Deep purple in colour. Glossy and plush with chocolate cherry and blueberry jam. High acidity and soft tannins. (SCJ) Drink 2024 – 2035

Magnum. Deep ruby with a hint of garnet. Leather, bramble and black cherry with high tingling acidity and drying tannin. Lengthy and still quite fresh. (SCJ) Drink 2018 – 2030

Medium lemon with a hint of green. Chalky and flinty on the nose with light vanilla and lemon-blossom floral notes. Creamy palate with ripe yellow apple and pear complimented by dairy, crème fraiche notes. Fresh acidity drives the long finish. (SCJ) Drink 2024 – 2028

The Julia's Vineyard rosé from Cambria Estate Winery is a lovely example of a Central California rosé. The vineyard's soils include a mix of limestone, shale, and sandstone, which lend a mineral note to the wine. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara sunshine ensures the fruit's even ripening and makes for a full-bodied flavor. The hand-selected pinot noir grapes are whole cluster pressed and fermented in stainless steel, ensuring the grape's freshness is at the forefront. While not as complete as the rosé at the top of they list, the 13.1% ABV wine's clean, fruity flavors earn it a midpoint spot in the ranking.

19. Hartford Family Winery's rosé has a delicate style with a subdued flavor profile, especially compared to some of the other pinot noir rosé wines in the ranking. It boasts a blushing salmon color and soft aromas of white peach and melon. The 13.5% ABV wine offers a fresh and clean fruitiness on the palate, with subtle stone fruit and strawberry notes. The light nature of the rosé makes it a great option if you are mixing drinks with wine, like in a charred peach sangria. However, I prefer a wine with more distinctiveness for sipping solo, which keeps this brand from climbing any higher on my list.

22. Oregon's Willamette Valley is an international leader in pinot noir production. Its WillaKenzie Estate, named after the area's loamy soils, has showcased the variety since its inception. WillaKenzie's Willamette Valley rosé is whole cluster pressed and extracts minimal color, creating a delicate blush wine with flavors of bitter orange peel, ripe cherry, and peach. Though the front palate exudes ripe fruit and fresh acidity, the 13.5% ABV wine finishes with a tart, unbalanced bitterness, earning it a lower ranking.

Again from a cooler spot in the state -- the Santa Maria Valley on the Central Coast just off the moderating Pacific. It has a profile of cherry tart with fresh minerality, the ideal pairing for the mushroom risotto we had mid-week.

Not all of California is hot.In fact, Monterey, where the grapes for this La Crema come from, is cooled by the Pacific Ocean and produces wine with a nice juxtaposition of raspberry jam and pepper aromas and flavours. We had it with Hawaiian pizza.

La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021: Fresh, clean with attractive layers of quality fruit. Lighter version of California pinot noir style. $27

Of course, then there’s Pinot Noir. Undoubtedly the most discussed and romanticized of the Pinots, revered by wine lovers and collectors around the world. California is one wine region noted for producing top Pinot Noirs, typically from cooler vineyard pockets in the state. For example, the grapes for this La Crema Pinot Noir are grown in the coastal Monterey appellation. It’s plush, fruit forward, and eminently sippable with abundant notes of berries, earth, and black pepper. With a balanced and polished finish, this Pinot Noir makes an easy pairing partner — everything from pizza to burgers, beef rice noodles to roast chicken. Bottom line: B+, Lip-smacking Pinot.

From California’s cool coast, this fine Pinot Noir has gorgeous notes of red fruit with a rustic flare. Taste more from La Crema at ‘Eureka’ on April 22nd

The vineyards for this Merlot straddle Pine Mountain’s highest peak at a jaw-dropping 3,000 feet, Sonoma’s highest elevation. This savory wine offers a magnificent nose with loads of cinnamon heart candy and mulling spice aromas alongside black licorice, muddled raspberries, and ripe blackberries. The medium body has a textural mouthfeel, gritty tannins and a lengthy finish.

Vanilla, spice and everything nice! This
is a classic spring option if ever there was
one. Enjoy every sip of this explosion of
tropical fruit and citrus that is perfectly
accentuated by both vanilla and just a
touch of baking spice.

Offering bright red and dark berry aromas, this wine is juicy and precise, with complementing notes of coffee beans and matchsticks. The tannins are initially soft, slowly building to a suppleness that layers with keen acidity and stony minerality.

The pinnacle of pinot noir, La Crema has mastered the art of cultivating the varietal to a work of bottled art. Every sip of this sensation offers black fruit, yet it is tempered with ever-so-slight notes of pine, and its beautiful perfume fills the room, leaving a lovely, lasting impression.

La Crema's 2022 Monterey Chardonnay is a celebration of coastal influence and refined taste. With aromas of grilled pineapple, Asian pear, and tangerine, followed by flavors of white peach and Key lime, it's a wine that balances fruitiness with a touch of barrel spice. Its river stone minerality and balanced acidity make it an excellent match for seafood dishes or a simple cheese platter.

Richly textured with balancing acidity, this gem displays a lemon blossoms aroma. It’s buoyant on the palate as Meyer lemon, Asian pears, blanched almonds, hints of lemon herb tisane, minerality and a sprinkling of spice interlace. There’s a long and energetic finish.

The depths of winter can be a hard time for pinot noir lovers – 25 degree nights can call for something with more body and punch. But in a world growing more crazy for pinots, you better have a classic on hand all time. La Crema’s 2022 offering is pretty much the Platonic ideal of pinot noir. It’s elegant and unfussy, meaning it’s smooth but flavorful, fruity but not sweet, right for sipping alongside nibbles of roquefort or washing down a huge plate of eggplant parm.

This elegant and refined Oregon sparkling wine is a fine example of the bubbly revolution going on in Oregon, where there are many producers are making excellent sparklings. I love Gran Moraine’s whisper-light pink hue, purity and generous textured palate rich with notes of wild strawberries and peach creamsicle.

Aromas of Rainier cherry, sea salt, and Bartlett pear precede a bright acidity that runs through the center of the palate. Flavors of apricot, lemongrass, and grapefruit rind lead to a long, lingering finish.

Hickinbotham first planted dry-farmed vineyards near the hamlet of Clarendon in 1971 at the upper limit of McLaren Vale. The site’s climate is influenced by the coast, the Onkaparinka River gorge and the rolling hills offering different exposures and funnelling refreshing breezes. Almost opaque purple-black in colour, the wine has cassis, brambles and Christmas cake with tobacco and a hint of hedgerow and leather.

Dry, but sweetfruited, the wine’s flavours are balanced by crisp acidity and linen-textured tannins. Beautifully-defined with intriguing spices adding complexity, the wine will match rabbit simmered in white wine and chicken stock with onions and a bit of garlic.

I may be biased, but I truly believe Santa Barbara County produces some of the world's best chardonnays: racy, minerally, textural, and showcasing character. If that sounds like your jam, you’ll likely enjoy this bottling from winemaker Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton. Highlighting fruit from three vineyards within the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, it's a powerful yet ethereal expression of the region. Aromas of lemon, mango, and orange blossom lead to a bright palate loaded with citrus, white peach. and ginger, while a stream of salty minerality anchors the precise finish. It's a great value bottling from Sta. Rita Hills, and a perfect introduction to the region’s chardonnays.

Impenetrably dark, blackish crimson. Very ripe Cabernet nose initially with a herbal overlay and no heat on the end – overall the wine is appetisingly fresh in fact – but there's a very slight suggestion of something charred on the very end. The finish is neither alcoholic nor drying but it's not that persistent – at this stage anyway. There's lots of pleasure to be had here, so long as you are not prejudiced against ripe Napa Cabs. I would guess it will gain complexity with time.

Deep crimson. Intensely aromatic with notes of coffee and chocolate but an admirably fresh finish. Really rather subtle and gorgeous. Perfumed and well balanced. Leaves the palate refreshed. The best Cardinale I can remember tasting. Gentler tannins than I can remember in any red bordeaux 2019. Sweet but not sickly fruit. Rather beautiful. I feel sorry for the reds I'm about to taste.

Made solely from Cabernet Franc grapes, it possesses herbaceous aromas with hints of licorice and coffee powder. Textured and powerful on the palate, it concludes with a long and persistent finish, featuring both fruity and balsamic returns. Located near Castelnuovo Berardenga, the "capital" of the southernmost Additional Geographic Unit of the Chianti Classico denomination, Tenuta di Arceno is increasingly convincing. Owned by the American Kendall-Jackson Group, this estate produces well-focused labels of impeccable craftsmanship, from Chianti sangiovese, presented with a subtly modern style, to Bordeaux-style blends and purities, all executed with equal measure and sophistication.