Winemaker Chris Carpenter produced 760 cases of this blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot from four sources, a vineyard on Howell Mountain called Keyes, Veeder Peak, To-Kalon and Stags Leap. One of the Jackson family's top Bordeaux-styled efforts year in and year out, the superb 2003 Cardinale is performing even better than I remember, having put on weight and filled out. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple color along with sweet kirsch, black currant, Christmas fruitcake, cedarwood and forest floor notes. Deep, full-bodied and voluptuously textured with sweet tannins still in evidence, it can be drunk over the next 15 years.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reverie Vineyard was harvested in mid-October and is the smallest production cuvee of this trio. It displays classic notes of graphite, mulberries, black currants and other wild mountain berry fruit and flora. Full-bodied, dense and rich, it has reached full maturity, where it should remain for another 10-15 years.

A Medoc-styled offering, the 2003 La Joie is composed of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that achieved 14% alcohol. It represents a Sonoma Country version of the famous Pauillac, Lynch Bages. Cedar, black currant, licorice, black olive, coffee and white chocolate characteristics are found in this tannic, structured, masculine effort that still needs 4-5 years in the cellar. It should drink well for at least 20 years. These Verite wines are not for those who lack patience.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche comes from a vineyard on the west side of Rutherford with gravelly, loam soil. A blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, it is an opulently textured, full-bodied effort displaying a complex nose of red and black fruits, loamy soil undertones (the Rutherford dust?), black currants and a hint of kirsch. (It is reminiscent of many southern Rhone wines.) The finish is long and authoritative with no hard edges. This beauty can be drunk now and over the next decade.

A California version of a Pomerol, the 2003 La Muse is a blend of 84% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec that tips the scales at 14.2% alcohol. It is just beginning to reveal such secondary nuances as cedarwood, Christmas fruitcake, red and black currants, licorice and tapenade. Full-bodied with an imposing structure, the wine's fruit, purity, denseness and richness suggest it can be approached, but it is capable of lasting another 25+ years.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc) comes from a vineyard about a mile south of the Bosche site. A blockbuster effort, it is more backward and unevolved than its siblings with a more opaque ruby/purple color (almost black), and a sweet bouquet of licorice, blackberries and toast. Full-bodied, moderately tannic and dense, this beauty needs another 3-4 years of cellaring and should keep for two decades. It should prove to be one of the longest lived wines of the vintage.

A brilliant effort from winemaker Randy Ullom is the 2003 Stature, a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot from three vineyard sources, primarily the Stagecoach Vineyard followed by the Veeder Peak site. Its dark plum/purple color is followed by a sweet kiss of white chocolate, black currants, vanillin and spice box. Full-bodied, pure, generous and opulent, this fully mature 2003 should drink well for another decade or more.

Showcasing the potential for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma County is the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale (1,600 cases produced). This wine is fashioned from four sources, including the Monte Rosso Vineyard, Murray Vineyard, and the Smothers-Remick Ridge Vineyard. A deep blue/ruby/purple color resembles that of a 3- to 4-year-old wine. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 24 months in both French and American oak, was bottled unfined and unfiltered. It reveals notes of licorice, road tar, toast, black currants, kirsch, underbrush and forest floor. Full-bodied with beautiful purity and moderate tannins, it remains a dense, youthful, exuberant, rich Cabernet that has not yet reached its peak. Give it another 3-4 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15+.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Highland Estates Trace Ridge is made from 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon aged 19 months in French oak. From an elevation between 500 and 1,000 feet, this wine exhibits notes of wet rocks, scorched earth and a Bordeaux Graves-like character. Medium-bodied with plenty of red and black currant fruit intermixed with hints of mulberries, licorice and forest floor, this complex, fully mature Knight's Valley offering should drink well for another 7-8 years.

A real value is the 10,000-case production of the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. Composed of 77.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.8% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it was aged 24 months in French oak and finished at 14.1% alcohol. It comes from a number of sources, most in the Rutherford area. Notes of spice box, cedar and forest floor intermixed with red and black currants are followed by a wine with sweet tannins that are nearly concealed by the wine's luxurious fruit and glycerin. This full-bodied, sexy, fully mature Cabernet Sauvignon should keep for 7-8 more years.

The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Highland Estates Hawkeye Mountain comes from a much higher elevation (1,800 to 2,200 feet) and is also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It possesses more rocky minerality and a masculine, rigid style. Lots of structure, tannin and a distinctive earthiness are intermingled with plum, anise and red and black currant fruit. Drink it over the next decade.

The famed red soils of the Monte Rosso Vineyard produced a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard with a dark ruby/purple color and lots of pen ink, graphite, red and black fruits, and dusty, earthy characteristics. There may be more structure and earth than actual fruit in this medium to full-bodied wine. It is certainly excellent and may turn out to be outstanding with several more years of bottle age. It will easily last for another 15+ years.

A correct, straightforward Cabernet Sauvignon, La Jota's 2003 possesses minerality along with blue and red fruits and medium body, but not the concentration, depth or richness one would expect from this site. The 2003 was produced from the Ink Grade, Dodge and La Jota vineyards. The final blend included 86.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13.5% Merlot. Fully mature, it should be consumed over the next 4-5 years.

A perfect effort is the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Keyes Vineyard from Howell Mountain. There are 524 cases of this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Its extraordinary perfume of graphite, spring flowers and creme de cassis is followed by a blockbuster red-fruited palate displaying a velvety texture, silky tannins and a 60-second finish. It is unquestionably the most profound wine I have ever tasted from Howell Mountain. Some secondary nuances are apparent, but the wine still seems like an adolescent. It is capable of another 15 years of cellaring.

Grenache thrives in the dry heat of Australia, where it’s typically used as a blending grape. Made from grapes harvested from 67-year-old vines in the McLaren Vale region, this complex grenache shows bright red fruit with savory and spice notes. “I like how this Aussie grenache accentuates the lamb,” Melissa Monosoff said. Michael Flynn agreed, adding: “The whites pulled out everything but the lamb. This wine is all about the lamb, and it lets the other elements peek through.” Although not a fan of the wine on an initial sip without the burger, Philip Natale appreciated subsequent sips with the burger. He suggests opening the wine 30 minutes before serving so that more of the wine’s fruitiness comes out. “I like the acidity and earthiness of this wine,” with the burger, he said.

Polished and fine, even elegant and withdrawn, but pretty for all that.

La Crema, owned by Santa Rosa’s Jackson Family Wines, produced a floral pinot gris with delicate notes of pear, white peach and mineral. It’s elegant, lush and layered, with a nice length.

This is a soft beauty that charms the nose and palate with its dark cherry, plum, blackberry personality infused with brown cooking spices — cinnamon and clove — from the French oak barrels. Almost half the barrels are new – which might be overpowering for some wines but not this fruit. It’s made off famous Napa real estate — Bosche Vineyard in Rutherford, mountain fruit from Potelle Vineyard and Veeder Peak, Stage Coach and Round Pond vineyards. No wonder this baby is so rich, smooth, powerful and approachable.

This dry, crisp, floral white is not for all palates. It may take years to build up your experience to appreciate a complex wine like this — and when you do, it’s a revelation. It’s an intense perfume of honeysuckle, essence of orange, sweet lichee nut, coconut and the bitter pith of citrus. In the mouth, that floral, herbal quality translates into a pungent, bitter-sweet personality that totally sets it apart.

Inhale intense green apple, ripe pear, apricot, nectarine and melon. On the palate, it shows lovely integration of oak without being overpowering. It has texture and finesse without being heavy. Thinking of my circle of lunch chicks who adore classy Chardonnays, this is their style. It’s sourced from four vineyards that stretch from Carneros to Rutherford to the Coombsville AVA north and east of the town of Napa.

This is a rich and powerful Pinot showing aromas of black berry, black cherry, tobacco and citrus. The palate offers flavors of cherry cola, blackberry and barrel spice and finishes with floral and vanilla notes.

With its silken plenitude and fruity, creamy voluptuousness this Chardonnay fills the senses with luxurious pleasure. It weaves together peach, citrus and apple flavors shot through with subtle notes of vanilla oak. This is a delicious, excellent example of ripe, mellow, sunny California Chardonnay.

With its silken plenitude and fruity, creamy voluptuousness this Chardonnay fills the senses with luxurious pleasure. It weaves together peach, citrus and apple flavors shot through with subtle notes of vanilla oak. This is a delicious, excellent example of ripe, mellow, sunny California Chardonnay

La Crema Winery has dedicated more than 30 years to exploring the depth and breadth of the varietal expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in many of California’s cool-climate vineyards. The 2011 Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast offers aromas of red cherries, raspberry and vanilla with notes of black tea and mineral. The palate expands to show cherry, cola and spice with hints of earth and chocolate.

This briary red is loaded with jammy fruit, showing very ripe, supple black cherry, sage and smoky cracked pepper flakes.