An enigma of a Chardonnay. The wine is young but its deep color, the integrated and subdued nature of its flavors and the rich honey and smoky notes on the nose and palate all suggest development. The Alexander Valley appellation would suggest a ripe, warm-climate style and the wine is in fact full-bodied and rich, with 14.5 percent alcohol. But the wine comes from grapes grown at 1500 feet altitude, and its acidity is fresh and enlivening. It’s a California Chardonnay, but it has the understatement of the Old World. Soft, rich, long, caressing -- a wonderful Chardonnay.

Air reveals the depth of flavor in this blend of several estate vineyards, with an impression of freshly turned earth, roses and wild strawberries. But the wine takes a day to arrive there, initially reduced and hidden behind the scent of mustard greens. As the sulfur blows off, the wine builds on its foresty fruit, opening into an expansive finish. Give this several years in the cellar or hours in a decanter before serving with roast duck.

Like many pinots made from Dijon clones in California, this is a big, black-fruited wine. Yet it shows some restraint, with a bright shot of red rose coming up out of the blackness. Richly oaked, this could use a year or two to absorb some of its wood tannin. Then serve with pappardelle and boar ragu.

One of the ripest of Hartford's new Pinot's, this is a full-bodied and very rich wine. It offers extreme flavor in place of subtlety, offering a massive palate wash of blackberries and cherries that veers into Lifesaver candy. The bet is age-ability. Hold until after 2011.

Massively rich in fruit, this Pinot floods the palate with jammy flavors of cherries, raspberries and cola, accentuated with the sweet vanilla and caramel of oak. It's a delicious, opulent wine that calls for dramatic food pairings. A grilled steak with a rich wine-based gravy would be perfect.

There's a lot of coastal character in this Carneros wine, with scents of kelp and salt air. That cools the layers of fruit flavor, from strawberry to seedy raspberries, while it brightens the fruit tannins. Serve this with duck rillettes.

Pale, bright straw. Precise, high-pitched aromas of citrus peel, quinine, flowers and lemongrass. Juicy, fine-grained and youthfully taut, with racy acidity contributing to the minerally impression of this pungent wine. Not at all a fleshy style but in no way hard-edged. Finishes tight but persistent, with continuing floral and citrus qualities. Most of this wine was raised in stainless steel, the rest in one- and two-year-old barrels.

This is a full-throttle, flavourful, if not very refined, pinot noir. Very intense, aromatics, with sweet cherry, vanilla, toast and spice - all in good proportion. It's medium-weight, with a warm, juicy ambiance, then a fairly tannic, hard and hot finish. Age this a year or 2.

Here's a good, robust red wine. It's not particularly Merlot-like, with its pepper, herb, cherry, red currant and cola flavors, wrapped into sticky tannins. But it's very dry and elegantly structured, and the alcohol is moderate. fine with a nice steak or chop.

A gentle, harmonious pinot noir with strawberry and orange flavors, this is light bodied and pleasingly simple.

Silly heavy bottle. Very dark purple. Sorry but this is really most unpleasant on the nose. SO overripe! So sweet and over the top. Really I can’t see the point of coming to Bordeaux to make this sort of wine (Jess Jackson’s Bordeaux outpost). So sweet and overblown it may as well be a Russian relic. Sorry, I know this sounds harsh and I have no axe to grind but this is one of the most unpleasant bordeaux I have ever tasted.

Made from grapes grown in Jackson Estate's coastal vineyards, this tasty Chardonnay offers aromas of bright citrus, pineapple, green apple and toasty vanilla. The palate is crisp and food-friendly with tropical and apple flavors and just a hint of toasty oak on the finish. A very good value for summer sipping.

Fruit forward and authoritative. Yummy with a sweet smell.

It may be street food, but it's gourmet. Pair it with a big, rich 2007 Kendall-Jackson Syrah.

Hard to go wrong with ol' KJ. Comfort wine for comfort sipping in these hard times.

We loved the intense, complex flavors of this powerful cabernet sauvignon. It has loads of blueberry, cassis and cola flavors with hints of cedar and chocolate.

Good balance with a touch of oak. Bold, strong flavors. Grows on you.

A cab with aromas and flavors of blackberry, cherry, herbs and spice. Approachable with some nice layered flavors. Balanced.

...and the widely available 86-point Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Pinot Noir are fine reminders that quality can be had at a good price for those who search with a keen eye.

This seventh release from Hartford's sole estate vineyard in the Carneros appellation has a shy nose of red cherry, mushroom with a touch of leather and sweet oak. More vibrant red fruit - rhubarb and pomegranate - plus sweet herb, licorice and leafy berry on the palate.

Intense, spicy wild-berry nose. Minerals, cola, dark plum, vanilla and forest floor. Tight, focused finish. Dense, chewy, fresh. Drink now-2017.

A real success story for this hot vintage. Feels gracious and generous in the mouth, offering complex, fat flavors of blackberries, cherries, raspberries, mocha and cedar that turn spicy on the finish. The tannins are elaborately ripe and fine. the well-known vineyard is on the Rutherford bench, and production was 2,300 cases. Drinkable now, and should age well for at least a decade.

A very big, rich and full-bodied Pinot that may strike some as too voluminous, but it sure is delicious. Shows intricate flavors of cherry tart, red currants, Dr. Pepper cola, anise, black pepper, sandalwood and smoke, wrapped into a silky texture. Drink now through 2013.

A very nice, dry Cab Franc that shows real elegance and sophistication. The tannins are rather fierce, with a sandpapery astringency, and the wine shows a deep, pure core of red and black cherries. Delicious and complex, but those tannins need rich fare for balance. Lamb comes to mind.

Very good colour for the vintage; a very complex, full-bodied wine, with blackberry, plum, licorice and the mandatory regional dark chocolate all in abundance, the tannins ripe, the oak balanced. Most will presumably head to the US, where the alcohol (and attendant warmth) will please.