A suave pinot noir that your boss can drink now or cellar. Look for a fresh cherry/berry nose with super bright fruit flavours. Likely and supple with silky tannins and a touch of tea leaves in the finish. Excellent. Should be a restaurant standard. Pair with turkey or salmon.

Tight and tense in its grapey youth, this needs time for its impressive length of flavor to evolve. Stash it away for two or three years then serve with roast partridge.

Expressive black cherry licorice cola compost aromas waft out of the glass. Definitely cherry plum and vanilla flavours with creamy smoke and just a dusting of tannin. Quite a spicy aftertaste. Despite an open top fermentation regime with punch downs four times a day and nine months barrel ageing in 44 per cent French oak barrels this unfiltered and unfined pinot is extremely elegant.

This is deep and earthy, with leather and herbal accents. A powdery quality softens the full-blast cherry and plum fruit, which carries a touch of cola and oaky vanilla. The finish is top-shelf, with citrus peel, tea, dried spices, espresso and burnt toast. It's simultaneously rustic yet refined; the perfect match. Editor's Choice

If never less than wholly ripened, this sleek and stylish youngster counts balance and brightness among its chief assets and is ever keyed on nicely focused fruit. Its creamy oak plays a supporting role to its larger themes of sweet cherries, and the unexpected presence of a bit of finishing heat does little to distract from its inviting message of lively fruit.

A conserve of blueberry and orange zest, this wine is pure fruit up front, then a wallop of tannin in the end. Potent, wild syrah, you could tame that power and make use of the wine's acidity with marlin in a red wine sauce.

This attractive, keenly focused offering reminds me that Syrah need not always key on runaway ripeness and heavy-handed extracts to achieve richness, and its precise, carefully composed display of berries, violets, pepper cream and spice is both complex and deceptively potent without ever being overblown. Moderately full-bodied, nominally tannic and firmed by a streak of nicely fit acidity, it steers clear of any undue heat or finishing toughness and should reach its peak in four or five years.

As its name indicates,the 1999 Chardonnay Nine Barrels is a selection of the finest Chardonnay barrels. Its attractive bouquet of peaches, acacia flowers, and hazelnuts is followed by a medium to full-bodied wine with ripe, nicely layered flavors.

This appealing Chardonnay is the same wine that carried a reserve designation in prior vintages. It's lushly woven and has aromas and flavors of pear, pineapple and peach. The fruit is rich but not overly sweet, and sports accents of cinnamon and allspice. This balanced, medium-weight wine finishes long and easy with nice nuttiness.

Rich aromas of apple fruit with toasty vanillin oak and earthy notes. Fat and full on the palate, with creamy butterscotch flavors and smoky edges. Long, crème brulee finish.

A Meursault-like, medium-bodied wine, with green-apple, peach and pear aromas. Smoky and oaky, with rich, soft, spicy flavors. Flashy and opulent.

"Remarkable for its creamy peach and pear flavors, it picks up a nice smoke and toast nuance and then keeps the flavors lively through its long, complex finish." (Also appeared 6/15/97).

Buttery richness accents the apple pastry, ripe pear and dried mango flavors in this creamy style. The spicy finish offers savory notes.

Full and rich, this has a sizable concentration of guava, pineapple and lime, the latter offering a hint of underlying freshness. The finish is big, yet tangled in acidity.

Moderately light golden yellow color in the glass. Aromas of lemon zest, white peach warm brioche and toast lead off. A riper, luscious style featuring flavors of lemon, pineapple and honey. Slightly creamy in the mouth in a lower acid-driven style that seduces with richness and ripeness. Oak is involved but is not overbearing.

The 2016 Chardonnay has a more exotic as well as a deeper set of aromas and flavors. Orange blossom, buttered citrus, mango, and floral notes all emerge from this rich, nicely textured Chardonnay that’s ideal for drinking over the coming year or two.

8 California Chardonnays at 90+ Points Poached pear and apple tart flavors are rich and well-crafted in this creamy style. White chocolate hints show on the crisp finish.

Rich and spicy, with plush flavors of apple pastry, ripe pear and honeydew melon. The long finish offers tropical fruit and buttery accents.

Offers complex fruit from the get-go, with tangerine, nectarine and white peach notes at the core. Lively acidity keeps the flavors moving.

Balanced and fruity, with juicy apricot, pear and guava flavors.

Balanced and fruity, with juicy apricot, pear and guava flavors, accented by spice hints. Creamy notes linger on the pastry-filled finish.

Balanced and fruity, with juicy apricot, pear and guava flavors, accented by spice hints. Creamy notes linger on the pastry-filled finish.

La Crema's Kelli Ann Vineyard chard embraces the new style that seems to be catching on throughout California. The wine is rich and oily, but not heavy, retaining the balance that chardonnay aficionados increasingly demand. This wine shows notes of lemon creme and pear, with a solid dose of wood spice.

Oak figures in nicely, with a kiss of smoke and toast amid green apple, citrus, pear and honeydew notes, making for a complex and cleansing drink.

Opening with beautiful aromatics, this wine has a heady invitation of orange and apple blossom before revealing a sublime texture and rich oak. Pillowy on the palate, it offers Asian pear and apple flavors, with a slight confectionery quality of crème brûlée.