Smells like blackberry jam with a whiff of vanilla and some earth. Solid balance on the palate with a nice, quiet, tannic grip. The fruit core is rich and focused. This is a good Cali Cab; it checks all the boxes.

This wine is still softening and reducing to its peak, but it's drinking well now. The deep fruit core has a nice weight on the palate. The aromas of blackberries and soil are starting to emerge. This is a wine for protein — and a lot of it. A big ol’ steak is on the menu here.

Great, everyday Cab. It smells like blackberries in fresh soil with a hint of vanilla. The palate is juicy and round with good acidity (there is def some Merlot in this wine). A great casual sipper to pair with a lean steak.

La Crema gathers chardonnay grown in vineyards across Monterey, Calif., to produce this fresh and nicely layered chardonnay. Warmer vineyards in the south offer more tropical fruit flavours, while cooler northern vineyards provide pure peach and citrus notes. Those fruit flavours take centre stage here and are nicely rounded out with some subtle creamy and spicy notes from aging in oak barrels. Drink now to 2023.

There’s savory richness to the dried cherry and berry flavors that are flanked by minerally accents, with restrained spiciness on the crisp, direct finish. Drink now through 2024.

An elegant red, offering understated cherry, berry and cranberry flavors that gain momentum, with green tea, forrest floor and blood orange details and silky tannins. Ends with notes of cedar and tobacco on the long finish. Drink now through 2035.

Made from old-vine grapes grown at Jolene's and Fanucchi vineyards this wine was then fortified with Germain-Robin brandy. Viscous, unctuous and softly textured, it tastes of blackberry cobbler, nutmeg, gingerbread and Christmas spice.

With an oak-driven beginning, this white shows nicely balanced layers of salty lemon rind, honeycomb and fig, with a complement of acidity.

Light yellow color. Ooh, so inviting on the nose: lemon and orange peels, sea salt, crushed shells, honeycomb and mild butter. Precise acidity with generous texture. Ripe and nuanced with lemon curd, orange peel and kiwi, this is delicate and fresh with accents of chalk, sea salt, hay, almond, some nuanced honey and ginger. Refined, zippy and lovely. Sourced from Maple Grove, Gran Moraine, Zena Crown and other vineyards, aged 10 months in 25% new French oak. This is Siduri’s first shot at Chardonnay, and they rocked it.

89-91. Barrel sample. Spicy new wood dominates this wine, with the weight of fruit to justify it. It's solid, full-bodied and already balanced.

Blackberries, plums, dried figs, herbs and dark chocolate on the nose. It’s full-bodied with chewy tannins and a grainy texture. Some toasted nuts on the finish. Drink now.

A graceful white, offering a lithe spine of acidity, layered with a creamy mix of nectarine, Golden Delicious apple, elderflower and ground ginger. Rich hints of toasted almond and fleur de sel emerge on the finish. Drink now through 2025.

This pale salmon colored wine open with an inviting watermelon and wet stone bouquet with hints of ripe nectarine. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, round and nicely coats your mouth for a Rose. The flavor profile is a tasty mineral infused gentle tangerine and watermelon blend with hints of lime zest and nectarine. The finish is dry and refreshing. The Panel would certainly sip this Rose on the porch on a hot summer day. With food, we would pair it with a grilled fish taco or poached trout.

A juicy style, with accents of dried savory herbs to the apple and green pear flavors. Shows hints of white currant on the ripe, spicy finish. Drink now through 2024.

It is in the most difficult vintages that you see the winemaker's hand; the length on this wine comes not from the depth of the fruit but from the gentle spicy notes of nutmeg and white pepper. Raspberry leaf and smoked earth comes through as things open. Helped in this vintage by the fact that the Seillans live on site at Serilhan, making it easier to treat at weekends, and this was a vintage when you certainly needed to do that.

The fruit of 100-year-old vines treated to nine months in French oak barrels (43 percent new), this is a heady wine packed with fruit tannins and fruity black-mushroom umami notes. It has the primary flavors of freshly stomped grapes, enjoyable in its youth with grilled shitakes or beef with black trumpets. Best suited to several years of bottle age for the fruit to mature.

Pale straw in the glass, the 2018 Chardonnay Silene opens with beautiful aromas of cardamom madeleines, yellow apple, crème brûlée and sweet lemon pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is fresh and vibrant with a balanced structure, lively acidity and oak tones woven through the mid-palate. The wine concludes with a bright finish of soft, nutty flavors of almond and a lingering tone of lemon panna cotta.

This medium ruby colored Pinot Noir opens with a boysenberry and black cherry bouquet with hints of moist peat moss, wild mushrooms and black plum. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, nicely balanced and soft. The flavor profile is a tasty crushed stone, tart cherry and toasted oak blend with notes of red plum. We also detected hints of dried herbs. The finish is dry and drifts away nicely. The Panel would pair this Pinot with roasted quail with Pinot Noir sauce or with cast iron pan-roasted chicken breasts.

This pale straw-colored Sauvignon Blanc opens with a lemon-lime and mild yellow grapefruit bouquet with hints of honeydew melon. On the palate, this wine is light plus bodied, nicely balanced, pretty and delicate. The flavor profile is a gentle grapefruit and mild stony minerality blend with hints of lime, green apple and white pepper. The finish is dry and pleasantly refreshing. The Panel would pair this Sauvignon Blanc with fried walleye or sushi.

The 2018 Syrah Tous Ensemble is an attractive, affordable wine that delivers the goods. Readers will find a Syrah that delivers the savory, earthy style that is so typical of Mendocino. Vineyard sites are High Rock and Hawkes Butte. The Tous Ensemble is a bit rustic, but long on character.

The 2018 Grenache Brosseau is a bright, punchy wine. Sweet red cherry, hard candy, orange peel and sweet spice give the 2018 a decidedly exotic character.

The 2018 Chardonnay Tous Ensemble is a blend of mostly younger vines on the Sonoma Coast. Lemon confit, marzipan, chamomile and dried flowers all grace this expressive entry-level Chardonnay. The 2018 balances fruit richness and energy, while avoiding some of the austerity of the recent past.

It is year 19 for the Viognier label, and it arrives with a great flavour profile. It is 92 percent fermented in Stainless steel for freshness, with an additional 8 percent fermenting in a concrete egg to add some texture and mouthfeel to the finished wine. The growing season started cool before moving to a warmer than average summer followed by a cool finish — perhaps best for tuning all of the viognier’s panoply of flavours to a perfect pitch. Look for an exotic orange blossom and jasmine nose that spills across the palate that adds some green apple freshness and subtle notes of bitter lime for complexing — a delicious and stylish viognier that walks the tightrope of richness and leanness to a tee.

Tenuta di Arceno managed to succeed in a difficult vintage. Their bold style worked well in 2017 because they captured ripeness, good acidity and suave tannins simultaneously. Though rich and fruity, a subtly haunting bitterness in the finish reminds us, thankfully, it’s not just about fruit. There’s a lot of herbal earthy notes and energy to complement those juicy cherry-like flavors. This Riserva, unlike many, is ready to drink now because the tannins are finely polished and not intrusive. Still, a hearty beef dish would be a good match.

Mid-straw in colour, with some bronze tints. The aromas are of wheat, hessian, nuts and haybales, really savoury and expressive. The palate is mid-weight, with flavours of white peach and apricot kernel, there's also a nuttiness and a hint of honey. The wine has a little phenolic grip and combined with the acidity, it gives excellent structure and savouriness to the finish.