Medium red. Lively red-currant aroma. Slightly tart red berry fruit offers some restrained sweetness and lingering flavor but only modest shape and structure.

A nice thread of persistent raspberry and spice accents that linger on the finish.

…offers evolved aromas of plums, taspberries, and strawberries as well as soft, strightforward, one dimensional flavors.

…offers evolved aromas of plums, raspberries, and strawberries as well as soft, straightforward, one dimensional flavors. …offers a delicious combination of sweet fruit and subtle wood.

...exhibits a deep ruby color, followed by a spicy, roasted vegetable, meaty nose with cherry and cranberry fruit lurking in the background. The wine is soft and round, but leans toward the vegetal side of Pinot Noir. I suggest drinking it over the next 2-3 years, before it begins to taste like V-8

A tasty, elegant, fragrant, supple-textured wine with sweet berry fruit, a dollop of spicy new oak and a round, generous finish.

Moving to the Pinot Noirs, the 2012 Pinot Noir Julia’s Vineyard was completely destemmed and aged just under 7 months in 19% new French oak. Medium-bodied, straightforward and slightly weedy, with notions of menthol, underbrush and berry fruit, it’s juicy and easy going, and should be consumed over the coming year or two.

Here’s a Pinot to drink now. It’s a little on the soft, simple side, but tasty, with raspberry and cherry jam, cola, oak and spice flavors.

Recommended

…is a crisp, elegant, fruit-driven wine with adequate varietal character, melony, honeyed fruit, good purity, and a flavorful, crisp finish.

Bright pale yellow. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Zesty citrus aromas with textured mouthfeel shows a spicy note on the finish. Supple and balanced.

Clean and ripe, with a peachy edge to the citrus and nectarine, turning cedary.

Light gold. Medium-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderate extract, mild oak. Apples, pears, minerals. Clean and crisp with bright fruit. Zesty finish.

Tropical fruit and tons of oak combine to offer a dramatic, heady, richly fruity Chardonnay.

Mildly fruit, mildly oaky...this mid-sized working turns to crispness as its slightly candied fruit flavors firm up. Its zesty imperatives steer it to service with milder seafoods, but it will do fine service with poultry in cream sauce as well.

Recommended

This blend is thick in black fruit, tobacco and leather, with a mighty presence of power and concentration. Baking spice, toasted oak and sturdy dusty tannins wrap around a core of rounded richness that will broadly appeal. Made from 85% Syrah with 15% Petite Sirah.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Estates is essentially a wine only available to the restaurant trade that sells for a strikingly low $15 a bottle. It is a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest the other Bordeaux varieties. It is a well-made, straightforward, elegant wine with pretty black cherry and loamy soil notes intermixed with some blacker currants. Round, juicy and ideal for near-term consumption, at this price, it’s a steal.

Gewurztraminer has never done really well in California, but the 2006 Gewurztraminer from Saralee’s Vineyard is elegant, displaying a hint of rose water in a medium-bodied, dry style. Much better, in my opinion, is Dick Arrowood’s mastery of Viognier.

Arrowood's 2010 Chardonnay Reserve Speciale wraps around the palate with dried pears, spices, butterscotch and caramel. Nicely layered, the 2010 is attractive, but has only modest depth and complexity. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2015.

Marsanne and Roussanne are two varieties that never gained as much attention out side the Northern Rhone as Viognier, although Roussanne has attracted some moderate interest. This 2009 from McLaren Vale was barrel fermented in French oak and remained on the yeast lees for four months. The color is a medium gold and the nose is closed-in but showing citrus rind and pears. It has good texture but the flavors are delicate and undistinguished, with 13.5% alcohol and some oak in the finish.

Slightly more concentrated, with hints of pineapple, hazelnut and orange blossom, the 2013 Chardonnay Russian River is a slightly bigger cuvée, and the wine also elegant, but offering more flavor, concentration and intensity. Both of these were aged nine months in about 50%-60% new French oak and another year in older barrels prior to being bottled.

The 2011 Pinot Noir Maggie Hawk and Boon Ridge Vineyards is a lean style of Pinot offering up notes of herbs, underbrush and sweet and sour cherries. Attractive in a lighter style, but somewhat austere, it can be drunk over the next year.

The 2013 Chardonnay Anderson Valley is a fresh, light-bodied style of Chardonnay with hints of pear and brioche, crisp acidity and a light to medium-bodied personality. Drink it over the next year