Drink These Italian Wines 20 Years In The MakingBlack cherry, violets and plums with a vibrant tension and nice silky mouthfeel.

Drink These Italian Wines 20 Years In The MakingAn Italian classic, Seillan says this wine with its high acid/fruit combination is a “wine to have pasta, olive oil and parmigiana with.”

Drink These Italian Wines 20 Years In The MakingThe Best Overall Experiment: Arcanum, 2013: Primarily made with Cabernet Franc, this is an usual wine for the Chianti Classico region. Seillan grew the Cab Franc as an experiment and was “stunned” at how elegant the fruit was, so he made it the base for this wine. “We discovered the talent of Cabernet Franc in our vineyard sites,” he says.

The Most Popular Wines to Buy in 2020Best Alternative Pinot Noir: Root & Rubble 2018 Pinot NoirThis wine is made via carbonic maceration and is expectedly fresh and resonant in the glass, showing plenty of fruit and lots of glimmering brightness.

The Grapevine: Selecting Wine for the Thanksgiving TableThe 2018 Copain pinot noir rosé from Mendocino County presents a wine well-suited to the Thanksgiving table. This pale salmon-colored wine starts with aromas of crisp strawberry, sweet cherry, white peach, pink grapefruit and rose petals. On the palate, you will find notes of melon, apple blossom, fresh cherries, lychee and anise, laced with vibrant acidity.

The Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is a very European style blend of mostly cabernet sauvignon, but with a supporting cast of cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot, that adds complexity and balance to the raw fruit power of the cabernet.

La Jota Vineyard Co. Merlot 2017, Napa Valley, is no kissy-face little number designed to quaff and forget it. No, this one carries the clear intention of nobility, dignity and longevity, a true vin de garde. The history of the property on Howell Mountain is long and complicated, as is the case with many wineries in California, especially if they were established in the 19th Century, as this was. Suffice to say that Jackson Family Wines acquired La Jota in 2005, naming Chris Carpenter as winemaker. La Jota Merlot 2017 is a blend of 89 percent merlot and 11 percent petit verdot, fermented by native yeasts in open and closed-top stainless steel tanks and aged 20 months in French oak, 91 percent new barrels. The color is deep black-ruby with a lighter violet-hued rim; the first impression is iodine and iron, mint and graphite gradually unfurling notes of black currants and blueberries permeated by the herbaceous qualities I associate with mountain-side vineyards — sage, bay leaf, wild thyme; dense, dusty, rock-ribbed tannins frame a package animated by bright acidity and lush black and blue fruit flavors that hold, at their core, elements of lavender and licorice, espresso bean and bittersweet chocolate; interesting that I don’t detect forest and loam depths here but more like high meadows, hillside flowers, heather; no mistaking that this is a sizable, mouth-filling merlot designed for years slumbering in the cellar, but despite its proportions and aims, its darkness and dimension, this La Jota Merlot ’17 delivers an exhilarating effect of poise and vitality. 14.5 percent alcohol. Production was 1,232 cases. You could drink this tonight with a medium-rare ribeye steak, hot and crusty from the coals, but it might be better to wait, say from 2022 through 2032. A world-class merlot.

I love California’s Alexander Valley. I am a fan of Cabernet Sauvignons from there. But Matanzas Creek’s Chardonnay is great too. Winemaker Marcia Torres Forno has done a great job. Robert Parker recognizes that with a 91 point score. It starts with aromas of lemon curd, apple and ginger. The palate is creamy with just enough oak presence: only 24% new French oak was used. It is medium-bodied and silky and finishes with great acidity. It’s a very food-friendly wine but also easily enjoyed by itself.

11 Best Wines for Thanksgiving 2020, According to a SommelierBrewer-Clifton's take on cool climate Syrah is absolutely exquisite. Ex Post Facto features rich notes of plum, dark berries, pepper, spice, and lavender. It's a personal favorite with rosemary-studded roast beef, and the wine I prefer to sip on while I'm preparing Thanksgiving dinner.

This is a wonderfully textured Merlot with layers of black fruits, chocolate and black pepper. The finish is refined with mineral, and spice.

Year after year, Mt. Brave produces opulent wines. The ’16 is layered with black and red fruits that finishes grippy with delicious cocoa and raspberry notes. It's a fabulous wine!

As cooler weather starts to set in, we pull out the bolder reds. Here are four standout bottles to usher in the season.Siduri produces a number of pinot noirs by sourcing directly from vineyards up and down the West Coast. What unites them? Soft velvety tannins and big fruit flavor. The Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir is grown in sandy soil, which causes the vines to stunt in the growth process. The result is a nice pop of red fruit at the front with a long, earthy finish. The aromas are light, delicate, and floral, but there’s plenty of structure on the palate.

Party FavoritesThe best wines for every Thanksgiving, from bargain bottles to magnificent magnumsThe 2016 Bordeaux vintage is excellent; this balanced red shows you don’t need to spend a fortune to enjoy it. Think aromas of plum and blackberry with soft, palate-coating tannins.

Merlot Wines to Seek Out In honor of Merlot month, the following are some great domestic examples to seek out. La Jota Vineyard 2017 Howell Mountain Merlot (Napa Valley, California)Rich. Luscious. Seriously delicious! Smooth from the first sip to the last, with balanced black cherry, cassis, chocolate and blueberry pie aromas and flavors. Full bodied and jam packed with flavor. This was a delight to drink! Definitely in my top 3.

Wine in the time of CholeraA Selection of Rutherford Preferred WinesFreemark Abbey, Bosché Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, a stalwart Napa Valley producer, and the most akin to Bordeaux. Winemaker emeritus Ted Edwards celebrates his 40th harvest with Freemark Abbey this year and welcomes Kristy Melton as winemaker.

La Jota Howell Mt. Merlot Packs A Powerful PunchThe La Jota Merlot is a great example of a mountain Merlot. La Jota also gives the grapes a lot more attention than most wines, showing what a premium wine is all about.The wine is a gorgeous deep garnet in the glass, with dark fruit aromas. On the palate I picked up flavors of black cherry, ripe raspberries and blackberries. It has a nice, smooth mouthfeel with some minerality on the long, velvety finish.

La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2017: Delicious easy drinker. Excellent example of well-made commodity pinot noir.

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Stop Giving Merlot the Side EyeLocated in the appellation of St. Émilion, Bordeaux, France and first built in 1738, the estate was purchased by the Jackson & Seillan families in 2003. Ornate sundials adorn the façade of Château Lassègue, a beautiful 18th century Château. This wine is the second label of Lassègue and is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Back when things were normal, I met and chatted with La Crema’s winemaker, Jen Walsh, at our Rancho Mirage Wine & Food festival. She was pouring the 2017 La Crema Chardonnay Russian River Valley Saralee’s Vineyard. The wine is elegant and focused on the Chard grape. Catch the apple, pear tart, and dried apricot aromas & flavors with hints of crème brûlée. Fresh minerality shows throughout. It’ll be a treat for the holiday table.

Today’s featured wine for Merlot Month is the Mt. Brave Merlot 2016, Mt. Veeder, a wine that qualifies on any scale of grandeur, seriousness and Olympian stature. The property occupies the old Chateau Potelle estate, acquired by Jackson Family Wines in 2007. The vineyards lie at 1,400 to 1,800 feet elevation, above the fog line; the thin, nutrient-poor soil consists of gravelly loam and various size rocks that require the vines to work hard for water and sustenance. This is a blend of 82 percent merlot and 18 percent malbec, fermented with native yeasts, aged 20 months in French oak, 73 percent new barrels, bottled with no fining or filtering. The color is opaque purple-black; the first impression is of mountainside grape character — mint, iodine and iron, cedar, sage and bay leaf; it takes a few minutes for intense and concentrated elements of black currants, raspberries and blueberries to assert themselves; another few moments bring notes of crushed lavender and violets; the wine is — no surprise! — dense, chewy, lithe and supple, bolstered by deeply-rooted dusty tannins and bastions of burnished oak; black and blue fruit flows sleek on the palate, propelled by blazing acidity and a scintillating quality of chiseled granitic minerality. 15.1 percent alcohol, but the alcohol level does not dominate a young, bold, muscular package. Now — somewhat guardedly, with a medium-rare ribeye steak, hot and crusty from the grill — through 2028 to ’32.

The aptly named Zena Crown “Conifer” Pinot Noir 2016, Eola-Amity Hills, originated in four blocks of 13-year-old vines that lie from 380 to 600 feet elevation. The wine aged 17 1/2 months in French oak, 54 percent new barrels, slightly different from the “Slope.” The color is medium transparent ruby with an ethereal magenta rim; the bouquet swarms upon you suddenly — loam and briers, red currants and plums, sandalwood and wild cumin, pine, smoke, forest floor; these heady elements segue seamlessly onto the palate, framed by dynamic acidity that cuts a swath and tannins the multiply in petal-like layers of dusty graphite; flavors take on a bit of cherry-berry ripeness, while perfectly integrated oak provides nuanced shape and supple texture. 14.1 percent alcohol. As complete, balletic yet grounded pinot noir as I have encountered this year.

Derived from three blocks of southeast-facing vines at 390 to 600 feet elevation, the Zena Crown “Slope” Pinot Noir 2016, Eola-Amity Hills, aged 17 1/2 months in French oak, 64 percent new barrels. The color is dark ruby that shades to a transparent mulberry-hued rim; notes of black and red currants and plums are buoyed by hints of forest floor, flint and slate; a few minutes in the glass unfurl touches of lavender, red cherries and cranberries, heather and sage; bright acidity plows a furrow on the palate; slightly dusty tannins emerge to lend structure to a pinot noir that beautifully balances all elements while allowing the wine’s essential elusive, ethereal yet damp earthy nature to prevail; one feels the quality of the vineyard as if it were underfoot.

Wine the most important Thanksgiving choiceIf you want some international flair at the table, try the tangerine-and-herb profile, dry Copain Tous Ensemble 2018 Rose, which sounds like it should be from France, but is really from Mendocino County in California.

La Crema’s more entry-level bottlings always tend toward beefiness, and this expression is no exception, kicking off with a somewhat tough and decidedly meaty character that feels like it will never let up. Give it some time in glass, and the picture changes, albeit slowly. Notes of blackberry and blueberry cobbler emerge, alongside notes of sweet tea and some baking spice notes. The finish is brambly, classic Russian River stuff, with hints of cola and a bit of clove.