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.

Nicely framed aromas redolent of ripe peach, hints of flowers and jasmine may take their time to open up but open they do and become quite pleasant in the process. The wine is slightly sweet on the palate and gains a bit of roundness as the result but it is also very well-balanced at every stop.

The 2008 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard shows good varietal character and fine balance with well-articulated fruit and an attractive, clean finish. Through a bit oaky, this is otherwise a strong effort, particularly considering the production of 24,000 cases. The wine was fermented in Oak barrels (25% new) and aged on its lees with bâtonnage for seven months.

2009 Pinot Clone 667 is gorgeous. It captures the estate's search for richness while maintaining considerable freshness and aromatic complexity. Dark red fruit, flowers, spices and crushed rocks come together gracefully in this articulated, beautifully delineated Pinot. The Clone 667 was fermented in open-top neutral French oak barrels, and aged for ten months in oak prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The 2009 Pinot Noir Bench Break is a big, bold wine packed with dark red fruit. Sweet floral and spice notes are woven throughout. The round, inviting finish is harmonious and very nicely articulated. The Bench Break was fermented in oak barrels and aged on its lees with bâtonnage for ten months.

The 2009 Barbara's Pinot is another of the big, super-ripe wines endowed with considerable fatness in its fruit. Hints of leather and spices wrap around the finish. The Pinot Noir Barbara's was fermented in open-top French oak barrels, and aged for ten months in oak prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The 2009 Pinot Noir Clone 2A is one of the more massive, muscular wines in the lineup. This is a decidedly more powerful style, with deep layers of fruit, spices, licorice and leather. Hints of over ripeness give the Clone 2A a forward, open personality, but also suggest that the wine will drink best sooner rather than later. The Clone 2A was fermented in open-top new oak barrels, and aged in oak for ten months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The 2009 Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard flows from the glass with layers of sweet candied fruit, raspberries, flowers and spices. The Julia's is impressive for its expressive varietal character and excellent balance, both quite an achievement for a wine with a 60,000 case production. This was fermented in oak barrels (27% new) and aged on its lees with bâtonnage for seven months.

The 2009 Chardonnay Bench Break is a rich, lush wine laced with expressive tropical fruit. It shows excellent depth all the way through to the round, enveloping finish. The Bench Break was fermented in oak barrels (55% new) and aged on its lees with bâtonnage for ten months.

Floral aroma, moderately sweet, flavors of ripe citrus.

Not a real complex pinot noir, but this wine exhibits nice varietal character and is very easy to drink. Cherry, plum nose with good ripe cherry, berry flavors. Good value.

This firm, fairly vibrant moderately fruity young wine draws back a bit as far ripeness goes and keys on spry, lightly briary, black-cherry fruit. While its tannins are tame, it shows a bit of acid-pushed on the back end and will be much improved by a few years of rest in the bottle.

This is an everyday Pinot, with some classy features. It's silky and elegant in the mouth, with good acidity...

It's hard to find a pinot noir full of character for a moderate price, but this one has an attractive varietal aroma of tea, cherry, earth, and subtle spices. Needs about an hour of air to open up.

Made in the popular style, this sweet, direct Chardonnay has orange, lime and pineapple fruit juice flavors.

Medium-bodied, cherry-rich Pinot Noir: 2008 Cambria Julia's Vineyard.

Each issue, our editors huddle up and select a pair of can't-miss, quality wines that are readily available across the country. This issue we suggest a red (shiraz) and white (chardonnay) combo that is a classic backyard pairing awaiting a barbecue or a block party or both. Spicy, melon, floral, butter, vanilla, mango, guava, light lychee aromas. Round, soft, off-dry palate with somewhat juicy acidity. Buttery, spicy lees, melon, honey, lychee, mango and vanilla flavours with a creamy finish. Riper, tropical style that offers good intensity and balance, with some finesse.