Reviews

This lean, firmly tannic wine is more about structure that fruit. There is a burnt, chocolate-and-bitter-coffee flavor that gives edge to the palate, while firm tannins enrobe black-cherry fruit. Drink from 2016.

). This is a ripe, soft and warmly fruity wine. It has red cherry and strawberry flavors that lend a feeling of richness and roundness in texture. The acidity provides structure to this wine, but it is developing fast and will be ready to drink in 2015.

The 2011 Chardonnay Estate offers attractive notes of oranges and mangoes along with good acidity, and little oak in either the aromatic or flavor profiles. With good freshness and liveliness, it can be enjoyed over the next several years.

The attractive, user-friendly 2011 Chardonnay Carneros offers notes of citrus oil, no evidence of oak, medium body and good fruit purity as well as texture. While not profound, it will provide a good glass of Chardonnay over the next 1-2 years.

This rich wine is one of the rare white wines of Savingy-les-Beaune. It has warm, yellow- and tropical-fruit flavors, light acidity and a smooth, creamy texture. A fresh citrus character lingers on the finish. Drink now-2019.

The opulence of this Chard comes at least as much from the buttered toast and caramel notes of oak, as it does from the underlying pineapple and tropical fruit flavors. It’s a crowd pleaser. Drink now. —

Dry and earthy, with tobacco, mushroom and raspberry flavors, accented with smoky oak. Feels a bit hollow in the middle palate and short on the finish, but is an elegant, silky wine. Drink now. —

This is notably more complex than the 2011 Russian River Valley with its layered mix of red and blue pinot fruit, spice and soft briar notes. There is good volume to the very generous and round medium-bodied flavors that are shaped by riper tannins on the dusty and mouth coating finish. This could easily be enjoyed young though there is enough underlying material to suggest that 3 to 5 years of cellar time would be rewarded.

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Generations is slightly green with herbal undertones. Spicy and peppery with red and black currant fruit, soft tannin and very good balance, it’s the herbaceous character that kept my score low. Some readers may enjoy this more than I did.

Classic ruby. A ripe and restrained nose of red berries and subtle spice notes leads to energetic and well-detailed middle weight flavors that culminate in a dusty, clean and ever-so-mildly austere finish. There is a trace of warmth to the acceptably complex and agreeably persistent finale that is slightly attenuated.