Crisp and focused, with vibrant cherry and raspberry flavors. Pretty floral notes show midpalate, featuring a fruity finish that lingers with hints of cardamom. Drink now through 2021.

Snappy, with red currant and cherry pie flavors that feature smoky and steeped tea notes. Crisp finish. Drink now.

Crushed cherry and macerated red plum flavors are fresh and crisp. The lightly minerally finish offers underbrush hints. Drink now.

Opulent aromas of butter cream, orange rind and lime balm show on the nose of this widely available and ever-popular bottling. Roasted apples, clove and more baking-spice flavors arise on the smoothed-out palate.

Natalie MacLean's Wines of the Week - Feb. 24, 2020 This is the half-bottle (375 ml) size of this wine and the full-size 750 ml is also available. A full-bodied and rich wine blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance in Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. Look for ripe dark cherry, red berry, dried sweet tobacco leak and smoky vanilla flavours on this well-balanced California Cab. Enjoy now and for the next three years. Pair with a meat-lover's pizza.

One of the bigger and happier surprises in our latest look at new Pinot Gris offerings, Kendall-Jackson’s is a medium-full version that is a fruitier effort than the bulk of its tighter, more minerally inflected kin and intimates a bit of juicy succulence that sets it apart. It does not, however, bog down in extraneous sweetness, and it is quite well-balanced with just the right degree of acidity keeping it lively and slightly crisp at the finish. Its slight percentage of Roussanne, Viognier, Muscat, Albariño and other aromatic white varieties might well explain its singular style, but whatever the reason, it is thoroughly tasty stuff that is well worth the price. Good value.

USA, California: All Along the Central Coast – The 2017 Vintage in Paso Robles and Beyond This is a new vineyard for Siduri. Medium ruby in color, the 2016 Pinot Noir Lemoravo Vineyard has a broody nose of black cherries and blackberries with notes of black tea leaves, forest floor and earth. Light to medium-bodied with a good concentration of black fruits in the mouth, it has a soft frame of tannins and juicy acidity on the finish.

This is a tasty, fruity, effusive wine that smells grapey, tastes jammy and almost sweet. It's the kind of wine that a beginning wine drinker would appreciate and a jaded wine reviewer would be happy to sip.

Fresh tasting and well balanced, this medium-bodied wine is pleasant and enjoyable for its mulled cherry and strawberry notes, rounded mouthfeel and a nip of tannin to firm up the texture.

A slightly cooler nose reflects notes of pure and perfumed essence of red pinot fruit that is trimmed in pretty spice nuances. The equally well-delineated flavors possess a sophisticated mouthfeel and good vibrancy, all wrapped in a dusty and, in contrast to the mid-palate, slightly less refined finish that isn’t exactly raspy but neither is it sleek.

This is fruity and forward, with easily likable fruit-driven flavors. It falls off slightly in the midpalate, then resumes its black raspberry-black cherry march into a finish with cocoa and coffee highlights. Some 30% was aged in new French oak, the rest in neutral barrels.

Focused, with pure-tasting Fuji apple and Asian pear flavors that are supported by fresh acidity. Lemongrass notes show on the juicy finish. Drink now through 2022.

Smelling of fresh, fully ripe white melons with sweetening accents of Meyer lemons and showing a nicely measured complement of the variety’s tell-tale grassiness that always plays support to fruit, this slightly rounded, medium-full-bodied effort is a bit fuller and richer than most, and, as such, it is a Sauvignon Blanc that will find particularly fine affinity to meaty fish and chicken recipes that themselves are a little more flavorful and richer in character. GOOD VALUE

At first taste, this certified sustainable chardonnay suggests it has had some oak ageing, but it is not the case. Its creamy custardy palate is all part of the Monterey site it comes off. The nose is a mix of intense fresh peach and sweet lime that spills onto the palate. Butter and baked pear and lime mark the finish along with a refreshing hit of acidity that is all Monterey. It is California, no doubt, but fun to sip and friendly enough to work with chicken tacos. Fun and well worth the money for California chardonnay fans, new and old.

A streamlined style, with cassis and black cherry puree notes, laced with light graphite and vanilla-accented toast hints. Drink now through 2022.

Seared marshmallow and peachextract aromas are ripe on the nose of this bottling. There’s a zing of acidity on the palate, giving some depth to the hazelnut, peach and sweet butter flavors.

Broad-shouldered, with zesty blackberry, roasted sage and white pepper flavors that finish with medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2025.

This white offers plenty of buttery accents to the ripe white fruit and spice flavors. There's a toasty richness on the open-textured finish, with caramel nuances. Drink now.

Offers a crisp, clean mix of citrus, green apple and white grapefruit flavors on a sleek, mouthwatering body. Drink now.

Soft and easygoing, featuring pear and tropical fruit flavors that linger on a juicy finish. Drink now.

This wine is succulent on the palate and approachable in its medium-bodied ripeness and acidity. Apple, pear and lemon all figure into the layers of flavor, the oak well contained.

Golden apple and pear lead to a creamy midpalate of rich banana before showing a touch of French oak and baking spice on a moderate finish.

Toasty grain scents and candied orange peel flavors meet the bitterness of citrus pith in this simple, supple chardonnay, a clean white to chill for aperitifs.

Harmonious, with melon, peach and yellow apple flavors that are fresh and juicy, with details of dried flowers and crushed rocks on the finish. Drink now.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters is an attractive wine, but it is also lacking in body. The aromatics are promising, yet the fruit feels dried out and the wine feels light. I expect more here.