Wine of the Day: Root & Rubble Pinot NoirRoot & Rubble Pinot Noir is a luscious, fruit-focused wine with texture, body, and an overall inviting approachability. Without the influence of oak, the Russian River grown Pinot Noir shines with floral aromas of lilac and rose petal on the open, followed by ripe cranberry, raspberry, wild strawberry, with a soft earthy, cola note on the finish. #cheers

La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2017, with aromas of black plums, fresh raspberries and forest floor, balanced acidity and a concentrated palate of bing cherry and baking spice.

Orange peel nose, with watermelon and strawberry on the palate. Cherries. Vibrant, spicy and earthy. Good value.

Wine pairings for Easter that you won't have to hunt forFor most of us, this Easter Sunday our menus and gatherings will stray from tradition. For many food and wine enthusiasts, I have a feeling, the care and attention to food and wine choices will not change, even if you reflect and celebrate with only the family members living in your house versus our traditional large get-togethers. Because many of us are minimizing our shopping (including wines) to either delivery or minimal trips I wanted to focus on the wines that are plentiful and easy to find.Roast ChickenThe wonderful aspect of pairing wine with chicken is you can choose a red or white. Lighter style red wines such as gamay are ideal. For whites, one of my favorites is the toasty balance of a crisp, refreshing chardonnay.The Values - 2018 Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay

Wine pairings for Easter that you won't have to hunt forFor most of us, this Easter Sunday our menus and gatherings will stray from tradition. For many food and wine enthusiasts, I have a feeling, the care and attention to food and wine choices will not change, even if you reflect and celebrate with only the family members living in your house versus our traditional large get-togethers. Because many of us are minimizing our shopping (including wines) to either delivery or minimal trips I wanted to focus on the wines that are plentiful and easy to find.Roast ChickenThe wonderful aspect of pairing wine with chicken is you can choose a red or white. Lighter style red wines such as gamay are ideal. For whites, one of my favorites is the toasty balance of a crisp, refreshing chardonnay.The Splurges - 2018 La Crema Monterey Chardonnay

Oregon is producing some of the most exciting wines in the US at the moment – the region is growing from success to success.The Gran Moraine is a perfect example of this: planted in 2005 to several different Dijon clones, this is one of the more westerly vineyards in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. The area benefits from the cooling afternoon breezes that roll off the Pacific – ideal for grape growing.The chardonnay is hand-harvested and benefits from gentle, whole-cluster pressing. This traditional technique allows winemakers to capture the freshest and most pristine juice.A lengthy 12 months of natural fermentation in Burgundian oak barrels follows.And you’re left with that perfect balance you want from a chardonnay – minerality meeting richness, citrus meeting stone.

Kendall-Jackson is one of the biggest names in Californian wine making – and its Vintner’s Reserve is a quintessential new world chardonnay.It’s a great introduction to Californian chardonnay in particular – a greatest hits compilation, if you will – taking its grapes from Monterey (50%), Santa Barbara 33%, Mendocino (16%) and Sonoma (1%).The result is wine characterised by a velvety texture, toasted oak and lashings of butter.This richness is counterpointed with tropical fruits including pineapple, mango and papaya, with plenty of refreshing citrus, too.It’s rounded off with vanilla and honey for what is the most balanced US chardonnay you’ll find anywhere for less than £20.

La Crema Vinera means “best of the vine” – and that’s the benchmark this Monterey County winery has set itself since it launched back in 1979.The 90-mile long Monterey Valley stretches from Monterey Bay, through farmland and rolling hills, and is always buffeted by the cold winds that sweep in off the Pacific Ocean.The coolness means that the grapes spend more time on the vine, which allows a deeper, more dramatic spectrum of flavours and aromas to develop.La Crema’s chardonnay is the embodiment of this – a rich, layered wine that’s smooth and elegant while still maintaining a zesty brightness.

9 Rosés to Kick Off SpringRosé all day? Try rosé all year!When it comes to accessible wines, La Crema should be at the top of your list. While it’s often found at supermarkets, don’t write it off as mere “supermarket wine.” La Crema, now in its 40th year, claims some really fabulous cold-climate pinot noir wines, and if you ever visit its Sonoma tasting rooms, you’ll find an array of exclusive bottles, like the Saralee’s Vineyard rosé. Until then, go ahead and grab this very drinkable pinot noir Monterey rosé, with hints of watermelon, strawberry, cherry, citrus and blood orange and with a zesty minerality that renders it complementary to many types of food.

When the Jackson family purchased a pear and walnut orchard in 1974, little did they know the eventual winery would become one of the most influential in California. It is still family-owned to this day. Vintner’s Reserve is the flagship range. This blend is made up mostly of Syrah and Zinfandel, displaying rich fruit, spiciness, and lush tannins.

An easy sipper. Peach and apple, lean and clean with mild acidity. A terrific food wine.

Proposing a Toast to Winemaking MothersSome reflections—and wine suggestions—in advance of Mother’s DayMARCIA TORRES FORNO - Winemaker for Matanzas Creek Winery, Sonoma County How you plan to spend the holiday this year given the current circumstances?My ideal Mother’s Day this year will be spending time gardening with my two daughters. We have plans to do a small secret garden in the backyard, and we are planning to start a summer garden, too. I believe that creating sweet memories is an essential aspect of being a mother. I heard them conspiring the other day, so who knows what they are planning.Wine recommendation: 2017 Matanzas Creek Winery Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc, $22This lighter-bodied wine is a perfect spring sipper, offering citrus, tropical notes and lovely minerality.

Proposing a Toast to Winemaking MothersSome reflections—and wine suggestions—in advance of Mother’s DayKATE AYERS - Winemaker at Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, OregonHow you plan to spend the holiday this year?This will be my first Mother’s Day and it will certainly be one to remember! I imagine we’ll spend the day working in our yard and enjoying life as the three of us. While quarantine is difficult, there is a special sense of calm and togetherness we’ve been able to experience as new parents.Wine recommendation: 2017 Penner-Ash Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $45This wine is bright and vibrant with a lighter body and offers lush cherry, plum, pomegranate, some herbs, cedar, and a hint of earth and vanilla.

This pinot noir hails from always-on-the-wine-list-by-the-glass La Crema, though you don’t often see the winery’s Sonoma Coast appellation, a slightly elevated bottling.This 2017 acquits itself fine, offering an appropriately cool climate construction that offers notes of brambly blackberry, blueberry reduction, and cola. The finish has grip, its tannic bite suggesting hints of clove and ginger, with a slight sweetness emerging on the conclusion. A slight note of coffee bean and toffee lingers on the finish.

The Best Pinot Noir Wines Under $40 That I AdoreSiduri Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2017: After attending a Sommelier Trip to Santa Lucia Highlands I realized how undervalued the Pinot Noirs from this region are. Don’t get me wrong, wine writers and winemakers realize this but most consumers don’t know the region and how tremendous their Pinot Noir Wines are. Winemaker Adam Lee has done a great job creating beautiful Pinot Noir Wines from Santa Lucia Highlands for Siduri Wines and this bottle is great in the low $30 range.

The Best Pinot Noir Wines Under $40 That I AdoreAs someone who drinks a LOT of Pinot Noir, I have to say I’ve become very spoiled with single-vineyard Pinot Noir wines which typically are $50 + up. So it’s hard to find a wine under $25 or so that delivers in terms of quality and a sense of place and also is nicely priced and accessible. This La Crema Sonoma Coast is great. It reflects the Sonoma Coast terroir and flavors you’d expect in a Coastal Wine and also isn’t too bland of basic tasting it has nice Pinot Noir characteristics and is very drinkable. At $21 – $25 this is a great affordable Pinot Noir I recommend.

A warm fragrant dark fruity nose, with similar body. Toasty oak, off-dry, a swirl of flavors with a stiff backbone.

5 Perfect American Pinot Noir and Pasta PairingsLa Crema Brut Rosé and Seafood Pasta with Tomato and Crushed Olives Also coming from the cool grape growing region of coastal California’s Sonoma County, this vibrant, sophisticated rosé is predominantly Pinot noir, blended with a bit of its close cousin, Chardonnay. While it can sometimes be difficult to pair red Pinots with seafood depending on how meaty the fish is, and what it’s plated with, high-acid rosés skirt around those issues with characteristics that make the pairing almost fool-proof.The La Crema Brut Rosé expresses complementary notes of lemon zest and has a minerality that tastes like the shells of oysters (I know, it sounds crazy, but you’ll see). The seafood pasta is almost like a hybrid between a pasta and a stew, andleaves it up to the chef to decide which fish to use. We recommend something with a bit more weight to it, such as swordfish, for this specific pasta. The high acidity of the tomatoes, and bitterness from the olives, will leave the wine tasting bright and fruity, with hints of citrus. A great warm-weather pasta pairing.

A Napa Cabernet Taste-Off in Lockdown: Do Good While Holed UpThe Cardinale was delicious from the first moment we saw it, smelled it and tasted it. It was opulent, with cedar, tobacco and rich, spicy black fruits. It’s a powerful, majestic, sensuous wine with all sorts of layers of complexity. “We feel like we’re drinking an adult beverage that is a product of the soil,” we wrote, as though it commanded us to sit up straight and to contemplate big-picture things. John thought it might have some Merlot because of its smoothness, and indeed it’s 11 percent.

Our Favorite Spring SparklersAromas of asian pear, honeysuckle, dragon fruit, rose petal, brioche, wild strawberry. Flavors of tangerine, kumquat, nectarine. Great balance and acidity, vibrant and exceptionally clean all the way through the finish, phenomenally precise.

The Best Rosé Wines to Drink This YearThis new vintage from Cenyth and winemaker Hélène Seillan is made from 100 percent Cabernet Franc, one of two wines that she makes at the winery. There are fragrant notes of fruits like crisp pear and apple, complemented by floral whiffs of honeysuckle and lavender. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable rosé.

25 of the Best Pinot Noirs for 2020For a Pinot Noir with as much alcohol as a Napa Cab this wine is pretty damn balanced. There is no heat coming off the surface of the wine in the glass and it smells like a campfire from a few miles away along with ripe cherries. The palate is viscous and I want to chew it. That subtle campfire vibe hits on the palate as well, making for a very enjoyable wine that might sneak up on ya with that ABV.

25 of the Best Pinot Noirs for 2020Great Pinot Noir from this region tends to be a bit pricey, so it’s nice to have a wine like this with a somewhat softer price tag, and a ton of balance and complexity. It’s like smelling cherry cola made from real cherries in a hipster Brooklyn incubator food complex sitting next to freshly turned soil. Speaking of hipsters, there’s a skosh of roasted coffee beans as well. The palate is bright but really lays into your palate with a nice, long finish. I just want to crack this wine open (screw cap) at sunset and share with good friends.

26 Stellar New Rosés to Welcome the Warmer MonthsAny one of these bottles will also sweeten your Mother's Day celebration.This rosé from longtime Oregon producer WillaKenzie measures in with 95 percent Pinot Noir, 4 percent Pinot Blanc, and 1 percent Pinot Meunier. It’s a lively sip, aromatic with honeysuckle, strawberry, stone fruit, and nice minerality. Bright, dry citrus carries the palate under white peach and cherry, with interesting textures through the finish.

26 Stellar New Rosés to Welcome the Warmer MonthsAny one of these bottles will also sweeten your Mother's Day celebration.Showcasing a Bordeaux variety that rarely speaks for itself on the rosé front, this Cenyth covers unusual ground. Wet stone aromas underlie gardenias and pears, opening to exotic citrus—lemongrass and lime—and bright red fruit flavors (especially raspberry).