Champ de Reves Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2011 ($40). Bright blueberry flavors highlight this delightful wine from the Anderson Valley. There are hints of anise and toffee with a good dose of mineral to keep it interesting.

Champ de Reves Pinot Noir 2011 ($35). Anderson Valley pinot noirs are the rage and for good reason. It has the right climate for pinot noir. This beauty has great acidity to help with food matches and opulent blueberry and blackberry notes. Hints of anise and truffles on the nose make for a very sexy wine.

Edgy and sharp now, with a cut of acidity giving a rustic bite to the cherry, blackberry and toasty oak flavors...

This is the first release of the high-elevation Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from Jackson Family Wines new artisanal producer Champs de Reves. It's an elegant wine marked by bright acidity and aromas of spice and red-berry fruit.

Floral aromas, flavors of red raspberries and coffee.

...the Edmeades winery has been reinvented by the Jackson Family as a Pinot Noir specialist, under the “Champ de Rêves” (Field of Dreams) name. It was not long after Jess Jackson passed away that locals noted vineyards for sale were being checked by Jackson Family reps. Barbera Banke, Jess’ wife, is said to be behind the revival, and now the family owns four blocks of high elevation vineyards known collectively as “Boone Ridge.” The debut Pinot, the 2010 Champ de Rêves, is an excellent beginning.

Beautiful classic California pinot noir nose of cherry fruit and a nice mouth presence of cherries and minerals. Delicious!

One of the favorite pinot noir discoveries this year, this Anderson Valley wine is a beauty. Loads of blueberry and cherry flavors with traces of toffee, spice and tea. Long in the finish and rich in texture make for a yummy elixir.

It’s dreary and drippy in our neck o’ the woods today, so let’s sample a wine that will lift our spirits and remind us that, yes, it really is Spring. This is the Cenyth Wines Rosé of Cabernet Franc 2017, Sonoma County. Cenyth Wines represents a partnership between longtime friends Julia Jackson and Hélène Seillan. Julia is a daughter of the late Jess Jackson; Hélène is daughter of Pierre Seillan, winemaker for Vérité, the flagship wine (in my opinion) of Jackson Family Wines’ Spire Collection, and vigneron of JFW’s Bordeaux properties Chateau Lassègue and Chateau Vignot, in Saint-Emilion. Cenyth debuted with an exceptional cabernet sauvignon-based wine from the 2009 vintage. Anyway, the Cenyth Rosé of Cabernet Franc 2017 offers a ravishing pale copper-salmon hue and beguiling aromas of spiced peach and orange rind, strawberry and quince, with undertones of damp stones and dusty slate. It’s a spare and elegant rosé, unusually complex for the genre. A few minutes in the glass bring in notes of lychee and lilac, blue plum and almond skin; the chiseled limestone minerality provides ballast but doesn’t come on too strong for a rosé that is essentially, transparently beautiful. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now, of course, through this year and into 2019. Excellent.

5/6

A lovely red blend with lush red and black fruit, and notes of mocha, cigar and vanilla. Bright flavors. Ripe tannins. Well done.

Perfect Bordeaux copy, perhaps because it's made by the daughter of a renowned Bordelais winemaker? California fruit, French breeding.

A gorgeous chardonnay that rivals the best of Burgundy. Highly aromatic with spiced apple and pear wafting from the glass, and backed up with racy acidity and well-integrated oak. Made from Dijon clone fruit grown in Monterey's cool climate, the wine is structured, focused and layered.

Crisp and rich, with floral aromas and flavors of ripe apricots and cloves.

This dry white wine displays full flavors and a creamy texture in a way that finds a middle ground between the style of Alsace and Italian wines from the same varietal. It offers generous flavors of pear, apples, honey and Asian spices. It has much of the appeal of a good chardonnay but without the overwhelming influence of oak. It's all about the fruit.

Pinot Noir Masters 2019: Gold

Striking Pinots A juicy pinot with layered notes of strawberry, black cherry, cola and toast. It’s balanced with bright acidity. Nice length. A steal for the quality. 3½ stars.

I tasted notes of ripe red fruit, tea, vanilla, earth and violets. This wine was not in my SIP certified shipment that I discuss below but is a wine that meets those criteria.

Screw cap. Fine Pinot: supple, ripe, and very well balanced, it is lightly oaked, intensely fruity (raspberry, baked cherry, rosehips), with overtones of black tea, toast, clove, and cedar. Great value. 4 stars, excellent.

Wines of the Week: Favorite Buys of 2017 (Under $20) Our tasting panel is always trying to hunt down great bargains and we’ve discover dozens of wines that really deliver unexpected quality for under $20. Each member picked a favorite in different categories and we invited wine drinkings (who enjoy a glass or two on a regular basis but certainly aren’t experts) to vote for the ones they liked best. Here are the winners: Favorite Pinot Noir.

One Star, Best Buys in the Market Pinot Noir’s trajectory is still on the rise, and, if compelling versions abound, so too do a good many exceptional values that make fine Pinot more than an occasional treat…the fresh and inviting * CARMEL ROAD Monterey 2015…

The Carmel Road Pinot Noir 2015, Monterey County, aged 9 months in French oak, only 16 percent new barrels, resulting in an oak influence that’s almost subliminal in its shaping factor. The color is transparent medium ruby fading to an invisible rim; pert aromas and flavors of black and red cherries and currants are touched with notes of pomegranate and plum highlighted by hints of black tea, loam and sassafras. The wine is satiny smooth on the palate but enlivened by bright acidity that cuts a swath through to a finish lightly wrapped in graphite-tinged tannin. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2019 or ’20. Attractive and expressive. Very good+.

Actress and Winemaker Drew Barrymore Next, we tried the bottle of Barrymore Drew's Blend Pinot Noir. This lovely wine offered a pleasing perfumed fragrance ranging from cherries, rhubarb, pomegranates and spices. We enjoyed it with spicy food, fresh fish and red meat dishes. This wine is sourced from three different vineyards in Monterey, CA. It's made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes. Following fermentation, the wine is aged in French oak barrels.

A statewide tour of California pinot noir Carmel Road winery has fashioned three beautiful small lot wines in 2014 from the Panorama Vineyard in Arroyo Seco: North Crest - dark fruit, full, intense spice; South Crest - tangy red fruit, firm, silky; First Row - floral, spice, deep red fruits.

The Carmel Road Panorama Vineyard “First Row” Pinot Noir 2014, Arroyo Seco, received 13 months aging in French oak, 20 percent new barrels. A wholly transparent medium ruby hue with an ephemeral rim leads to a heady melange of cloves and sandalwood, rose petals and crushed violets, red and black cherries and currants with notes of cranberry and pomegranate, cola, loam and cherry pit; the wine is sleek and suave on the palate, with satiny drape on the tongue and delicious berry fruit for the taste-buds, all energized by bracing acidity and a hint of flinty minerality. Excellent.