A rich, honeyed dessert wine with notes of nectarine, pear, apricot and spice. Has great intensity. Lingering finish.

A bright malbec with aromas and flavors of blackberry, black raspberry and spice. Soft, with a seamless texture. Lingering finish.

Hint of toasty oak, rich and full-bodied, with flavors of butter, caramel and tropical fruit.

A balanced chardonnay, with a yin-yang balance of citrus and crème brulee. Bright acidity, with a hint of tangerine. Lovely.

A tropical chardonnay with good structure and crisp acidity. Notes of apple, pear and vanilla. Rich, but manages to have good balance. Bright finish.

This is a good, straightforward Chardonnay with buttercream, vanilla, tropical fruit and citrus flavors.

This is a layered chardonnay with exotic flavors. Notes of nectarine, white peach and crème brulee. Complex. Nice length. At $20, this is also a steal for the quality.

This wine has a creamy texture with honey and citrus aromas followed by apple and orange flavors.

A complex chardonnay. It has a creamy texture but its crisp acidity balances it out nicely. Notes of apple, pear, melon and toast. Rich finish.

Rich in fruit and oak, but balanced with crisp acidity. It's strongly flavored, brimming with pineapple jam, white peach. apricot, buttered toast and vanilla. Gets the Chardonnay job done with some elegance.

Top Pick - A creamy chardonnay with high-toned fruit. Aromas of flavors of apple, pear, mineral and spice. The chardonnay has notes of creme brulee and hint of butterscotch, but it also has a good underpinning of acid to give it balance. Pairing - Maine Lobster Salad

This estate in the town of Glen Ellen has been producing delicious reds and whites from the Alexander, Russian River, and Dry Creek valleys since 1986, when it was founded by Richard Arrowood and his wife Alis. Although the winery has changed hands twice, Richard remains its winemaster.

This blend includes no Italian grapes. It’s 72 percent merlot, 20 percent cabernet franc and bits of cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot – a Bordeaux wine made in Tuscany. Earthy, tobacco aromas. Nicely balanced with a long finish. Very good.

When you consider that Italy’s wine history goes back thousands of years, Bordeaux blends are a pretty recent arrival. In the 1950s, some Italian winemakers in Tuscany started experimenting with Bordeaux grapes rather than traditional ones such as Sangiovese. The results were spectacular, though these blends had to be labelled as lowly table wines because they operated outside of Tuscany’s wine rules. That has changed now, as these wines, sometimes referred to as Super Tuscans, have their own appellations and rules. Il Fauno di Arcanum, from Tenuta di Arceno, is one of my favourites. A Merlot-dominant blend, it is a consistently impressive wine. This vintage blends 72 per cent Merlot with 20 per cent Cabernet Franc and four per cent of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Look for flavours of earth, leather, violet, raspberry, black cherry, redcurrant, plum, white pepper and vanilla. The tannins are plush, the acid fresh and the finish lingers.

Great Wines for your Summer Party

Gold Medal - Decanter World Wine Awards 2017 Ripe black fruit, graphite notes, gentle, spicy, ripe tannins and well-integrated oak. The palate is ripe, juicy and floral, with layers of blackberry fruit, fantastic complexity and great length.

Wine Pick - Can Tuscany rival Bordeaux The closest to the Arcanum was the 2011 Valadorna, 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, aged 1 year in 80% new French oak. It also had the rich concentration I typically associate with a fine, age worthy Bordeaux.

Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of cherry and tobacco and espresso. In the mouth, beautifully bright flavors of cherry and cedar mix with a touch of tobacco leaf and cola nut. Supple but muscular tannins wrap around the palate and gain strength in the finish. Excellent acldity and balance. Very delicious. A blend of 56% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. 9.0-9.5

Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of licorice, dark chocolate, and black cherry fruit. In the mouth, gorgeously supple flavors of black cherry and plum have a juicy brightness to them thanks to excellent acidity. Wonderfully well-integrated oak hangs very much in the background, letting flavors of cherry cola, plum, and cocoa powder wash over the palate and linger for a long time in the finish with a touch of licorice root. Excellent. A blend of 85% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9.5.

What To Drink Now: Balanced Red Blends Some of the world’s finest wines are blends, and here are a few standout options to consider. (Some were sent for editorial consideration.) Cheers… Grown in the heart of Tuscany, il fauno di Arcanum blends Bordeaux varieties from rolling hillsides for a unique expression of fruit. Textured and well-rounded, with raspberry, plum, lilacs and lavender.

Then came the 2011 Arcanum, an Italian Super Tuscan with 77 percent cabernet franc. Ryan decided to test us by serving it to us blind. I was able to guess that it was red. Ryan was blown away by my skills of perception. Terry had to show me up, of course. She opined that it was an Italian wine, not sure of the varietal. As is often the case with European wines, it will shine with food, especially something hearty like a ribeye steak.

What to Drink Now: Cabernet Franc In Sonoma, Tuscany and Bordeaux, celebrated winemaker Pierre Seillan reveals the beauty and structure of the grape while allowing each individual micro-climate to shine. With Arcanum ($100), he showcases how the rolling hillsides of Tuscany, Italy are the ideal place for growing earthy Cabernet Franc.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Wine Pick - Can Tuscany rival Bordeaux You can imagine my pleasure in receiving a sample of the 2011 Arcanum so I could taste this wine in a more relaxed, non-blind setting. This 2011 blend is made up of 77% Cabernet Franc, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petite Verdot and aged in new French oak for a year. Though the 14.% abv was comparable to Bordeaux, as was the concentration and nuances of new French oak, the wine seemed like a warmer climate than Bordeaux and the voluptuous nature of very ripe Cabernet Franc. The wine is black and dense with an aroma of black fruit, prune, spice, leather and black olive aromas.