From a site adjacent to Cobb Coastlands Vineyard that looks out over the ocean, the 2022 Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard pours a ripe yellow/golden color. On the nose, it offers savory and resinous aromas of beeswax, sea spray, lime, and fresh peach. Medium to fullbodied, it has very nice length, a pithy texture, a savory feel, and a long finish. It’s going to show its best over the next 8-10 years.

Ripe yellow/straw in color, the 2022 Chardonnay Fog Dance Vineyard comes from an estate site just south of the winery on fine-loam Goldridge soil. It’s ripe with aromas of gunflint on the nose, with deeper notes of melon rind and a hint of tropical fruit. Medium to full-bodied, it has a wonderful chalky texture and a weightless feel, with a lovely fresh, perfume that lasts on the finish. A gorgeous offering with a lot of appeal now, it’s going to hold on over the next 10 years,

Moving to the West Sonoma Coast (about 4-5 miles inward from the ocean), the 2022 Chardonnay Far Coast Vineyard boasts has a decadent feel but is not heavy. On the nose, it reveals bright, lifted notes of chalky earth, saline, citrus zest, white peach, honeycomb, and fresh flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it has a lovely freshness, with a kiss of sweet fruit through the finish. It has a lovely, savory, and mouthwatering feel without feeling austere and retains its rounded viscous texture, with notes of almond on the finish. Drink it over the next 6-8 years.

Like this wine’s Chardonnay counterpart of the same name, the 2022 Pinot Noir Warrior Princess comes from Zena Crown Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills of the Willamette Valley. In the glass, it’s a youthful ruby hue and is floral and ripe with notes of framboise, red apple, violets, brown spice, and pine. I love this site, which provides a fresh lift and mouthwatering feel through the palate, with ripe tannins and a linear feel. It retains its good ripeness and is going to age gracefully over the next 10 years.

The 2022 Pinot Noir Muldune Trail is also from the Anderson Valley and pours a more saturated red/magenta color. On the nose, it boasts deeper notes of woodsy spice, polished cedar, toasted incense, black cherries, and dark soil. Medium to full-bodied, it offers an equally rich structure and an earthy tone, with rich, broad tannins and earthy notes of black tea on the finish. This one is going to benefit another year or so and will drink well 2025-2040.

The deep ruby/magenta 2022 Pinot Noir MacLean's Block comes from a vineyard that lies just east of the town of Occidental, and the 2022 returns to its hallmark Russian River Valley personality. Aged in 5% new French oak for 16 months before bottling, it’s generous on the nose with notes of toasted cedar, sassafras, woodsy spice, and black cherry. Leaning toward full-bodied, it fills the palate with good purity and ripeness and a long finish that builds. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.

Pouring a ripe ruby red color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Hailey's Block comes from a colder area of low-lying vineyards in the Green Valley and offers a much spicier profile, revealing notes of cedar, cinnamon, wild strawberries, and potpourri. It displays good linear intensity on the palate, with lovely, focused purity, fine, well-defined tannins, and a kiss of juicy fruit throughout the finish. A very charming wine with a good deal of longevity ahead, enjoy it 2025-2040.

Detailed and “of somewhere” (in this case, the cool hills of Clarendon in McLaren Vale), this beauty opens with heady aromas of raspberry coulis, beef jerky, Chinese five spice, mint chocolate and dried florals. It’s a powerful wine but a shapely one, slinking around the tongue—the spiced red-berry flavors fresh, silky and persistent, even within a frame of muscular, sinewy tannins. Drink now through 2040. Cellar Selection.

Lovely layers of rich Bing cherry, cinnamon, mace and bay leaf aromas waft through the inviting nose of this bottling. The palate lands with a body that’s somehow both enveloping and light on its feet, showing snappy fruit and warm spice flavors. 

With notes of perfumed blood orange preserves and mulled kirsch leading the way, this stylish version's elegant, well-embedded acidity lets a backdrop of singed anise, savory and iris notes develop steadily, adding length and range through the finish. This is approachable but feels like it could easily cruise for a while. Drink now through 2037. From California.

From Block 12 on a southeast-facing sandy ironstone outcrop; 15% whole bunches, the rest crushed; matured in French and Austrian foudre for 18 months. A very Rhône-like release this, with peppery spicing, blackberry pastille, moody blue florals, lavender, blueberry, cocoa powder and freshly ground star anise. The elegance here is admirable, with a tannin drive from front to back, and no sweet spot. A very fine release.

This is sourced from a vineyard alongside the High Sands Block and planted in 1946. It’s a bright medium bodied wine exuding so much life and energy. Interestingly no oak has been used and the wine fermented and matured only in ceramic eggs. It’s an elegant style of great purity and power. A fine minerally acidity will ensure cellaring potential.

A thoroughly beautiful perfumed grenache from the Clarendon. Peter Fraser’s winemaking has been deliberately subtle and underplayed to ensure the beautifully flavoursome medium bodied fruit is expressed to perfection. The fruit retains a pristine purity which stems from the decision not to include pressings. Has a slight grainy mouthfeel capturing the slightly earthy varietal influence. Beautiful.

Gosh, this is an interesting wine loaded with interesting varieties. It’s grenache blanc, roussanne, picpoul, bourboulenc and clairette. A mix of ceramic eggs and whole bunch basket pressing, and skin contact before 4-month maturation in a ceramic egg. What you get is a beautiful fruit friendly wine of texture and layered complexity. A sprinkle of dried herbs and spices adds further complexity. So perfectly weighted.

With notes of perfumed blood orange preserves and mulled kirsch leading the way, this stylish version's elegant, well-embedded acidity lets a backdrop of singed anise, savory and iris notes develop steadily, adding length and range through the finish. This is approachable but feels like it could easily cruise for a while. Drink now through 2037. From California.—J.M.

When it comes to Chardonnay, Australia hits the ball way out of the park. The sheer number of exceptional Australian Chardonnays is amazing. This is one of them. The Giant Steps’ “Sexton” Chardonnay opens with enticing aromas of homemade bread coming out of the oven. From there, the wine is rich, earthy, savory, and has wave after wave of flavor. The finish is beautifully long. If you love opulent Chardonnays that are refined too, this is for you.

The 2019 Fijnbosch Chardonnay greets with oaky and flinty nuances, accompanied by notes of nuts and lees. Expensive oak wafts from the glass with hints of graham crackers, yellow apples and popcorn kernel. Medium to full-bodied, the wine expands on the palate to reveal great complexity and freshness, with hints of wild brush and citrusy blossoms. Impressive weight and longevity are apparent, with a long, spicy finish. Yum! This wine is collectible stuff!

Made in a definite Burgundian style and sourced from the prime growing area in Sonoma, there are predominant aromas and flavors of raspberry, enhanced by rose petal and cedar notes. Jammy flavors abound, including plum and black cherry with hints of mocha and silky tannins on the finish.

This wine exhibits a wildly exotic nose of orange blossom, candied lemon peel and cherry lollipop that evolves with every swirl. The medium bodied palate dazzles with vibrant acidity, juicy red fruit and plenty of length. Expect this beauty to age marvelously for a decade or more. Drink 2025–2035. Cellar Selection.

From an 800 m vineyard with grey soils. Clones Abel, MV6, Pommard, 114, 115. There’s a lovely purity of fruit here: raspberry and strawberry with nice spicy notes. There’s a richness and silkiness but also some nice tannin. Lovely fruit presence with really fine structure, as well as hints of beetroot and plum, and fine pepper notes. Stays elegant but has ageing potential.

This is in the upper Yarra, which is more sparsely planted, and is a sloping vineyard. Planted with a sparkling clone. Giant Steps are working on the canopy structure here trying to shelter the fruit, because they don’t like sunny skins on Chardonnay. It’s a 13 hectare vineyard with 2 hectares of Chardonnay. Restrained on the nose with hazelnut and almond, as well as some apple skin, some mealy hints, and delicate lemon. Linear and focused on the palate with good fruit, nice freshness and a sort of tension.

This is the home vineyard, planted in 1997, and it’s a 30 hectare site with 12 hectares of Chardonnay. Because of Phil Sexton’s connection to Margaret River he wanted to plant gin gin clone, but Melanie thinks that there’s a lot of Mendoza clone, which is quite similar, as well as some true gin gin. There’s also some of the Bernard clones, too. There are lots of different aspects to this site. This shows lovely texture and intensity. Mineral and taut with lemony notes and some subtle ginger and pear. Nice saltiness here and a touch of structure. Lovely detail and precision.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the single-varietal 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Colline Vineyard erupts with powerful notes of plum preserves, blackcurrant cordial, and blueberry pie followed by hints of camphor, hoisin, star anise, and dark chocolate with a waft of Sichuan pepper. The full-bodied palate delivers a velvety texture and seamless freshness to support the opulent black and blue fruit preserves, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. Only 100 cases were made.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the single-varietal 2014 Rockfall Cabernet Sauvignon offers up evocative and wonderfully savory notes of tapenade, black truffle oil, and dried Provence herbs leading to a core of plum preserves, creme de cassis, and unsmoked cigars. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock full of evolving black fruit preserves with savory nuances and plush, polymerized tannins, finishing with a minerally lift.

The 2021 Red Point Chardonnay needs a lot of swirling to coax out notes of Bosc pears, green guava, and orange blossom plus nuances of Marcona almonds, crushed stones, and lemon drops. The medium-bodied palate is tightly knit and refreshing, with a wonderfully silky texture and loads of zip from the acidity and citrusy notes, finishing with great length. 380 cases were made.