La Crema is using open top fermentors much like other top-quality producers. Punching down the cap of the skins boosts the color and softens the tannins. The result is an extracted pinot noir with floral and orange peel aromas followed by black cherry, spice and chocolate flavors.

Beautiful apple and toast nose. Very elegant and classy, with apple and citrus flavors. A terrific package.

Although there are no layers of compelling or complexity to be found here, there is nonetheless a fair sense of Riesling's mildly peachy fruit, and the wine's slight sweetness and soft balance invite stand-alone sipping. It is as good now as it ever will be, and it should be tagged for picnic gulping before another year has passed.

You can't beat this wonderfully textured chardonnay from a prime growing region for chardonnay. Mango and spice with soft mouthfeel and long finish.

Hard to exaggerate the beauty of this mountain-grown wine, which is based on Cabernet Sauvignon but contains the other four classic Bordeaux varieties. Although it's very tannic, those tannins are remarkably soft. Nearly all-new oak provides a framework of smoky caramel, delicious enough but just an accompaniment to the blackberries, black currants, cherries and dark chocolate. A fantastic wine for drinking now, and should last for many years in the cellar.

Hard mountain tannins characterize this Cab, which was grown above 2,000 feet in the Mayacamas. It's hugely deep in blackberries and black currants, with notes of dark chocolate and violets. Meanwhile, 100% new French oak adds an elaborate layer of smoky caramel and char that's entirely in keeping with the wine's volume. Impressive and flashy, but immature, this wine requires cellaring. Best 2012-2018.

A very rich Chardonnay, notable for its complex flavors of pineapples, sweet Meyer lemons, Key lime pie, buttered toast and smoky caramelized oak. Acidity is quite high, and plays a role in the way it tingles and cleanses the mouth. There's a fresh, jammy quality that makes the wine taste younger that its almost three years. Should develop in the bottle through 2013.

At a premium price such as this, I expect a lot from a wine, and this one delivered the goods. Admirably balanced, it is poised at a near-optimal point from which it shows both power and softness. Rich but not over-ripe, it is concentrated and quite deep in flavor, yet the finish is long and soft rather than astringent. Oak is notably present but not overbearing, and the wine will surely develop for another few years, though it is quite enjoyable already. All in all, this shows damned impressive winemaking skill.

Silky and smooth with mellow fruit, racy acidity and lovely depth of flavor; long, rich and full with creamy, bright flavors.

The scent of heirloom cider apples lends this chardonnay a refreshing edge. It's blended from estate grown fruit and purchased grapes from four districts of the Russian River Valley. The richness from barrel fermentation combines with clean, lemony fruit, together feeling supple, round and effortless. For veal in a cream sauce.

If every $20 Chardonnay were this good, you would not need us to taste through bunches of inexpensive wines looking for a winner. But, since this wholly likeable, rich and impeccably balanced bottling stands apart from the crowd, we are quite happy to have found it. From the first, it smells of ripe apples and green with whiffs of citrus and roasted lemons and nice touch of oak spicing, and it continues in form and fashion across the palate and follows on without letup into its firm and nicely fruited aftertaste.

A full complement of ripe cherry fruit with hints of black cherries and dried berries are joined by a light veneer of creamy oak in the nose of this full and slightly fleshy wine. Fairly open in feel and invitingly ready to enjoy over the next few years, the wine relies on bags of youthful energy for balance.

Quite a nice Sauvignon Blanc, although it could be a tad drier on the finish, as there's a jammy, fruit tart quality. Shows crisp acidity framing ripe lemon., lime, green apple, melon and spice flavors.

A totally different animal altogether, the 2008 Chardonnay Arroyo Seco explodes with a perfume of orange blossoms, nectarine, marmalade, and quince, followed by a full-bodied, Chardonnay with both power and elegance. This is a sensational effort to drink over the next 3-5 years.

An exquisite Chardonnay, the 2008 Sierra Granite from Arroyo Seco has a powerful nose of crushed rock, white flowers, quince, honey, melon, and rich citrus fruits. This flowery, full-bodied, rich wine is almost a liqueur of minerality. As the wine sits in the glass, some tropical fruit blossoms also emerge. This is super Chardonnay! Drink it over the next 3 or so years.

The 2008 Pinot Noir River Terra has a plum, flowery, pomegranate-scented nose, a dark ruby color, and attractive, medium-bodied flavors with terrific acidity and sweet tannin that build incrementally and positively on the palate. This wine is still young and unevolved, so another year or two of bottle age could actually add even more nuance. It should drink well for 7-10 years.

Sweet black cherries, fresh strawberry jam, cold steel, and crushed rocks jump from the glass of the dark ruby/purple-tinged 2008 Pinot Noir Sierra Granite. This is an elegant yet rich style of Pinot Noir that is still playing it close to the vest due to its vibrant acids, but it should also drink well for up to a decade.

The all-stainless steel fermented and aged 2008 Chardonnay Liberated is outstanding. Notes of lemon custard, honeyed citrus, and white currants jump from the glass of this medium to full-bodied, light straw-colored wine. Elegant, pure, and impressively textured, this is a Chardonnay to drink over the next 1-2 years.

I was also impressed with Carmel Road's 2008 Chardonnay Monterey. With a light greenish hue to its color and loads of tropical fruit intermixed with a hint of orange blossom, this medium-bodied Chardonnay is not as weighty as the Arroyo Seco, but it's tasty in a medium-bodied, fresh, lively, cool-climate style.

Better is the 2007 Pinot Noir Arroyo Seco. Obviously a cool-climate wine, with elegant strawberry and raspberry as well as hints of blueberry and underbrush notes, this Pinot is attractive, medium-bodied, and slightly lean in the finish. Carmel Road has also produced two other super Pinot Noirs.

A straightforward, one-dimensional, medium-bodied Pinot Noir, the 2008 Monterey displays some spiciness, dark berries, and soil undertones...

This is a good, casual merlot with aromas and flavors of black cherry, plum, herbs and spice. Nice texture. Good length.

Winemaker Randy Ullom hits all the right notes with this delicious floral, spicy, green apple, peachy melon nose flecked with guava, vanilla, light lychee, lime and a dusting of nutty lees. The palate is fresh and crisp with elegant styling, juicy acidity and rich minerality. Baked green apple, floral, spicy, mango, pineapple, honey, buttery, vanilla, nutty, lime and melon flavours. Good complexity and balance in a brighter style than in the past. Drink now or over the next few years. This wine really deserves a better name than 'Grand Reserve.'

Smoky, peppery, cedar, chocolate, tobacco, roasted meat, licorice root, earthy, cassis, and menthol aromas. Ripe, round, supple, elegant palate with light, dry tannins. Cassis, chocolate, vanilla, peppery, black olive, green bean, meat, tobacco, mineral, licorice, earthy, tea flavours. Somewhat tight, austere finish that should soften over the next few years.