the bottom of the hill, where vines give way to gum trees lining the slow-moving waters of the Onkaparinga River. When I taste this Cabernet, with its intense flavours of dark, dusky berries and damp composty undergrowth, I’m taken back to that special place on the riverbank.

From bush vines planted ’46 in Blewitt Springs’ sandy soils; hand-picked, mechanically sorted, 50% whole berries, cold soak, open-fermented, wild yeast, on lees in used French oak for 9 months. Bright crimson; a grenache with serious intent, its tightly focused and structured palate way above the norm, the pure core of bright red fruits precisely delineated and very long. For the long haul.

Dark and lush with lovely texture, ripe plum, cassis and spice; generous and dense, rich and balanced, long and classic.

Spicy nose; smooth and deep with black raspberry, plum and spice; notes of toasty oak, mocha and chocolate; long and balanced with excellent structure.

Grown on a bench of sand and gravel at the base of Mount St. Helena, this is reduced at first, but quickly finds its footing with air - if you want to drink it this summer, decant it. The flavors that emerge are potent but clean, an intriguing mélange of tangerine brightness and more feral suggestions of rooty parsnips and cherimoya. It's a crisp yet exotic white for chilled prawns.