This opens with earthy aromas of scorched earth, tobacco leaf and black plum. The dense palate puts espresso, vanilla, clove and a hint of black cherry alongside taut tannins.

Sweet tobacco and light berry aromas follow through to a medium to full bodied palate, with fine tannins and a fresh finish. Sangiovese. Best after 2007. 1160 cases made. -JS

Light violets, berries and flowers. Medium-bodied, with some fruit and tannins, but slightly hollow midpalate. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Best after 2007. 1160 cases made. -JS

Musky aromas of lemon, melon, flowers and stones. Rick and fat but dry and uncompromising. I'd like to have seen a bit more flavor. Finishes slightly warm. This needs to be served with food.

This is a great example of varietal correctness shows aromas of black cherries, mocha and herbs, followed by earthier flavors of tobacco and black cherries. It's the kind of Merlot you wish you saw on more restaurant lists - easy to recognize and easy to like.

Reveals abundant quantities of chocolate, mocha, sweet toast, and straightforward black cherry fruit notes. Medium bodied with sweet tannin, and a lush heady finish. Similar to the 2000. Best consumed during their first 5-7 years of life.

Deep, dense, and solidly filled in the nose with lots of curranty fruit tied to rich oak and elements of dark chocolate, this rugged youngster is a little less inviting on the palate just now, and its ample flavors of concentrated fruit are beset by slightly outsized tannins. It finishes on the dry and austere side and needs some patience to make its way to beauty.

Reveals some of the vintage's austere tannin along with meduim body, and a nice entry displaying notions of cassis, fudge, tobacco, and smoke. The meduim-bodied finish is slightly pinched. Drink this very good effort over the next decade.

…is an aggressively wooded, cassis, black cherry, and smoky-scented and flavored wine with outstanding ripeness, lush cherry flavors and a heady finish.

Complex, earthy edge to the ripe plum and cherry flavors. A toasty oak and tannic finish.

Sweet, rich, supple-textured fruit, a lovely bouquet of berry, earth, and spice, and a silky smooth, seductive finish.

Deep red. Inviting aromas of dark chocolate, tobacco and smoky, toasty oak. Stylish and accessible but lacks real sweetness and depth. Shows good vinosity and subtle length, though.

Supple, with polished cherry, currant, anise, tar and toasty oak, folding together nicely on the finish.

This chocolatey, smoky, lavishly wooded Merlot is a flamboyantly-styled wine. The color is a healty dark plum. The nose offers up plenty of vanillin, smoke, and spice. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with noticeable wood tannin and spice. It needs another 1-2 years of cellaring, but should drink well for a decade. Those readers without the patienece to wait several years a advised to decant this Merlot 45 minutes before drinking.

9500 cases, has an opaque purple color as well as a powerful constitution. There is no herbaceousness to the flavors of this surprisingly big & flavorful effort. Look for it to round into shape in 2-3 years & last for up to 15.

Ruby. Medium-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted and oaked. Earth, black fruits, dried herbs. Unusual rustic nuances billow from the glass, but settle down with breathing time. Shows lively acidity and reasonable extraction of fruit. The finish is balanced and fairly firm.

Ripe and spicy with a pretty core of ripe cherry and raspberry flavor. Finishes with firm tannins and good length.

A bit rustic and edgy, showing a rawness to the tannins and the texture, though this doesn't shortchange on flavor, with dark berry, earth and anise notes. 87 points. Very good.

The 2001 Legacy, a proprietary red wine blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (90%) and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, exhibits the best balance between tannin and fruit. It does not have the intensity of the Black Cougar Ridge or the ferociousness of the Christopher's, but it might be better for it. Not the most complex or concentrated of this trio, it appears to have struck a sweeter note between the wine's structure, fruit and charm. All of these Stonestreet offerings were made under winemaker Mike Westrick. Before his death, Jess Jackson as well as his wife, Barbara Banke, agreed that there was often too much tannin and wood in the wines. Those mistakes have been corrected over the last five or six vintages under the guidance of South African winemaker, Graham Weerts.

Richer and more interesting is the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. This dense ruby/purple-colored offering's bouquet includes scents of smoke, melted licorice, chocolate, espresso, black currants, and plums. Medium-bodied, with excellent depth and moderate tannin, it needs 2-3 years of cellaring, and should last for 15.

Smoky saddle leather, vanilla, coffee, peppery, black olive aromas with some cassis and dill notes. Dry, rich, slightly tannic and tight entry, a bit lean. Black olive, smoky vanilla, peppery, herbal, spicy coffee flavours. Very dry cedar-y, tannin finish. Out-of-synch.

Aromas of white grapefruit and grass. Supple in texture, but with Loire-like flavors of grapefruit and earth. Offers good fruit but only moderate complexity.

It is a big, full-bodied Sauvignon, with plenty of honeyed melon and fig-like fruit, smoky, rich, chewy flavors, and a ling, lusty finish. If you like Sauvignon Blanc made in a Chardonnay style, this will be immensely pleasing.

The 2001 Sauvignon Blanc Upper Barn reveals aromas of figs and melons along with crisp, tart acidity in a pungent, medium-bodied style. Drink it over the next year.