Whenever a customer asks for an excellent organic or “biodynamic” Chard, I always recommend Cambria’s Katherine bottle. It is “Certified Sustainable”, which is as good as it gets when not deemed “organic” on the label. All the return customers thank me mucho for the great tip. “Made in a plush, creamy and well-spiced style, this bottling is sourced from a large single-vineyard site in northern Santa Barbara County that is rich with ancient marine sediments…it’s close proximity to the Pacific, whose summer fogs and breezes help provide a backbone of acidity to the area’s wines.

Full bottle 1,603 g. Certified organic and biodynamic. Old bush vines planted in 1946. Single vineyard on sandy soils. Pale and clear ruby. Hibiscus florals and raspberry-leaf tea florality on the nose. So perfumed. Red apples. Fresh-shucked pomegranate seeds. Bite-bright acidity. Cherries doing handstands. Blood-orange citrus on a fairground carousel. Someone get this wine down from the trapeze. Absolutely out of this world. So pure and clear this is like listening to choirboys singing soprano in a cathedral with sunlight pouring through red stained-glass windows, dust motes dancing inches above foot-pressed-ancient flagstones with the faint smell of incense and a grandmother’s prayer shawl and old pew polish in the air.

17 Soulful Food & Wine Pairings For Valentine's Day
Sparkling Wine + Caviar
In our opinion, caviar never gets old and Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to dip into this delicacy alongside a glass of sparkling wine. Thankfully, La Crema Chef Tracey Shepos Cenami agrees with us. “Fluffy Blini is the perfect accompaniment for salty caviar; follow that up with a sip of Brut Rosé and you will definitely know what ‘true love’ is.”

Six Sparkling Wines to Elevate Your Valentine's Day
La Crema Sparkling Brut Rosé
It's lovely pink color says "love." Aromas of crisp apple and white flowers lead to fresh strawberry and lemon meringue flavors with a lingering finish.

One of the finest pinot noir and shiraz blends we’ve seen. A lifted nose of wild forest berries and spices gives way to a palate of bright fruits, darker mineral notes and a feel that is equal parts savoury and vibrantly fresh.

From the very beginning, visionary Jess Jackson hung his hat on Chardonnay, celebrating the cool climate beauty, helping the variety become the favorite white wine for consumers in America. Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay is one of the largest and most successful white wines produced in the country each year. Beyond the large production, well-known wine, Kendall-Jackson crafts a handful of estate wines from their properties dotted throughout California, their Estate Collection, including their Kendall-Jackson Camelot Highlands Estate Collection Chardonnay.
From the Santa Maria Bench within Santa Barbara County, Camelot Highlands sits at 350-450 feet above sea level with rocky soils filled with calcium carbonate and limestone, giving a nice mineral note to the rich wine. Daily fog rolls through the vineyard, keeping acidity fresh, and ensuring the growing season is very long, with fruit ripening slowly, maintaining elegance and balance in the wine.
Filled with tropical fruit notes of ripe mango, pineapple, and lychee, with a creamy, toasted hazelnut, spice, and vanilla note thanks to 8 months of partially new French oak aging, the wine is rich without being overpowering. An ideal pairing to warm you on a cold winter night, to enjoy with butter-poached lobster or shrimp, roasted chicken, creamy pasta, or simply on its own. #Cheers

If you want to impress with rarity and quality side-by-side, here’s your choice. This wonder takes us to America in 1886 and the 16th bonded winery in Napa Valley. Not only is Freemark one of the area’s oldest, it boasts one of the most extensive wine libraries in the USA, with vintages dating back to the Sixties. To this day, their wines source grapes from two of the most acclaimed vineyards in Rutherford, Sycamore and Bosché (arguably some of the most famous in the region).
This Freemark blend is dominated by 87 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, with a kiss of Merlot and Cabernet Franc to round things out. You can expect a burst of cassis, pine and thyme with truffle, vanilla and dark chocolate raspberry. With over 130 years of winemaking history, you can’t really go wrong.

A lovely pale pink-salmon in hue, the La Crema Sparkling Brut Rose Russian River Valley epitomizes Valentine’s Day in a glass.
Girly yet sophisticated, it fairly bursts with bright strawberries and raspberries with just a twinge of ginger on the finish. Crisp and zingy with plenty of acidity, it’s a blend of 65 percent Pinot Noir and 35 percent Chardonnay.
This nonvintage sparkling wine, of which I received a sample, is right at home, be it at a romantic holiday dinner or a casual backyard get-together. It’s sure to make any occasion feel that much more festive.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
This highly textured wine displays aromas of yellow apple, honeysuckle and tangerine skin. Fresh flavors of Granny Smith apple and Meyer lemon are intertwined with layers of spice and crystallized ginger. A rich and weighty mid-palate is followed by a very long exotic, mineral-infused finish.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
Aromas of Meyer lemon, gala apple, and Jasmine are followed by flavors of pear, Cara Cara orange, and lemon meringue pie. On the palate, the wine is concentrated and juicy with a lingering finish.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
On the nose, this wine shows white flowers, orange blossom and stone fruits. On the palate, you’ll find a generous burst of Meyer Lemon is backed by pineapple with hints of brioche and vanilla, all interwoven on a long, succulent finish driven by vibrant acidity.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
This Chardonnay is energetic and balanced with notes of lemon zest, sourdough bread and a hint of mustard seed.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
Situated on the Mendocino Ridge at1600′ elevation, the DuPratt Chardonnay is intensley aromatic on the palate with an acidity that carries flavors of Meyer lemon and saline.

It’s Winter – These are the Chardonnays you Should be Drinking
Winemaker’s Notes:
A true expression of the Willamette Valley, and a partner to our Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This wine is driven by bright acidity overlaid on top of a solid foundation of fruit, sourced from premier sites across the region to incorporate the unique terroirs of our region’s sub-AVAs.

Winter wines from Oregon to warm your soul
Bubbles are not only perfect any time of year, they’re the perfect way to begin or end any evening (or article). This inaugural release of Gran Moraine’s estate-grown 2014 Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine is a bit of sass and a lot of class, all in a glass. Made entirely from two treasured blocks of estate Chardonnay, it’s been en tirage for nearly six years, where it built character and tiny, precise bubbles. The resulting wine is pure elegance with aromas of lemon curd, kumquat, toasted baguette and grassy meadow, with flavors of orange peel, lilac, persimmons and Meyer lemon. Focused and brilliant, it’s sure to appeal to the hard-core bubble fanatics as well as the casual imbiber. Idaho native Shane Moore, who graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in viticulture and enology, suggests pairing it with ramen, corn dogs, oysters, tempura, existential dilemmas, sunrises, reunions and off-beat pop music.

Yeasty aromas, with orange, lemon and watermelon on the palate. Good plus.

Blackberry and brambles on the nose. Blackberry, black cherry, plum, violet, earth, leather and licorice with a lingering finish. Very good.

While we talk about hundreds of years of tradition in Europe, you rarely see wineries over 7O years old in the US. Freemark Abbey is an exception, established in 1886, by a woman no less. Josephine Tychson built the 127-acre vineyard and winery and sold it 8 short years later to her winemaker. Since then, the winery has enjoyed several owners but has settled down with a group of partners since 1966. In that time, Freemark Abbey has only had 2 winemakers guiding their processes — Ted Edwards and then Kristy Melton — which speaks to a house style. Their wines are rustic, dark and inky. While the grapes are ripe, they also exude a smokiness with notes of bitter chocolate and cinnamon and earth and herbs. It is the type of California Merlot that even Paul Giamatti would drink!

Uncork and Unwind with These Great Book and Bottle Pairings
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
This free flowing romcom shows the insecurities of a relationship as it keeps your interest from one chapter to the next. Interesting, but not an over-weighted plot.
A wine to match with this flowing story needs to be a smooth wine, full of flavor, but not overpowering. A great fit would be Matanzas Creek Winery Sonoma County Chardonnay 2018. It has a faint straw color, slight buttery with a hint of oak, but not too strong. A lingering, full finish makes you want to continue reading with another glass of this gem.

Valentine’s Gift Guide 2022
This Pinot Noir can be described as graceful, layered, and bold. Aromas of boysenberry, cherry, and sweet tobacco are followed by flavors of raspberry, blackberry, and cherry. Perfect for celebrating another year with your lover.

Valentine’s Gift Guide 2022
Your love interest will swoon over the notes of white flowers, braeburn apple, and crushed oyster shell. Flavors of lemon meringue, wild strawberries, and fresh ginger shine through on the palate. A lively core of acidity is followed by a vibrant lingering finish.

25 Bottles of Wine to Drink to Become a Wine Expert
Chardonnay is the most popular grape variety in the US. Familiarize yourself with the classic California style—ripe fruit, spicy oak notes—with a wine like the 2019 La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay.

First-Time Bubbly
Shane Moore, the winemaker at Gran Moraine in Oregon's Willamette Valley, describes the recently released 2014 Blanc de Blancs as "an Oregonian James Bond." The extended-tirage sparkling wine, the winery's first-ever Blanc de Blancs, is crafted from estate-grown chardonnay and integrates layers of Meyer lemon, orange peel and brioche.

Penner-Ash 2018 Estate Pinot Noir has fresh berry and warm spice notes, with fine tannins and a hint of vanilla. Founded by Lynn Penner-Ash, Penner-Ash is one of Oregon's most celebrated wineries. Kate Ayers has been the current winemaker since 2018. A silky wine to sip with Baked Brie with Fig Preserves.

If you're in a French state of mind, try a velvety Bordeaux blend: Chateau Lassegue 2018. The wine is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon. The moment you pour it into your glass, aromas of violets and dark berries are released, and on the palate, notes of cassis, black cherry, and an earthy finish. This is a smooth and luxurious wine, a fantastic pairing with Beef Wellington.