There's a touch of honeyed sweetness to this wine that gives it a softly appealing taste. The orange, apricot, tropical fruit and vanilla flavors are absolutely delicious, while there's just enough acidity to lift and balance the richness.

This tastes like a slightly sweet lemon-, orange- and mango-juice drink, with lots of citrusy acidity and a pleasant burn of alcohol. Delicious and savory, it will be a good companion to Asian fare.

Light yellow. Pungent lemon/lime and green apple aromas show good energy and focus. Taut, focused and refreshingly tangy on the palate, offering bright citrus fruit flavors and a hint of bitter quinine. Closes dry and tight, with good clarity and length.

There's no oak at all on this Sauvignon Blanc, which lets the fruit stand front and center. It's good fruit, too, rich in apricots, tangerines and tropical fruits, with a good cut of acidity.

This ultra-pale wine has aromas of fresh citrus and melon, with flavors to match. It's crisp and tangy, with a nice balance of fruit and acidity and a bit of tartness at the finish.

With aromas of green apple and melon, this well-balanced SB is crisp and clean, with grapefruit flavor and appealing mineral notes.

The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc exhibits plenty of honeyed grapefruit, flint, and citrus notes in a light to medium-bodied, pure format.

The delicious 2007 Sauvignon Blanc comes from Knight’s Valley, Alexander Valley, and Mendocino. It exhibits flinty, crisp, melony notes along with a very good texture. Enjoy this hedonistic Sauvignon over the next several years.

The 1998 is a clean, crisp, straightforward, pleasant, medium-bodied Chardonnay with hints of tangerine and orange. It needs to be drunk up.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Chardonnay Alexander Valley gives up lovely honeydew melon, ripe apricots and apple pie notes with touches of croissant and honeycomb. Medium-bodied, the palate struts plenty of uncomplicated apple and stone fruit flavors with a nice spiciness to the finish.

A Chardonnay of richness and substance, with bold pear, apricot, peach, fig and oak flavors that are direct and assertive. Ends strong and focused. Should gain.

Pure, fresh, ripe and spicy, with pithy citrus-infused green apple and pear notes, ending a little raw and edgy, though that's a minor quibble.

Honeyed and perfumed, with floral apple and citrus notes focused on the nose. A bit grainy and edgy on the palate, but should gain, turning more supple with time.

Light yellow-gold. Displays scents of ripe melon and peach, with a touch of mango and subtle spiciness. Fleshy, palate-coating tropical fruit and honeydew flavors are kept in check by juicy acidity, which adds back-end bite. Finishes with good clarity, energy and length, leaving a peachy note behind.

Clean, fairly lively, young green-apple fruit is overlain by a quiet layer of toasty oak in its nose, and this mannerly middleweight follows with bright, carefully balanced flavors that emphasize the same youthful fruit. It ends with a crisp and lingering finish and is constructed to be a versatile companion with foods, and, if not demanding hasty drinking, it matches up well with meaty white fish and chicken right now.

A classy Chardonnay for sipping now. Dry and zesty in acidity, it has appealing tangerine, Meyer lemon, white flower, honey and mineral flavors.

Young and tight, with an earthy, leesy touch to the concentrated apple, pear and honeysuckle flavors. Still a bit raw and pithy, but give this a little time.

Bright yellow. Aromas of fresh pineapple, candied ginger and white pepper, plus an exotic suggestion of papaya. Dense, sappy and focused, with juicy acidity enlivening the tropical fruit and spice flavors. Energetic, chewy chardonnay, with good depth and a slight hard edge. Manages to be both ripe and restrained, finishing with good lift and cut.

Light gold. Powerful ripe aromas of white peach, underripe pineapple and melon lifted by white flowers and peppery spice. Then rich, sweet and supple on the palate, with juicy, deceptively open-knit pit fruit flavors perked up by a continuing spicy element. Firms up nicely on the back, finishing with a distinct juiciness. In a ripe style but energetic too.

Pale yellow. Spicy and buttery on the nose, with a light hint of brioche deepening fresh citrus and apple aromas. Clean and brisk, with bright green apple and salty mineral flavors. Finishes with rather taut, nicely focused citrus tones and a hint of toasty oak. This is refreshing enough to serve by itself.

Lemon drop, mint, flowers and hay on the nose. Lively apple and pineapple fruit framed by firm acidity. The strategy here is to make fruit-forward wines unsullied by oakiness. In fact, only about 60% of the wine went through malolactic fermentation, and it spent just six months in one-third new French oak. (A second bottle of the same chardonnay seemed distinctly tart and hard-edged.)

Aromas of lemon drop and earth. Sweet, fat and a bit exotic, with flavors of pear, mirabelle and spices. Rather fat, lush Chardonnay, but a tad blurry in the middle. Finishes with good spice character.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Jolie shows pretty blueberry and black cherry fruit, lush, light tannin, silky texture and a medium-bodied finish. It is made from Dijon clone 115, aged 15 months in 33% new French oak and should drink nicely for another 3-5 years.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Stormin’, from Dijon clone 667, offers fragrant, flowery notes intermixed with blueberry, raspberry and cherries. It is well-made, elegant, fresh, medium-bodied and certainly my favorite of all four of these Pinot Noirs.

The 2011 Pinot Noir Afleet Deep End comes from a block of vines planted with the Pommard clone. It exhibits a darker color than the Jolie along with a more robust, meaty personality with additional structure and tannin. While it does not possess the charm of the Jolie, it is fresh with attractive black cherry and earthy notes, medium body and a decent finish. Drink it over the next 4-5 years.