This notable Sonoma winery, purchased in 2000, was one of Jess Jackson's earlier trophy buys. (It was valued at $45 million at the time.) Chilean-born Marcia Monahan, the head winemaker of Matanzas Creek since 2010, has produced a clean, citrus-inflected Chardonnay that's easy and pleasurable to drink.

You get a lot of body and complexity in this chardonnay for the price. Assertive and broad aromas ranging from honeysuckle to papaya. Creamy mouthfeel with good acidity and pineapple flavors and a dash of oak.

There are many California chardonnay producers who fancy that they've made a wine worth $30. Most are wrong. Many are hardly drinkable. But this rich white wine is the real deal - a perfect balance of fruit and oak that almost restores my faith in this category. The flavors are no surprise - apple, pear, vanilla, lemon toast - but they come with layers of complexity. This may be a bit of a splurge, but it would hold its own with wines twice the price.

Boasts balanced oak and a hint of botrytised fruit, and it can star with chicken or pork in a creamy mustard sauce.

Happy Pinot Noir Day! Toasting This Morning on KXAS/NBC DFW Maggy Hawk Rose tames that hearty, robust character for a wine with ruby red grapefruit, tangerine and watermelon.

Another pinot followed, the 2014 Maggy Hawk Unforgettable. A contrast to the Conifer, this Anderson Valley red is very fruit forward. A strawberry/cherry nose, the wine is full-bodied and tannic. I would give this a couple of years to see what develops.

Uncorked: Spire Collection a portfolio of all stars From California’s Anderson Valley AVA, the Maggie Hawk Graceful Lady Pinot Noir 2014 walked the fine line between bold and balanced. With delicate strawberry on the nose, its flavors of tart cherry popped on a medium-bodied Pinot with fresh acidity. The Maggy Hawk lineup from winemaker Elizabeth Grant-Douglas continued its impressive run. Its single vineyard wines are dramatic and unique interpretations of Pinot Noir.

Perfect Pair: Ribs and Maggy Hawk Pinot Noir This wine is delicious! The delicate and floral 2014 Jolie opens with light aromas of cranberry and rose petals before deepening into a more opulent nose of anise and red plum. This is a well-structured wine, with finely knit tannins on the palate and flavors of pie cherries, blueberries, and a finish with hints of smoke and allspice. A classic Pinot Noir in style, it beautifully illustrates the elegance of the Pinot Noir grape.

Another wine I loved that we tasted was the Maggy Hawk Stormin’ Pinot Noir. This is made with the 667 clone and is not made annually, only when the team feels that the grapes are high quality enough to produce this single block wine. This was lovely, a bit heavier (as expected) than the Oregon Zena Crown Pinot Noir, yet extremely smooth and silky. At a $66 retail this is quite an incredible wine.

Another Anderson Valley Pinot - one of a trio from the Maggy Hawk property - but altogether different than the Champs de Reves. It's a rich, dark and structured Pinot with savory notes of earth and dark fruit, best paired with substantial fare.

Moderate reddish-purple hue in the glass. Exotic and intriguing nose featuring aromas of black cherries, dark berries, Moroccan spices and a hint of coffee broadening over time to even deeper autumnal notes. Beautifully complex array of dark red Pinot fruits robed in mild dusty tannins, ever-expanding in the mouth, and finishing with amazing persistence and length. The fruit really sings in this seamless and classy wine. Still great the next day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle.

Moderate reddish-purple color in the glass. Beguiling aromas of brandied cherries, rose hips, tea, violets and seasoned oak. Delicious black raspberry and cherry sappy flavors on a medium weight frame complimented by hints of exotic spice and fruit leather. The most intense, deeply fruited and structured wine of the three, more opaque than see-through lingerie. The aromatic peacock tail on the finish is notable for its length. Even better the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle. A very special wine.

Moderate reddish-purple color in the glass. Shy aromas of black raspberry, dried cherries, and brioche. Discreetly concentrated flavors of black cherries, blueberries and bramble caressed by ripe, finegrain tannins, persisting on the slightly tart cherry pie finish. Sleek, elegant and refined, weaving a stylish dance ever so lightly on the palate.

Closed nose, hint of green pepper, sweet oak; very rich, sweetish fruit, fairly tannic, concentrated, tight.

…it is a banner year. While some of these wines are almost impossible to find, they will be among the most compelling efforts ever made in California.

1997 will rival 1994 and 1991 as one of the greatest years…it is a banner year. While some of these wines are almost impossible to find, they will be among the most compelling efforts ever made in California.

…it is a banner year. While some of these wines are almost impossible to find, they will be among the most compelling efforts ever made in California.

Ripe, deep, almost perfumed aromas carry smoky, toasty notes from oak and these same ripe, rich qualities continue to show in the flavors of this wine. Big, tough and almost chunky in the mouth…

Soil character here is balanced out with rich, ripe fruit and textured with lush, round tannins. It's a big, well-structured wine that could use three to five years to mellow and fully show itself

[Among] California's most exceptional producers of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and proprietary red wines. "This wine is an immense, monster-styled Cabernet Sauvignon that is vaguely reminiscent of the pre-1976 vintages of Mayacamas, but with more complexity and finesse. It is a mountain Cabernet with an opaque black/purple color, followed by a tight, backward, but promising nose of licorice, minerals, and black fruits. The inky color suggests a formidably-endowed wine, and that is just what this huge, super-concentrated, impressively-endowed Cabernet Sauvignon represents. The wine is not just a ponderous heavyweight, as anyone who examines its equilibrium, harmony, and potential for 20-30 years of aging should notice. Remarkably, this wine was kept in 60% new French oak barrels, but the oak has been soaked up by the wine's intense fruit level. Patience will be a virtue required by prospective purchasers of this wine. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020.