This month's issue features a full slate of new Zinfandels, Sauvignon Blancs and recently released 2018 Cabernet Sauvignons, and, as we begin the New Year, we look back at the high and low points of the California wine world in 2020.

Just shy of one-hundred new Zinfandels head up January's edition of CGCW with many offerings earning multiple-star ratings and a good many more checking in with Good Value recommendation.

This, our first look at Cabernets of the 2018 harvest, confirms that the universal praise the vintage has garnered for most every variety is fully justified and extends to the state's most renowned red wine of all.

At the top of our list of interesting and satisfying white wines that consistently hit the mark for both quality and fine value, Sauvignon Blanc looks to be in top form in our latest survey of bottlings not to be missed.

To say that 2020 was a year to remember is an understatement to say the least, and we pause a moment before heading into 2021 with renewed optimism to offer our thoughts about the many ways that the last twelve months have impacted the California winescape.

If 2020 came with challenges aplenty, it also saw a bounty of extraordinary wines come our way, and, your trusty editors, as is their custom every January, humbly present their picks of the very best from what was a most memorable year.

Although the holidays may have left their mark on our budgets as they always do, January's lineup of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sparkling Wine and Syrah Best Buys reminds that there is a bounty of very good and affordable wines sure to ease any seasonal pocketbook pain.