...is an elegant composition of dried cherry, currants, pomegranate, cranberry, and leather.

...offers a silky elixir of blueberry and blackberry fruit spice with lavender, rosemary and cocoa.

Perhaps the most seductive of the wines in this collection is the 2004 Taylor Peak Merlot which comes from the cool Bennett Valley. The wine manifests an earthy amalgam of sassafras spice and dark chocolate wrapped in velvety tannins - quite a departure from most pure Merlot, which can sometimes prove overly fruity and lacking in structure. This special character derives from the vines, which are made from Pétrus clones brought from France by Vérité winemaker Pierre Seillan - legally, the idealist Jackson reminds us on a practical note.

...this '05 has the benefit of rich tannins and well-ripened cherry-berry fruit...

Of the three Highland Estates Cabernet Sauvignons, the 2004 Trace Ridge is the softest, full of blueberry with hints of coffee and coriander.

The 2004 Hawkeye Mountain Cabernet is a spicier blend of plum, boysenberry, and tobacco.

The 2004 Napa Mountain from Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley, with its massive tannic structure, is the most powerful of the lot, redolent of blackberry, cassis, violets, and wet granite.

Look for fresh mango, honey and pineapple nuances with a brushing of oak and cool, mineral, citrus and peach flavours. A terrific holiday party wine.

...from the Arroyo Seco region near Monterey, which offers a buttery mouthful of pear, banana, and custard with a touch of spearmint.

The 2005 La Joie is rocking, and if La Muse was closed and dominated by tannin at my tasting, the La Joie was strutting its considerable potential. A blend of 66.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.7% Merlot, and 12.3% Cabernet Franc as well as some Petit Verdot and Malbec, this is a wine with a dense ruby/purple color, a glorious nose of lead pencil shavings intermixed with cedar wood, black currant liqueur, espresso roast, and chocolate. It also possesses huge amounts of fruit and tannins. The tannins are elevated, but the wine is so enormously endowed, I don’t think there’s a doubt that it will come together brilliantly, as everything seems to be in proper proportion. This a colossal/compelling proprietary red wine that should be at its prime in about 2015 and last for 30+ years.

Absolutely astounding is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder. Bluish/black to the rim, with a gorgeous nose of creosote, incense, creme de cassis, blackberry, violets, espresso roast, and perhaps a hint of underlying chocolate, this is fabulously textured, low in acidity, high in tannin, but so, so rich, layered, and enthralling. This is a prodigious young Cabernet Sauvignon that should be at its best between 2013 and 2035. Four absolutely stunning Cabernet Sauvignons from winemaker Chris Carpenter, these are the creme de le creme of some of the Jess Jackson-owned Napa vineyards. All mountain sites, all 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, all unfined and unfiltered - and all four are of irrefutably great quality. The case productions are relatively limited, from a very small 120-cases from the Howell Mountain and Spring Mountain sites to nearly 800 cases of Mt. Veeder. They all share several things in common - great ripeness, great texture, and fabulous aging potential.

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain has a blackish ruby color and a beautifully sweet nose of spring flowers, blackberries, and charcoal. It is full-bodied, has fabulous purity, great texture, and a finish of close to a minute. This is a sensationally opulent, rich Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink beautifully for 20-25 or more years. Four absolutely stunning Cabernet Sauvignons from winemaker Chris Carpenter, these are the creme de le creme of some of the Jess Jackson-owned Napa vineyards. All mountain sites, all 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, all unfined and unfiltered - and all four are of irrefutably great quality. The case productions are relatively limited, from a very small 120-cases from the Howell Mountain and Spring Mountain sites to nearly 800 cases of Mt. Veeder. They all share several things in common - great ripeness, great texture, and fabulous aging potential.

NUMBER SEVEN - Most of the grapes came from the Annapolis Vineyard, with some from Seascape. While the vintage was cool, it gave incredibly long hangtime. Dry, crisp and delicate, the wine has a silky voluptuousness that makes it irresistible, with pie-filling cherry and black raspberry flavors finished with Asian spice. New French oak adds toast and vanilla sweetness. It's expensive, but still a bargain.

Even better than the Four Hearts is the 2006 Chardonnay Stone Cote, a compelling Chardonnay with glorious notes of crushed rocks, white currants, nectarine, and white peach emerging from its superbly nuanced, full-bodied style. The wine has restraint, but effortless concentration and richness as well as impeccable balance. It is best drunk in its next several years of life.

A real blockbuster, and one meant for 25-30 years of cellaring, is the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard, made from 50-year-old vines. Treated like the Reserve Speciale, aged 30 months in oak prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered, this shows off this hallowed terroir that is now owned by the Gallo family. A very full-bodied wine with notes of cedar and black cherry liqueur intermixed with creme de cassis, graphite, and loamy soil notes, the wine is deep, chewy, full-bodied, and intense. The tannins are high, but the fruit and concentration are more than adequate to match them. Give it 3-4 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following 25-30+ years. This should be a brilliant wine down the road.

This 1,000-case cuvee from three separate Napa vineyards – the Veeder Peak Vineyard high up on Mt. Veeder, the Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain, and the Stags Leap Vineyard on the valley floor – is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot. Deep ruby/purple to the rim, with notes of graphite, black cherry and black currant liqueur, licorice, and spice box, the wine has silky tannins, full body, a gorgeously layered, rich mouthfeel, and a long finish with moderately high tannins and refreshing acidity. It’s a big wine for sure, but it has uncanny elegance, purity, and length.

The age worthiness and brilliant quality of Dick Arrowood’s Reserve Speciale Cabernet Sauvignon is reflected time and time again in blind tastings when it is inserted against Napa’s finest. Recently, the 1995 acquitted itself at the top of the group in a tasting of some of the very best 1995s from Napa. This is a sensational wine that is blended from different top vineyard sources in Sonoma Valley. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale, which spent 30 months in oak before being bottled unfiltered, has a deep ruby/purple color and a gorgeous nose of cedar, crushed rocks, black cherry, and cassis, with some licorice and roasted herbs. The wine has fabulous intensity, a full-bodied, opulent palate, ripe tannin, and a long 50-second finish. Arrowood made just under 2,100 cases of this superb wine, and for the price, it is a relatively good value in high-end northern California Cabernet. This wine should drink well for 10-20+ years.

This wine is so loaded with glycerine, it actually pours slow from the bottle, like honey. With 17.4 grams of residual sugar, it's decadently, deliriously sweet, but sugar, it's not its only charm. There's a fabulous flood of apricots, pineapples, peaches and limes, concentrated to their essence and geléed, enriched with pure vanilla and clover honey and dusted with cinnamon. Doesn't that sound good?

A dead ringer for a great vintage of St.-Emilion’s most expensive wine, Ausone, the 2005 Le Desir (49.9% Cabernet Franc, 39.3% Merlot, 8.7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2.1% Malbec) has an inky/purple color and a gorgeous nose of crushed rocks, violets, licorice, sweet black cherries, blackberries, and currants. The wine is full-bodied, like all of these wines, rich, but ferociously tannic and dominated by its mineral component. This is an exceptional wine that needs to be forgotten for at least 5-10 years and drunk thereafter. Whatever one says about Verite, these are wines with the aging potential and backwardness of a first-growth Bordeaux. Patience is most definitely a primary consideration when contemplating a purchase, as these are not wines for near-term gratification.