By the way, if you really, really are determined to pick up an American Chardonnay for less that $20, perhaps for entertaining this summer, you could do a lot worse than good old Kendall-Jackson. We always disagree about it - Dottie likes its round, buttery, mouth-coating and slightly Muscaty tastes, while John finds it too lab-made and oaky - but we both agree that there's never anything wrong with it and it's easy enough to drink. It's a solid Good wine, it costs about $12 or so and it's available pretty much everywhere. K-J has this Chardonnay down to a science...

Ripe and zesty, with wild berry, toasty sage and cracked pepper flavors that finish with appealingly rustic tannins.

Fragrant, fruity Pinot Noir; 2006 Carmel Road Monterey.

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.

A vibrant version, with lively raspberry and pepper aromas and soft, supple black cherry and toasty vanilla flavors.

Moderate garnet color. Lovely perfume of cherries and berries with sage. Powerfully flavored ripe berry fruit with a base of minerals and earth. Very friendly in the mouth with a creamy, sexy quality and plenty of vim on the tangy finish. A high-collared and impressive wine.

The golden-hued 2007 Four Hearts Vineyard Chardonnay represents white wine at its most opulent. The subtle sweetness of honeysuckle greets the nose, as do aromas of candied lemon, lychee, and beeswax. The crisp, full, and lush palate saturates the taste buds with white-peach, ripe-pear, lemon, and lime flavors that arise from the wine's dense nectarlike depths, which gradually recede to make way for a long finish of green tea and spearmint.

Stature is always a Bordeaux blend, but varies in vineyard source each year. this '04 is soft, utterly delicious and fully drinkable now. It's rich in black currant, cherry pie filling, plum, anise and spice flavors, generously aged in smoky new oak. Made in the modern style, it will hold effortlessly through 2012, at least.

This hits the pure passionfruit flavor of finely ripened sauvignon. It's mouthwatering and firmly structured, with umami flavors of oyster mushrooms and marrow to balance the fruit. A portion of the blend is sauvignon musqué (13 percent) and a portion is fermented and aged in French oak barrels (21). The result is delicious with roast fish.

Sporting a fine mix of ripe cherries and sweet oak spice first in the nose and then again on the palate, this carefully composed Pinot Noir eschews high extract and bombast and instead keys successfully on balance and keen varietal definition. It's bright mildly toasty, moderately rich flavors invite drinking in the near term, yet it shows no signs of fading away anytime soon, and should keep well for several years.

Ripe and jammy, but with great structure. Shows luscious aromas of boysenberry and blueberry, with layered, complex flavors of licorice, nutmeg and toasty mocha that linger on the finish. Drink now through 2015.

Bright and jazzy, offering a riot of flavors, including plum, blackberry, floral and licorice notes that swirl through the finish against fine tannins. Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2014.

Bright cherry and wild berry and lavished in thick layers, adding intensity and persistency. This modern Chianti Classico is 20% (the maximum allowed) Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Bright acidity and vibrant berry flavors characterize the mouth and fuel a lasting fruity impression that would pair well with meat-based pasta or risotto.

Juicy, bright and showing citrus and white flowers with racy acidity; complex and charming with a long, elegant finish.

Few Zinfandels are this focused and complete. Displays boysenberry, white pepper and loam aromas, with a structure that balances ripeness and complexity, showing flavors of wild berry, licorice and cinnamon. Drink now through 2014.

Offers pure, rich, ripe fruit, with touches of ripe pear, apple and honeydew melon, gaining depth and body and ending with a complex finish. Drink now through 2012.

Easy-to-like from first sniff to lengthy finish., this delicious wine relies on its open, juicy black cherry, sweet plum fruit to set the pace and finds added range in its interesting nuances of caramel and dark chocolate. Fairly full in body and just soft enough for service today with long-cooked meats like lamb Shanks or Short Ribs of Beef, it has the depth for several years of beneficial aging in the cellar as well.

Its ripeness and slightly candied Maraschino cherry sweetness set the early pace here, but there is also an underlying racy quality that comes on strong and finishes with a rush that brings things back into balance. Along the route, flesh and suppleness keep up with one another while confident tannins wait in reserve.

With 88 percent French oak and 33 percent of that new, the GR Merlot is evolving into a pretty serious red wine. It's still true to the GR style, glossy but with some subtleties creeping in the mid-palate and back end. Look for a ripe fruit nose flecked with cedar and dried herbs. The flavours are a spicy mix of plums, coffee and tobacco, with a dusting of minerality and floral notes. A rich, glossy style, with some tannin yet to shed.

The Grand Reserve is now mostly a Sonoma blend and it remains a big, glossy, sexy version of this classic California. Look for ripe, toasted black fruits and blueberry, with soft round mid-palate textures more like the '04 and a mocha cedar finish. After all is said and done, the GR cab is made from only 1.5 percent of all KJ cab lots. The '06 contains 95 percent plus cabernet aged in 90 percent French oak, of which about one-third is new. Classic, generous New World-style red. Good value at this price point.

Always hedonistic and unabashedly Californian, the GR is a delicious chardonnay that starts in the vineyard. The fruit split is mostly 50/50 between Monterey (rich and thick from Hacienda and more florals from Clark) and Santa Barbara (full-blown tropical) yet the GR only represents a miniscule 3 percent of all the chardonnay that comes off the Jackson estates. Rich, open, nutty leesy nose, with ripe pear, mango, floral overtones. The styling is sexy and full-blown, with fairly fat, oily, tropical fruit with firm underlying acidity and florality. A rich California chardonnay flecked with bits of mineral and red apple skin. Very appealing in a new world way.

Now firmly a tri-county blend of mountain, hillside and bench fruit from Sonoma (61), Napa (23) and Mendocino (16) counties. Wow! How delicious is this edition? Expect dark fruit colours and flavours streaked with plums, cedar, cherry and spice, with a smooth chassis. Structurally correct and full, with a smoky, black fruit finish and rounded, fine-grained tannins. This should settle the Sideways merlot issue for good. Well done.

Amazingly, this 2.3-million case brand is 100 percent estate grown. The '07 is 92 percent barrel-fermented and the integration of the oak and the creamy textures are the best yet for winemaker Randy Ullom, who likes the vintage and feels the minerality is coming to the forefront thanks to going 100 percent estate and effectively eliminating any dodgy lots. Lots of tropical fruit and green apple, with honey, cream and minerality flecked with orange. Love the creamy textures from the vanillin in the French and American oak. Elegant, modern California chardonnay sourced from 100 percent coastal fruit from Santa Barbara (46), Monterey (39) and Mendocino (9) counties.

Similar to the previous version, this 52/32/16 blend of Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino fruit is dry and reserved, with flecks of spice resin and olives. Again tighter and drier than the merlot, with lean peppery, blackcurrant fruit. Solid.