The wine is slightly sweet in pineapple, orange and vanilla honey flavors, with the crisp acidity that comes from coastal grape sourcing.

Bright ruby-red. Cherry-cola, raspberry and licorice on the fragrant nose. Spicy, gripping red and dark berry flavors show very good energy and an exotic note of black cardamom. Picks up spiciness and a floral nuance with air and finishes with lingering sweetness. This youthful wine will benefit from an hour of aeration.

Ruby-red. Blackberry, licorice and cocoa powder on the nose, along with a smoky nuance. Sweet but tightly coiled, with peppery red and dark berry flavors gaining sweetness with air. Closes with refreshingly tangy berry skin and lingering smokiness.

A brightly coloured 41/38/21% blend, there are an attractive range of flavours...

Vivid red. Aromas of black raspberry and cherry, plus a hint of woodsmoke. Smooth but slightly loose-knit cherry and bitter chocolate flavors are lifted by a peppery element on the back half. Finishes with good grip and a lingering note of cherry pit. In a structured, somewhat brooding style; this would work well with hearty red meat dishes.

KJ's Mendocino County Zin has both red and black berry fruit flavor and the spiciness one expects from dry-farmed Mendocino County vineyards, though the tannins stick around a bit longer than one might like. Cedar definitely shows up on the finish.

A bright sauvignon blanc with layered flavors. Note of white peach, lemon, lime, melon and a hint of tangerine. Nice length.

This is a juicy, easy-to-like red. Fruit-forward, raspberried/blackberried, deceptively tannic and with attractive mineral edges. Excellent length. Perfectly well balanced. Has a sweetness to it but it’s not a heavy or syrupy style; it’s more like an old McLaren Vale Burgundy style. Spice notes top it off. Light-ish but good.

I can think of almost no instance when I wouldn’t trade whatever is on my plate for some truly great bbq ribs...lots of flavor, lots of juice, and, admit it, lots of fat—if wine is on the table, make it a big, brawny Syrah, like the robust 2008 Cambria Tepusquet Syrah ($19).

Why Sonoma County deserves the wine spotlight: Stonestreet has the ring of a contrived winery name designed to conjure rural imagery. But it’s the founder’s middle name, as in Jess Stonestreet Jackson. The wealthy land-use lawyer and prominent thoroughbred-horse breeder, who died in April at age 81, played a role in popularizing chardonnay in America with the country’s most popular bottling, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve. This is a newer, super-premium label. I love the aggressive tannins in this full-bodied yet austere red. It shows cassis, black tea and mineral nuances along with a firm slap of acidity. Try it with steak or age it for up to 15 years.

A substantial, meaty chardonnay, this wine's fruit tone has deepened and darkened from its time in oak, developing flavors of hazelnut, vanilla bean and toasted croissant. It's sweet and soft in the end, with the richness to match veal roast.

Brisk acidity and lovely ripe black raspberry and juicy cherry; supple and zesty with nerve and good grip.

Ripe, smoky cherry flavor with a light oaky taste. This blend of pinot grapes from several excellent growing regions, including Monterey and Santa Barbara, way overachieves. It's full of black cherry fruit and more layers of nuance than one would expect, given the price.

Lean, toasty, citric nose. Supple and forward, but has underlying acidity to lift the finish. Balanced and long.

26.5% residual sugar. Impressive in its enormous concentration, this wine drifts a bit into a dried grape character with touches of brown sugar invading the peach and flower Riesling notes. The wine, as expected, is incredibly viscous and luscious, and even if it is not as bright and energetic in its acidity as others, it is still an amazingly deep wine whose role with or as dessert is unquestioned.

Wisps of peach and honeysuckle give a nice if slightly quiet start to this slightly sweet effort, and if it is not the lightest on its feet, so too is not as heavy as its 13% alcohol might suggest. Rather, the wine impresses as sufficiently fruity to serve as a light-hearted accompaniment to sunny-day luncheons yet has the stuffing to stand up to somewhat spicy or creamy Indian fare.