Pineapple, tropical fruit, citrus and nutmeg come through clearly and distinctly on the nose. Flavors follow aromas with more pineapple, orange marmalade, ginger, nutmeg, talcum powder and slate. With time in the bottle, this chard has become textured on midpalate as well as buttery and creamy. In a good place now, it's deliciously rich without any aggressive alcohol backbeat. Though quite big and full-bodied, its exquisite balance makes it almost elegant. The slow fade on the finish echoes over and over.

A toasty chardonnay with a lush texture. Notes of pear, melon, toffee, caramel and spice.

The Cambria 2007 Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay is made from 35-year-old vines located in one of the coolest areas of the Valley. Winemaker Denise Shurtleff describes the hallmark of this wine as being bright fruit flavors, enhanced by lemon cream pie and limestone undertones. The roots are deep here and the soil is mineral-rich, says Barbara Banke, Cambria Winery proprietor. We planted this vineyard in 1986 and named it after our daughter Katie. At 15 miles inland, it's a straight shot from the ocean, with lots of cooling morning fog.

The 2007 Chard is powerful and elegant, and delicate, at the same time. It's feminine in its delicacy - with well-hewn edges. The nose is a perfume of apples, peaches, lime, pineapple and vanilla. Flavors sweep the palate - you get the silky texture, the vibrant acidity and the fruit that trumpets more apples, pears and citrus. The finish is strong and lasting. Pour it with shellfish, seafood, chicken, veal and pork. As an aperitif? Perfect.

The 2007 Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay, a citrusy wine with green apple and some oak.

This issue boasts a bevy of top rated Chardonnays from some of California's premier producers. The rounded and appley Cambria Katherine's Vineyard 2007.

Supple, apple-like.

Paired with recipe - Smoky Barbecue Chicken. Oaked Chardonnays have toasty notes that go well with smoky dishes like this chicken. Look for the pear-scented 2007 Cambria Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay.

Named for proprietor Barbara Banke's eldest daughter, Cambria Katherine's Vineyard is both vineyard designated and estate-grown on the famed Santa Maria Bench, in Northern Santa Barbara County. The nose is an attractive mix of honey and baked apple fruits with a steak of lees and bits of spice melon and cinnamon. The entry is rich, but with good acidity and crisp pear fruit, and a creamy lees finish. Very sophisticated California chardonnay, with a touch of butter and alcohol in the finish. Drink or hold a year or 2. Great with spaghetti alie vongole.

Longtime favorite. Pleasant and easy to drink. Quite mouthwatering, with tastes of real fruit, especially ripe tropical fruits.

The peachy 2006 Cambria Katherine's Vineyard is a great choice.

2004 Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay ****1/2 A lovely chardonnay, with crisp, pear and apple flavors. Notes of jasmine, lime and toast. Rich texture. Long finish.

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.