Full ruby-red. Deep aromas of currant, mocha, chocolate, iron, tobacco and dried herbs, with a liqueur-like nuance. Round, vinous and rich, with highly concentrated flavors of currant, leather and chocolate. There's a silkiness to the texture and a candied note to the wine's fruit, but this powerfully structured merlot-based wine's building tannins and uncompromising dryness will require at least four or five years of cellaring.

Ruby-red. Superripe aromas of currant, blueberry, mocha, brown spices and violet. Lush, dense and sweet, with lovely floral lift to the flavors of dark raspberry, dark chocolate and mint. An edge of acidity and very fine tannins gives shape to the wine's sweetness. A very elegant cabernet that's balanced for early drinking but should age well for at least a decade.

Pours dramatically dark and brooding, with an enormous burst of white pepper, blackberry and coffee and an edge of smoked meat and leather. Huge in the mouth, with masses of blackberries, plums, espresso. Bone dry, thick in sweet tannins, and long on finish. Drink now-2012.

From one of the highest vineyards in the Sonoma Mayacamas comes this profoundly structured, deeply tannic Cab, which also is quite oaky. Bone dry and relatively closed and astringent, it's of very fine quality, and desperately needs time. Twenty years isn't out of the question to allow the nuclear core of blackberries and cherries to unfurl.

What a string of successes Byron's Nielson Chard has had over the years. As always, this is a high acid, mineral-filled wine, with a taste of lighter fluid riding over the pineapple, pear and kiwi fruit. Very dry, it should be considered for the cellar, if you're into aging the handful of California Chards that can handle it.

Only 500 cases were produced of this thick, tannic, complex wine from Sonoma County. It's cellar worthy and hard, dray and astringent now in dense cherry, cassis and mocha flavors that finish with wonderful length and harmony. You can drink it now, but you must adjust for the tannins. Otherwise, cellar until at least 2008.

Here's an intense, nervy wine, brilliantly acidic, layered and rich. It has enormous lemondrop, mango and pineapple flavors and lots of smoky, vanilla-accented new oaky notes, and is creamy in the mouth. The finish is long, lush and spicy. This is a real palate flatterer.

Full medium ruby. Blackberry, smoke, flint, espresso and a whiff of meat on the slightly reduced nose. Lush, layered and rich, with densely packed flavors of raspberry and roast coffee complicated by a saline nuance. Finishes with substantial broad tannins, liqueur-like notes of wild strawberry and raspberry, and a note of dark chocolate. Firm acids give this shape and grip.

...Hartford has a stellar record over the years across everything it produces, and this Chardonnay doesn't disappoint. It's bone dry and high in acidity, with a stony minerality that frames controlled peach, pear and mango fruit. The wine has that hard-to-define quality of elegant class.

Good full ruby. More brooding, medicinal aromas of cassis, black cherry and mint. Then surprisingly sweet and fat in the mouth, with rather chunky flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate, tobacco and cigar box. Here the tannins are a bit more rustic. I'd give this one three or four years in the bottle.

Enticing aromas of orange zest and minerals. Juicy, tightly wound and sharply delineated, with flavors of lemon drop and minerals firmed by ripe acids. Finishes vibrant and quite long. This should age nicely for five to seven years.

Subtle nose hints at pineapple. Fat, full and sweet, with distinctly exotic flavors of pineapple, mango and honey. Much rounder than the Block 26 wine, and smoother on the lingering finish. Classic California chardonnay.

Subtly aromatic nose of peach and citrus fruits. Supple and sweet on entry, with mirabelle and peach flavors, then quite firm and gripping on the back half, with notes of grapefruit skin and minerals. A dense, very dry wine with good palate precision and no shortage of stuffing.

Good deep red. Complex, soil-inflected aromas and flavors of black cherry, raspberry, coffee, sandalwood, cardamom and underbrush. Nicely delineated and laid-back in the mouth, with a restrained sweetness. Perhaps best today on the persistent, tangy finish, which features fine, tight-grained tannins and lovely aromatic lift. This has the vibrancy and spine to age.

Good full, bright ruby. Slightly reduced aromas of crushed cassis, minerals and bitter chocolate. Full and broad but quite dry, and still a bit reduced. Juicy and intensely flavored, but not as expressive today as the Montana. Finishes with tongue-coating tannins and lingering black fruit flavors. A very strong performance for vines that are less than ten years old. Comes across as more tannic, but lower in acidity, than the Montana.

Good deep red. Complex aromas of raspberry, blackberry, kirsch, flowers and wild herbs. Juicy and tightly wound, but already demonstrating a strong kernel of dark berry fruit and lovely definition and verve. Tighter than the Seascape bottling and thus a bit less broad today. The acids carry the fruit on the finish, which shows a piquant note of pomegranate.

This Bordeaux blend is certainly an oaky wine. It's made in a fruit-forward style, and seems lusher, softer and more accessible than K-J's other new release, Highland Estates Cabernets from Sonoma County. Of course, it's also more than four years old now. It's a really good wine, with a flashy opulence that makes it appealing.

Slightly hazy pale yellow-gold color. Aromas of apricot, nuts, brioche and flowers. Fat, round and seamless; rich and deep but not at all heavy. Sweet flavors of apricot and spices linger nicely on the back.

...catches the cool Sonoma Coast qualities of acidity and elegance. You'll find cherry and green tea flavors, and the wine should develop over the next five years.

Deep ruby-red. Crushed blackberry and licorice aromas. Primary and penetrating, with brisk flavors of crushed blueberry and spices framed by firm acidity. Finishes fresh and persistent, with sweet red fruit flavors and little obvious oak showing.

Full ruby-red. Spicy, pure aromas of sour cherry, violet, licorice and toasty, smoky oak. Dense, juicy and youthful, with flavors of dark berries, espresso bean and cola. Offers a silky mouth feel, but firm acids and tannins give this young wine a solid structural underpinning and good ageability. Comes across as far more pliant than the 2003 did at the same stage.

Ruby-red. Cassis, licorice, mocha and cocoa powder on the nose. Deep, bright and sweet, with chewy flavors of black cherry, currant and minerals nicely framed and lifted by firm, juicy acidity. Very ripe but not at all pruney. Finishes rich and long. Offers terrific potential.

Pale color. Aromatics of nectarine and pear, with mineral and wet stone nuances. Supple and silky but quite dry, with an edge of minerality and firm acids giving the wine a slightly skinny impression. Not yet expressing itself. This wine comes from a block within the Durell Vineyard.