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.

Recommended

Recommended

Intense, well-defined and well-ripened blackberry fruit stays one step ahead of the pushy oak sweetness that appears everywhere here, and, if never an especially spicy wine, it is laced with just enough pepper to say Syrah. It starts out juicy and plush on the palate before firming up...we like the wine and recommend it as one to cellar for a couple of years...

Recommended

The coastal counties northwest of San Francisco Bay can produce some of the most balanced and flavorful Sauvignon Blanc in the Golden State. Kendall-Jackson's Grand Reserve offers a nose of grassy hay, fig, gooseberry and citrus, with notes of sweet pear and vanilla. Bright citrus and herb flavors refresh the palate for the next delectable oyster.

This is a notably more complex aromatically with a deeper and broader mix of scents that are primarily ripe pinot in character though spice and earth hints add nuance before complementing the rich, round and more concentrated as well as firmer medium-bodied flavors that possess good intensity on the slightly tangy but persistent finish. There is a touch of backend warmth but it's relatively subtle.

The 2006 vintage is a harvest of black cherry, licorice, smoke, and mineral.

Earthy, ripe California Syrah: 2006 Cambria Tepusquet Vineyard. Paired with Asian-Spiced Pork Shoulder.

A lovely red from California's Sonoma Valley with a peppery, mushroom nose and a mouth-filing cherry and plum flavor.

A tangy cabernet sauvignon with good acid and nice focus. Aromas and flavors of black cherry, blackberry and spice. Good length.

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 Sonoma Chardonnay is crisp and focused - perfect with the tangy summer-squash pizza that was roasted in the clay oven.

A portion of this wine was barrel fermented and lends a spicy and creamy-vanilla complexity to accent the citrus, floral perfume and grassy baseline of both nose and palate. Sauteed mussels and Manila clams were a superb match, through the wine dominated the subtle half-shell kumamotos.

Its mineral nose has almost a charred character that gives way to an elixir of mountain berries and dark-roasted coffee. The finish is best described as a sustained and captivating crescendo.

Fruit from La Jota's estate vineyards on Napa's Howell Mountain makes this Cabernet Franc powerful and luscious. The wine's spicy edge is delicious with a juicy cut of meat like the clay-oven-roasted pork with herbs and garlic.

Here the nose offers up the typical herbal component from this cool growing area though it's quite subtle and certainly does not dominate the otherwise very pretty, fresh and elegant red pinot fruit aromas that give way to nicely detailed and pure medium-bodied flavors that possess good energy and punch on the relatively linear flavors that culminate in a finish where a trace of warmth manifests itself. This is actually quite pretty and very pinot and will best please those who are willing to sacrifice a bit of ripeness to have solid balance. I like this as the fruit is cool yet there is no astringency.

A very pretty nose of red raspberry, cherry, plum and violet notes that even have a hint of cranberry that carries over to delicious, fresh and lively middle weight flavors that do exhibit noticeable if not really intrusive warmth. This is attractive with good if not perfect balance.