The 2021 Matanzas Creek Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc opens with an inviting aroma of melon, tropical fruit and a little bit of a herbal/grassy note.
Taking a sip reveals a rich, delicious and balanced wine with a smooth mouthfeel and good acidity. It features similar flavors to the nose with the tropical fruit dominating in the mouth.
It ends crisp, dry and very long on the lip-smacking finish. This is really good Sauvignon Blanc.

Finding the right wine gift takes some time and thought
THE BOSS
Never an easy pick, it should look spendy — hint: excellent packaging — but be reasonable in price. We have two choices, one red and one white from the same producer and both from Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. The Giant Steps 2020 Chardonnay, is rich in a Burgundian Grand Cru way but not overpowering. The Giant Steps 2020 Pinot Noir, is a wow wine that is simply delicious. You could pair them up if you really need a promotion.

Finding the right wine gift takes some time and thought
THE BOSS
Never an easy pick, it should look spendy — hint: excellent packaging — but be reasonable in price. We have two choices, one red and one white from the same producer and both from Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. The Giant Steps 2020 Chardonnay, is rich in a Burgundian Grand Cru way but not overpowering. The Giant Steps 2020 Pinot Noir, is a wow wine that is simply delicious. You could pair them up if you really need a promotion.

Mostly a muted nose, but a bit of fruit that is mostly dark cherry. Nice wave of fruit on the palate, a bit light in tartness (but I nitpick), with a lingering finish. Excellent.

Green apple, lemon zest and herb, lavender and sea spray. It’s tangy and crunchy in texture, good grip and lively acidity, saline with sour green apple and real lemonade flavour and a dry and flinty texture closing out a finish of good length and energy. Excellent.

Best Wines To Enjoy This Holiday Season
Named after the Babylonian goddess of wine, this winemaker has spent the last twenty eight years focused on one driving goal, to create the finest Pinot Noirs ever. They have come pretty dame close with this exquisite bottle assembled from grapes primarily from the Santa Rita Hills region. Barrel blended using whole cluster and destemmed grapes it’s a wine filled with ripe raspberry and plum flavors with a smooth finish.

Beautiful translucent ruby, wonderful fruit on the nose, close to a black cherry Kool-Aid, along with earth and mineral notes. Quite dry and fruity, great depth, really fantastic. Outstanding.

One of the better noses in the tasting of 55 Pinots, with lovely red berry fruit. The palate is quite fruity, ripe, and creamy. Really fantastic. Outstanding.

Quite tart and sour on the nose. Some fruit, but a bit hidden. Weighty on the palate, on the verge of heavy. Thick rich fruit, pretty good balance, certainly on the big end of Pinot Noir. Not my style, but I really like it. Excellent.

A bit on the dark side when it comes to Pinot Noir but still translucent. Dark earth on the nose with dark berry fruit. Dark on the palate as well with bright acid and earth. Nice. Excellent.

Plenty of earth on the nose but rather faint fruit, dark in color for a Pinot Noir. Really nice fruit, however, on the palate with nice balance and a bit on the sour side. Nice. Excellent.

Meaty, smoky, savory nose. Fruity on the palate but that meaty thing is still prevalent here, too, quite savory. Very Good.

Fruity, Cherry Jolly Rancher on the nose. Rather non-descript on the palate, with very light fruit, and a light dose of acidity. Very Good.

Ex 1946 Blewitt Springs bush vines planted in a deep sandy dune that Yangarra call The Beach; dry-grown, bunch-sorted, wild yeast, open fermented and basket pressed. Bright clear though deep crimson hue; scented/perfumed, and I'm gone for all money without even tasting it. And I haven't fooled myself. Except why on earth is is only $45? Its red fruit sundae glistens with dew drops on a spider's web, yet also has a savoury echo towards the finish.

Wines for Thanksgiving
Pleasing in all dimensions but outstanding on the palate with impressive strength, body, fruit and personality, as well as excellent complexity and refinement. Moreover, its long-lingering length provides a memorable finish.

Medium ruby in colour, there’s deep cherry, red licorice and plum aromas that come with subtle pepper and earth notes. It’s dry and medium bodied, with ripe cherry, raspberry and plum flavours bordering on confected but saved by light tannins and acidity, while a hint of spice comes with some heat from the oak aging and 13.5 per cent alcohol. A decent example of Pinot Noir for those who like things more concentrated and extracted.

For those who prefer white wines, this bright and crisp Chardonnay is ideal for white meat turkey and lighter garnishes. It also combines perfectly with desserts. A glass of this wine could stand alone as a dessert, with its aromas of baked apple, graham cracker and Meyer lemon , Asian pear and mineral notes.

This Pinot Noir will complement any item on the menu. It is a wine with aromas of blackberry, cherry, leather and tobacco, and flavors of red cherry, raspberry and blackberry. Subtle hints of espresso and cocoa beans underpin notes of exotic spices and toast, making it the ideal accompaniment to any of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

11 wines to gift and celebrate with this holiday season
With summer now just a distant memory, many wine lovers are transitioning their go-to-wines for the upcoming cool months. La Crema produces some of the best wines for their price points out of Northern California, with footprints in Sonoma and Monterey Bay. These chards are crisp enough to cool you down but are still structured and complex. The 2019 vintage, especially presents balanced acidity, with fall-friendly notes of baked apple, brioche, and Asian pear.

Juicy raspberry and cherry, aniseed, with a stony ferrous edge, dried flowers and chamomile. Medium-bodied, red fruits with a sappy and savoury edge, tannin is firm and stony, plenty of red berry flavour, though keeps itself pretty neat, with supple grip on a very long and bright finish. Tannin is a highlight. Kind of jubey as at now, though its future feels assured. Excellent.

Meaty, minty, a bit of truffle, black fruit and spice. This is distinctly savoury, kind of truffle and meat thing, with a sappy and slightly vegetal character, though does sport some cherry and banana fruit flavours. Finish is pretty grainy and firm, with a twist of amaro, and spiciness. It’s a wine of interest, for sure, and has no shortage of character.

Obtained from 100% Cabernet Franc, the Arcanum 2016 ages in barriques (80% new) for 12 months. Son of an excellent vintage at these latitudes, it offers aromas of various timbres, from ripe berries to cedar, from resin to licorice, from balsamic herbs to tobacco, from undergrowth to spices. Material and powerful on the palate, it has a juicy and balanced development, well played between the dense tannic articulation and the acidic fragrance, which accentuates a long and persistent finish with both fruity and balsamic returns.

Easier-than-pie Thanksgiving wine choices
The 2020 Siduri Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir is spicy, dark and woodsy, with raspberry fruit and fine tannins.

What a great word archetypal is. Although it’s one of those words that annoying wine writers like me use, but most normal humans would never put in a sentence.
‘Yeah, Matt is the archetypal builder now he has a Ford Ranger’.
No one says that.
Anyway, archetypal is how to describe this Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz 2019, which is everything you’d want in a McLaren Vale Shiraz – a big, chunky, mid-palate driven Shiraz of real flavour volume.
Now, Ironheart comes off Block 15 on the Yangarra property, which has ironstone gravel soils. Power of suggestion, but I can see the ferrous ironstone here. Plush purple fruit, but compact in a warm year style (rather than open and juicy) if a little drying at the edges. That purple fruit volume is proper flagship-level stuff – a flow of Ribena and plum, with thick cut tannins, a kick of alcohol warmth and chew through the finish.
Long, powerful and mouthfilling, this is an impressive Shiraz.
Best drinking: go now or in a decade. Your choice!
Would I buy it? Well worth a bottle.