While we very much like the sweet mix of apples, honey and oak found in this very ripe and outgoing effort, we are also cognizant of the heat and edgy acidity that conspire to coarsen its finish. All the same, the wine gets full commendation for its fundamental richness, and it will live up to its promise if allowed a chance to more fully knit with a year or two in the bottle.

Gewurztraminer has never done really well in California, but the 2006 Gewurztraminer from Saralee’s Vineyard is elegant, displaying a hint of rose water in a medium-bodied, dry style. Much better, in my opinion, is Dick Arrowood’s mastery of Viognier.

If there's a wine lover on your holiday gift list...there's Grand old world/new world red blends that includes the 2003 Lassegue Saint Emilion (Parker 89)....

This estate in the town of Glen Ellen has been producing delicious reds and whites from the Alexander, Russian River, and Dry Creek valleys since 1986, when it was founded by Richard Arrowood and his wife Alis. Although the winery has changed hands twice, Richard remains its winemaster.

In 1997, French winemaker Pierre Seillan was recruited by Kendall Jackson owner Jess Jackson to create a Bordeaux-style wine from vineyards in Sonoma's Alexander Valley. From the first vintage, 1998-a difficult one in California-the wine created a stir, displaying pronounced structure, refined texture, and elegant fruit. There are three blends in the portfolio: La Joie, which emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon; La Muse, which is blended in a Pomerol style; and Le Desir, a Cabernet Franc-based wine in the Saint Emilion style.

Long on optimally ripened black-cherries and filled out with lots of creamy oak spice, this generous, very well-stuffed Merlot hits the varietal mark smartly both in terms of its fruity definition and its supple, slightly fleshy feel. It is firmed by a nice bit of integral tannin with nary a hint of toughness, and, while it requires little in the way of aging, it has the structure to keep for more than a few years.

Very much in tune with its younger mate insofar as very rich oak and precise, black cherry fruit are concerned, this gutsy effort is neither as polished nor as easy on the palate despite its extra two years of age. It is still a bit austere at the finish, and its undisguised tannins could take a half-decade to resolve.

Founded in 1995 by Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson, owners of Kendall-Jackson, Lokoya was conceived as a boutique winery that would focus on producing pure Cabernet Sauvignon wines from single-mountain vineyards. In Lokoya's short lifespan, its three winemakers - originally Greg Upton, then Marco DiGiulio, and now Chris Carpenter - have delivered superb wines of enormous power. Diamond Mountain tends to be slightly lighter in body with very round fruit; Howell Mountain is a powerful wine with dark fruit and firm tannins and Mount Veeder, a blockbuster with huge tannins and intense minerality, is built for aging.

Inky dark with rich, soft fruit and mineral flavors.

Not bad, a little sharp and tannic, but it gets the basic Bordeaux job done. With blackberry and tobacco flavors, it's a five-county coastal blend.

This exceptional small-production winery, owned by Jennifer and Don Hartford, makes outstanding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

49% Merlot; 47% Cabernet Franc; 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. In its strong focus on ripe black cherries and sweet currants with a twist of dried raspberry, this blended wine finds a higher level of range than is typical of the directly fruity Sonoma style. That the wine is full-bodied and broadly tannic at this point accounts for the absence of California-style juiciness in its flavors, but their convincing depth and the need for a fair measure of cellar aging intimate that this wine has the structure and potential typical of a top-notch Bordelais red more than anything else. A rich layer of milk chocolate brings it back home. OBA$150.00

This is from the winery's Annapolis vineyard. It's a very fine and interesting Pinot, showing the acidic, elegant structure of true coast Pinot, and exotic flavors of wild raspberries, red cherries, licorice, sweet leather, tea and Asian spices. All this, in a lightly silky, eminently drinkable texture.

From the southern part of the valley, near Sebastopol, comes this young, juicy, crisp Pinot. It's marked by fruit. The freshly crushed flavors of ripe raspberries and cherries are enormously attractive, accented with toasty oak and Asian spices. But the wine has a youthful, acidic tightness that suggests aging. Best now, with decanting, and for six years.

86% Merlot; 8% Cabernet Franc; 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 2% Malbec. There is no question that this is a very exciting bottle of wine, but its charms are rather more obvious and less deceptive than its companion above, and while it is a very good Merlot, it is also the most expensive California Merlot we have evaluated. Price is never a consideration in our ratings, but it does come into play when we buy wine, and this one, despite its deep and rich fruit, is expensive. OBI$150.00

While some of its cousins make a large splash by way of ripeness and sweet oak, this well-constructed young opus displays plenty of both while setting its sights primarily on fruit. With elements of ripe plums and red berries leading the way, it is a balanced, medium-full-bodied Syrah with a sense of polish that its tannins and finishing stiffness do not negate. We like its impressions of potency and well-defined fruit, and five years of steady improvement seems a forgone conclusion.

Bright yellow. Ripe pear and peach aromas and complicated by toasty lees and sweet butter, with suave floral qualities building with air. Fleshy pit fruit flavors are given grip by zesty acidity, finishing chewy, deep and long, with a lightly smoky character.

Silky and refined, this pleasant Pinot is light in body, with transparent flavors of cherries, cola, licorice, spices and oak, and a touch of leathery funk. It's young and seems obvious now, but it's holding its wealth. Give it until 2008 to begin drinking, and should develop through the decade.

Medium red. Sexy, strongly perfumed bouquet evokes wild strawberry, redcurrant and bitter cherry. Tangy red berry flavors are firmed by silky tannins and given a boost on the finish by lively acidity. Finishes with suave oak and cherry skin character and lingering sweetness. I like the combination of sweetness and bitterness here.

Medium red. Jammy raspberry and cherry aromas offer straightforward, uncomplicated appeal. Ripe, dark fruits on the palate, with soft tannins, lowish acidity and good cling. Soft, easygoing and relatively full, with fruit and texture reminiscent of grenache.

The 2005 Grenache High Sands is dark ruby-colored with aromas of spice box, garrigue, lavender, and black cherry. This leads to a wine with gobs of spicy black cherry and black raspberry fruit, full-body, and excellent balance. There is plenty of silky tannin and a long pure, finish. Give it 3-5 years to evolve and drink it through 2025.

The 2005 Shiraz is purple-colored with an expressive perfume of cedar, smoke, game, blueberry, and blackberry. Full-bodied with a broad palate and mouth-coating fruit, it has outstanding depth, tons of black fruit flavor, and a long pure finish. Drink it over the next 6-8 years.

The 2005 Grenache was aged for 15-18 months in seasoned oak. It offers up a brooding perfume of garrigue, black cherry, and black raspberry. Ripe and sweet, it cuts a broad path on the palate. There is structure well-concealed under the layers of fruit, enough that this full-flavored Grenache will evolve for 3-5 years. It will drink well through 2020.

Ripe and showy, with cassis, red cherry and toasty oak aromas and flavors. Good acidity. Varietally correct.

Classic Howell Mountain tannins, powerful and focused, but ripely sweet, frame opulent cherry, cassis, plum sauce and new oak flavors, and for all that, there’s a crisp edge of acidity that makes everything clean and bright. Drink now through 2012.