Jackson Family Wines’ mountain portfolio a subline collection from a sublime placeThe absolute killer wine of the bunch is the 2018 Mt. Brave Mt. Veeder Malbec, perhaps the best domestic malbec we’ve tasted yet. Rich, boysenberry flavors, soft tannins and a luxurious mouthfeel with exotic spices, intense aromas and an inky color. Delicious yet powerful.

STA. RITA HILLSCALIFORNIAThe first significant vineyard was planted here in 1971, but budding awareness of how great its Pinot Noirs could be hit in the early 2000’s, and now its wines are cool-climate benchmarks. Try the 2016 Brewer-Clifton Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir to taste the brambly wild berries and faint salinity that characterize these wines.

Appearance: Translucent ruby.Nose: Savory tomato leaf. Black pepper. raspberry.Palate:Medium-plus acid, Heavy mouthfeel. Ripe raspberries. Open fruit. This wine is forthcoming structurally.

COOL-CLIMATE CHARDONNAYCooler regions make Chardonnays that tend to be lower in alcohol with bright acidity and less overtly ripe fruit. Chablis is the touchstone, but regions like Australia's Yarra Valley where the vibrant 2020 Giant Steps Chardonnay comes from are rising fast.

Weighted to red fruit, this pinot has notes of cranberry, pomegranate and cherry, with sage in the mix. Firm tannins. Bright acid and nice length. Tasty.

10 Interesting Wine-Related Discoveries For March 2021This Merlot-led blend is sourced primarily from the Valadorna and Capraia blocks, which produce the estate’s most complex and mineral-based expressions of this variety. The blocks are located within the cooler part of the estate, naturally-irrigated by the stream that undulates through it, and feature sandy brown soils and lower yields than typical. These blocks are often the last Merlot blocks to ripen on the estate. In warm years like 2015, Merlot shows its soft, savory and slightly-racy character.The wine itself exhibits high-toned aromas of ripe black cherries, vanilla bean and cedar alike. With bright acidity, it expands quickly on the palate. Plush tannins carry through the center with a fine, tingling finish. The palate shows flavors of tart cherry pie, dried red berries and black licorice, with a long finish of white pepper, dusty roses and stony minerality.

Recommended wine and food pairing.

Wines for the Easter MealRemember the film Sideways? That was shot around Santa Barbara in California; the home of soft and silky, coastal Pinot Noirs. Perfumed, elegant and easy to love.

Cali dreamin’I’m nipping to California (if only) to bring you this wine created by winemaker Jill Russell.Cambria Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2017 is a celebration of the delicious journey a chardonnay can take in California. The wine has spent six months in oak, some of it new, but it isn’t shouty.Freshly sliced green apples say hello, then fruits with an apple crumble character raise their hands in greeting. Tropical fruit and citrus notes are pretty keen to be involved in the palate party.The proprietor of Cambria Estate Winery is Barbara Banke; the wine is named after one of her daughters, Katie Jackson; and its made by Jill. Girl power!

Rosella’s vineyard is one of the most well-known farms in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Owners Gary and Rosella Franscioni planted the 50-acre vineyard, which rests along the slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range, back in 1996, and produce fruit that is highly sought after.One of the wineries lucky enough to source fruit from this iconic site is Siduri, whose 2018 Siduri Santa Lucia Highlands Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir is simply delicious.It features pretty aromas of red plum and spring strawberry scents on the nose. The flavors of dark raspberry, bright cherry, wild strawberry and wet stone are well-balanced and nicely textured. The supple finish is simply delicious, with a touch of cinnamon for added charm.

Bordeaux 2018 Revisited: Saint-EmilionLassègue (St Emilion; 62% Merlot; 35% Cabernet Franc; 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; aged for 12 months in 60% new oak). A property that has been a steep upward trajectory for a while now. The 2019 may just be better still, but this is already deeply impressive. Plush, plump, rich and very ripe but fresh, bright and energetic too. Silky very dark chocolate notes and freshly ground Arabica coffee beans accompany the intense blue and purple berry and stone fruit, with a suggestion of marjoram and oregano and, with more aeration, cedar and pencil shavings.Glossy, cool and elegant on the attack but there is a considerable tannic presence hence – it is just that the tannins are so ultra-fine grained that it takes a little while to pick them up. As that already suggests, the structure is very impressive and this is very slow to unfurl and express itself across the palate. A vin de garde and of the highest quality with great balance and poise and with sufficient density of fruit to fully enrobe the considerable structure. The oak is a little more prominent at this early stage than you might imagine from the numbers. But give this even a year or two in bottle (and it deserves longer) and it will be seamlessly integrated.

I’ve always loved Brewer-Clifton wines, and I’m not the only one who does. But this sample was showing outrageously well when I had it, with big bing cherries and a note of cigar-box in spite of the fact that the winery states that this wine was aged on neutral oak. Brewer-Clifton prides itself on technical mastery of the winemaking process, including whole cluster fermentation, in which stems are left to be fermented with the grapes. This probably has a lot to do with that cedar cigar box flavor. Whatever… I was rolling my eyes with delight. And that was before I heard the super-value price.

“Full fruit” is a trite expression in the wine business, oftentimes used as an excuse for wine that has no complexity. What a stunner it is to taste a wine that has so many points of flavor, including primary lemon, pear, and peach flavors, as well as earthier flavors of caramel and treacle, yet tastes like wine, not grape juice. The restrained oak and clean palate on this wine truly makes you pause and reflect, as you slowly break out into a smile.

An elegant blend of ripe peach and crisp, citrus fruit, with a refreshing, cool salinity, this is a sunshine Chardonnay that is anything but blousy. Subtle oak pops through on the palate in the form of cooking spices and a touch of smoke, creating a flavoursome wine in perfect balance.

The 13 Best New Merlots to Buy Right NowThis 10-year-old from the La Jota vineyard honoring Howell Mountain wine pioneer W.S. Keyes (he planted it in the late 1800s)—just re-released—is a delicious argument for aging great Merlot. Still fresh with bright fruit and acidity, it’s offering complex layers of flavor and aromas now. Loam and pencil shavings are showing under berry liqueur and dark chocolate. Ripe but elegantly firm tannins give structure to spicy black raspberry and cherry, with mountain intensity carrying through a lingering finish.

Checking off all the boxes for your chianti needs with tight cherry fruits, plum and wild strawberries to boot and a palate full of fine-grained tannins that accentuate the acids and bring the whole thing right into balance. It can cellar a bit if desired, but most importantly, it's a good bottle to have on hand if a marinara or Bolognese sauce is in the works for dinnertime...

A merlot based blend without a drop of sangiovese, this super Tuscan is more like a meritage style blend, but done oh-so-well and still wonderfully Italian. Plum, cedar, cocoa, and cherries dominate the palate, but it's the perfect acids that make this really hum. Would be dynamite with beefy dishes or those with rich tomato sauces. Stunning.

4 fantastic wines for women’s dayThis Pinot has lots of dried sage and tarragon over bright black cherry.

One to satisfy any ardent California chardonnay fan. Butter on the nose and butter on the palate, with rich and bright pineapple and lemon curd. The best part is the fresh acidity to provide balance to the oak and the ripe fruit.

Women are making it in the bigger corporates as well. In California, the substantial Jackson Family Wines business is run by Barbara R Banke, who co-founded the company with her late husband and has run it alone since his death in 2011; she has employed women winemakers in three of their divisions, including Jill Russell, who leads an all-female winemaking team at the Cambria estate in Santa Barbara, and whose inaugural vintage of Cambria’s Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2017 has already been justly celebrated: a lovely wine that strikes a perfect balance between weight, oak, citrus, refreshing stone-fruit flavours and hints of spice.

Using sustainably farmed estate grapes, Russell creates lively and fresh wines. The single-vineyard 2018 Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay ($27) hits the sweet spot for California chardonnay. I love the moderate oak influence on this. It has a creamy mouthfeel, with flavours of apricot, peach, flint and popcorn. This would be fantastic with crab or lobster.

Siduri specialises in cool-climate Pinot Noir from vineyards in three appellations within the Willamette Valley (Yamhill-Carlton, Chehalem Mountains, and Eola-Amity). Each brings something different to the party — fresh acidity, bright aromatics, and richer and rounder wines — and when blended together creates wine that is rich and zippy …the best of all possible worlds! Winemaker Adam Lee's constant pursuit of Pinot perfection has led to long-standing relationships with top growers in premier appellations in Oregon's Willamette Valley. On the nose aromas of Cranberry, persimmon, bay leaf and black pepper. On the palate: Black cherry, boysenberry, cinnamon and hints of clove. Pleasant tannins hold a long finish, and which are highlighted by juicy acidity and spice. This 2018 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir may be its finest vintage yet! Siduri, where serious wine and serious fun are not mutually exclusive!

Colour: bright, light gold.Nose: aromas of pineapple chunks, peach, citrus and vanilla with hints of musky, woody spice.Palate: juicy notes of white peach, pineapple and baked apple with vanilla custard, soft spice, slightly smoky, toasty oak and a touch of grilled grapefruit on the lingering finish.Food match: versatile with a variety of food, including chicken stroganoff, grilled chicken, scallops, vegetarian risottos and pasta dishes.

On the nose, there was buttery shortbread, lemon zest, white blossom, vanilla, crisp apple and a faint trace of nutmeg. On the palate, I found peaches, pears, lemon, Newtown Pippins apples (reminiscent of my childhood as our garden had 49 apple trees, mainly that variety), wonderful butteriness from malolactic fermentation, melon, pear, sweet almonds, vanilla and a distinctive minerality. This wine was perfectly balanced between fruit and acidity. It was also long on the palate.

Pineapple and peach aromas; apple, butterscotch, spice and minerals on the creamy palate. Good balance of oak and acidity. Good plus overall.