offers up sweet aromas of melted licorice, chocolate, black currants, and crushed rocks. Elegant as well as powerful and deep, with a layered mouthfeel, a long finish, and firm tannin, my instincts suggest it warrants 3-4 years of cellaring. It should drink well for 12-15 years.

The lighter 2003 Legacy Proprietary Red (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot) is sweet and spicy with plenty of power, potency, and flavor. It will merit consumption during its first 10-12 years of life.

The 2003 (vintage) is better than the excellent 2002, but both wines reveal notes of black currants intermixed with blueberries, acacia flowers, chocolate, and coffee. Both are layered and rich, but the 2003 is fuller-bodied.

(100% Merlot). A big, sweet nose of espresso roast, dried herbs, currants, cherries, and smoky oak is accompanied by a dense, opulent, medium-bodied, rich, moderately tannic Merlot boasting a long, heady finish. It should be at its best between 2006-2015.

Which comes from the old Gauer Ranch, is beginning to show its age. While still intact with plenty of buttery popcorn, tropical fruit, and sweet citrus, it requires consumption over the next 12 months.

Offers sweet toasty oak interwoven with chocolate, espresso, dried herb, black currant, and earth notes. A dense, medium-bodied effort with no hard edges, it will drink well for 7-8 years.

Offers up crisp, honeysuckle, fig, and melon aromas, lively acidity, medium body, and an attractive finish. Enjoy it over the next 1-2 years.

100% Syrah aged 11 months in French oak. Displays pepper, blackberry aromas and flavors with a notion of graphite in the background. Smoky/earthy characteristics.

A blend of 88% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Syrah, this tightly-knit 2002 possesses good depth along with chocolatey black cherry and berry characteristics intermixed with licorice, herbs, and earth. This heady Merlot requires another 1-2 years of bottle age; it should last for 10-12 years.

Chunky, fresh & possesses good fruit and a lovely fragrance.

Exhibits a big, smoky, woody bouquet intermixed with scents of cherry fruit.

Offers red currant, dried herb, and Allspice notes in a medium-bodied, straightforward, commercial style.

Vibrant and showy. Full-bodied, with a rich texture. Aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, mint and camphor.

Pure, liqueur-like, tart cherry flavors; hint of nutmeg as the wine warms; dry, velvety; lightly tart finish.

Spicy, cinnamony, plum-pie flavors; crisp, dry.

Intense pear and butterscotch flavors, concentrated fruit, viscous, very dry; lightly tart finish.

Toasty oak aroma; rich caramel and crisp citrus flavors; fruity, creamy, dry.

Aromas and flavors of ripe red plum, black pepper and spicy oak. Medium bodied.

Reliable, simple Pinot Noir that is well balanced and well priced. Black cherry and spice dominate the palate.

Nice balance of earth, fruit and oak, with some interesting roasted flavors and a hint of chocolate. Perennial favorite.

juicy with loads of melon flavors and underlying citrus notes. It bridges the gap between a lean, grassy style of Sauvignon Blanc and an overly ripe, warm-weather Sauvignon. Either is ideal as a cocktail sipper or with broiled fish with a squeeze of lemon on top.

Delicate, soft cherry flavors. Prominent, good quality oak. Note of cocoa and maple sugar. Integrated tannins.

with raspberry and cherry, some vanilla and a little firmer structure.

It's fascinating to taste a wine from a single clone, especially when it tastes this good. This wine starts off with a lot of raspy high tones, like rosin or radish, then slowly settles into its deeper black cherry and black fig flavors with air. Oak melds into the fruit with a lasting aroma of cherry wood smoke, and that finishing note seems endless, wrapped around a succulent black fruit flavor. The impression is dynamic and intense without a lot of weight.