This red colored Pinot Noir from the Anderson Valley is impressive. It opens with a mild strawberry bouquet with a hint of red licorice and watermelon. On the palate, this wine is light to medium bodied, balanced and delicate. The flavor profile is a delicious light red plum and strawberry blend. I also detected hints of red cherry and pepper. The finish is dry and its flavors drift away nicely. This very enjoyable and refined Pinot would pair well with fresh sliced Norwegian salmon.

Another Anderson Valley Pinot Noir that is light enough in color to read through, but not at all light in aroma or flavor. This small production wine features clone 2A to great effect, with aromas and flavors of strawberry, cherry, dry earth and fall spice that are plump mid-palate and finish with bright acidity and oak spice coming forward. A fine accompaniment for fish or fowl.

The color of this wine is deep and dark, and the aromas and flavors both have lots of plump black cherry, baking spice and clove tones. It’s dry, full bodied and pretty massive in terms of mouthfeel, so this is not a delicate flower and is best enjoyed with heartier fare or after some time to open. —J.G.

The most elegant and seductive is the Chambolle-Musigny-like 2012 Pinot Noir Jolie. Dark ruby-plum colored (this is also the source for Hartford Court’s Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters), it offers up blue fruits, spring flowers, and wet stones in an attractive, medium to full-bodied, well-crafted and pure style. It should drink nicely for up to a decade and be slightly more approachable than the Afleet.

Moderately dark reddish purple color in the glass. The nose leads with effusive aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, cherry, redwood and forest floor. Soft and smooth on the palate with a mid weight array of dark cherry and berry flavors complimented by a savory, woodsy tone that is hard to describe but very likable. Oak-driven notes of anise and toast play in the background. Juicy acidity brings the wine on target.

Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Lovely aromas of Bing cherry, blackberry, dried herbs and vanilla lead to a mid weight palate of enticing spicy black cherry and raspberry fruit flavors with a thread of herbs and oak vanillin in the background. The tannins are ripe, firm and well-proportioned, the mouthfeel is soft and smooth, and the finish has impressive length. The wine was even better the following day from a previously opened and re-corked bottle with deep cherry flavor and a ridiculously long finish.

Bright red. Black raspberry, incense, dried lavender and allspice on the exotically perfumed nose, with a note of cola gaining strength with air. Sappy and concentrated, with sweet red and dark berry flavors and a hint of bitter cherry. Shows real depth and finishes with excellent energy and lingering spiciness.

Light, bright red. Powerful, smoke-tinged aromas of cherry, licorice and sassafras, with slow-building spiciness and a hint of dried rose. Powerful, sharply focused cherry-cola and black raspberry flavors show very good depth and clarity. Becomes spicier with air and closes with impressive energy and subtle, harmonious tannins.

Pretty rich and full-bodied for Pinot Noir, this is a big wine that grabs your attention. It floods the mouth with flavors of sour cherry candy and spicy persimmons, with a rich overlay of toasty oak and exotic spices. The acidity lends a nice bite. It’s too young to appreciate now, but it should gain traction after 2014.

Vivid red. Spicy raspberry, cherry and blood orange aromas are complicated by suave Asian spices and rose. Incisive, sappy red berry flavors pack a serious punch and are lifted by refreshingly bitter citrus peel and spice notes. Closes on a bright, spicy note, with suave florality, lingering sweetness and excellent length.

Lush and deep with elegance and balance; lovely cherry and spice with notes of earth and subtle sweet oak; complex and lovely.

Bright ruby. Aromas of fresh red berries and candied rose are complicated by notes of sassafras, vanilla and allspice. Juicy and sharply focused, offering intense raspberry and cherry flavors that put on weight with air. Shows impressive clarity on the finish, which lingers with suave floral and spice qualities.

Full deep ruby. Explosive aromas of kirsch, blackcurrant, plum syrup, tobacco, leather, gunflint and roasted herbs. Big, dense, sweet and lush; really snuffed with juicy fruit and framed by bright acidity. Long on personality. Finishes chewy, ripely tannic and long. Winemaker Christopher Carpenter carries out a pre-fermentation cold maceration, which he feels allows him to get more soil tones, then leaves the wine on its skins for a good 15 to 20 days following the end of the fermentation.

A big, dark, intense and earthy style, with rich currant and berry fruit laced with green olive, herb and mocha-shaded oak. Finishes with a potent aftertaste, too, with dry, chewy tannins. Needs time. Best from 2005 through 2014.

The wine has a brawny intensity to its flavors of fresh herbs and dark berries.

Impeccably balanced, ripe, rich and concentrated, tightly wound and jam packed with rich earthy currant, coffee, mineral and blackberry flavors. Tightens up on the finish, where the tannins bite and don't let go. Best from 2004 through 2012.

The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford is a classic Rutherford Cabernet with about 9% Merlot in the blend. Opaque purple in color, with low acidity, and a gorgeously explosive nose of black and red fruits intermixed with cedar wood, this profoundly concentrated wine is dense, opulent, and remarkably voluptuous and concentrated for a 1998. In a blind tasting, readers would certainly think this emanated from a vintage such as 1997 or 1994, given its super-concentrated, gorgeously harmonious personality. Anticipated maturity: now - 2015.

Lokoya specializes in specific-appellation Cabernets, mostly from mountain peaks. The current Cabernet lineup from the '97 vintage includes:

Ultraripe and jammy, with layers of black cherry, wild berry and raspberry, finishing with a dose of heat and ripe tannins. Best from 2002 through 2010.

Ripe and supple blackberry and cassis flavors meld with tannins as smooth as pencil lead to create the rich, creamy texture of this wine. It's all balled up in the middle, fat and bursting with flavor as a ripe black currant late on the vine. In the finish, it turns from the all black to reveal red fruits and a generous intensity, not yet long, but a wine that should lengthen as it ages to great effect.

It offers a distinctive kirsch, black cherry liqueur, and loamy soil-scented character to its full-bodied richness. Along with the Diamond Mountain, it is the most expansive and charming of these blockbuster Cabernets. Full-bodied, with admirable depth and purity, this wine can be drunk over the now as well as over the next 20 years.

Dense, earthy and detailed, with firm, chewy tannins, wrapped around a core of currant, dried plum, earth, anise and sage. Firms up on the finish, where the tannins are quite evident.

This Rutherford wine has a sleek structure, focused on richness and supple fruit. The tannins are soft, enriching the texture, deepening the wine to earthy tones and dark chocolate flavors. It's generous, balanced and the most accessible of the three Lokoyas. Finely made.

A big, ripe and firmly tannic style, dense, chunky, and chewy, but wade past the tannins and you'll get a glimpse of a complex, concentrated wine. Definitely needs time. (also appeared in 12/15/98 issue)

Our goal was to create as complete a package as possible, says Antonakeas. It's hard to quibble with the results. The wine bar's selection of ontouchable cult Cabernets by the glass, such as Lokoya Mount Veeder 1995 ($55) makes teetotaling nearly impossible.