Also remarkable is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota, which Seillan told me was from a slightly cooler site with red soil. It is always a wine that shows more chocolate and mocha, but still lots of fat, flesh and blackcurrant fruit. Full-bodied, and from a slightly lower elevation than the Helena Montana, this wine should drink well for another 15 or more years.

Another tiny production cuvée was the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. Forest floor, charcoal, incense, white chocolate and pen ink are all present in this full-bodied, rich and concentrated wine. It's just a shame there is so little of it. It should continue to drink well for another 20 years, much like all of these wines.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain, which comes from a high-elevation site on Spring Mountain, shows telltale floral notes mixed with blueberry and raspberry fruit. All from sedimentary, volcanic soils, it is fresh, lively and probably the most finesse-styled of this quartet of brilliant Cabernet Sauvignons fashioned by winemaker Chris Carpenter. Unfortunately, production was virtually nothing - 113 cases.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate vineyard, planted at 1,800 to 1,850 feet. It has fabulous aromatics of lead pencil shavings, black and blue fruits, forest floor and floral notes. With loads of fruit, but also an elevated level of tannin, this deep purple-colored wine is impressive, but still unevolved and youthful. Give it another 4-5 years of cellaring as well.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, from the estate vineyards, is showing well. Dense purple, with the telltale mulberry and graphite notes of Howell Mountain, youthful tannins, and a relatively boisterous and exuberant, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, it is still young. This wine (90% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot) should hit its prime in another 4-5 years, and drink well for 10-15+ after that.

Sleek and jammy, with appealing aromas of huckleberry and sassafras and ripe but focused flavors of black cherry, licorice and toffee. The tannins sneak in on the finish.

Tightly wound and powerfully built for the cellar, with mineral and aromatic herb aromas opening to compact flavors of blueberry, raspberry and white pepper. The tannins are ripe but dense. Hands off for now.

Tightly focused, with a sleek, vibrant structure, offering aromas of wild flowers and raspberry and lively but firm flavors of boysenberry, licorice and loamy spice.

Appealing, with briary wild berry aromas and zesty, slightly chunky flavors of plum, licorice and roasted fresh herbs.

A burst of jammy huckleberry fruit is at the core of this lively Zin, which offers notes of plum, smoked pepper and grilled rosemary.

Plush and appealingly ripe, with dusty raspberry aromas and zesty black cherry, dried sage and spice flavors.

Soft, supple and ripe, but light-footed, with notes of baked cherry, toasty oak and spice. Drink now through 2020.

The myth perpetrated by Old World wine proponents is that California wines don't age. Those critics need to taste Verité, because these wines are aging far slower than I imagined. Perfect in its own right, and probably my favorite of the three Verite wines I tasted, the absolutely, drop-dead bouquet of the 2005 Le Désir is the most stunningly complex and fragrant display of a blend of Bordeaux varietals (50% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and a touch of Malbec) that I have found in my horizontal tastings of 2005. This is the Sonoma version of an Ausone, for lack of a better frame of reference. Like its siblings, it is opaque purple, with an extraordinary and exhilarating nose of blackberries, forest floor, graphite, licorice and hints of charcoal embers and truffle. Very plush, it is the most evolved and silkiest of all three cuvées. This is another prodigious effort with fabulous purity, depth and overall harmony. This wine is just remarkable, and anyone lucky enough to own any of these wines is in for untold joy over the next 25-20+ years. I just hope the owners live long enough to see these wines at their peak!

The myth perpetrated by Old World wine proponents is that California wines don't age. Those critics need to taste Verité, because these wines are aging far slower than I imagined. The 2005 La Joie (67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec) tips the scales at 14.7% alcohol. It received the same 18 months in 100% new oak. It is interesting that Pierre Seillan said that he thought the high-elevation vineyards of Sonoma that go into Verité (self-serving, os course) are his greatest sites in the world for Bordeaux varietals. But remember - he's from Bordeaux! This multidimensional wine, which enjoyed a 4-5 day cool, pre-fermentation maceration, has a provocative bouquet of blackberry, cassis, new saddle leather, Christmas fruitcake, graphite and high-quality unsmoked cigar tobacco. It is profound, extremely full-bodied and massive in the mouth, but not heavy or astringent in any way. This is perfection in a glass, and a tribute to what Sonoma can achieve. Give this wine another 4-5 years, and drink it over the following 30+ years.

It is almost becoming routine to give a three-digit score to Lokoya's Cabernet Sauvignons from Mount Veeder. They just seem to hit every sweet spot on my palate, and the 2005 is a compelling effort. The prodigious 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is still a baby at age ten. Inky purple, the wine exhibits notes of graphite, roast meat, forest floor, crème de cassis and blackberry liqueur with touches of asphalt and charcoal. It is full-bodied, ripe and extraordinarily pure and intense, with wonderfully sweet, integrated tannin and wood. This wine, ideally, needs another 5-6 years cellaring, since it's still so young. It will last 30 years, and should turn out to be one of the most compelling superstars of this underrated but very impressive vintage.

Another blockbuster and a rather massive, backward, full-bodied wine is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher’s Vineyard, no doubt named after the exuberant and burly son of Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke. This wine comes from the family’s beloved Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, from a 2,400-foot elevation vineyard, and is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest other Bordeaux varietals. Infantile, opaque purple, with beautifully pure blueberry and blackcurrant fruit, floral notes, a striking liquid-rock minerality, good acidity and ripe tannin, this wine has future greatness written all over it, but it is too young to drink. It is certainly one of the youngest and most backward of the 2005s, but the promise is exceptional. Forget it for another 3-4 years and drink it over the following 2-3 decades.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché comes from a vineyard that sits on the gravelly, stony soils of the Rutherford Bench. It is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, aged 24 months in French oak prior to bottling. This wine shows plenty of new, velvety glove leather, cedar wood, kirsch and blacker currants. It is full-bodied, ripe, but wonderfully elegant and pure, with a voluptuous texture. This vineyard is totally dry-farmed. Drink over the next 15+ years. These are all classically styled wines. Of course, long-time winemaker Ted Edwards is still steering the fortunes of this historic producer. All three of the 2005s are still amazingly youthful wines at age ten.

Aromas and flavors of forest floor, pine needles and underbrush, along with mulberry, blackberry and blackcurrant notes jump from the glass of the inky purple 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore. This Rutherford site is one mile south of Bosché Vineyard. The wine is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, treated identically to the Bosché and aged 24 months in French oak. The most youthful of all three wines, it is dense purple in color and exhibits licorice, charcoal, graphite, and a foresty, autumnal vegetation note. Deep boysenberry fruit is also detected in this rich, full-bodied, structured, dense and powerful Cabernet Sauvignon. Give it another several years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades. Production levels on these wines range from just over 11,000 cases of their Napa Cabernet Sauvignon to approximately 1,900 cases of each of the single-vineyard wines, Bosché and Sycamore Vineyards. Tel. (800) 963-9698 These are all classically styled wines. Of course, long-time winemaker Ted Edwards is still steering the fortunes of this historic producer. All three of the 2005s are still amazingly youthful wines at age ten.

The 2005 Legacy Proprietary Red, a nearly 1,500-case cuvée, is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged 17 months in 91% new French oak. The wine tastes incredibly young. It feels more like a three- to four-year old North Coast Cabernet than one that is about to pass ten years. Very dense purple to the rim, its opulent, generous, open-knit bouquet of lead pencil shavings, blackcurrants, cedar wood, vanilla and spice, good acidity, sweet tannin, and full-bodied, voluptuous body give this wine tremendous appeal. Still, there is serious upside that remains. Although quite accessible already, it promises to be even better in another 3-4 years and should keep at least three decades.

A beautiful wine made by Dick Arrowood, it includes four sources for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 30 months in a combination of primarily French (80%) and the rest American oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, this wine, coming from four Sonoma Valley vineyards (Smothers-Remick Ridge, Murray, Monte Rosso and Lasseter) has a dense ruby/purple color, a youthful nose of cedar wood, vanilla, blackcurrants, licorice and graphite. It is full-bodied and ripe, with beautifully sweet tannin, adequate acidity and impressive purity, length and richness. Combining both power and elegance, this wine can be drunk now or cellared for another 12-15+ years.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is sourced from notable vineyards across Napa Valley, comes in at 83.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Not that there is any undue oak on the wine, but it does age for 24 months in French cooperage. Quite backward for a 2005, this opaque purple wine offers up notes of cedar wood, licorice, underbrush, blackcurrants and black cherries. Full-bodied, moderately tannic, but still exceptionally youthful and impressive, this wine is complex and evolved, a Napa version of a Bordeaux St.-Julien. These are all classically styled wines. Of course, long-time winemaker Ted Edwards is still steering the fortunes of this historic producer. All three of the 2005s are still amazingly youthful wines at age ten.

Jammed with plush, easygoing blackberry and raspberry fruit flavors, plus accents of toasty spice and fresh sage.

The 2005 Proprietary Red Stature, which is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and the rest Malbec, comes largely from Atlas Peak, followed by Mt. Veeder, Alexander Mountain Estate and Bennett Valley. Much less evolved than its sibling, this wine has classic cedar wood, fruitcake, licorice and underbrush notes in the nose, along with black and red currants. The slightly compact attack then expands, with a savory, medium to full-bodied, deep authoritative wine that is close to full maturity, but should easily last for another 10-15 years.

This tasty red plays to both sides of the aisle with red and black fruit. Layered with herbs and spice. Nice backbone. Smooth finish. A rare find for the budget-minded.

A buttery, oaky Californian Chardonnay that has balancing acidity and some apple notes. Full-bodied and smooth. Pair with roasted chicken.