If sparkling wine is more your style, “this premium sparkling Brut Rosé from La Crema is the perfect glass of bubbles to quench your thirst in the summertime heat,” Cohen says. Family-owned and operated La Crema might be better known for their chardonnay and pinot noir, but its high time their bubbly blend had its moment in the sun. “Made from pinot noir and chardonnay in the traditional method of Champagne [that’s made in that region of France], this serves up luxury all the way. This wine has bright red fruit notes of summer strawberries and raspberries,” Cohen explains.

A great spring dinner is lemony chicken piccata with an equally citrusy Sauvignon Blanc. The zest in Matanzas Creek's Sonoma County SB is balanced by some lovely white floral notes. Perfect for Earth Day, as Matanzas Creek is certified sustainable and has fields of lavender that attract all kinds of pollinators and insects.

The 2021 Chardonnay Viñedo Maricerro was produced trying to keep the minerality of the quartz-rich soils from Itata, where the grapes grow. It fermented and matured in barrel for 10 months. It has lots of apples and flowers, with a round palate, and it's nicely textured, with 14.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity. 1,600 bottles.

The surprisingly dark 2021 Pinot Noir Viñedo Maricerro has a ripe nose. It was produced with grapes grown at only six kilometers from the sea on granite soils with lots of quartz. It's ripe at 14.5% alcohol, round and lush, with chalky tannins and a soft mouthfeel, where the spicy oak makes a shy appearance. 1,600 bottled were filled in February 2022 after 10 months in barrel.

I like the earthy sous-bois character here, with notes of dried flowers, mulberries, spiced cherries, mushrooms and truffles. Medium-bodied, sleek and savory, with fine-grained tannins and a spicy, long finish. Drink or hold.

A unique chardonnay with crushed stones, rice paper, cherry blossom, and lemon. Medium body. Bright and fresh. Lots of energy and purity to it. Raw beauty. Bottled a few months after the harvest. Drink or hold.

Brightness and energy with hibiscus water, lemon and dried strawberry. Full and linear with a solid column of fruit that runs the length of the wine and spirals endlessly. Integrated and melted tannins. Purity. Drink or hold.

Very floral and bright with strawberries and flowers on the nose. Intense. Medium-bodied, very transparent, and brilliant with a ruby stone sort of beauty. Very citrusy. Interesting ripe watermelon undertone to it. Drink or hold.

The purity of fruit here is impressive with a density and layered texture, with lots of integrated phenolics, citrus rind, lemon oil and white peach. White nougat and pistachio. Sesame seed, too. It’s full and very long with an intensity and beauty. Flinty and reductive at the end. Mostly Wente clone and it shows. Drink or hold.

Among the finest wines in Australia. Destemmed fruit, crushed and extracted across a whopping 133-day window in eggs. Blood plum, sappy raspberry, licorice root, bergamot and pepper grind. Clove, tamarind and mint. Gorgeous. Pinosité aplenty, yet beautifully extracted with skittish, long-limbed and gritty tannins corralling the fray. Tear-inducing stuff. Levity, transparency and intensity, all in one.

Honeysuckle, jasmine, and other white flowers as well as citrus and green apple aromas that follow through to a medium to full body. Crunchy. Hints of phenolics. Drink or hold.

Hibiscus, orange peel, and sliced strawberry aromas. Medium-bodied with a firm and juicy finish. Structured and solid. Impressive length. Layered and serious. Needs time to soften and come together.

A refined and layered red with dried strawberry, cherry and orange peel aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied. Medium velvety tannins, fresh and bright. Fruity yet energetic. Vivid. Drink or hold.

Aromas of dried strawberry, cedar, black chocolate and dust. Medium-bodied with creamy and refined tannins. Spicy and citrusy at the end. Drink or hold.

So much energy and brightness to this with sliced lemon and lightly ripe apple. Lime and fresh ginger. Salty. Rich and ripe yet taut on the finish. Drink or hold.

This is joyous. A round, floral, deeply weighted and resinous malbec. The classy French oak (60% new) harnesses lilac, blueberry confiture and a slick of licorice, mulberry and bramble. The oak is present, yet embedded beautifully. While far from profound, there is a great deal to enjoy here, with the signature of class that one expects from this address. Will age effortlessly across the mid-term.

Wild fermented with 16 days on skins; 15 months in French barriques (60% new) before a couple of months in old foudre, post blending. Mocha, coffee bean, damson plum and a slither of herb-crusted tannins, beautifully managed. A full-weighted wine, with a lilt of herbal freshness. As good as merlot gets on these shores.

Grown on Mt. Veeder, this is full of the classic crunchy tannins and acidity you’d expect from its origins. It’s a taut, coiled Cab from mountain-wine expert Chris Carpenter, and the cassis, mountain berries, and warm figs are lent immediate generosity by waves of dark chocolate pot de creme and cola spice.

Crafted by winemaker Sam Teakle from estate fruit grown on Pine Mountain - Cloverdale Peak, this explodes from the glass with crushed blueberries and huckleberries, dates, melted dark chocolate, and toasty cedar, all of which are sweetly spiced with cinnamon stick and grilled vanilla, finishing with a final pulse of candied violets. Even at six years of age, this is still youthfully exuberant, though it’s just beginning to show inklings of the savory maturity it has in store.

Very floral and bright with strawberries and flowers on the nose. Intense. Medium-bodied, very transparent, and brilliant with a ruby stone sort of beauty. Very citrusy. Interesting ripe watermelon undertone to it. Drink or hold.

Hibiscus, orange peel, and sliced strawberry aromas. Medium-bodied with a firm and juicy finish. Structured and solid. Impressive length. Layered and serious. Needs time to soften and come together.

A refined and layered red with dried strawberry, cherry and orange peel aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied. Medium velvety tannins, fresh and bright. Fruity yet energetic. Vivid. Drink or hold.

Aromas of dried strawberry, cedar, black chocolate and dust. Medium-bodied with creamy and refined tannins. Spicy and citrusy at the end. Drink or hold.

Dark strawberry, raspberry jam and light herb aromas make for a familiar and complex nose on his bottling. The palate is edgy in texture and brisk in flavor, showing red plum, pomegranate and rounded red-flower flavors, with pepper spice on the finish.
Editors’ Choice.

Giant Steps 2021 Applejack Vineyard Chardonnay (Yarra Valley). This is a mediumweight, fruit-and-toast driven Chard from the upper Yarra. High-toned aromas of lemon, apple peel, grilled white peach and musk are backed by cream and saline notes. It’s slippery in texture, balanced by a salty acidity, with length and poise. This vintage feels more reticent than previous ones, so cellar for a year or two then drink until 2031. Jackson Family Wines. Cellar Selection