Sliced cooked apples with biscuit and pie crust undertones, as well as hints of spices with some salted caramel. Hints of apricot. Full-bodied with a firmness and depth. Creamy-textured phenolics and great length. One of the best I have tasted. It is rich and flavorful, yet it shows great depth and length. Drinkable, but better in two or three years.

There is plenty of intensity to this mountain-fruit Chardonnay. Aromas of lemon curd, crushed Marcona almonds with white flowers, and a kiss of honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, plush, and layered with confected lemon bar, lemon curd, and ripe orchard fruits of yellow apple, poached pear, and apricot pit, building decadence on the palate with salted butterscotch, toasted nuts, and saline minerals. It's a seriously weighty white but finishes with lightness and brightness in a nod to the acidity. Bottled unfined, unfiltered. It's such an excellent wine for roast chicken.

The price has almost quintupled since the 1991 played an instrumental role in the film "Disclosure" (1994; Michael Douglas, Demi Moore), but Pahlmeyer's 2021 Chardonnay remains a stunningly seductive wine. All barrel fermented and matured 11 months in 91% new French oak—mostly François Frères—bottled unfixed and unfiltered, it boasts an intoxicating perfume of gently toasted brioche, roasted cashews and hazelnuts, grilled pear and pineapple. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated and dense, yet silky and fine, with a lingering, elegant finish. Fruit sources include the Pahlmeyer Estate Vineyard but also Stagecoach, Antica, Hudson and Hyde. - Joe Czerwinski

The 2021 Chardonnay delivers gregarious scents of honeydew melon, orange blossoms, and juicy pears with suggestions of paraffin wax, allspice, and cedar chest. The full-bodied palate is full-on decadent, with a lively line of freshness and seductive touch of oiliness to the texture, finishing long and toasty.

Packs an exotic note of litsea oil and a hint of flint, which becomes a smoky grace note for the core of ripe pear, lemon sherbet, makrut lime leaf, sweet grass, salted caramel and toffee. Reveals honeysuckle elements that linger on the long, expressive finish, with a fresh thread of acidity. Drink now through 2028. — M.W.

This effusive, ripe and buttery wine pulls out all the stops to offer a luxurious, creamy texture, tropical fruit flavors and a full body. Pineapples, Fuji apples, buttered toast, blackened oak and cream notes make a rich harmony. — Jim Gordon