A voluptuous red, brimming with sweet fruit flavors and earthy character. It's got all five varieties blended but is mostly cabernet sauvignon.

One of the Top-10 list of California's best red wines.

It is big, ripe, dense and acceptably varietal in its amalgam of ripe black cherries, roasted wood notes, suggestions of loam and hints of raspberry jam. In the mouth, it is lush and full-bodied, counterparts while being that much more in weight again than the wines from France. Along with weight and intensity comes a certain extra bit of heat in the latter palate and finish that marks this one as out of the ordinary and directs it towards service with savory meats.

This is serious stuff. Huge, concentrated blackberry fruit characterizes this meritage blend. Made in a Bordeaux style, the wine is round and silky with surprisingly ripe tannins. The best juice from the cellar and the best barrels are used for this showcase wine.

...Smooth and supple, deeply concentrated, with a rich, detailed core of mineral, coffee, currant, cherry and sage flavors and a long, complex aftertaste where the flavors keep pumping. Drinks well now, but should be a beauty in another year or two. Best after 1999. A blend of 51 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 39 percent Merlot, 9 percent Cabernet Franc, 1 percent Petit Verdot. Highly Recommended.

Bright reddish purple. Medium-bodied. Highly extracted. Moderately tannic. Tobacco, vanilla, cedar, black fruits. Plush elegant aromas are strikingly attractive, leading a rounded velvety palate with textured tannins and a lingerin cedary finish. A charmer, drinking nicely now.

Harvest Fair gold. Has heavily extracted, earthy aromas and flavors, with hints of prune, violets. Muscular, tannic. Balance could be better.

Spicy vanilla nose, a succulent wine with big cherry and vanilla flavors.

A present worthy of any cab fan. It's rich and elegant, with dense and succulent flavors of plum and cedar. It's ready now or will last a while.

Rich and concentrated yet elegant, this red is dense with succulent flavors of plum, cedar and black currant and balanced with appealing toasty oak. The aroma, smoky and earthy, recalls a Bordeaux. A blend with more than 40 percent merlot, it's ready to drink now, but it will also benefit from a few years in the cellar.

Gobs of terrific blackberry fruit.

Medium-full-bodied and balanced to softness.

Ripe black fruits and fragrant spices accent this medium to full-bodied blend. A soft, succulent texture with sandalwood, eucalyptus and mint. Easy tannin and acid balance with a touch of pine needles in the finish.

Rich...supple.

Still somewhat tight and brooding, the dense, ripe cherry and chocolatey, loamy aromas are buttressed by toasty, mildly creamy oak.

Best wine of nearly 50 tasted. Its deep dark red hues and vanillin accents are both a prologue for the explosive flavors of raspberries and cherries. It is a rich and elegant wine, indescribably delicious.

Legacy is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc. The 1990 Legacy on wine-shop shelves has the color of black cherries, aromas of cedar, warm cinnamon, bursting with plum and raspberry flavors with rich, sweet tannins. It is softer than the merlot, more complex, with an aftertaste that goes on forever. It's a lot of work. But it's working.

Tasty and rich.

6% Cabernet Franc. Hints of clay, pencil lead, loam & spice fill out the moderately concentrated, black cherry & ripe plum character at the center of this medium-depth offering. Alcohol & a bit of toughening tannin detract at the finish, but the wine needs only savory foods & a few years in the cellar to be at its enjoyable best.

Very fresh & intense, spicy, black currant inviting aromas. Lovely depth of fruit. This is a wine full of character, rich, spicy, firm tannins & excellent balance of weight. Good length. Will keep.

Forward dried-cherry and cedar aromas; massive tinnins, concentrated fruit flavors, good texture…

Seep and sweet nose. Burst of acidity on the palate, with quite drying tannins, but still fruit in support.

…it shows off well-integrated cherry and raspberry fruit, oak and tannins in a very drinkable, likeable package. It would be an excellent complement to grilled or roasted vegetables hearty seafood dishes like caramelized scallops.

Stonestreet's '95 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon holds true to form, intense and brooding, yet sculpted with even greater elegance than past editions.