Deep red. Red currant and cherry aromas are complemented by tobacco and licorice. Chewy and a bit dry, offering smoky cherry and dark berry flavors and a hint of gingerbread. Showing good complexity but there's a hard edge to this wine that I hope will soften with a little bottle age.

Ruby-red. Pungent red berry, cherry and floral qualities on the nose. Slightly clenched, with bitter cherry and dried berry flavors and chewy tannins that loosen a bit with air. On the serious side, with good finishing clarity and grip.

A snappy zin with notes of tart cherry, raspberry, blackberry herbs and black pepper. A hint of caramel. Spicy finish.

One great characteristic of well-made Cabernet Sauvignon is an almost immediate olfactory impression when the wine is poured. KJ's Grand Reserve bursts with aromas of black currant, blueberry, smoke and spice, enticing a taste to reveal rich flavors of blackberry, dark chocolate, herbs with a finish of vanilla and toasty oak.

California: rich and ripe, with aromas and flavors of peaches and apricots.

Aromas and flavors of golden apples; creamy and soft.

This issue boasts a bevy of top rated Chardonnays from some of California's premier producers, the abundantly fruity Carmel Road Monterey 2007.

A perfect balance of the rich and the vibrant, this is a textbook Napa Valley cabernet. It's blended from vineyards on Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Stags Leap District, Spring Mountain and Oakville (To Kalon). The flavors layer black currant and black cherry with redder fruit tones and floral notes. Remarkably, it maintains that detail and freshness even with the youthful potency of its structure add the aggressive power of its extract; you can virturally see the tannin dripping down the sides of the glass. A lovely young wine to decant for Kobo beef, this has the stamina for aging ten years or more.

Is intensely dark and meaty, ripe with blueberries, cherries, cedar, cinnamon and a wafting smokiness. Aged 11 months in 100% new Vosges French oak.

Cambria 2007 Barbara's Pinot Noir is a limited-production inaugural release. Long and lengthy, it is produced from four clones planted in decomposed granite soils. Here, earth meets blackberry; a big mouthfeel and chalky tannins are serious components added to the creamy vanilla and spiced core.

Displays weight and density; in fact, Shurtleff calls it the densest yet from this vineyard, the highest point of the estate, formed from ancient decomposed granite. Youthful yet round; notes of sandalwood and cola mesh with an underlying earthiness.

While ripe and earthy, also shows its delicate side: pretty and ethereal. The vineyard - named for Barbara Banke's youngest daughter, now 21 and a college senior - lies on the cooler western edge of the Cambria Estate.

A small-production gem that zings with sweet melon, white peach and ripe pear. The vines may be on the bench, but the fruit plays in the majors.

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.

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.

Big and rich, with oak and sweet pineapple aromas and flavors; creamy; long finish.

La Crema 2007 Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California Pinot Noir is another complex Russian River Pinot Noir offering traces of fragrant flowers, black cherry and citrus rind. There's a lot to like in this sumptuous wine.

Rich fruit with some pepper, what John called ripe spiciness. Nice velvety texture, with a pleasant earthiness on the finish. Round, comfortable and seamless. Nothing edgy, just pleasurable.

This is from a block of younger vines made from Dijon clones within the larger Arrendell Vineyard. The wine is quite full-bodied and robust, almost rustic, which is mainly due to the powerful, young tannins. With explosive berry, currant and mocha flavors, this powerful wine should hit its stride in mid-2010.

Lush and opulent as are Stonestreet's other Chards, with potent flavors of ripe mashed pineapples, creme brulee, vanilla custard, vanilla and smoky sandalwood. Dramatic and compelling. The crisp acidity and tightness suggest short-term ageability. Nov-2013.

Selected from 84 wines recommended over the past two years. Jess Jackson, whose family owns La Crema, had pushed for a Sonoma Coast appellation that would include most vineyards to the west of Highway 101. It gave winemaker Melissa Stackhouse at La Crema the flexibility to produce a great chardonnay at an astonishing price. The freshness of this wine, the flavors of pear and peach skin, give it a zest that feels true to the coast. It's layered and cool, a luscious wine for crab.

Intense and highly ripened blackberry fruit is the driving force right from the start here, and, while the wine is also decked out with lots of sweet oak, so too it is marked by an indelible streak of peppery Syrah spice. It is very full-bodied and a touch viscous to start, but it is more supple in feel than it is heavy or soft, and it persists quite well at the finish. A couple of years in the cellar will see it start to round into shape, but has the pieces in place to improve for many years more.

Lush and juicy with ripe plum and blackberry fruit; smooth, dense and nicely structured with notes of coffee, spice and cedar; a charming, deep wine with a long finish and lovely balance.

There is a marked sense of proportion and polish to both the sweetly oaked aromas and insistently fruity flavors of this nicely measured young wine, and if not blatant in the ways of varietal spice, it has just enough pepper and earth to claim the name of Syrah. Moderately full-bodied, but showing a nice bounce in its step, it is fit with fine-grained tannins and integral acidity with nary a note of toughness of heat.

Fairly rich aromas of ripe apples, hints of honey and a dollop of sweet oak set this full-bodied wine off in a most positive and inviting direction, and its mid-depth flavors keep it very much on track. Its roundness and openness make it quite ready to serve today with the likes of pan-grilled chicken breasts napped with a light cream sauce, and its reasonable price makes it even better. Good Value.