Vinanmeldelser

Very ripe and flashy, but a little too sweet. Shows sugary raspberry and cherry jam flavors, with lots of zippy acidity.

A touch of oak adds some creaminess, but this 100% Sauvignon Blanc is marked mainly by fresh fruit flavors of lemons, limes and oranges. It's zesty in acidity, but could be a little drier.

The easy-to-find Gnarly Head, a blend of 50% Zinfandel, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah and 3% Syrah, is young and ready to drink.Its fruity nose and peppery spice tmakes it a fu…

Light bodied and modest in flavor, with lots of acidity. You find yourself wishing there was more in the way of fruit. Still, it's pretty good for the price, with a nice, silky texture.

There's something off in the aroma, which is herbal and peppery. Turns richer once you take a sip, with pleasantly dry, crisp cherry candy, white pepper and oak flavors. The vineyard is in a cool sit…

Fair Play-based Perry Creek's Cab has high toned blue and red fruit and is tamely structured for being from high-elevation vineyards. Its finish is sweetly floral.

The vineyard is in Coombsville, a cool part of the valley that recently received official recognition as an AVA. The wine, which was made from 100% Cabernet, is soft, sweet and oaky, showing simple b…

Chardonnays from this vineyard always are powerful, but this bottling is over the top. It has ultraripe apricot and tangerine flavors, with strong acidity. Seems almost botrytised, with a honeyed int…

The black pepper and cocoa flavors that always mark this fine vineyard show up again in this dry, tannic wine. So do the blackberries and cassis that make it so sweetly fruity. The acidity is awkward…

Give credit to Ballentine for sticking by this variety even when it's such a hard sell. It's a good wine, crisp and minerally, with sweet Pinot Grigio-like citrus, vanilla and spice flavors.

Tastes sweeter and fruitier than the 2009, which was dry, so if you like orange marmalade, pineapple tart and vanilla cookie sugariness in your Sauvignon Blancs, it's for you.

A little sugary sweet and simple, but appeals for its wealth of cherry, raspberry, cocoa, anise, vanilla and toast flavors. Earns an extra point for polished tannins. Drink now.

A good everyday Pinot Noir, tart in acids and with some edgy tannins. But it has the variety's nice, silky texture, with rich cherry, rosehip tea and sandalwood flavors.

A nice everyday Syrah, dry and fruity, with pleasant raspberry, cherry, bacon, pepper, clove and sandalwood flavors. Easy to drink, with some real complexity.

This wine is light in body, fruity and floral in flavor and smooth on the palate. Blended from seven varietals, it has peach and jasmine aromas, very generous fruit flavors that flirt with sweetness…

From vineyards on Howell Mountain and Oak Knoll, this wine is bristling in acidity, with a taste of lemon peel and grapefruit. Secondary characteristics of peas and pineapple confound as a stony text…

This is a big powerful overtly flavorful wine that demands attention. A vivid toasty savory aroma leads to rich spicy buttery nutty flavors that are mouth filling and a smooth, rather soft texture.

A heavy oak element dominates the aromas and flavors of this sweet-seeming, medium-bodied wine. It starts with toasted oak and smoked meat impressions and then gushes black-cherry and boysenberry not…

With a reductive quality and prominent oak, this is a thick, concentrated wine built on unwavering tannins. The fruit is elusive and shy. Clove and cola eke out of an earthy element that's part rose…

Dry and weighty at first on the palate, this wine is ultimately tart and tangy, awash in grippy acidity sparked by flavors of cherry and lime.

This very sweet wine has the usual bubbly flavors of yeast and citrus fruits, but also an Amaretto, almond liqueur richness. It's one of the sweetest sparkling wines available in California.

A rustic, tannic Cabernet, with sweet, juicy blackberry and spice flavors and an overlay of oak. Good for drinking now.

Only in California's warmer regions will you find the enormously ripe cherries and blackberries this Cabernet offers. It's as sweet as jam. Likeable, even opulent, but would benefit from greater dryn…

A nice, fruity Sauvignon Blanc, a little sweet and simple, but satisfying nonetheless for its array of ripe pineapple, citrus, lime, green apple and spice flavors, brightened with crisp acidity.