From Goldridge soils known for their ability to support high quality Pinot Noir as well as Chardonnay, the 2008 Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard (made from Dijon clone 667) exhibits a deep ruby color along with sweet aromas of black cherries, black and red currants, crushed rocks, loamy soil and underbrush. With abundant minerality, silky tannins and an unexpected floral note, it should drink well for 4-6 years. It was fashioned from tiny yields because of the spring frosts. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

The 2009 Chardonnay Four Hearts Vineyard sees less new oak than its two siblings. It reveals elegant tropical fruit, citrus oil, pear and white peach notes in a medium to full-bodied, crisp, zesty style. It can be enjoyed over the next 4-5 years. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

Dick Arrowood was one of the early Rhone Rangers because of his work with Syrah, especially that from the Saralee's Vineyard. The 2008 Syrah Saralee's Vineyard (93% Syrah co-fermented with 7% Viognier, and aged 16 months in French oak) exhibits wonderful, exotic lychee nut-like notes intermixed with blackberries and flowers. Super-fruity with silky tannins, this is a hedonistic, classic Syrah to drink now and over the next 5-7 years.

The 2008 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block comes from an east-facing slope not far from the town of Occidental. Another wine that is neither fined nor filtered, it displays a dark ruby hue as well as a lush texture and hints of pomegranate, raspberry, black cherry, toasty oak and earth. It should drink well for 3-4 years. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

Big and brash up front, this pinot noir has some jazz in its acidity, a firm, lively finish that breathes with black cherry and smoke. The tannins are fine, holding the warmth of the wine in check.

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma includes fruit from the famed Monte Rosso Vineyard. Aged in a combination of French and American oak for two years prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered, it is an outstanding Cabernet boasting a deep ruby/purple color along with copious aromas of creme de cassis, graphite and spice box. Full-bodied with supple tannins, a generous, even corpulent mouthfeel and a long finish, it should drink well for a decade.

Bright and juicy berry flavors race through this clean, friendly zin. The fruit is sweetly ripe, corralled by crisp, mineral lines of tannin.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better wine at this price. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel, sourced only from coastal counties, it's totally dry, full bodied, firm in tannins and drinkable now for its wealth of blackberry, currant, black cherry and oak flavors.

The Cotes de Beaune premier cru-styled 2008 Pinot Noir Seven's Bench Vineyard comes from Dijon clones 667 and 777. It offers a dark ruby color, medium body and abundant aromas of vanilla, sassafras, pomegranate and sweet and sour cherries. It possesses more charm and flesh than the Hailey's Block, and both cuvees are best consumed during their first 3-5 years of life. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

Very much showing the restraint and firm balance predicted of its cool provenance, the spry Hailey's Block bottling is the leanest and most delicate of the Hartford Pinots. It is, however, not at all lacking in focus and fruit, and its buoyant themes of lightly oaked, fresh-cherry fruit stay the course through to its long finish. Its overall style directs it to service with lighter foods, and it should be equally happy as a partner to meaty fish such as seared ahi tuna or to more traditional dishes like Coq au Vin.

This wine's youthful, blueberry-scented fruit is cooled by a conifer forest tone. It's a smoky, juicy syrah that lasts on sweet scents of jam, a soft, pleasing match for roast venison.

If the least expensive of the several new Cambria offerings, the Clone 115 is a nicely rounded mid-density effort that pulls back on ripeness without pulling back on fruit. It is not an especially effusive or complex wine, yet it keeps its sights set on defined, Pinot cherries and never wanders off course. Its scant finishing coarseness will be remedied equally by brief aging and service of food.

Given its entirely modest price, we would be more than happy with the clean and very precise fruit provided by this altogether engaging youngster, but the wine is about more than fruit and shows a sense of crafting and complexity that makes it an out-and-out steal. Its ongoing themes of ripe cherries are accented with hints of vanilla and a wisp of dried-flower sweetness, and it is as trim and carefully balanced as it is just plain delicious. We would not argue with those who would drink it right now, but its structure and very fine fit of pieces ensure that it will keep. Good value.

Though light-bodied, this wine is more firmly structured than many California Pinot Noirs, and offers satisfying because neither sappy nor saccharined dark cherry fruit flavors enhanced by echoes of savory spice. Few Pinots at this price point prove as enticing.

Offering an altogether riper look at Green Valley fruit than the winery's Hailey's Block bottling, this weighty, relatively mouthfilling wine if rife with juicy black cherry fruit. It is fairly obvious and shows a little less range than several of its more complex mates, but its richness is beyond question, and its scant last-minute heat is no more than a minor distraction.

The pomegranate and red currant-scented 2008 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block reveals tart acids as well as a slightly austere style. Owned by Jess Jackson and Don Hartford and assisted by winemaker Jeff Mangahas, Hartford Court is one of the bright shining stars in Jess Jackson Family Vineyard's impressive portfolio. All three Chardonnays come from cool climate sites, either the Sonoma Coast or the Green Valley. I tasted five 2008 Pinot Noirs, a challenging vintage for some producers but Hartford Court had no smoke issues.

This 100% Viognier shows the variety's exotic side, with delicious tropical fruit, citrus, pear, melon, lychee and smoky oak flavors. It's a bit one-dimensional, but appeals for its fresh acids and richness.

This is a big, rich, oaky Chardonnay. It's a little heavy with all that caramel and buttered toast, but acidity brightens the pineapple and peach flavors, and the finish is clean and spicy.

A huge advancement over the previous vintage, representing new decisions by the winery. It's a rich, easy-drinking wine, showing delightful lime, peach, melon and lemongrass flavors, brightened by crisp acidity.

A perfect wine, the 2008 Le Desir (1,500 cases) needs 5-7 years of bottle age and should have 35-40 years of life ahead of it. A blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot and the rest Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, all from the Alexander Mountain Estate site, it exhibits an extraordinary perfume of blueberries, toast, licorice, camphor, incense, crushed rocks and cassis. The prodigious aromatic profile is followed by a super-intense, full-bodied wine that is relatively light on its feet, no doubt because of the high Cabernet Franc component. This pure, textured, rich wine offers up hints of tobacco leaf and spice box as it sits in the glass. It admirably continues the remarkable progression in quality being achieved by this great name in Bordeaux-styled wines. Jess Jackson and his Bordelais winemaker, Pierre Seillan, have followed their 2007s (the finest wines they have ever made) with strong efforts in 2008. To understand these wines, readers must realize that they are not meant for near-term drinking, but rather for extended cellaring. Seillan truly wants to produce a wine with the ripeness of California fruit backed up by the structure and ageability of a top Bordeaux. All of these cuvees come from Sonoma County estate vineyards owned by Jess Jackson. The La Muse (dominated by Merlot) offering represents Verite's right bank Pomerol-styled wine, La Joie is their Medoc-styled effort dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Le Desir is more of a St.-Emilion, possibly Graves-styled wine dominated by Cabernet Franc blended with Merlot. These wines all need 4-5 years of bottle age, and are capable of lasting three decades or more. If you did not catch the 2007s that were released in 2010, my scores are as follows: 2007 Le Desir (98), 2007 La Joie (100) and 2007 La Muse (99).

2009 Carmel Road Chardonnay, Monterey: big and round and rich, with floral aromas and sweet pineapple flavors.

Deeply colored. Nicely scented with aromas of black raspberry tart, black cherries, smoky oak and rose petals. Sweet and rich with a powerful core of dark red stone fruits and berries and underpinnings of earth,anise and grilled meat. The tannins are supple and the wine's richness and velvety mouthfeel courtesy of the alcohol will find fans.

Deeply colored. Highly perfumed with Bing cherries, strawberries and a touch of baking spice. Tasty strawberry and cherry fruit which is fully ripe and moderately dense. Soft and plush on the palate with supple dry tannins. Easy to drink and in character for the AVA.

Moderate reddish-purple hue in the glass. Subtle but attractive fruit-driven scent of an array of stone fruits and berries. Vivid and pure flavors of cherries and berries backed by sinewy tannins and offered with a softly textured mouth feel. The fruit is really quite charming and has that exotic edge often seen with Sonoma Coast bottlings.

Moderate reddish-purple color in the glass. Nicely perfumed with scents of black cherries, plum sauce, blackberry jam, spice and prickly pear. Well-structured and composed array of earth-kissed purple and black fruits with fine-grain tannins and bright acidity. A hint of oak-derived anise and dark chocolate add interest. Reminds me of Santa Lucia Highlands fruit. Soft and smooth in the mouth making the wine very inviting. A crazy good wine at this price.