Wine Press - California wineries that survived Prohibition 100 years ago Clean, bright finish abounding with subtle, fruit flavors, especially fresh raspberries. Fragrant, fleshy, flavorful wine. An absolute delight straight out of the bottle to the last drop.

Recommended wine: 2017 La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

11 Stellar Low-Alcohol Wines That Will Change How You Think About Low-Alcohol Wines This Cabernet Franc–based blend from Vérité offers gorgeous aromatics—rose petals over blackberry liqueur and fresh mint. Juicy dark berry and plum flavors are laced with baking spices, and fine-grained tannins are delivered with perfect tension in this bright, balanced wine.

11 Stellar Low-Alcohol Wines That Will Change How You Think About Low-Alcohol Wines No “wimpy Merlot,” this bright and elegant version from Hickinbotham’s winemaker Chris Carpenter (Cardinale, Lokoya) has a firm but integrated backbone of tannin underlying fresh cherry, raspberry, and cassis layered with notes of violets, dark chocolate, and crushed herbs.

A tasty sauvignon blanc with notes of grapefruit, lemongrass and honeysuckle. Balanced, with nice minerality. Pretty. 4 stars.

Toasting Valentine's Day Today on KXAS-TV/NBC DFW Pinot Noir is the red wine I can drink every day. Lush, vibrant, earthy, and powerful, yet fruit-filled, rustic, balanced, and delicious. With simply gorgeous fruit, Gran Moraine Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir is a captivating wine with expressive notes of purple flowers, wild cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate.

I love a good Chardonnay to wind down in the evening and right now this beauty from Oregon is the one. Deriving from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, this rich, fruity and balanced Chard is teaming with flavor and the most important thing for me in a wine like this – texture. Some people love oak, others don’t, but for me this has the perfect in-between balance for a well-rounded and quality driven Chardonnay. Rich but not overpowering, you can expect to taste apricot, buttery lemon, kiwis and clementines. For those who love Chardonnay, this is for you. For those who don’t, I’d dare say it will convert you.

Inky purple in the glass, this wine smells of ripe black cherry and cassis and a hint of new oak. In the mouth, lush ripe black cherry and cassis flavors are quite light on their feet thanks to excellent acidity. Gorgeous tobacco and cola notes swirl amidst velvety tannins. There's a faint heat in the finish. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5.

Here’s an example of a single-vineyard driven “personality” wine. Shell Ridge, named for ancient sea shells found in its sandy soils, sits shorter and in the middle of two higher coastal ridges that get most of the ocean’s breezy brunt. A rainy growing season depressed yields but McAllister said Shell Ridge’s warmer site produced higher concentrated fruit. The intensity carries over in this ruby-colored wine with immense blackberry, cranberry-orange and licorice flavors. The texture is refined, soft. A distinctive Shell Ridge minerality emerges on a mouthwatering finish.

McAllister says day-night temperature swings of 40-50 degrees are common in the nine coastal vineyards where the wine’s grapes are sourced. The cooling process reduces “heat” hours, leading to the pinot noir’s slow, steady, deeper development. There’s no mistaking La Crema’s trademark richness here, with bright cherry-plum notes on a velvety fame. A nice cola kick adds to the long finish.

Gravelly loam and clay make up the soils of the fog-shrouded 264-acre vineyard devoted to mostly chardonnay. Four clonal types were primarily selected in this vintage to provide unique traits of green apple, stone fruit, fragrance and minerality. Aged nine months in French oak (27% new), the wine is elegantly smooth, vibrant and flavorful (apple and lemon). It finishes with an appealing hazelnut note.

Best Buys in the Market, 1 star When the discussion turns to white wines long on value, Sauvignon Blanc remains among the very best...while the * MATANZAS CREEK Alexander Valley 2017...are balanced, solidly varietal bottlings that give equal play to fresh fruit and herbs.

Estate of Arceno, Sense of Place Valadorna, on the other hand, is a blend based on Merlot grapes (61%), mainly from the Valadorna and Capraia vineyards, with 19% Cabernet Franc, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot ( 6%). A wine that significantly conveys the complexity and richness of the terroir. Notes of morello cherry, black figs and the sweetness of brown sugar are part of scents that taste like earth, iron and graphite. A rich and velvety wine with a full palate, a long and persistent finish characterized by the use of a new and of a second-hand French oak barrel.

Estate of Arceno, Sense of Place All the tastes of the Bordeaux blends that embody the diversity of the estate, are superb, in particular the Di Sotto, Curva, Colombaio and San Giovanni vineyards that originate Il Fauno di Arcanum and Valadorna Igt Toscana. The first, Bordelais blend, with a prevalence of Merlot (51%), 31% of Cabernet Franc, 17% of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% of Petit Verdot, is a balsamic wine with scents of aromatic herbs, mint and cedar. The velvety tannin meets a decidedly persistent finish.

Estate of Arceno, Sense of Place In contrast (it is an absolute preview in tasting) Arcanum Igt 2016, 100% Cabernet Franc. A small number of bottles produced from about one hectare of vineyards. Wine of great charm and elegance, particularly suitable for long aging but pleasant even when young with its aromas of violet, rose and delicate spicy notes. At the nose dark fruits, black currants and berries are dominant. The palate is an explosion of cocoa and coffee, the fruit is well defined, the tannins are complete.

Estate of Arceno, Sense of Place Sangiovese find its full expression in Strada al Sasso, a vineyard planted in 1998, from which the Gran Selezione comes, the perhaps most intense and deep wine of Tenuta di Arceno. Complex wine, an olfactory palette of black fruits, undergrowth, bay leaves, roasted coffee aromas, nutmeg. On the palate it is dense and concentrated, fresh and savory. The acidity is typical of Sangiovese.

Zinfandel one of the best values in wine Good values for everyday: Edmeades. Established in 1972, Edmeades has long been respected as a zinfandel specialist, even as the winery has branched out to other varieties. The 2016 Mendocino County has juicy raspberry, admirable depth and a touch of herb.

Intense, sweet, deep zin, with soft contours, complex fruit.

Best Edmeades I've had in years, deep, rich, quality fruit.

Incredible zin, very fine grained, detailed, spicy, vibrant, elegant.

The Ultimate Valentine’s Day Guide To Celebrate All Things Love The acidity found in unoaked Chardonnays stands up well to sweet caramel, while traditional California Chardonnays offer strong oak, buttery notes that pairs perfectly with creamy desserts like banana cream pie or vanilla pudding. Choose either a newfound favorite like the classic Vintner’s Reserve.

The Ultimate Valentine’s Day Guide To Celebrate All Things Love Fresh, fruit-forward wines are the perfect pairing for this Valentines (or Galentine’s) Day — sip on a grapefruit and strawberry forward rosé like Kendall-Jackson’s 2018 Vintner’s Reserve Rosé and pair it with your favorite charcuterie plate combination.

Well aren't you adorbs. Here we have a really nice American Cab that’s wrapped up in a nice little package checking off all the boxes; and it’s only a little over twenty bucks. Dark fruit vibes, check. Cracked black pepper woven in, check. Good tannin structure that is prominent but blended well, check. If you bring this to any gathering let’em know who brought it and tell’em VinePair sent ya. B+.

Try these great winter wines to get you through to spring Another winner from Jackson Family Wines founded by the late Jess Jackson, this wine is 87 percent cabernet sauvignon with the balance filled out by cabernet franc, malbec, and petite verdot. Cassis and black cherry elements with a hint of chocolate form the core of this classically made wine. Although approachable now this wine will age gracefully for 10-plus years.

New Year, New You How Cocooning Can Help You Relax in 2020 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon recommended during the segment.