2004 Chardonnay Alexander Valley Musky aroma of pineapple, with a bit of heat. Sweet, round and fat, with a stony nuance and sound acidity keeping the ripe pineapple flavor from coming off as exotic. 87

The fruity, big-bodied Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve 2003 comes with an extra measure of oaky richness.

Good bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of cassis, black cherry, graphite, iron, tobacco, menthol and spice cake. Lush and broad on entry, then sweeter and lusher in the middle palate than the Muse, with a captivating chocolatey quality and outstanding volume. As rich and full as this is, there's no sense of excess weight. Finishes long, dense and palate-saturating with major dusty tannins. This Pauillac is sweeter and deeper than Seillan's Pomerol, a comment on the comparative quality of cabernet sauvignon and merlot in California's North Coast.

Opens with a pure, clean, high-toned aroma, powerful yet delicate, of cherries, cola, coffee, cinnamon and smoky oak. In the mouth, the wine has fantastic density and concentration, rich in fruits and spices, but with a brilliant Pinotesque silkiness. Simply a marvelous wine.

From mountain vineyards comes this deep, dark, impressively intense Cab. Opens with a blast of new oaky smoke, char and vanilla, but once in the mouth, huge waves of flamboyant blackberry and cassis, black cherry and vanilla oak flavors unfold, with a meaty note. The wine is totally dry and balanced, and while it's drinkable now, it should improve through 2015

Ruby-red. Brooding, perfumed aromas of dark fruits, violet and chocolate. Sweet and intensely flavored, with lively acids framing the currant, black raspberry, mineral and dark chocolate flavors. Very densely packed wine, with the sheer material to support its big, ripe tannins. Give this plenty of aeration if you plan to open a bottle anytime soon. Or, better yet, lay it down for six to eight years.

Good medium ruby. An essence of cabernet on the nose, with blackberry, licorice and floral aromas complicated by an exotic suggestion of fruity tropical chocolate. Then large-scaled, fat and sweet in the mouth, with highly concentrated black raspberry and chocolate flavors. The powerful mountain tannins coat the front teeth. Like a cabernet syrup today, in need of at least seven or eight years of aging and likely to be long-lived.

Ruby-red. Sexy, varietally accurate aromas of currant, cedar, tobacco and violet. Rich and ripe but dry, with lovely purity of black cherry, chocolate and dusty earth flavors. The wine's lively acids and fine tannins frame the fruit and carry the finish, which features lovely aromatic character and brooding dark berry fruitiness. Classy, pure wine, built for a couple decades of life in the bottle. (I was unable to taste the 2004, as the wine had recently been racked.)

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.