Cambria Estate Vineyards & Winery 2003 Santa Maria Valley Bench Break Vineyard Chardonnay: One reason bigger chardonnays are so popular, I suspect, is that their color is as deep, brilliant and hopeful as a brand new wedding band. A wine that golden just has to deliver intense flavor. The Cambria not only has the color, it delivers both a luxuriously creamy texture and a zesty citric fruitiness. It won best of class at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition early this year. The 2004 version of the wine is now in release, and given the success of the 2003 the style likely hasn't been altered.

Toasty oak aroma; rich caramel and crisp citrus flavors; fruity, creamy, dry.

Golden apple, lemon, ripe pineapple, fig and hint of charred oak on the nose; similar flavors plus caramel, toast and brown spice; crisp acidity; balanced; cedar/clove on the finish.

Not many producers are making pinot blanc because of its similarity to chardonnay, but done well it is a delightful grape variety for spring and summer consumption. This one is done well: lots of citrus and peach notes with crisp acidity.

Santa Barbara Chardonnay And Pinot Noir Are Made By The Ocean 2016 Byron Nielson Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley: Chinese 5 spice, tea, graphite, brooding.

Byron: Back to its roots with vineyard-designated wines Black fruit, candied violets, spice and surprisingly fresh floral and citrus notes on the nose. Juicy but rich and powerful in the mouth with black (especially black cherry) and red berry fruit flavors along with plum and plenty of well-integrated (and appreciated) wood spice as well as a slight bit of earthy underbrush. The oak aging (French with more than half new barrels) frames the primary fruit well and allows the levels of complexity to reveal themselves. Totally slurpy and delicious to drink now.

Transparent medium ruby color shading to an ethereal rim; deliriously appealing bouquet: lilac and talc, spiced, macerated and slightly roasted black cherries and plums; hints of pomegranate and cranberry, sandalwood and sassafras; a real mouthful of pinot noir, propelled by whiplash acidity and an edge of underbrush and flint-like minerality; the finish fleshed out by dusty, velvety tannins. Now through 2022 to ’25. Excellent.

Byron: Back to its roots with vineyard-designated wines Damson plum, dark berry fruit, rhubarb, rose petal and mushroom on the nose with warm baking spices in the mix. Deep, dark fruit flavors on the palate that include plum, red currant, cranberry and baked dark cherry pie. Not just fruity, it also has savory dimensions with earthy and spice elements a major factor in adding to the complexity. Full-bodied and demonstrative, it finishes with great acidity and firm tannins that will allow this to age well for another five years. Delicious now though, and probably one of tastiest and most compelling Julia's Vineyard bottlings that I've ever had.

Transparent ruby-garnet shading to a magenta rim; bright, ripe black and red cherries are infused with more baking spice elements — cloves, allspice, brown sugar — than I can tolerate (or than pinot noir should display), though tempered somewhat by hints of sandalwood and sassafras and notes of dried herbs and tobacco leaf; an attractive, lithe texture and clean acidity keep matters in forward motion. Now through 2021 to ’23. Very Good+.

Medium ruby shading to utter transparency; spiced and macerated black cherries and blueberries with touches of pomegranate, red cherries and licorice; incredibly perfumed: violets and lilac, sassafras, rhubarb, cranberry; smooth as silk and as weighty as velvet, both ethereal and acutely present; time in the glass brings in notes of mocha and bittersweet chocolate, with a foundation of graphite minerality motivated by acidity as deep as a river. An extraordinary pinot noir. Exceptional.

Very typical of the vineyard, this pinot shows cola and beet root as well as black cherry and tart strawberry aromatics. Substantial but not overpowering in the mouth, it delivers a full spectrum of dark and brooding fruit flavors, more black cherry again, with dusky and spicy undertones. Suave and sophisticated, it has plenty of deep dish flavors to satisfy even the most jaded pinotphile. And while Byron sells grapes from this vineyard to other respected wineries, this version is always the benchmark of what Julia's Vineyard should be. Stellar pinot.

Also from Santa Maria, Byron “Julia’s Vineyard Old Vine” Pinot Noir features classic Pommard clone fruit with strawberry and earthy forest-floor notes.

A bit tighter and perhaps more structured than Julia's, that's just the nature of Sierra Madre. Wind-torn and stressed, this vineyard seems to have lower yields and more concentrated aromas and flavors. Beet root, cola, Chinese gunpowder, graphite and rose petal on the nose along with plenty of concentrated red fruit. Tight flavors of red cherry, raspberry and brown baking spices are invisibly enveloped by a sheen of one-third Francois Freres new French oak. Possibly the sleeper of the lineup, this bottling is a candidate for aging in your cellar that will awaken five years from now as a sleeping beauty.

I cannot lie. This vineyard-designated pinot is one I grew up with, whether it came from Cambria (Julia's is their estate vineyard), Foxen, Hitching Post or Byron. And like most of those bottlings, this newest Byron version is very easy to like. Black cherry and currants on the nose with rose petal, clove, cedar, sage and forest floor. Black cherry reprises its role as the main event on the palate, supported by plum, lavender, lilac (very floral), cranberry, rhubarb and pomegranate, with hints of flint, graphite and mineral. Still the one.

This pinot is the best of the best: very select blocks of Nielson Vineyard were chosen and aged in considerably more new French oak than the others. On the nose, black cherry, cola, brewed tea, tree bark, baking spice and vanilla. On the palate, black cherry, boysenberry, cassis and wood spice with delicate floral hints in the background. Great intensity and length on midpalate. Muscular and energetic yet elegant and polished on the finish. Wow!

Much more limited, this version is smoky on the nose with red cherry, raspberry, vanilla and clove. In the mouth, a great contrast: It's both silky and pungent, sleek but dense. It's also juicy, jumpy, vibrant and alive in the mouth - you can just feel the energy of the vineyard in the glass. Surprisingly light on its feet despite its obvious concentration, it's a pinot that you will return to sip after sip, like an old friend. On the palate, flavors of cherry, dark plum and cola aided by lavender, pencil lead and freshly turned earth. The rousing finish is sleek and polished.

Moderately extracted in color, this is Byron's largest bottling by far and widely available. Black cherry and raspberry fruit on the nose along with coffee grounds, freshly turned moist earth and a grinding of brown kitchen spices. Upbeat in the mouth, with black cherry and raspberry showing up again as well as purple plum with lavender, licorice, framboise and barrel toast. Silky and smooth, the tannins are well-integrated into the fabric of the wine, while the texture and acidity are totally appropriate. This should easily satisfy any budding pinotphile who wants to know what Santa Maria Valley single-vineyard pinot is all about.

Elegant, silky and brimming with top notes of red fruits (strawberry/raspberry). Balanced with some earthy notes and nice acidity. These current vintages from Byron represent a new direction as they focus on distinct single vineyard wines instead of a blend of appellations.

The 2013 Santa Barbara County release is an awesome value; a fresh and bouncy mouth feel, a floral nose and abundant flavors of cherries and berries make it the perfect holiday table topper.

The lighter color of this bottling indicates that it's probably not over-extracted as so many pinots seem to be these days. The aromatics are redolent of dark berry fruits with a savory bent plus rose petal and a hint of smoke. True to its color, the wine is elegant and soft in the mouth, with dark berry and red cherry fruit and a modicum of sandalwood, cardamom, white florals, plus a saline minerality. The lighter hand of winemaker Jonathan Nagy is at work here, making this pinot seem more like a ballerina rather than a sumo wrestler.

Hard to find good pinot at this price, but here it is: buoyant red fruit, soft tannin and juicy texture.

This was a year of many wines for Byron winemaker Jonathon Nagy. His release of the 2012 Monument pinot and the 2012 Julia's Vineyard pinot showcase a knack for extrapolating nuances from every vineyard site he taps.

Grilled meat with rose and violet. Creamy full-flavoured mid palate. Savoury throughout. Mouth-watering acidity. Baking-spice accents. Rose, candied violet and peppery accents. Lots of length. Fine-grained melting tannins.

This Santa Maria Valley producer has been making good pinot noir for decades and the Julia's Vineyard version has been a consistent winner. It features earthy character with generous black cherry fruit and a dash of spice.