This is a good, straightforward Chardonnay with buttercream, vanilla, tropical fruit and citrus flavors.

When Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke purchased this 250-acre vineyard in 2001, they brought on Peter Fraser to make the wine and Michael Lane to farm the vines. They began to implement biodynamic practices in 2008, and to nudge the style toward traditional winemaking in open-top fermenters without added yeast. The grenache in this blend (from bush vines planted in 1946) adds bright red fruit, combining with younger vine shiraz (31 percent) and mourvèdre (28 percent) in a scent that carries the arid scrub of McLaren Vale right to the glass. The wine ends clean and fresh, with a light tannin pickup, as friendly and pleasantly funky as a finely grown Mediterranean blend from the southern Rhône.

This is another fine Pinot from Cambria, showing the winery’s great price-quality ratio. Words like opulent and elegant come to mind to describe intense flavors of black cherries, licorice, cola, herb tea and Indian spices. It’s bone dry, and also quite tannic, but you can enjoy it now with big, rich lamb and beef dishes, or a wild mushroom risotto. Otherwise, it will continue to improve for at least eight years.

Rich, elegant style; creamy and densely textured; long and complex with depth, finesse and lift.

Smoke, tobacco, iron and a host of ferrous notes emerge from the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard. A wine of gorgeous complexity and personality, the 2011 is going to need at least a few years to fully unwind. There is a lot going on in the glass. Next to the Montana, the Dakota is more savory and also shows a bit more structure. Both are beautiful.

This Chard competes well with others that are considerably more expensive. The palate exhibits the cool growing conditions of the vintage with tart acidity that brightens flavors of tropical fruit and orange. Notes of oak and lees lend complexity to this delicious wine.

This bottling from Arrowood is dependably rich, showing Viognier's exotic tropical fruit, peach, apricot, honeysuckle, vanilla cream and cinnamon flavors. The 2011 is dry and balanced, with crisp acidity. Drink it now.

Fleshy yet subtle, full-bodied yet balanced. Loaded with ripe black plums. Lots of layers of pleasure. This wine is made mostly from Merlot Grapes with some Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Long, satisfying pleasant finish. Decant for an hour for maximum pleasure. Merlot food pairings: beef, cheese, poultry, quesadillas. A Natalie MacLean Terrific Turkey Wine

Graham Weerts selects this chardonnay from a sector of the Alexander Mountain Estate where the vines, planted in 1997, grow at 1,000 feet. It's a rich, supple wine that carries its weight without effort, developing flavor depths from barrel fermentation without added yeast, which also boosted its creamy, white fruit flavor. Tight in the finish, this benefits from air and will gain with a year or two in the bottle.

Tangy orange scents brighten the mountain richness of this sauvignon. It feels round, accented by smoke and nut scents. Chill it for mahi-mahi with avocado and mango salsa.

If a tad tight at first sniff, this wine opens up quickly with aromas of ripe cherries, a touch of sarsaparilla spice and a light but evident note of toasted oak. The wine is full-bodied on the palate with a rich, supple, somewhat coating texture and a soft underbelly that finds a bare modicum of grip as it finishes. Still, this is a wine that will serve well in the very near term and asks little of cellar aging.

With more than four years of bottle age, this Cabernet is soft, elegant and lovely to drink now. It has subtle but complex black currant, mocha and cedar flavors, along with rich tannins that will pair well with steak.

This Merlot, blended with a little Cabernet Sauvignon, is fairly oaky and fairly hot with high alcohol. But it's delicious with flavors of blackberry and cherry jam, milk chocolate and anise. A fine grilled steak will do it justice.

Soft and supple in black cherry and currant, this mountain Cab expresses an herbal underbelly of elegance, with finely formed minerality. It’s approachable and juicy now, but will gain complexity with time; drink 2017–2021.

2011 Edmeades Zinfandel, Mendocino County: rich and hearty, with aromas and flavors of vanilla, red plums and spice, firm tannins; $20.

Cambria uses five clones of pinot noir to create a round and fulfilling pinot noir with cherry notes, Asian spices and a hint of mushrooms.

La Crema's pinot noirs rarely disappoint, but this one excelled because of the excellent quality of what proved to be an historically bountiful vintage. (The 2012 Sonoma Coast chardonnay earned similarly high marks.) The wine, which spent six months in the barrel, offers notes of wild red fruits and spice.

This is a smooth, suave, sophisticated merlot from a highly commercial winery that I can't help admiring. This is an ideal restaurant red — full-bodied enough to match with serious food, but perfectly ready to be drunk now. It offers intense black cherry fruit, with subtle herbal notes, and admirable persistence and finish. It just goes down real easy.

Interesting new release. Grown biodynamically. No additions whatsoever. Falls under the banner of natural in its growing and making. Regardless of your feelings towards the Natural Wine Movement you'd be pretty hard to please if you didn't enjoy drinking this. It's fresh, vibrant and delicious. Raw and tank-sample-ish, thoroughly nouveau, alive with blackberry/brown bread/plum-like flavour and then juicy and textural through the finish. It even has some guts. It's a great red to rip into.

An impressive pinot with integrated, ripe tannins. Layered, with notes of raspberry, plum, black cherry and spice. Lingering finish.

Full-bodied, rich and complex with classic aromas of blackberry, cassis and blackcurrant wrapped in a judicious weave of smoky oak. Great for the cellar. A wine that almost jumps out of the glass with its vibrant character. The mountain terroir of the vineyards shows through in the depth and complexity of this wine. Superb craftsmanship. Try it with rare filet mignon for an exquisite sensory experience. Cabernet Sauvignon food pairings: filet mignon.

A supple, medium-bodied red wine that's packed with aromas of cherry, red plum and cedar smoke. Cherry-berry festival for your mouth. Lively and silky. Great structure and mouth-watering juiciness. Some dried herbs and fresh earth on the finish. Try it with planked salmon. Bring it -- to my house please.

Dense and rich with ripe plum, cassis and toasty vanilla oak; velvety, intense and balanced with spice, hints of mint and chocolate; seamless and complete, long and exceptional. 88.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6.7% Merlot, 4.6% Malbec, 0.1% Petit Verdot.

Made by Pierre Seillan’s daughter Hélène, with input from her father. Dense, dark and spicy with earth, juicy plum and complex flavors; mellow texture and good structure; long and balanced. 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec.

Lush and smooth with ripe melon and grapefruit; full-bodied, rich and complex with seamless style and serious depth; long and layered. 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Sémillon.