The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain exhibits a fabulous scorched earth, almost volcanic ash sort of nose with blackberry and cassis notes. Dense ruby/purple-colored, with full-bodied power and richness, relatively soft tannins, and a sensationally layered mouth feel, this is concentrated but beautifully complex already and set for at least 15-20 years of evolution. 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.

Austere and dominated by its tannic structure and crushed rock minerality, the dark ruby/purple-colored 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is easily the most backward and most Bordeaux-like of this group. Firmly structured with some austerity, the wine is intense, rich, full-bodied, and loaded with potential, but backward at present. It should be cellared for at least 5-6 years, and drunk over the following 25. 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.

Another gorgeous wine is Dick Arrowood’s 2005 Syrah Saralee’s Vineyard. He has always done an exemplary job with Syrah, long before it became so popular in California. He co-ferments it with 3% Viognier, and the result is a dark ruby/purple-colored wine with plenty of chocolatey blackberry fruit notes, medium to full body, super freshness, purity, and a sumptuous texture. This is stunning stuff to drink over the next 5-6 years.

The 2006 Chardonnay Upper Barn (a 1,700- to 1,850-foot elevation vineyard) has a beautiful integration of wood and is the biggest, richest, and longest of all these Chardonnays. It seems to have a more noble pedigree, with additional complexity, depth, and intensity. This is a superb Chardonnay that is so full, rich, and well-endowed, it could have been made by the master wine goddess herself, Helen Turley. Drink it over the next 7-8 years.

My favorite of this group, is the 2006 Zinfandel Dina’s Vineyard (15.8% alcohol). From another 100-year-old parcel of seven acres of head-trained, dry-farmed vines, this wine offers copious quantities of raspberry and blueberry fruit, a full-bodied, peppery, spicy personality, and oodles of glycerin and depth. It is a beauty and a superb Zinfandel.

A stunning wine is the 2006 Zinfandel Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard (100-year-old vines in sandy loam soils). This dense ruby/purple-colored wine shows notes of black raspberry, sweet cherry, roasted herbs, pepper, and soil notes. It is full-bodied, powerful, with head-spinning levels of alcohol (15.8%). The wine has terrific purity and should drink nicely for 4-6 years.

There are just under 1,600 cases of this wine. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyard (another Rutherford Bench vineyard, but in this case, biodynamically farmed) is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc given the same treatment as the Bosche Vineyard. Deep ruby/purple with an even more complex and evolved nose than the Bosche, the wine shows notes of cedar, fruitcake, black currants, cherries, smoke, and pain grille. Dense, rich, full-bodied fruit flavors coat moderate tannins. The wine is savory, mouth-filling, and quite deep and layered. It should drink well for 15-20 years as well. Bravo!

They kept this Cab back all this time, presumably at some cost to the company, but consumers are the beneficiaries. Everything has mellowed. The wine, with 1% Petit Verdot, is like hands of cassis, dark chocolate and oak massaging the palate. The grapes were sourced from top vineyards in the Dry Creek, Sonoma and Alexander Valleys. Drink now-2010.

An impressively endowed effort, this features a slightly lifted, floral component to its bouquet that adds to its complexity, blending seamlessly with scents of dark plum, vanilla, smoke, coffee and spice. The mouthfilling flavors frame bold fruit in length. Drink now - 2015.

Intense, ripe-cherry fruit is the centerpiece of this deep and keenly defined young Merlot, and it is joined by lots of sweet oak spice, suggestions of chocolate and hints of fresh herbs that make for a genuinely complex and involving expression of the varietal. The wine is fairly plush and fleshy in feel as only a good Merlot can be, and, if arguably a little rough and rugged at the finish just now, it asks only for some three to five years of forbearance while it reaches for a fuller measure of supple richness.

From the Jackson family's Knights Valley vineyard adjacent to the Peter Michael estate, Trace is the central block dedicated to Kendall-Jackson, a southwest-facing ridge planted on gravelly, volcanic soils. It's a warm spot during the day that cools dramatically at night, maintaining the freshness in this 2004, a tension between cool black cherry flavors and warmer touches of fig. Mineral tannins add dimension, so the wine feels both intense and elegant, sleek and supple.

Succulent wild-blueberry flavors take on the earthiness of this wine's tannin and the espresso-roast coffee scents of its oak. It's black and untamed, as if energized by cool forest air in the mountains above Napa. The fruit is what lasts, approachable now if you decant it for squab wrapped in pancetta with a wild mushroom risotto. Grown at Jackson family's Veeder Peak Vineyard, this will probably reach maturity around ten years from the vintage.

Beautifully focused varietal aromas of currants, root beer, vanilla extract with wisps of briar and toast take this special effort to the top of the very formidable group of single-vineyard bottlings authored by Kendall-Jackson.

The 2005 Pinot Noir Far Coast Vineyard is an exceptional Pinot Noir. Dark ruby in color, with a beautiful nose of rose petals, strawberry and cherry jam, forest floor, and peat moss, the wine also has an undeniable minerality about its character, with great fruit, terrific texture, and a long finish. This is a superb Pinot that should drink nicely for 5-6 years.

The 2005 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard, which is made from the oldest vines (32-year-old heritage Martini clone Pinot Noir), exhibits a Grenache-like kirsch liqueur and raspberry fruitiness. Elegant, with medium to full-bodied flavors, great fruit on the attack and mid-palate, and a savory, medium to full-bodied finish, this wine should drink nicely for 5-6 years.

The 2005 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters from the Savoy and Falk Vineyards in Anderson Valley is a classic example of this area. Bluer fruits with copious notes of flowers jump from the glass of this dark ruby-colored wine. It is nuanced and elegant, with plenty of stuffing, but lovely balance and a feminine personality. Drink this wine over the next 4-5 years.

From the high-pedigree of the Bosche Vineyard, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche, a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot aged in French oak for 24 months, exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color and a wonderfully sweet nose of camphor, underbrush, black currants, and spice. The wine is deep, full-bodied, with superb richness, depth, and intensity. This is a beauty with silky tannins and low acidity. It should drink beautifully for 15-20+ years.

The 2006 Chardonnay Alexander Valley is a beautiful wine that exhibits notes of honeysuckle, poached pear, and tropical fruit in a medium to full-bodied style, with crisp acidity and a long, very subtle, smoky oakiness. Drink it over the next 3-4 years.

This 1,500-case blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot comes from two vineyards on Jess Jackson's Alexander Mountain estate at a relatively high elevation. The wine offers notes of cedar, graphite, black currant, sweet cherry, and smoky oak. It is quite tightly knit, full-bodied, moderately tannic, with good acidity and definition. It should be given several years of bottle age upon release and should evolve for at least 20+ years.

The 2006 Cote de Lune Blanc is a sensational barrel-fermented blend of 34% Grenache blanc, 28% Viognier, 27% Roussanne, and the rest Marsanne. It is a terrific wine, but unfortunately, there are just under 300 cases of it. Please make more! From Saralee’s Vineyard, it is a great bargain in dry white wines, with hints of rose petal, lychee, white peach, and honeysuckle. The wine is dry, medium to full-bodied, with loads of personality and fruit. Drink it over the next 1-2 years.

The 2006 Chardonnay Broken Road, which comes from an even higher elevation of around 1,800 feet, and is treated the same way, offers more minerality, broad orange blossom, nectarine, and guava notes, some hints of hazelnut and brioche, but very full-bodied richness, and slightly more acidity and definition than the Red Point.

From a 1,000-foot elevation, the relatively cool-site 2006 Chardonnay Red Point (which spent 11 months on its lees and went through 100% barrel and malolactic fermentations) exhibits medium to full body and terrific honey and citrus-like fruit as well as orange blossoms. The wine is ripe, pure, and well-delineated.

The 2005 Pinot Noir Sevens Bench is a richer, fleshier species of Pinot Noir, with hints of spring flowers intermixed with black cherry and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied with good acidity, outstanding ripeness, and a long, layered finish, it is a beautiful Pinot for drinking over the next 4-6 years.

The two Chardonnays are both brilliant wines, with the 2006 Chardonnay Four Hearts a multiple-vineyard blend exhibiting loads of tropical fruit, some poached pear, and apple marmalade notes followed by full-bodied flavors with subtle wood, nice, leesy, chewy texture, and a good finish with fresh acidity and depth. It is best drunk in its next several years of life.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (10,582 cases) is an outstanding value in Napa Cabernet. With prices on almost every Napa Cabernet now well in excess of $50.00, a $35.00 wine that merits 90 points is big news. Deep ruby purple in color with loads of licorice, black currant, cedar, and spice, this wine has beautiful texture, medium to full body, and a heady finish. The velvety texture and opulence of the wine speak to drinking it over the next 10-15 years.