Hooray for Chardonnay The Cambria estate is located within Santa Barbara County and the wines here express the unique terroir of one of the very few cool-climate pockets in California. Produced under sustainable practices, Cambria’s Clone 4 chardonnay is sourced from a spot that sits 400-800 feet above sea level and thrives on a daily dose of fog-swept maritime weather that funnels in from the Pacific Ocean. Notes of tropical fruit, tangerine, apples, and citrus dominate the senses and carry on through the tasting experience ultimately leading to a bright, crisp and very pleasant finale.

Hooray for Chardonnay Tropical flavours abound in this traditional warm climate Napa Valley chardonnay made by one of California’s most prestigious producers. Leaping from the glass are aromas of mango, peach, pear, citrus and banana – not something you’d generally get from cooler climate chardonnays. The palate is likewise complex with flavours of green apple, peach cobbler, vanilla, nutmeg and complete with a lively backbone of lemon-lime acidity. It’s creamy, contemplative and will compliment a wide array of dishes, including Thanksgiving turkey with all of the fixings!

Rhone Reds and Blends with Neapolitan Pork Chops Iconic Copain Winery overlooks the bucolic Russian River Valley in California, crafting Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Their Tous Ensemble (all together) wines are approachable, casual and ready to drink. The Syrah from select cool climate vineyards in Mendocino County offers raspberry, blackberry and spice with notes of pencil lead, toast and soft tannins.

Rhone Reds and Blends with Neapolitan Pork Chops It’s nice to see more California wineries adding Rhone blends to their offerings. This flavorful Grand Reserve offers red currant and mixed wild cherry flavors with background notes of chocolate and cedar box. Aging in French oak and pre-fermentation cold-soak adds layers of complexity adds complexity and hints of vanilla and caramel.

For its easy-on-the-wallet price, it delivers aromas and flavors of blackberry, dark plum, mocha and spicy oak. The tannins are smooth, the flavors rich, and the finish long. It’s a fine every-day-drinking Cab.

South Australia's Hickinbotham Wines Bet On Bordeaux Varietals The Peake 2016 is, as is obvious from the price of $150, Hickinbotham’s top of the line bottling, using Cabernet (56%) with Shiraz (44%) blended in, rather than Merlot, a mix not unknown in Australia, where it has been done since pre-phylloxera days (the scourge arrived in 1877). With winemaker Charlie Seppelt and Viticulturer Michael Lane, Carpenter worked with vines dating to 1971 in high country (220-230 metres). Both varietals were left on the skins for a minimum eighteen days, resulting in an alcohol level of 14.5%, skirting the higher levels of so many unbalanced Australian red wines. It was indeed a beautiful wine, though still quite tannic—it went very well with a steak au poivre and rack of lamb—and Carpenter insisted it’s a wine that will improve over many years.

South Australia's Hickinbotham Wines Bet On Bordeaux Varietals Carpenter describes his Trueman 2016 as “the most homogenised, smoothly-assimilated Cabernet in recent years from Hickinbotham, reminiscent of those made by Stephen Hickinbotham in the early 'eighties. While its aromas of bergamot and blueberry have yet to lock in and settle, the palate's already there: fine, fresh and strapping. It's an elegant, savoury wine now, but will smooth out and flesh up to memorable opulence with a decade or two in the cellar.” Spending 15 months in a mixture of fine-grained Bordeaux-coopered barrels, the tannins of this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon have softened, and there is abundant acidity here that keeps it fresh. With just 14% alcohol as ballast. Carpenter recommends aging, but it is rewarding to try it right now as an example of what he’s accomplished in a short period of time with this varietal.

South Australia's Hickinbotham Wines Bet On Bordeaux Varietals The Revivalist Merlot 2016 comes from hand-picked grapes, with 21 days of skin time, then racking over the next 15 months, emerging with a balanced 14% alcohol that keeps it from becoming overly fruity or cloying. The soil is iron rich and clay, imparting its minerality. There’s a good deal of finesse here that does indeed remind me of a Bordeaux Pomerol like Château de Sales or Château Clinet. Only 748 cases were made, so this is a fine Merlot at a fair price, already sold out in Australia.

South Australia's Hickinbotham Wines Bet On Bordeaux Varietals Hickinbotham’s own Brooks Road Shiraz 2016 is from a cooler region. The time on the skins, after cold soaking, was a minimum of 18 days, then the juice was free run and separately, gently pressed. Unlike most Rhône Syrahs, which are a blend with other varietals, Hickinbotham’s is 100% Shiraz, yet, at 14.5% alcohol, it avoids being inky or too tannic, showing abundant fruit.

Epic Wines Online for Premium Red Wine Lovers Finally a fantastic pair of wines from this week’s James Halliday winners Yangarra Estate. We’ve included their 2016 GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre) – a wine packed with luscious fruit flavours and that has a fantastic mouth feel; and my absolute every day personal favourite – the 2018 Preservative Free Shiraz. It’s simply a cracker. I’m sure this wine pack would make your father smile.

Epic Wines Online for Premium Red Wine Lovers Finally a fantastic pair of wines from this week’s James Halliday winners Yangarra Estate. We’ve included their 2016 GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre) – a wine packed with luscious fruit flavours and that has a fantastic mouth feel; and my absolute every day personal favourite – the 2018 Preservative Free Shiraz. It’s simply a cracker. I’m sure this wine pack would make your father smile.

Rosé: State of Play By picking their bush vine Grenache early in the season, Yangarra aims to capture the pink lady apple crunchiness of the skins. The resulting Rosé is almost clear in the glass with a pale onion skin hue. The nose is also very restrained with hints of wet stone, herb and charcuterie. Very savoury, almost neutral in style, making this an excellent food wine in the style of some European Rosés. More about texture and mouthfeel rather than sweet fruit characters.

2020 Halliday Wine Companion Wine of the Year It’s hard to separate the impact of the place, the soil, the vines, the vintage, the viticulturist, the winemaker, the vinification and the certified biodynamic management of the 69-year-old dry-grown bush vines. All have contributed to the 260 dozen bottles of this magnificent wine. The maker is Peter Fraser (Wine Companion 2016 Winemaker of the Year), the viticulturist Michael Lane. They have jointly guided the vineyard to its biodynamic status, and Peter’s approach in the winery is a corollary to that in the vineyard. The bridge between the two is hand-picking, with the berries mechanically sorted (far superior to hand-sorting at this level): 50% crushed, 50% whole berry (no whole-bunch inclusion). The yield varies between 15 and 16t/ha: 1–1.2t/acre. There are no herbicides or fungicides, and tractors are used minimally to reduce soil compaction or degradation. Biodynamic compost and bio preparations help to maintain a living and self-sustaining soil. The wine comes from Block 31 of the vineyard, at once the highest in terms of elevation, the lowest in terms of yield, and the deepest in terms of sand. It seems counterintuitive, but this is wine: quality is its raison d’être. The soil’s free-draining capacity is friend and foe. Vines of all shapes and sizes don’t like waterlogged soils, and the sands mean that problem is avoided. Like Hunter Valley semillon, the old vines develop a root system that penetrates deep and can find reserves of water. Benevolent neglect? Well, there’s more of it in the winery. The grapes endured a five-day cold soak at 10°C in open fermenters, SO2 the only protection. They were plunged during fermentation, but not otherwise, and the pressings were not returned to the wine. Ceramic eggs were not used; the wine was matured on its yeast lees for 11 months in used French oak. Wines from each barrel were tasted before bottling, and only those that best portrayed the pedigree of this tiny but utterly exceptional place were bottled.

La Crema does it again with a benchmark setting pinot noir from the on fire Russian River Valley. Bright cherry notes with prominent spicy accents especially cinnamon. Very food friendly and balanced and a mouth filling experience.

Very aromatic with lime zest and melon flavors. Delicious to the last drop.

Golden straw colour. Spicy, toasty peach and mango on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied. Ripe orchard fruit flavours with a note of pineapple and a touch of butterscotch sweetness in mid-palate.

Straw colour, minerally, peach pit bouquet. Medium-bodied, dry with a white peach flavour. A touch of sweetness in mid-palate with lemony acidity on the finish. Perfect with stewed rabbit in a mustard reduction.

Deep ruby colour. Spicy, smoke, black raspberry nose with an oaky note. Full-bodied, dry, ripe strawberry and plum flavours with vanilla oak spice. Juicy and ripe.

10 Australian wines you need to try that aren't shiraz Grenache is a wildly popular variety, and for good reason; winemakers find they can craft a range of styles with this international grape. It can be bold and concentrated, lighter in body or somewhere in between. The Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache has a nose of pomegranate, cranberry and black tea, with lovely juicy fruit on the structured palate.

Last-minute wines for Valentine’s Day I’m counting on the Nonvintage La Crema Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine from the Russian River Valley to ignite a little romance. The blend of 73% pinot noir and 27% chardonnay equals 100% romance. Aromas of summer raspberries and cherries are highlighted on the aromatic bouquet, while flavors of tangerine, red plum and raspberry dance on the palate. The bright, delightfully fresh acidity on the finish makes it an excellent companion with chocolate covered strawberries.

Your classic oaky California Chardonnay. Deep gold. Medium nose with lots of fruit: papaya, pineapple, apricot, pear and vanilla from the oak. Full body with more oak on the palate, a bit of grapefruit bitterness and good acidity offsetting the sweet apricot nectar, apple and pineapple flavours. Best served not too cold to those who like their wines a bit over the top. Did I mention the oak? Drink up.

8 awesome drinkable gifts to pick up in Vancouver this season If your colleagues appreciate a rich red, this is the wine to buy. For a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s reasonably priced and unsurprisingly elegant. Think black currant, blackberry, black licorice, and wood spice with good tannins. It’s basically the kind of gift you’ll want to buy two of (one for yourself, obviously).

Anthony Gismondi’s top wine picks for holiday gifting and entertaining BIG RICH AND RED This is likely to be a massive sector of the wine market because red wine, or “big” reds as they are often described to me, are highly prized. The go-to wines here are Merlot, Malbec and Shiraz or most any red blend that is dominated by any of the three varieties. Think California, Australia, Chile or Argentina and spend $20 to $30 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, Napa Valley, California, US

Uncorked: Recommendations for gifts and go-to wines for your holiday table Affordable best-bang-for-the-buck Pinots include 2017 Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve…

Salut!: Anthony Gismondi's best entertaining wines under $25