This tasty viognier is layered with tasty aromas and flavors. Notes of white peach, nectarine, apricot and honeysuckle. This is a great wine to uncork with your pumpkin pie and for that reason, an irresistible holiday pick.

This meaty Pinot from Monterey's Arroyo Seco zone shows an earthy nose with hints of black cherry and plum. On the palate the fruit aromas are deep and complex, and the tension between ripeness and structure is well balanced. At $35 it represents exceptional value in top-notch Pinot Noir.

Anderson Valley, in California’s Mendocino County, benefits from temperatures cooler than those in Napa and Sonoma counties to the south, making it ideal territory for pinot noir. This is a prime example: rich in flavor with blueberry and wood spice and sleek in body, with a lingering finish.

This is a complex cab, with layered flavors and great structure. It has firm tannins with aromas and flavors of cherry, currant, cassis and plum. A smart holiday pick.

An elegant cabernet with great structure. Notes of black cherry, plum, herbs and cracked black pepper. Firm tannins. Nice length. An impressive holiday cab.

The Bear Point has interesting apricot flavors and a finish that seems to go on and on.

Want to give meaning to your Thanksgiving? For every bottle of this sold, the producer will donate 50 cents to the national nonprofit that donates emergency assistance to veterans and wounded warriors. The wine - a blend of syrah, merlot, petit sirah and zinfandel - is very approachable, simple and delicious.

This is one of the more complex Chardonnays you are likely to find in the Alexander Valley, which is typically suited for grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon that thrive in a warm climate. Chardonnay works there, too, especially when the vines are planted at a bit of elevation. The Bear Point vineyard block is situated at about 1000 feet above sea level and the fruit from this source speaks to the veracity of the vineyard site. This vintage exhibits a floral nose with hints of lemon oil and baking spice. On the palate the wine is expansive, opulent and layered without losing its elegance. I wouldn't want to age this wine past the 5-to-7-year mark, but for drinking now and over the next few years it's a stunningly delicious wine for any occasion that calls for Chardonnay.

This beauty is dry and infused with spicy oak, bold fruit of Granny Smith apple, pear and pineapple, laced with exotic brown spices and held together with bracing acidity. It is 100 percent fermented in fine-grained French oak, and alcohol is 14.4 percent. Talk about body! Yes, it’s bold and flavorful. This classic Sonoma winery has been in business since 1977.

The 2011 Murphy-Goode Homefront Red was the biggest hit. The juicy, ripe red fruit was appealing and the cause was compelling-and well-rated (Operation Homefront got an A from CharityWatch). It has a good story behind it, too, said my friend Kathy, who added that she would buy a case of Homefront because it's a good wine at a good price for a good cause.

Trim and tannic, with austere dried berry, currant and cedar notes, gaining depth and ending with a crushed rock minerality.

Latour-like in structure and range of flavors, this is pure, rich and juicy, offering ripe plum, wild berry, spice, tea and cedar notes. Ends with tannins that reveal a loamy earth flavor and texture.

Deceptively complex, this succeeds with a supple texture and a graceful mix of currant, blueberry, spice, crushed rock and subtle licorice notes, gliding along on the finish.

This is marked by appealing cream- and mocha-laced flavors, with a dash of espresso woven into the dense dried berry, loamy earth, cedar and tobacco notes. Maintains a tight focus and gains on the finish, though the tannins are dry and gripping.

Offers a snappy mix of vibrant red and dark berry flavors. Zesty acidity keeps the wild berry, boysenberry and raspberry flavors lively, ending with refreshing tannins.

Smooth-textured, with pure, ripe cherry, plum and wild berry notes that are supple and graceful. Easy to drink and nicely proportioned.

Medium ruby color; subtle aromas of spice, herbs and cherry; light cherry and earthy flavors; good structure and balance; long finish. Lighter weight Pinot that would pair well with a light pasta.

You get a lot of body and complexity in this chardonnay for the price. Assertive and broad aromas ranging from honeysuckle to papaya. Creamy mouthfeel with good acidity and pineapple flavors and a dash of oak.

Pear and peach flavors dominate this oak-tinged chardonnay from one of the best regions for this grape variety. Hints of butterscotch and vanilla are appealing.

Always a good value, this chardonnay is well made with its acidity and alcohol in balance. The bit of residual sugar rounds off the acidity and provides ample mouthfeel. Ripe tropical fruit flavors.

Liquid velvet! Black cherry seduction with mouth-watering yearning for more. Please! Complex with layered of dark berries that intermingle with a judicious use of oak. Drink now or save for a few years: you have the luxury of that choice with this wine. Pinot Noir food pairings: grilled radicchio , zucchini frittata, seared tuna.

A ripe zinfandel but not over the top. Layered, with fruit flavors of blackberry, black cherry, plum and a hint of rhubarb. Briary, with an undercurrent of cracked black pepper. Nice length. A great price point for the value.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is gorgeous, but it is also going to require the most time of these wines to come together. Firm tannins provide the backbone for an exciting array of aromas and flavors. Intense savory and mineral notes meld into layers of blue/blackish fruit in a big, full-bodied Cabernet endowed with stunning depth and structure. All the best elements of the house style come together. With time in the glass the fruit opens up to balance some of the tannic heft, but this is without question a wine made for the cellar.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain dazzles from start to finish. Iron, graphite, smoke, ash, crushed rocks, dark inky fruit, pencil shavings and tobacco emerge from a tightly-wound yet nuanced Cabernet Sauvignon loaded with character. The 2011 isn't an overt wine, rather it is a Cabernet Sauvignon that impresses with its persistence, energy and sheer class. Chris Carpenters makes the Diamond Mountain Cabernet from a parcel of vines planted on AXR rootstock that is slowly succumbing to phylloxera.

The 2011 Cardinale is another of the many exceptional wines I tasted with Chris Carpenter this year. The 2011 is beautiful and exceptionally polished, but at the same time, the flavors are beautifully defined, crystalline in their beauty and flat-out striking. In this vintage, Cardinale is all about finesse and persistence, with less volume than some previous versions, but a touch more aromatic refinement. Today the 2011 is a bit compact, but I expect it to gain texture with more time in bottle. The blend is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot from vineyards on Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain, Diamond Mountain, the St. Helena bench and a small parcel in Yountville adjacent to Blankiet.