Deep red. Liqueur-like aromas of cassis, raspberry, smoked meat & high-toned, spicy oak. Juicy & firm in the mouth, with fairly intense flavors of dark berries. A step up in shape & concentration from the Julia's. I would have scored this wine higher were it not for the substantial oak component that somewhat dried its finish.

Aromas of pungent resiny oak, clove, honey, earth, spiced pear & pineapple. Then supple & fruity in the mouth with a note of truffle. Finishes slighly aggressive and could use a bit more grip.

Aromas of white grapefruit and grass. Supple in texture, but with Loire-like flavors of grapefruit and earth. Offers good fruit but only moderate complexity.

Aromas of crystallized lemon peel & yellow plum. Fat & sweet but rather diffuse, with modest nuance. Finishes with persistent, buttery fruit.

Medium-deep red. Very ripe, slightly roasted aromas of plum preserves & raspberry. Soft & a bit dull in the mouth, with modest flavor development & delineation. Finishes with dusty, tight tannins & a slight peppery greenness.

From this very noble vintage comes a bottling that is softer than the Camelot bottling but no less rich and fruity. Filled with tremendous fruit flavors --apples and peaches specifically -- all ultraspicy, cinnamon notes from both the grape and the oak. Made in the fashionable style, round and sweet...

From one of the best Chardonnay regions in the state, a cool-climate wine with pronounced peach, apple and tropical fruit flavors and a blast of zesty, spicy, smoky oak. Clean and crisp, with a creamy, rich texture. Finishes with a vanilla note.

Our goal was to create as complete a package as possible, says Antonakeas. It's hard to quibble with the results. The wine bar's selection of ontouchable cult Cabernets by the glass, such as Lokoya Mount Veeder 1995 ($55) makes teetotaling nearly impossible.

Rustic, with cedar, black cherry, earth, mineral & iodine flavors, turning oaky. Drink now through 2005. 2,822 cases made.

A bit brambly and zin-like. A syrah--wannabe. Boysenberry fruit flavors as opposed to blackberry.

Very fresh & intense, spicy, black currant inviting aromas. Lovely depth of fruit. This is a wine full of character, rich, spicy, firm tannins & excellent balance of weight. Good length. Will keep.

Quite good.

Reductive nose. Very rich, very oaky and a bit jammy, but with open tannic support. This is a blockbuster with more power than finesse -- but sumptuous and concentrated with a chewy finish...Oak and fruit aromas. Very young ripe fresh berry fruit combined with good acidity and tannin balance. Some complexity, with a long alcoholic, rich finish.

If never all that convincing with respect to distinctive varietal character, this clean, bright, slightly sweet wine suggests apples, lemons and an appealing hint of honey in both aroma and flavor. Quite well-balanced and kept alive by a bracing bit of acidity, it is sure to serve nicely in the coming warmer months with picnic fare.

Pretty notes of peach, pear and creme brulee define the likeable aromas here, and sweet peach qualities continue as the central theme of this slick, medium-full-bodied wine's uncomplicated, mildly sugary flavors as well. Very frontal and wanting a bit more fruity depth to ensure successful aging, this is very much a wine for the present.

The least expensive of the Kendall-Jackson siblings is the most successful insofar as value is concerned. Its clean-as-can-be delivery of simple, lightly candied fruitiness and sweet oak..."will work...tasty.

Here is a rich but uneven wine that counts sweet, slightly tropical fruit and a big dose of oak among its assets, but its stiff latter-palate acidity stands in direct contrast to its softer, slightly fat beginnings. A wine of a few too many seams just now, it makes no guarantees that age will bring the integration that it so clearly lacks.

A complicated wine with two separate personalities. First, it shows some of the greener aspects of Santa Maria Pinot, edging forward with scents of fennel, anise, roasted carrots, yams. . .as if an unformed mash of holiday flavors. Then there's the raspberry side, the brightness of color developing into a bright fruit flavor as it gives up the initial blackness. The fruit yields from an espresso-like tannin, intense & impacted, growing ever more powerful in the glass. Give this several years in the cellar to resolve & it should prove fascinating (1200 cases).

Big & juicy with berry & a hint of black pepper. Needs time for the generous oak to integrate.

"Elegant, with some interesting aromas and flavors: jasmine tea, apricot, nectarine and toasted oak. Long Finish.

6% Cabernet Franc. Hints of clay, pencil lead, loam & spice fill out the moderately concentrated, black cherry & ripe plum character at the center of this medium-depth offering. Alcohol & a bit of toughening tannin detract at the finish, but the wine needs only savory foods & a few years in the cellar to be at its enjoyable best.

Its well-oaked, lightly leesy, ripe-melon aromas indicate a wine of size and substance, and such is precisely the case with this big, mouthfilling Sauvignon. For all of its very obvious extract, however, it has a harder, slightly citric toughness in the latter (quote not complete)

Soft, juicy, ripe, a little on the plain side as to varietal character but quite presentable, this wine tastes slightly sweet...

Same vineyard (as Claudia Springs 1998 Eagle Point Ranch Zinfandel), different producer, making for an interesting comparison. There's 19% Syrah and 5% Petite Syrah blended into this wine, which is succulent and delicious, with spicy, lively fruit leading the way. There's enough acid to give it structure and balance, but not so much that the wine seems edgy or sour.