Very dark crimson. Beige volcanic rock. Very fresh Cabernet notes. Clone 7. Quite high altitude. Much richer on the palate...

Warmer, riper, richer nose. Want to drink - very rich and ripe and four-square. Dry tannins underneath. Quite deceptive.

Plum jam and vanilla oak. Dark spicy plum fruit. Well balanced. Dryish finish. Nice length. Nice effort. Fine flavour. 3-6 years.

Smells somehow roasted yet mountainous - not unlike a high Argentine fruit. Dry finish. Spice and tar. Real vitality in this very exciting, expressive one-place wine.

Serves up tangy berry and cherry flavors that weave in olive, herb and earth tones... Drink now through 2007.

Intense black cherry and mocha flavors dominate this well-balanced wine with a long finish.

This is a pretty nice, average Cabernet, dry and balanced, with good fruit flavors.

On the smooth side. Flavors of cherry, dark plum, cassis, oak, spice and licorice. Balanced. Chewy tannins.

Polished fruit, plush on the palate and long finish.

Lovely fragrant, ripe berry fruit. Bright and breezy, juicy style with good concentration and balance. Very drinkable up to 3 years.

Intense and concentrated, if a bit dry and tannic. I'm left wishing there were more fruit to offset the tannins. Hints of currant and mocha peak through. Drink now.

Brawny, with blackberry, plum and currant tones folding into cedary oak, herb accents and chewy tannins that clamp down on the finish. Drink now through 2009.

Great with wild boar.

Sonoma County's Alexander Valley, where the fruit for this wine was grown, is celebrated for cabernet sauvignons with an enviable combination of strong spine and supple tannins, and this sweet juicy, cherry-flavored and long-lingering take on the varietal lives up to that standard with authority and flourish. It's a big wine, but drinkable now.

Large-scale, lovely ripe black fruit, bold flavoured with oak.

Made with fruit grown largely on Mount Veeder, this cabernet needs about a decade of cellar age before its resonating cherry fruit and chocolate icing can be enjoyed.

Tight cassis, earthy nose; immense and deep, layered flavours.

The 2001 Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the more fascinating wines I have tasted in a long time, an excellent value for its rich fruit, perfect varietal character and finesse.

Made in the wine-blessed trinity of Northern California counties, this serious wine requires the drinker's patience and attention. Structured with firm but ripe tannins, it is built to last, with powerfully focused flavors of cherry, plum, blackberry, cedar, leather and toasty oak that slowly reveal themselves in the glass. Drink it now with a sirloin and a side of sauteed wild mushrooms or leave it in the cellar to enjoy later with some of California's artisinal cheeses.