Call this Pinot useful, rather than complex or ageable. It’s nicely dry, acidic and silky in the mouth, with jammy raspberry, cherry and persimmon flavors. Food pairings range from steak to tuna tartare or a bacon burger.

Youthful, ripe-cherry fruit comes through loud and clear here, and the wine hits the mark in terms of both varietal clarity and texture. It is medium-full bodied and slightly velvety in feel with just enough acidity to stay in balance. Its extended, fruity finish is free of any angles or edges, and drinking over the next two or three years will see this one at its best.

There’s some real complexity to this Cab, which was blended with Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Bone dry, its flavors range from blackberries and currants to red cherry marmalade, bacon, black pepper and sandalwood. The tannins are strong and not likely to age away, so drink up.

This wine shows some polish and complexity, although it’s not ageable. Dry and slightly oaky, it has rich flavors of raspberry jam and brown sugar, with crisp, mouthwatering acidity.

Sharing the same open manners as its Russian River companion, this ripe and rounded effort is slightly more viscous and rounded in feel, and if offers up lots of uncomplicated, ripe-cherry fruit. It is not a complex or layered wine, but it is undeniably tasty stuff, and its gentle leanings to softness commend it to service in the relatively short term.

Lots of oaky flavors mark this dry wine. Buttered toast, brown butter and vanilla flavors dominate the underlying peach, pear, citrus and mango flavors.

The vibrant lime, grapefruit and melon flavors are smooth, fleshy and refreshing, with a spicy overtone and details of mineral and almond skin on the finish.

Features flavors centered on white flower, white peach, spice, honeysuckle and spice. Easy to enjoy.

Very reasonably priced, this Santa Barbara County chardonnay has simple lemon/lime aromas with peach and apple flavors.

This moderately priced chardonnay exudes stone fruit and fig notes. Refreshing finish.

The pure fruit character of this sumptuous chardonnay has been nicely preserved with just a light touch of oak. Stone fruit and spice character abounds.

A pinot noir that turns heads. Slightly earthy with ripe cherry fruit and bright acidity. Well integrated, with a great concentration of fruit. Lovely.

This plethora of great wines includes our Wine of the Week, La Crema 2012 Los Carneros Pinot Noir ($40), which is both rich and playful, in a husky kind of way. The wine has broad appeal, both in the range of people who will enjoy it and in the variety of foods that will welcome it. You don't need to look very far for a flawless match. Flawless matches are everywhere. As the first hint of fragrance rises from the glass, I find myself thinking of my step-grandfather, whose simple kisses surrounded me in a halo of cherry tobacco. I also remember him sitting in his lounge chair, carefully cleaning his beloved pipe and packing in another bowlful of his favorite flavor. That's this wine, a combination of dark cherry and pipe tobacco, with new leather, a hint of licorice root, dark roasted coffee beans, toasted cloves, black plums and a fillip of milk chocolate, all rising from a lush, broad foundation that embraces the palate like expensive satin. At the table, the wine will work beautifully with just about any red meat, from delicate rack of lamb to robust venison stew. Mushrooms, bacon, roasted tomatoes, roasted parsnips and rich but not sharp cheeses will further any match.

Jackson Family Wines’ first release from its project in Oregon, headed up by Canadian native Elizabeth Grant-Douglas, used fruit from eight clones off 10 vineyards — remember they’ve acquired Maple Grove, Zena East and Zena Middle. Her work at Joe Dobbes’ facility in Dundee led to aromas of black cherry, blueberry, pomegranate, chai spices and dusty herbs. The structure offers a richer style of Pinot Noir with ripe black cherry and cassis, followed by an elegantly balanced midpalate of delicious huckleberry and Western serviceberry.

Another tropical fruit driven beauty from Kendall-Jackson. This wine is well balanced with good acidity to balance the abundant citrus, pineapple, and hint of banana in the nose and mouth. Just a joy to drink as a summertime quaffer.

Made from grapes grown on 42-year-old vines, this complex chardonnay is loaded with tropical fruit flavors and a vanilla creme brulee finish.

A gorgeous chardonnay with a winning combination of stone fruit and bright acidity. There's also honeysuckle and butterscotch in the mix. Complex and absolutely lovely.

2013 “Avant” Sauvignon Blanc, by Kendall-Jackson, California: light, crisp and tart, with lemon-lime and mineral flavors; $13.

This wine is both sweet (from super ripe grapes) and tangy with a taste that brought to my mind chocolate laced with balsamic vinegar (and I mean this in a good way). With its well-balanced rich fruit and oak flavors and medium weight body, this dark, garnet colored Shiraz is a winning wine for many different foods, including pasta, poultry and certainly any grilled meats, from sausage to steak.

There's both varietal and regional integrity dripping from this wine's pores. It has a jubey-fruit-filled centre but it's otherwise dry and minerally and blessedly pure. It's like munching on the dense-flavoured grenache grapes themselves. It also tastes of brine, liquorice and earth and rumbles with tannin through the finish. Terrific wine growing and making, and therefore drinking.

Inky garnet in color, this wine smells of cassis, black cherry and tobacco. In the mouth rich black cherry, graphite, tobacco and the vanilla of new oak mix with a smoky espresso quality that is quite compelling. Rich, dark, and woodsy, this wine nonetheless has excellent acidity that cuts through the fine grained powdery tannins that coat the mouth.

A lovely, floral pinot noir with aromas and flavors of cherry, blueberry and tea. Layered flavors. Nice length.

This is a very good rendition of the variety. It has spice and flavour but it's restrained and crisp. Not too heady but not bland either. It tastes of ginger, honeysuckle, melon and chalk with a burst of mineral-edged spiciness through the finish. If a viognier mood strikes, this would be a good choice.

There is a purity of fruit here with blackberry, blueberry and licorice character. Full body with firm tannins and fresh, lively finish. Exceptional for 2011. Big surprise. Try in 2017.

Aromas of chocolate mousse and currants with hints of flowers. Full body with silky tannins and a chewy finish. A big but lively red. Better in 2017.