Smackdown Pinot Noir: Santa Maria Valley -v- Santa Lucia Highlands There is an earthiness and richness to this wine, showing a strong mid palate acidity. There is the red raspberry, strawberry, plum and with back notes of wild flowers and fresh herbs, licorice and blackberries.

It’s hard to find a decent pinot noir at this price, but every year Cambria manages to do make one. Simple, ripe blackberry and cherry fruit flavors with a dash of spice.

Jackson Family Wines has another winner in the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Cambria Wine Estate… Now the 2015 Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir was very rich and vibrant with a slight transparent hue. The nose was very perfumed and the finish of the wine long in length and quite elegant. I could see pairing this with a substantial dish like Salmon and also risotto. The estate is owned by Katie and Julia Jackson, and located in the coastal Santa Maria Bench of Santa Barbara, where all the best wines come from. When I taste Jackson Family wines, I often wonder how they can deliver such great quality at an affordable price. These are two great wines to try.

Cambria, on the Santa Maria Bench, crafts single clone Pinot Noir wines, along with blends of key clones that the family has found highlight the fruit and the region, like their Mesa Terrace. A blend of four SIP certified, sustainably grown Pinot Noir clones revealing wild-strawberry, woody herb, and wildflower notes.

The Cambria “Mesa Terrace” Pinot Noir 2015, Santa Maria Valley, aged in a different direction, 10 months in French oak but with 62 percent new barrels. The color is a similar dark ruby shading to an invisible rim, but the focus here is on red fruit — cherries and currants — and a fuller exploitation of spice in the form of sandalwood, cloves and sassafras, with a smoky-beetroot background; it’s a dense and chewy pinot noir, not just satiny and succulent but close to opulent on the palate, though balanced by keen acidity and a scintillating flinty quality; the finish adds loam and forest floor. 14.2 percent alcohol. Again, a pinot noir that’s impressive for its detail and dimension. Now through 2021 to ’23. Excellent.

2015 Mesa Terrace Pinot Noir has aromas of strawberry jam and fresh herbs such as sage, the company reports. Bing cherry and raspberry notes emerge on the palate with warm spice notes, with a velvety texture and barrel toast on the finish. This wine pairs well with dishes such as wild mushroom tartlets.

If you want to find out how hearty a Santa Maria Valley pinot noir can be, pop this bottle (though you might want to wait a few years, so be sure to decant if you drink now). This wine comes from old vines (by Santa Barbara County standards — they were planted in the 1970s), and it gets pumped up with 11 months in 39 percent new French oak (hence that need for some bottle age). But that formula all adds up to rich deliciousness. It begins with a very powerful nose, with some of that oak but oodles of dark fruit, and the cherry and blueberry keep coming when you sip, augmented by lovely notes of tobacco and earth. No doubt this would be perfect with some Santa Maria tri-tip.

We’re on steadier ground with the pinot noirs, fashioned in a big-hearted, full-throated style that touches on many aspects of the grape. The Cambria “Element” Pinot Noir 2015, Santa Maria Valley, aged 11 months in French oak, 39 percent new barrels. The color is dark ruby shading to a transparent magenta rim; it starts with notes of iodine and iron, spiced and macerated black cherries and raspberries, with hints of cranberry, pomegranate and sassafras; it emphasizes the dark, earthy and loamy character of the grape, though also its potential for a satiny, supple texture and succulent fruit; this is very dry, quite lively and spicy, and a few moments in the glass bring in touches of raspberry with slightly raspy and astringent raspberry skin and stem. 13.6 percent alcohol. Very pleasing in depth and complexity, for drinking through 2021 or ’22. Excellent.

2015 Element Pinot Noir possesses an aroma of dark cherry, ground coffee, and baking spices, with blueberry, baking spices, and a hint of orange peel on the palate, the company reports. This wine pairs well with rich dishes such as duck confit.

Just from the color, you can sense this pinot is going to have great density and concentration. Plenty of red fruit on the nose along with well-delineated wood spice (one-quarter aged in new French oak). Both red and black cherry fruit are apparent as well as pomegranate and blueberry buffered by cinnamon and cardamom. Both complex and elegant, it has deep dish berry pie flavors that make you sit up and notice but also has an exquisite balance that keeps you coming back for another sip. Old-school pinot in the best possible way.

Another winner from the Jackson Family Wines group. A very well-balanced pinot noir with lovely ripe cherry notes and nicely accenting cinnamon spice notes. It manages to avoid the overblown fruit notes of some contemporary pinot noirs. Try this elegant wine with salmon or chicken dishes.

Wines of the Week Cambria Winery is located on the Santa Maria bench in California’s Santa Barbara County. This cool coastal growing area is excellent for the production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A perennial favorite with my tasters, their Benchbreak Pinot Noir is a combination of different clones and vine ages yielding a rich, dark wine with ripe berry and earthy mineral flavors – a great complement to salmon from the grill.

The wine is fresh and vibrant, with just a wedge of rich fruit. The nose is all about the wildflowers: daisies and violets. On the palate, baking spices back up the rhubarb and bing cherry flavors and a wash of minerality adds some serious backbone to the enterprise. The finish brings in some complex forest-floor notes. 4 stars. Try this wine with oven-roasted shitake mushrooms and shaved Manchego cheese.

Have a blast this Fourth of July with American wines Some people think zinfandel is a bit rustic or just too high in alcohol for the weather. The most flexible barbecue drink may be the popular and lighter pinot noir. Cambria “Benchbreak” 2014 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir smells earthy and full of black cherry with tastes of baking spices and cherry liquor and a light finish.

A statewide tour of California pinot noir 2014 Cambria "Benchbreak" Santa Maria Valley dark fruits, intense.

This pinot, formerly known as Julia's Vineyard, is also produced from six different clones planted on the estate bench land. Raspberry, cherry, red plum, beet root and rhubarb on the nose. Refined palate of flavors that include cherry, cranberry and pomegranate with hints of tree bark, blueberry and Asian five spice powder. So well-structured that it's tightly wound and needs vigorous swirling in the glass or, better yet, decanting. Again, it's hard to find an entry-level pinot from this area that's this appealing for such a low tariff.

Did someone say (Pinot) party? As the most food-friendly of wines, Pinot Noir is always a safe bet for the holiday feast circuit. Medium-bodied, light and fresh on the palate, this Pinot stays true to its varietal characteristics but has plenty of red fruit, dark berry, and savory flavors to demonstrate the Santa Maria Valley vineyards from which it’s made. Pair this pretty Pinot with your turkey, roasted pork, and sides.

We loved this richly textured wine with extracted cherry and cranberry fruit flavors and hints of mushrooms and spice. Dark in color, it hints of blueberries on the nose. We bet you can’t stop at one glass. Great value.

Cambria Winery is located on the Santa Maria bench in California’s Santa Barbara County. This cool coastal growing area is excellent for the production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This Benchbreak Pinot Noir is a combination of different clones and vine ages, yielding a rich, dark wine with ripe berry and earthy mineral flavors – a great complement to salmon from the grill.

Cambria is one of the early wineries in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio and has always been a popular producer of chardonnay and pinot noir from Santa Barbara County’s Santa Maria Valley. The 2013 Benchbreak Pinot Noir seems to have stepped up a notch in quality and packaging with a new label. The wine shows dark fruit flavors and silky texture without the overripe heaviness that sometimes characterizes Santa Maria Valley pinot.

Dark fruit shows on the nose with root beer, cola, tree bark and a hint of mushroom. It immediately suggests that it will be incredibly savory. Dark plum, raspberry and cherry are the fruit forward flavors buffered by the forest floor and mushroom aspects, which are not extreme but just enough to tip the scales in favor of the savory side. Dark and deep, it's the purgatory of pinot noir - you don't have to suffer much and the rewards are great.

Reasonably priced, this pinot noir from the Santa Maria Valley has interesting earth notes that remind us of Burgundy. Big cherry flavors with a dash of currant and spice.

The wine showed a light-medium ruby color. Cherry, cranberry, rhubarb, loamy earth, oak and whiffs of strawberry each arrived on the nose where the strawberry dissipated as the wine opened up. Cherry, cranberry, rhubarb, raspberry, loamy earth and oak followed on the palate. The wine exhibited good structure and length, along with well-integrated tannins. This wine would pair well with risotto with wild mushrooms.

A supple, intensely flavored Pinot Noir with fine character (cherry, red currant, kola nut, plum, rosehips, black tea, nutmeg), light oakiness, good balance, and a long, lightly tannic finish. Warrants modest aging. 5 stars, exceptional.

Wine of the Week California wines don't feature here as often as I would like, or as often as perhaps they should. There are any number of wines I'd like to recommend, but the problem is usually price – expensive compared to wines from elsewhere. But that's just the way it is: land is expensive, there's a ready domestic market, etcetera. That said, the price of this single-vineyard Pinot Noir from the cool, coastal Santa Maria Valley seems eminently fair. With a few years under its belt, it still has sea-breeze freshness and sweetly fragrant cranberry, cherry and spice flavours, but there are now delicately mature, savoury, nutty, Earl Grey tea notes adding complexity. For those who want a world context: yes, it has Burgundian style, As for serving, it has good structure, so it's a wine for food, but I wouldn't overwhelm it with strong spices, heavily reduced sauces or sharp dressings, Herbs such as rosemary and thyme work well, and mature Pinot loves mushrooms, especially morels.