Eleven years on, the wine is still fresh with bright fruit and focused acidity. Complex layers of aroma and flavor have evolved, with loam and pencil shavings emerging under berry liqueur and dark chocolate. Ripe but elegantly firm tannins give structure to spicy black raspberry and cherry, and mountain intensity carries through a lingering finish.
That structure and intensity are honestly earned, from the historic vineyard’s location above the fog line on Howell Mountain (small berries, thicker skins), making this Merlot a delicious argument that not only can the wine be great, it can age with the best of them.

Bouquet and flavor of spicy berries, pomegranate, brown baking spices, and toasted nuts in the aftertaste.

Spicy black cherry and flavors of cranberry and cola with hints, tea, and cinnamon.

The same vineyard as above, the Rosella’s Vineyard, yet a more delicate wine with pretty floral notes and tart cherry flavor and lots of lift to this wine and overall finesse with fine tannins and a stony finish. Both wines share a great purity to the fruit quality.

This is a great value in the pinot noir field. Lots of extracted cherry flavors with pomegranate and spice aromas. Earthy feel with soft tannins and long finish.

Oregon Wine Month
...and the WillaKenzie Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2019, with its intense citrus aromas and mineral notes.

Oregon Wine Month
... the Penner-Ash Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2019, which was more austere with lean apple notes and bright acidity…

Oregon Wine Month
...Gran Moraine Yamill-Carlton Chardonnay 2018, a lush wine with tropical fruit notes and a nice coconut character…

Bordeaux is not cheap but you’re wise to try a bottle or two of the better-than-entry-level stuff to really see what it can do. This one is outstanding and fun to taste over several hours as it evolves in the glass.

With a sense of place, highlighting the unique soils of Santa Barbara County that was once underwater, Diatom from Greg Brewer/Brewer Clifton, is named for the diatomaceous earth, a plankton fossil, found in the area. Clean, lean, and focused, Diatom Chardonnay showcases the story of terroir Brewer is trying to achieve by letting the land shine through the wines, focusing on refinement. Wines are produced with as little intervention in the winery. Very focused and precise, the wine opens with lively lemon zest, orange blossom, and lime leaf, followed by citrus and melon flavors on the palate with a note of salinity carrying through from the start to the finish. Pair this beauty with oysters or steamed clams, summer salads, and fresh pasta with pesto and herbs.

15 best dry white wines perfect for chilled sipping on a sunny day
From sauvignon blanc’s to a crisp chardonnay, pour a glass of some of the world’s finest
Best: For a light fish dish
Any wine that contains grapes picked from somewhere called Wombat Creek deserves recognition or respect. Actually, in this case, it deserves both since this Yarra Valley wine, which is made with minimal intervention from hand-picked grapes, is an example of just how fruity and fulfilling an Australian chardonnay can be. The whole bunch pressed into 500l French barrels and then fermented with wild yeasts, it boasts stone fruit flavours, layered with nectarine and citrus notes plus a creamy hint of oak. Enjoy it with fish tacos, grilled aubergine or a simple salad.

Juicy. Crisp. Exotic. Sourced from distinct vineyards spread across some of Sonoma County’s warmer sub-regions, including Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, and Dry Creek Valley. Aromas of apricot, golden kiwi, and mango are followed by flavors of ruby grapefruit, nectarine, and Gala apple. The 2020 vintage presents vibrant acidity and a lingering finish.

Restrained nose, a touch of funk, cherries. Light palate, fresh, bright, cherries and cranberries.

Brilliant fresh cherry notes, sage. Crisp, restrained, tart cherries and earthy notes, fresh tannins.

A touch of honey notes, vanilla. Good acidity, good acidity, needs time.

Toasted notes on the nose, toasted bread, a touch of yeast, good acidity, crisp, clean.

Raise a Glass!
This incredibly sippable wine is creamy, citric and nutty, with lovely mineral undercurrents. This powerhouse Chardonnay matches fabulously with summer’s squash bounty — squash ravioli or even baked delicata squash with parmesan. We say Chardon-yay!

The inaugural release of Gran Moraine Winery’s 2014 Blanc de Blancs Estate Sparkling Wine is that. From the Gran Moraine estate in Willamette Valley’s Yamhill-Carlton district, known for delivering fruit with a note of minerality, beautiful texture, vibrant acidity, and luscious flavor, the 100% Chardonnay sparkler is aged for 5 yrs, 9 months, en triage, or on the lees in the bottle before disgorgement. The time on the lees (yeasts) lends toasty, fresh-baked bread notes to the bubbly, melding harmoniously with lemon cream, soft herbs, ripe melon, pear, and tangerine. A wine to enjoy as an aperitif, and carry you through dinner with a nice gastronomic profile, showcasing anything from poached lobster or salmon, lemon risotto, spring souffle, or, of course, caviar. Only 152 cases of this beauty were produced. Let’s hope we see more in the future. #Cheers

GREAT VALUE
Kendall-Jackson Low Calorie Chardonnay 2021
(2 stars)
California, $16
Think of this as a slimmed-down cousin of Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve, one of the country’s favorite chardonnays. It’s got the same pineapple and peach flavors, but only 85 calories per 5-ounce serving. Compared to what? Well, we don’t have that on the label, but most wines tend to be around 110 to 120 calories, depending on the alcohol level. By reducing the alcohol to 9 percent, the winemakers have lowered the calories without a dramatic loss of flavor. Some stores may still have the 2020 vintage, labeled with the proprietary name Avant.

Under-$15 Chardonnays that Overdeliver for the Money
Let the naysayers claim that too much of this wine is produced to be any good, because here's the thing: It's really well-made, generous with tropical fruit, honeysuckle, candied ginger, and cinnamon-vanilla baked apples. Impressive.

Deep ruby-black color; blackberry, cherry on the nose; blackberry, dark cherry, raspberry jam, blueberry, peach, oak, pepper on the palate.
Dry; moderate tannins that perk up a bit toward the back of the palate; soft acidity. Full body. Thick and succulent in the mouth. This is legitimate “old vine zin”—the dry-farmed, low-yielding vines are 80-100 years old. Concentrated dark fruits with a counterpoint lift from the peach notes. Ripe fruits. Significant alcohol that influences the taste throughout the experience—16.1% ABV

Wine Of The Week: Gran Moraine Flavorscape Pinot Blanc
This bright and juicy orange wine from Oregon’s Gran Moraine is basically the wine equivalent of a Cosmo.
The seasons are shifting, and it’s the first weekend I’ve been able to lean into the luxury of having a pretty sweet rooftop patio. As such, I’m planning to pop bottles that encapsulate the season: sunny, bright, and breezy wines for sunny, breezy days.
Gran Moraine’s experimental Pinot Blanc is just that. While the Yamhill-Carlton winery’s regular offerings are full of incredibly elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, their Flavorscape line is where they get a little weird, experimenting with sparkling wines and skin-contact oranges.
This year’s experiment – a lightly orange pinot blanc – is just what you want to crack open on a sunny day: shimmery, salty, juicy, and slightly electric. It’s bouncy and bright, with slight tannins, a salty finish, and thirst-quenching notes of grapefruit and lime. Consider it the wine equivalent to a Cosmopolitan.

Aidy’s drinks cabinet: Seven perfect wines for a date night
A date-night round-up wouldn’t be complete without a dreamy Tuscan red and this wonder ticks all the right boxes. A French and Italian love affair, it’s quite frankly one of the best wines I’ve tasted this year. Rich tannins and deeply intense dark fruits combine to offer seductive flavours of dark chocolate, ripe cherries, rich black pepper coated raspberries and dark plums. There’s a long embracing finish of cedar spice and cherry compote that seems to never finish. It screams romance from the second the aromas lift from the glass. Make sure to set the scene — decanter and candles, definitely — as, given the (justified) high price, it’s one best saved for the very special nights.

6 of the Best Summer Wines, According to Sommeliers
If sparkling wine is more your style, “this premium sparkling Brut Rosé from La Crema is the perfect glass of bubbles to quench your thirst in the summertime heat,” Cohen says. Family-owned and operated La Crema might be better known for their chardonnay and pinot noir, but its high time their bubbly blend had its moment in the sun. “Made from pinot noir and chardonnay in the traditional method [of Champagne that’s made in that region of France], this serves up luxury all the way. This wine has bright red fruit notes of summer strawberries and raspberries,” Cohen explains.

Grey clay loam soils (Tarraford, Sexton and Applejack vineyards) and red clay loam (Primavera and Wombat Creek); vine age: 1988, 1997 and 2001 (it's a blend from these five vineyards). Wild fermented with solids in French oak puncheons (some new) and aged eight months in the same type of casks with 10% of barrels going through spontaneous malolactic fermentation.
A little unrevealing on the nose to start, developing juicy peachy notes with attractive zesty yeast-lees tones, concentrated and textured palate with nice crisp bite, once again the oak influence is understated, tight closed up finish; fairly delicate fine white with plenty of subtle flavours, needs a few months in bottle to round out and express itself more.