Thinly fit with a bit of mild, cherryish fruit, this firm, unexpansive offering is underlain by stiff acidity, a note of stemmy bitterness and a touch of black-tea astringency. Always clean, but never rounded in the manner of first-rate Merlot, it makes no promise to grow into better but does have at least the minimum of fruit to hold up well for a few years yet.

Attuned to the ripe, lush side of Merlot's varietal character, this wine is among those that hue to the juicy, succulent side of the Merlot potential. It is open, ripe, fruity and enriched by a note of cocoa. Only nominally tannic, its willingness to be Merlot instead of Cabernet imitation is appreciated.

Simple, varietal flavors dominate this pleasant, quaffable alternative to chardonnay. It is blended with semillon, viognier, pinot blanc and malvasia to give it a broad dimension.

"This Monterey County pinot has deep, bold flavors of ripe black cherries and oak. It's big enough to serve with grilled food.

Fewer than 2000 cases of this excellent wine are produced annually by Pierre Seillan. It is tipped to become the next Harlan or Bryant Family, both of which retail at more than $300 per bottle. This costs just $95 a bottle or $1140 a case and should last 20-30 years.

Lots of very solid appley fruit sets this engaging effort firmly on the varietal track, and, in both aroma and flavor, sweet oak is a well-placed comlement rather than a potential scene stealer. Medium-full-bodied and as graceful in its balanced construction as it is composed in its inviting mix of fruit and oak, this finely crafted wine favors brightness over unbridled extract and will drink beautifully over the next several years with any number of meaty dishes ranging from salmon to sea bass.

This attractive, keenly focused offering reminds me that Syrah need not always key on runaway ripeness and heavy-handed extracts to achieve richness, and its precise, carefully composed display of berries, violets, pepper cream and spice is both complex and deceptively potent without ever being overblown. Moderately full-bodied, nominally tannic and firmed by a streak of nicely fit acidity, it steers clear of any undue heat or finishing toughness and should reach its peak in four or five years.

Apple and cherry orchard scents drive this broad, full-bodied Pinot, a solid expression of the Anderson Valley in clean, direct fruit and hints of oceanic iodine. Potent tannins come up with air, balancing the aromatic fruit, ending with the scent of apple-blossom honey. A formidable pinot for a crown roast of pork stuffed with apples.

This is the wine that started Jess Jackson's wine empire. It's hard to believe it has been around for 20 years. We remember this wine clobbering a nice batch of expensive white burgundies in a blind tasting 18 years ago. It's still fun to drink with its tropical fruit flavors and hint of citrus and toasty oak. We're sure to see this in another 20 years.

Rich cherry and blackberry fruit flavors, with notes of leather and licorice.

With grapes from the cooler Mendocino region, K-J has a rich and multi-dimensional zinfandel with good body. It is blended with petite sirah, grenache and carignane and comes from old vines.

The wine has a brawny intensity to its flavors of fresh herbs and dark berries.

When first poured, this is as bright as the sun reflecting off the beach. So bright, it's hard to catch the bottom notes, the fruit slowly revealed below all the dusty red spice that hovers like a cloud-thread of perfume. A chocolate note of tannin emerges as the dust begins to settle, along with a deeper tone of black olives and dense red fruit. But the tension continues, a contrast of grounded strength with elusive perfume, feverish as a young wine and well worth following as it ages.

Seductive earth, currant and spices lead to a smooth, supple-textured, richly flavored wine, with layers of currant, blackberry, coffee, mocha and mineral. Turns elegant and sophisticated, with hints of anise and cedar. Well-integrated tannins suggest short-term cellaring.

Sweet strawberry fruit runs tart and loose through this wine. The hard brown spices of the tannin attempt to round it up, but in the end, it remains loose.

A big Chardonnay, with lovely apple and melon fruit flavors. Toasty and spicy. A long finish.

Charming perfumed nose, elegant raspberries, wild strawberries. Medium bodied, graceful, oak and acidity left in background. Good length, Up to 5 years.

Intricate flavors and excellent balance indicate highly skilled handling of top class grapes.

Tries, with considerable success, to advance the argument that Sonoma is Merlot's natural home. A ripe, rich, plummy wine, with terrific fruit and superb tannins, easy enough to drink tonight or age a few years. It's so good, you can't help but reach for another glass.

Darker than the Alexander Valley bottling, and richer in fruit, with powerful black-currants blasting from the glass. The structure is better, too, with beautiful Napa tannins that have the deceptive simplicity of the Bauhaus. A notable success for the vintage.

Medium to full red-purple; there is abundant ripe and sweet raspberry and blackberry fruit on the bouquet, backed by subtle French oak; a rich, full-bodied palate with lots of extract, adding coffee, vanilla and mocha to the generous berry fruit.

"Long on ripeness and evocative of sweet berries throughout its length, this full and fairly luscious wine hangs onto varietal fruit where many of its alcoholic ilk do not, and its appealing spice further helps it stave off the jammy simplicity and dullness that can come with its late-harvest style. It shows a fair degree of heat at the end, yet it is always well-structured and had sufficient tannins to argue for another few years of cellaring.