The 2012 Proprietary Red (3,847 cases) is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot that was aged in 30% new oak. It is a delicious, fruit-forward, delicate, Bordeaux-styled red revealing notes of blackcurrants, blueberries, licorice and earth. Medium to full-bodied, round and easygoing, it is best consumed over the next 7-8 years.

The 2009 Red Wine Sonoma County is dark, rich and enveloping. Black fruit, mocha, cloves, licorice, menthol and new leather explode from the glass in a huge, mouthfilling red. This dark, sumptuous Cabernet Sauvignon-based red is still incredibly primary. The 2009 can be enjoyed today for its intense fruit, while more tertiary notes are just beginning to develop. The 2009 is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec.

Cenyth's 2016 Sauvignon Blanc is bright, crisp and full of varietal character, with plenty of citrus, mineral and floral notes. The Sauvignon emerges from two parcels; one in the Chalk Hill District and the Jackson family's Alexander Mountain Estate. The 2016 was fermented mostly in steel, with a touch of new oak.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Panorama Vineyard First Row offers up aromas of wild berries, sweet soil and cocoa powder. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, velvety and layered, delicate and understated in style but attractively balanced and nicely concentrated. I'd expect this to improve with a year or two in bottle.

A solid performance, the firm, yet lively 2015 Carmel Road Pinot Noir delivers beautifully ripened black fruit aromas and flavors on the palate. The wine's smooth and rich finish makes it a natural with grilled hamburgers.

This vintage of a widely available bottling is a solid everyday sipper for the price, with aromas of star anise, fresh red cherry and snappy hibiscus punch. The palate is fresh and vibrant with raspberry fruit, thyme and white pepper dust, with a warm baking-spice note on the finish.

California Pinot Noir Light ruby color. Smells of tart strawberries, red cherries, McIntosh apple peel, along with rhubarb, cola and roasted coffee. Refreshing acidity on the palate, full-bodied with a chewy texture, and plenty of tangy cherries, raspberries, rich back cherries. Flavors of cola, rhubarb, rose hips, sweet tobacco, along with coffee, chestnut and vanilla. Packed with flavor but stays fresh. Aged 13 months in 20% new French oak.

There’s great amount of minerality on the nose of this bottling, with crushed slate and muddy soil aromas overcoming the mint herb and red-fruit scents. There’s minty lift right away on the sip, with bay leaf, fennel pollen and dusty leather flavors decorating the boysenberry fruit.

California Pinot Noir Medium ruby color. Nose of crisp raspberries, strawberries, juicy red cherries, along with rhubarb, roses, some sweet cola and light roast coffee. Zesty acidity on the palate, some nice but to the tannins, but also plenty of rich cranberry, raspberry and strawberry fruit. Notes of rhubarb, rose hips, along with coffee and dark chocolate. Delicious but complex. Aged 13 months in 20% new French oak.

Moderately light reddish purple color in the glass. This wine aims to please with ebullient aromas of cherry, spice and sandalwood and light to mid weight flavors centered on spiced cherry fruit. Easygoing, with cashmere tannins, a hint of oak seasoning, and a lingering, congenial finish. A great value.

Hints of earthiness and peat support the wine’s bright strawberry and cherry flavors. Lightly spiked with oak and vanilla, this Pinot Noir has just the right amount of acidity as well as a good glossy texture and generous finish.

An attractively fresh and cool nose features notes of various red berries that are liberally laced with plum, violet and discreet spice nuances. There is excellent richness to the suave, round and delicious medium-bodied flavors that possess very good mid-palate concentration, all wrapped in a long, balanced and nicely complex finale. This is quite generously proportioned yet the supporting acidity manages to keep everything in harmony. Note that while this should reward a few years of bottle age the lush mouth feel will allow it to be enjoyed young if desired.

This single-vineyard pinot from Carmel Road offers a nuance of earthy forest floor followed by notes of cherry and spice. Still showing the bite of youth on the finish, it should be ready to rock after another year or two in the bottle.

This meaty Pinot from Monterey's Arroyo Seco zone shows an earthy nose with hints of black cherry and plum. On the palate the fruit aromas are deep and complex, and the tension between ripeness and structure is well balanced. At $35 it represents exceptional value in top-notch Pinot Noir.

Bright red. A highly perfumed bouquet displays red berry preserves, potpourri and spice cake. Juicy, sharply focused red fruit flavors become tangier with air and pick up a more serious cherry pit quality in the mid-palate. Precise and incisive on the long, spicy finish. I like this wine's balance and clarity.

A big Pinot packed with berry flavor, robust, smoky. It's as rich as a flour-less chocolate cake with a thin layer of raspberry jam in the middle. Built for a steakhouse and rare filet mignon.

The 2001 Pinot Noir Monterey is a limited cuvee of 226 cases... it possesses a Morey-St.-Denis like bouquet of forest floor, strawberry, cherry, plum, and fig aromas. This medium-bodied, elegant, subtle but intensely flavorful Pinot Noir will drink well for 5-7 years. There are no hard edges to this youthful 2001.

Arroyo Seco adjoins the Santa Lucia Mountains and is known for its inexpensive red and white varieties. This is a focused yet delicate Riesling. There are orange blossom and honeysuckle rather than petrol aromas, but there is a clean minerality, and a very attractive lift on the finish.

Exotic, slightly musky aromas of pineapple, coconut, orange zest and spicy oak, plus an intriguing minerality. Supple, silky and seamless, with deep, persistent flavors of apple and honey. Long and perfumed on the aftertaste. Sexy Chardonnay, from a crop level a good 25% lower than normal for this wine.

The all-stainless steel fermented and aged 2008 Chardonnay Liberated is outstanding. Notes of lemon custard, honeyed citrus, and white currants jump from the glass of this medium to full-bodied, light straw-colored wine. Elegant, pure, and impressively textured, this is a Chardonnay to drink over the next 1-2 years.

I was also impressed with Carmel Road's 2008 Chardonnay Monterey. With a light greenish hue to its color and loads of tropical fruit intermixed with a hint of orange blossom, this medium-bodied Chardonnay is not as weighty as the Arroyo Seco, but it's tasty in a medium-bodied, fresh, lively, cool-climate style.

This may be the first time I've ever thought of a wine in terms of ballet, but as I tasted this Chardonnay I began to think that both need certain things to achieve success. Balance is vital, of course, to the wine and dance (we don't want the ballerina toppling off her toes, or the wine thrown off kilter by oak and/or alcohol). Complexity is likewise important (whether in choreography or flavor profile) and, ideally, passion will be showing through as well as basic skill. The Carmel Road Chardonnay succeeds on all counts: luscious fruit is well balanced between oak and the minerality that often characterizes this region's Chardonnay; the alcohol is well integrated into the body of the wine; the texture is full and lush without being heavy (weighty wines often appeal for a short time, but eventually fatigue the palate). All in all, I'd say this wine deserves a standing ovation.

Very ripe and new oaky, but the acidity is so vibrant, it provides the much-needed balance kick. Flavor-wise, this Chard is a blast of orange Slurpee, pineapple tart, vanilla crème brûlée and cinnamon spice. It sure is an easy wine to drink.

Remarkably rich and distinctive for its depth and purity of flavor. The core apple, honeydew melon and pear flavors are ripe and vibrant, with excellent concentration and length. Finishes with a hint of toasty oak, which adds a nice dimension. Drink now through 2008.