(74% cabernet franc, 13% merlot, 9% cabernet sauvignon and 4% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Blackberry and violet aromas are lifted by powerful minerality. Juicy but youthfully imploded, with great verve and intensity to the flavors of black fruits, brown spices and licorice pastille. A wine of outstanding lift and mineral clarity. Finishes with noble toothdusting tannins, great persistence and the structure for two or three decades of development in bottle. These Verite wines boast a sophistication of texture rarely found in California's reds. I'd love to try this wine in a blind tasting alongside top St. Emilions from a great ripe year.

(86% merlot, 9% cabernet franc and 5% malbec): Bright, deep ruby. Knockout nose combines black raspberry, bitter chocolate, violet and orange zest. Otherworldly merlot, boasting great clarity and intensity and an utterly seamless texture. Strong acidity (the pH is 3.63, the lowest of the three Verite 2009s) frames the wine's flavors and accentuates its classical dryness. Finishes with noble tannins, great palate-staining length and floral lift. High class!

Very rich, ripe and complex, showing a near-perfect display of flavors and textures. The riper blackberries and black cherries have a chewy, meaty edge, with notes of cola and bacon. Very fine tannins and acidity suggest midterm to longterm aging, but it's a splendid sipper now. Should develop through 2018, at least.

It has a dense, complex core of blackberries, coated with immaculately fine, sweet oak. Feels important and dramatic, but too young. Begs to be housed in a good cellar for a good eight years.

(77% cabernet sauvignon, 9% each merlot and cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot and 2% malbec): Bright deep ruby. Nuanced nose offers black cherry, licorice, minerals and bitter chocolate. Dense black fruit flavors showcase the wine's explosive cabernet sauvignon element yet also convey a sense of medicinal reserve. The outstanding rising finish features noble, building tannins. Extremely suave wine in the making.

Very pale yellow. Captivating nose combines exotic apricot, white plum, crushed rock, brown spices and a lavender high note. Intense and tactile on entry, then tightly coiled and penetrating in the middle, a step up over the foregoing wines in its impression of acid spine. Very powerful, youthfully aggressive, palate-staining wine that will need time in bottle to open and expand. Less thick and sweet at the same stage than the 2008, but at the same time more glycerol than the 2009 Gravel Bench. A great example of a California chardonnay, by which I mean that I would not mistake it for Burgundy in a blind tasting.

Lots going on in this mountain-grown wine. It's perfectly dry and strong in tannins, with an elusive quality of excellence that testifies to the best terroir. Showing blackberry, black cherry, mineral and oak flavors, it should develop bottle complexity for at least the next decade.

(from vines at an elevation of 1,500 feet): Bright yellow. Complex, vibrant aromas of musky lemon-lime, minerals, iodine, hazelnut oil and oak char lifted by a note of lavender; I would have picked this blind as Burgundy. Suave on entry, then juicy, peachy and uncompromisingly dry without being austere. This broad, airy wine finishes very suave and light on its feet, with a lovely touch of sweetness and a whiplash of brisk pineapple. Like something from the Puligny/Meursault border.

Bright, deep ruby. Pungent, high-pitched aromas of cassis, violet and crushed rock; hints at a distinct mineral austerity. Then almost surprisingly lush and sweet on the palate, with rich, clean dark berry flavors expanding to fill the mouth and building on the finish. This highly concentrated, multi layered wine finishes with noble tannins and terrific lingering violet perfume.

A beautiful wine, supple and delicious. Classically dry and tannic, it shows fascinating, elusive blackberry, blueberry, currant and herb flavors, elaborated with sweet, smoky oak. Lots going on here, and it should develop nicely in the bottle over the next decade.

A very successful vintage for Freemark Abbey's wines overall, and this young, intensely concentrated Merlot is a star of the year. Quite tannic now, with delineated blackberry, cherry, cassis, cola and spice flavors, its best years are ahead. Cellar this impressive wine for 4-6 years.

(14.8% alcohol; 100% cabernet sauvignon; aged in French oak, 97% new; from whiter soil than the Helena Dakota): Deep ruby. Knockout nose combines dark berries, licorice and a powerful violet element. Then wonderfully suave and fine-grained, with great energy and lift to the middle palate. The strong floral quality carries straight through to the ripely tannic finish. Comes across today as more feminine and more subtle than the Helena Dakota, and surprisingly approachable at this early stage of its development. These wines offer lovely examples of Pierre Seillan's winemaking, at a lower price than his otherworldly Verite bottlings.

(91% cabernet sauvignon and 9% merlot): Bright ruby-red. Restrained but complex aromas of black cherry, cassis, minerals, espresso, Cuban tobacco and sexy oak. Penetrating black- and blueberry fruit flavors are given precision and lift by a strong floral element. Lovely juicy, firmly structured wine that really requires at least five years in bottle to express itself. Not fat but boasts terrific definition and energy, not to mention superb persistence. In the style of the 2007 Cardinale but with even more grip. A distinctly adult style. Winemaker Chris Carpenter describes 2008 as a lighter year, and thus the selection for this wine was 95% from mountain fruit and the other 5% from To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville.

Medium ruby. Reticent but very pure aromas of blueberry, cassis, licorice and menthol. Shockingly rich and sweet but very young, showing superb concentration to its cassis flavor complemented by sexy oak tones. This really vibrates on the very long finish, where the wine's powerful mountain tannins are buried in fruit. Less showy today than the Howell Mountain cabernet but with outstanding long-term potential.

Shows all the hallmarks of an important young Napa Cabernet. Bone dry and quite hard in tannins, it's immensely concentrated in blackberries, black currants, cassis and fine, smoky new oak. Possesses that elusive quality of dramatic terroir, a real sense of place. Very fine young wine that needs time. Cellar until at least 2015.

Shows all the hallmarks of an ageable wine. It's bone dry, big and hard in tannins, and densely packed with blackberries, cherries, cola, licorice and smoky cedar notes.

...it showcases an immaculate core of blackberries and black currants. Elegant and classy, it should age well throughout the decade.

(100% cabernet sauvignon, from fruit grown at 2,400 feet): Bright medium ruby. Vibrant aromas of cassis, black cherry, licorice and bitter chocolate are lifted by a piquant note of orange peel. Juicy, perfumed and penetrating, with lovely definition and energy to its pure dark fruit flavors. Finishes with dusty, broad tannins and a hint of youthful austerity. A splendid showing, but lay it down.

(from grapes at an altitude of 1,800 feet): Bright yellow. Precise, high-pitched aromas of spring flowers, powdered stone and menthol suggest Puligny-Montrachet. Juicy, dry and stony in the mouth, with insidious cut and intensity to the tightly coiled flavors of white peach and citrus fruits. Not an opulent style of chardonnay but saturates the palate with dusty stone on the vibrant aftertaste. Very classy California chardonnay.

A wonderful, rewarding blend that has enough blackberry, cassis and smoky oak flavors to satisfy hedonists, yet also shows the acid-tannic structure to develop bottle complexity over the years. Drink this flashy wine now and through 2018.

A big, oaky Chardonnay, obviously rich and dense, but somewhat immature. Yet there's lots going on under the dryness, lees and wood tannins. Huge flavors of citrus and tropical fruits, minerals and flowers. Flashy, a crowd-pleaser.

This dramatically constructed Pinot wants time in the cellar. It's dry, full-bodied and tannic, with bigtime cherry, black raspberry, teriyaki beef and black pepper flavors, compounded with rich, smoky oak. The acidity is so acute, it will easily shepherd this wine through 5-7 years of bottle aging.

Rich and unctuous, with a viscous, glyceriney texture holding deep, opulent flavors of pineapples, lime custard, clover honey, Mandarin orange and cinnamon spice. Lees treatment brings a creamy, slightly sourdough tang. Good price for a Chardonnay of this quality.

Bright ruby-red. Complex, high-pitched aromas of raspberry, licorice, potpourri and gingerbread, lifted by an exotic bergamot topnote. Sweet, broad and generous, conveying a strong impression of spiciness and deep red berry and rose pastille flavors. Distinctly elegant and precise pinot with a sweet, floral, spicy finish that hangs on tenaciously.

Bright gold. Pungent aromas of citrus pith, pear and flowers, plus a suggestion of smoky lees. Penetrating, minerally and uncompromisingly dry, offering intense orchard fruit and bitter citrus flavors that gain sweetness with air. An elegant, nervy and tactile wine that should age gracefully. Finishes chewy and very ling, repeating the floral note.