if you find an Edmeades zinfandel, take a gamble on it and you're likely to be rewarded. The '96 zin has the typically varietal briary nose; the concentration of dark fruit flavors are obvious, but it's not overdone nor overshadowed by high alcohol levels, as many zins are; subtle, almost elegant. Check out the single vineyard zins for a real treat.

is strikingly similar to Santa Barbara versions; the cool climate grapes get long hangtime resulting in a chard that's full of tropical fruit & green apples with a buttery finish.

Ripe fruit, soft blackberry and plum. A touch tart, some harsh oak. Undertones of vanilla.

Dry and gamy, with intense leathery flavors; tannic and earthy, with herb, tobacco and modest dried berry and currant flavors.

Firm and spicy, with cola, mustard seed, earth and black cherry flavors, finishing with a touch of bitterness from tannins. A solid effort.

Deep raspberry and cherry fruit buttressed by creamy vanillin oak and an earthy, animal element opens this dark, tangy wine. More of the same follows in the mouth where licorice, cocoa and espresso accents adds interest. Rich and burly, it closes with full but supple tannins.

With great fruit from the Russian River Valley, this pinot is deeply colored and has a rich black cherry fruit.

There are 3900 cases of the prodigious 1997 Cardinale, comprised primarily of Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny dollop of Merlot. The whine has an opaque bluish black/purple color, a knockout nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, lead pencil, mineral, and smoky oak. The glorious richness in the mouth is backed up by a full-bodied, opulently-textured, super-extracted wine that is neither heavy nor ponderous. Stunning purity, a fabulous multi-layered impression & a finish that goes on for nearly a minute make this the most exciting Cardinale to date. For statisticians, this is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon & 9% Merlot, of which 79% of the grapes came from Napa & 21% from Sonoma. It spent 22 months in 100% new French oak before being bottled with neither fining nor filtration. It tips the scale at 14.2% alcohol. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2030.

The most opulent, sexy, & immediately charming of this admirable quartet of 1997 Lokoya Cabernets is the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain (1100 cases). It exhibits a saturated purple color in addition to an explosive nose of licorice, cedar, roasted herbs, & black plums and currants. Full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture, low acidity, & heady alcohol, this offering possesses considerable tannin, but it is beautifully submerged by the wine's depth of extract & high glycerin. Impressive, with a flamboyant personality, this '97 should drink well for 18-20 years.

The talented winemaker, Dan Klick, has produced a 1999 Chardonnay that spent much of its life on its lees in 50% new French oak, primarily from Francois Freres and Damy. Grown in decomposed granite and loamy soils, this wine has an almost Coche-Dury-like liquid minerality, intermixed with sumptuous levels of orange marmalade, lemon oil, and citrus. Full-bodied, impressively delineated, yet powerfully concentrated as well as elegant, this looks to be a profound Chardonnay that should age well for 4-5 years.

The tiny cuvee of 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder (132 cases) actually is the only 1998 that needs another 2-3 years of cellaring. It also will probably last 20-25 years, but will it achieve the greatness of the Diamond Mountain or the suppleness of the Rutherford? With a dense purple color, notes of scorched earth, liquid minerals, black fruits, cedar & licorice, this full-bodied, powerful, muscular wine has some tannin to shed,but it is loaded with extract & richness. To reiterate, these are amazing achievements in 1998.

The opaque purple-colored '97 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder (220 cases) from an elevation of 1500 ft., reveals classic crème de cassis/mineral aromas, a superb mid-palate, and a full-bodied peersonality with impressive length & purity. It is not for readers desiring immediate gratification as it requires 4-5 years of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025.

More mineral, blueberry, plum, & earthy characteristics can be found in the dark puple-colored 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain (700 cases). Softer in the mouth, but full-bodied, dense, and rich, it is an immensely impressive effort. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2020.

Exhibits buttery popcorn notes, rich full-bodied, powerful purity, and the longest finish, with the most intensity and nuances. It is a fabulous Chardonnay capable of lasting 4-5 years. These are all handsomely rendered Chardonnays.

Another famulous offering, the '99 Chardonnay Upper Barn, is still in barrel. It reveals a powerful, smoky, leesy bouquet of buttered tangerines, honeysuckle, mineral, & citrus oils. Authoritative but restrained, with admirable length, this Chardonnay has super potential.

His 1998 Merlot is an inter-appellation blend of 62% Sonoma and 38% Napa. It is a 2,000-case blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Eighty-five percent of the malolactic was done in barrel and the wine was bottled without any clarification. It is a blockbuster Merlot, and certainly a formidable achievement for 1998. The wine shows a dense black/purple color, an enormous nose of espresso roast, melted chocolate, blackberries, cherries and sweet truffle/earthy notes. Very full-bodied, astonishingly concentrated, extremely pure, and well-balanced, this is a blockbuster effort that can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years.

This wine has an opaque purple color, big, powerful, highly extracted flavors, amazing richness for a wine of this vintage, and a long, muscular, dense finish. It needs a good 3-4 years of cellaring, yet should keep for two decades. The 1999 is super stuff, a prodigious wine of fabulous concentration.

The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford is a classic Rutherford Cabernet with about 9% Merlot in the blend. Opaque purple in color, with low acidity, and a gorgeously explosive nose of black and red fruits intermixed with cedar wood, this profoundly concentrated wine is dense, opulent, and remarkably voluptuous and concentrated for a 1998. In a blind tasting, readers would certainly think this emanated from a vintage such as 1997 or 1994, given its super-concentrated, gorgeously harmonious personality. Anticipated maturity: now - 2015.

Hartford Court's 1999 Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard is exquisite. Black raspberries intermingled with blueberries and cherry liqueur are wrapped with toasty oak. This rich, full-bodied, expressive Pinot Noir possesses impressive purity, decent acidity, sweet tannin, and layers of concentrated fruit, yet it is neither heavy nor overblown. This superb effort should drink well during its first 7-9 years of life.

The 1999 Pinot Noir Sevens Bench Vineyard comes from a vineyard planted largely with French Dijon clones. This seven-year old vineyard, which was cropped at two tons of fruit per acre, has produced an opaque purple-colored, dense, full-bodied, superbly concentrated Pinot with plenty of creamy black fruits intermixed with smoke, toast, and spice. Rich, with moderate tannin, sweet levels of glycerin, and enough acidity to provide delineation, this opulently-styled Pinot Noir can be drunk now, or cellared for 6-8 years. Very impressive!

Hartford's 1999 Zinfandel High Wire Vineyard contains 15.8% alcohol, but you would never suspect that from tasting it. Bottled without filtration, this wine offers an opaque purple color as well as explosive aromas of blackberries, pepper, and spice. In the mouth, ripe cherries also make an appearance in this unctuously-textured, rich, full-bodied, exuberant, superbly-concentrated, well-balanced Zinfandel. These wines are best consumed during their robust, powerful youth - over the next 5-6 years.

The awesome Hartford 1999 Zinfandel Fanucci-Wood Road is a powerful, concentrated, intense effort produced from 90-year old vines. Don Hartford said a touch of Petite-Sirah was added, but that was not noticeable. It offers abundant quantities of blackberry and cherry liqueur-like aromas and flavors, along with pepper, minerals, and spice. Voluptuously-textured, intense, fragrant, pure, and decadent, this dazzling Zinfandel should drink well for a decade.

The outstanding 1997 Legacy, a proprietary blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, & 17% Cabernet Franc, possesses abundant jammy black currant/cherry fruit intermixed with lead pencil, toasty oak, & vanilla. Full-bodied & pure, with moderate tannin, this large-scaled effort (14.2% alcohol) can be drunk early, but promises to evolve for at least two decades. The winery also produces a single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon called Christopher's Vineyard, which represents a 2,000-case cuvee from a tiny parcel (the Buckeye Vineyard) situated on the top of Jess Jackson's Alexander Mountain estate. I tasted barrel samples of the '98 & '99, which will not be released until 2002 & 2003 respectively. They are both impressive, mountain-styled Cabernets with enormous richness, body, & strength. The '99 looks terrific, possibly the finest Christopher's Vineyard yet made. Sadly, I did not have a chance to retaste the '97 Cabernet Sauvignon Christopher's Vineyard that had seemed disjointed when tasted last year.

The 1999 Chardonnay Katherine's Vineyard is one of the best they have made. The vintage's good acidity buttresses the copious quantities of honeyed orange/pineapple fruit infused with citrus oils and gentle, toasty oak. It is rich, full bodied, undeniably attractive Chardonnay fruit bomb that should drink well for 2-3 years.

There are only a measly 250 cases of the potentially dazzling '99 Chardonnay Block 66, produced from Jess Jackson's Alexander Mountain estate. This light gold-colored effort exhibits a huge, mineral-infused, butter, pear, citrus, and honeyed fruit-scented bouquet as well as flavors. The wine is strikingly deep, well-delineated, and super-concentrated. Look for it to drink well for at least 2-3 years.