California Pinot Noir under £50/$50

Fruit for this wine is mainly sourced from the Besson Home Ranch vineyard that's just a few metres too low in altitude and on the wrong side of the road to qualify for the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. It's blended with a rocky, field-grafted site higher up that provides structure and line to the aromatic, red cherry and rose fruit. While the name has useful connotations to Nuits-St-Georges, it is actually named after growers George Besson Jr and his late father George Sr, and is a beautifully hands-off style: whole-bunch fruit, wild-yeast fermented and aged in a mix of concrete and old barriques. Silky, autumnal, pure and rich with real elegance and vibrancy. Top value!

South African winemaker Ernst Storm (whose brother Hannes makes wine in Hemel-en-Aarde) moved to California in 2003 to make cool-climate wines in Santa Barbara and started up his eponymous label three years later, prioritising organic farming and a hands-off approach in the winery. Picked early and using 25% whole-cluster bunches to retain freshness, it has a gorgeous perfume of dark raspberry, autumn leaves and exotic spices, while the complex palate shows grippy black tea tannins, crunchy red berry fruit, bouquet garni and almost a smoky bacon hint. Excellent acid drive, a long, supple finish and good structure from a year's ageing in barrel, 30% new.

Jim Clendenen has been making world-class Burgundian-styled wines at ABC since 1982, sourcing fruit from some the Central Coast's top vineyards. Two have contributed in this powerful vintage: Clendenen's own Le Bon Climat and his estate parcels at Bien Nacido. Forward aromas of ripe red berries and pot pourri, then a concentrated, layered palate that's on the musky side – autumn leaves, dried red fruit, exotic spices and smoky oak nuances – supported by fresh acidity. Bottled unfiltered, it is aged for 24 months in François Frères barrels, 50% new.

The 2.5ha Puerta del Mar vineyard lies outside the Sta Rita Hills AVA, and is Ojai's coolest site, getting the full Pacific Ocean influence. At five years, this wine is just hitting its stride, offering raspberry, savoury spice, dusky earthy tones and a breezy, mineral edge on the smooth palate. Good structure from 11 months in French oak barrels, 25% new, and mouthwatering acidity through the finish. The dry, low-yielding 2015 vintage gives more concentration to what is normally a more linear wine, and was only the fifth fruiting for these young vines.

Head High is the second label for Three Sticks, whose 2017 Price Family Estates Pinot from the Sonoma Coast won a Best in Show at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards. If your pockets don't stretch that far, this is a delicious wine for half the price, sourced from top Sonoma County parcels including Durell, Wildcat and Sangiocomo Family Vineyards. Perfumed violets, lifted summer pudding aromas and flavours and bright acidity make this a really quaffable style, supported by gentle wood smoke notes from 10 months in French oak barrels, 25% new.

A light, ethereal Pinot that while perhaps not showing the complexity or longevity of some, delivers uplifting drinking at a very impressive price. In his day job as vineyard advisor, Andrew Johns is able to source small parcels of grapes from a variety of vineyards from the producers he works with. Back in his own winery, he turns these 'diamonds in the rough' into small-batch, terroir-driven wines under the Wonderwall label. From four parcels in the Edna Valley, this pretty, minimal-intervention Pinot with refreshingly light alcohol shows gingerbread spices, black cherries, root beer, wild strawberries and plum skin tannins from eight months in oak barrels, 15% new. Very quaffable.

Carpe Diem is the second label of Domaine Anderson, an estate bought by Champagne house Louis Roederer in 2011. This vintage, from 90% estate-owned fruit, sees 10 months' ageing in French oak barrels, 23% new, providing supple tannins and well-integrated toasty spice. Gently perfumed cherry and floral notes lead to a lean, quite savoury palate with more red cherry-berry fruit and hints of smoke. Softly textured with bright acidity and a decent length.

Long Meadow Ranch has three estates in Mayacamas, Rutherford and this cool, Pacific-influenced one in Anderson Valley which has 28ha planted to Burgundian varieties. This Pinot is silky and raspberry-rich with well-integrated oak, lively acidity and firm tannins. Dried cherry and floral aromas precede a liquorous, rich, ripe palate of good depth and balance, with lots of exotic spice intrigue.

Fruit for this great-value Pinot is sourced from the cool Santa Maria Valley AVA, which gives perfumed red fruit, the gravelly soils of the Sta Rita Hills AVA (power and firm tannins) and the warmer Los Alamos region (ripe, dark fruit). It shows good intensity of strawberry and black plum fruit and appealing earthy, undergrowth notes, with subtle spicing from 10 month in French oak, 6% new.

Rodney Strong was one of the first to see the potential for Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley, planting there in 1968. This is a classic example from the AVA: big, rich and creamy on the palate, with lashings of ripe cherry and tangy pomegranate, sweet vanilla hints and toasty oak spice from the 14 months in small French oak barrels. Great drinking now while the dense fruit and acidity is still fresh.

Sandhi, the Sanskrit word for collaboration, is a 2010 joint venture between sommelier Rajat Parr and winemaker Sashi Moorman. Fruit for this intense, opulent Pinot comes from their Domaine de la Côte estate vineyards, so you know the quality hasn't been skimped, even in this entry-level wine. It's a very concentrated style, with lots of blue and purple berry ripeness, a smooth creamy texture and a long mineral finish.

Sourced from several low-yielding vineyards across the Sonoma Coast, including the cool western Carneros and Petaluma Gap AVAs, this wine boasts lovely crisp acidity and a more elegant flavour profile, featuring lifted raspberry, pomegranate, lavender and thyme notes. Moderate ageing in neutral, large-format oak casks also ensures fruit purity is to the fore.

Graham Tatomer is known more for his excellent old-vine Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners, but he makes a selection of cool-climate Pinots too. This one is an elegant, lighter-style blend of many of the single vineyards he works with, boasting leafy and woodsy red cherry aromas and a lifted, savoury palate of rhubarb and just-ripe strawberries Pretty, sappy and lipsmacking.

These dry-farmed estate vineyards were planted from cuttings from the famed Rochioli vineyard, also in Russian River Valley, and in this vintage have produced a very intense, earthy wine with brisk acidity to balance the fruit richness and warm alcohol. Inviting aromas of cherry cough sweets and root beer lead to a supple palate of tangy summer pudding berries, sweet spices and herbal undergrowth notes.

Drake Whitcraft focuses on low-intervention at this winery his father Chris set up in 1985. This cuvée comprises bought-in grapes from top vineyards across the county, focusing on those using organic and biodynamic practices. Using some carbonic maceration, it has beautiful lift and freshness of ripe red cherry and rosehips on a soft, supple palate, with gentle tannins from 11 months in barrel and welcome lighter alcohol.

One of the labels of Martin Ray Wines – a historic brand bought by Courtney Benham in 1990 – this offers super value for the quality. Savoury-sweet spiced red cherry aromas and flavours are supported by fresh acidity, vanilla oak spice from nine months' maturation in oak (30% new), supple tannins and a tangy cranberry length. Smooth, friendly and very enjoyable.

Sourced from three vineyards across the Russian River Valley, this is a classy wine that punches above its modest price tag. Lifted aromas of strawberry, red cherry and dried herbs continue on the juicy palate that shows well-integrated sweet oak spicing from the 10 months in French oak (19% new). Long and layered with structure from bright acidity and supple tannins.

One of the many brands of the global Jackson Family Wine Estates, this is a solid buy. Creamy, plush and weighty, it packs in a lot of ripe vanilla-poached plums and summer pudding fruit, lifted by tangy rhubarb and refreshing orange juice acidity. Juicy, breezy and well made, with structure from nine months' oak ageing.

An approachable, good-value Pinot that shows sweet Dandelion & Burdock notes (cola sweets, vanilla and herbs) plus lifted strawberry, red cherry and candied violets. The alcohol is warm, but supported by the ripe fruit and smooth chocolatey tannins, with enough acidity to balance.

Easy-drinking with forward, sweet fruit, warm alcohol and a generous body. Aromas of cherry compote, floral and vanilla notes lead to a rich, ripe palate of more red and black cherries, sweet oak spice from the eight months in French oak (13% new) and just enough acidity to balance.