Violet, blackberry and vanilla aromas follow through to a full-bodied palate, with soft tannins and a fresh finish. Surprisingly lean. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. Best after 2007. 690 cases made. -JS

Despite being entirely barrel fermented, this doesn't come across as anything like the winery's Chardonnays. There's some smoke, but also pungent gooseberries along with melon and grapefruit. Only 10-15% of the oak is new, so it's not overdone.

Full ruby-red. Sappy aromas of currant, plum, tar, tobacco, licorice and herbs. Sweet and nicely delineated, with moderate flesh but very good flavor intensity. Slightly dry finish hints at fresh herbs. A 50/50 blend of mountain and valley fruit.

Musky, rather wild aromas of oatmeal, smoke, iodine, and Islay scotch. Firm-eged flavors of apricot, smoke, earth and spicy oak. Some intriguing mineral notes throughout. Slightly hard on the finish, but has backbone.

It reveals tangy acidity ( a characteristic of the vintage) as well as medium to full body, and lemon custard/citrus characteristics with subtle wood in the background. An excellent tropical fruit-filled, bold, California-styled Chardonnay, it will drink well for 2-3 years.

Like many 2000 North Coast Cabernets, this shows a touch of green to its cassis base, blending herbs and tobacco into a solidly structured wine. A bit tight now, but not a long-term proposition either, try 2004-2008.

Quiet yet substantial, this is full of dark cassis flavor, clean and fresh. It's plush in the mouth and ends softly padded, with a pleasing perfume of blue and purple fruit, ready for prime rib.

Good ruby-red. Cassis, licorice, espresso, Dark chocolate, leather and mint on the slightly binary nose. Chewy and dense, with good breadth and underlying mineral spine. Finishes a tad tough, with firm tannins and an herbal element.

Medium ruby-colored, this seductive, sexy Pinot offers candied cherry/strawberry flavors infused with smoke and toasty oak. Full, fleshy, and heady, this is another crowd pleasing, exceptionally well-made wine.

Deep red color. Moderately full-bodied. Mildly oaked. Cherry, plum, brown spice. Extracted ripe and full style with good tannin and acidity to balance. Solid palate presence with concentrated fruit flavors persisting through the finish.

Stonestreet's medium ruby-colored, unfined and unfiltered 1994 Pinot Noir exhibits a lusty, smoky, sweet berry-scented nose that reveals copious quantities of both ripe fruit and oak. This medium-bodied, softly-textured, delicious Pinot is not the most concentrated or profoundly complex wine, but it offers a sexy glass of Pinot Noir for drinking over the next several years.

Among current & upcoming red wine releases, the 1998s reflect the strict selection Stonestreet employed. They usually make about 15,000 cases of Merlot, but in '98, after the selection process, there are only 6,000 cases available. A blend of 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Cabernet Franc, this wine is showing much better from bottle than it did last year. It reveals smoky, chocolatey, & black cherry notes with well-integrated oak. Full-bodied, powerful, yet slightly angular, it should drink well for a decade.

…displays an obvious nose of mocha, white chocolate, and berry fruit. Fleshy, full-bodied, and tannic, it requires 8-12 months of bottle age, and should drink well for a decade.

The dark ruby/purple-colored '97 Merlot offers an expressive nose of cocoa, fudge, herb-tinged blackberry & berry fruit. The wine has some tannin to shed, but it is a muscular, full-bodied, robus Merlot to drink over the next 10-12 years.

Young and firm. Has pretty core of currant, chocolate, berry and spice flavors, picking up a slight leather note on the aftertaste and finishing with firm tannins and good length. Best to cellar into 1998 to '99. (Also appeared 6/30/97).

Stonestreet's Cabernet Sauvignon-based 2015 Farrier Mountain Blend is fresh, vibrant and inviting, with lovely floral/savory notes from the healthy dollop of Cabernet Franc in the blend that plays off the red berry fruit. I would prefer to drink the Farrier on the young side.

The 2014 Ridge Walk is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec. There is good brightness to the red-toned fruit, but also an element of hollowness in the mid palate that I don't often associate with the Stonestreet wines.

This is the first release of this new wine from Stonestreet. It's Merlot with some Cabernet, Syrah and Cab Franc. Grown in Jess Jackson's high mountain vineyards, it's rich and soft in black currant, cherry, mocha and smoky oak flavors, with smooth, easy tannins. Best now and through 2010.

The 2004 Fifth Ridge Proprietary Red, which I don't think I tasted when it was first released, is a blend of 77% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Syrah and Cabernet Franc from the Alexander Valley Mountain Estate that was one of the favorite terroirs of the late Jess Jackson. This wine shows deep plum ruby/purple color with sweet, chocolaty, black cherry and black currant fruit. It is medium-bodied with excellent ripeness, good acidity and a certain minerality that trails off ever so slightly. The wine seems fully mature, but capable of lasting at least another decade.

Intriguing as well as complex and concentrated. The wine possesses a dark ruby color, a sweet nose of black-cherries, cassis, smoke, and vanilla; medium to full body, and an attractive marriage of power and finesse. This velvety-textured, ripe, pleasure-filled red wine can be drunk now or cellared for 10 years.

Cedar and Cabernet Franc on the nose; cherry and raspberry fruit in the mouth with soft body and accessible tannins; smoky-earthy finish.

Very black-fruited and equally heavy on the toasted oak, which together yield a menthol-and-mint aroma package. A bit of a love-it-or-leave-it wine, as its extreme oaking leaves the impression of espresso and char. The finish is on the short side, and the ody a bit hollow given its gigantic proportions.

Supple, elegant an dwell defined, with pretty black cherry, plum and wild berry character that's complex…

…is an unfiltered, richly fruity, smoky, oaky, full-bodied wine with fine depth, an easy, open-knit, expansive chewiness, a supple personality, and sweet tannin in the finish.