An intensely fragrant floral, ginger, peach, lemon-lime and orange-spice bouquet ushers in this smooth, well-structured wine. The palate shows intricately meshed orange, butterscotch and toasted nut flavors, offset by angular, racy mineral accent. Finishes long and crisp, wirh real refinement in it's pineapple, citrus and stony flavors. Enjoyable now but still tight, this should offer even more in two years.

winning combination of pear, apple ripe melon and butterscocth flavors, spiked with spicy clove and tart citrus accents. Lavishly oaked for a midweight wine, there's sufficient depth of fruit here to spport the wood, and the elements mesh and hold nicely/ An easy, lush mouthfeel means, it's best enjoyed over the next year or so - if you can keep it around that long.

Another elegant wine from Cambria. This one has a vanilla, smoke and grapefruit nose. Medium weight, it is crisp in the mouth, though somewhat leaner than the Bench Break. This cuvée nicely melds green apple fruit with menthol and vanilla accents. The bouquet is a reprise of the long, sweet-tart, butterscotch and tangy oak finish.

A winning nose offers aromas of créme brulée, smoked bacon, pears, peaches and toasty vanilla that just keep coming on in this stylish, full wine. The palate shows similar flavors. The big mouthfeel continues on the long, slightly sweet finish with its toasty, smoky oak. Strong already, but it should be even better in six months. From the maker of the fine afforable and widely available Katerine's Vineyard Chardonnay, top value.

Bright pear, peach, pineapple, ginger snap and floral notes grace a fresh, fragrant nose. The palate's exotic tropical fruit, ginger and lychee nut flavors mingle beautifully in a medium-full, though perhaps slightly sweet, package. Elegant and appealingly fresh.

Lots of spice along with a veritable fruit cocktail of complex flavors open this understated performer. From green apple and bosc pears to melon and mint, it has an elegant integration of fruit and spicy, vanillin oak. Tangy acidity keeps it lively, and the wine finishes crisp and dry. Still tight, this could use a year to knit itself together.

Top Values From the Top Shelf, 16 Super Chardonnays at $30.00

This appealing Chardonnay is the same wine that carried a reserve designation in prior vintages. It's lushly woven and has aromas and flavors of pear, pineapple and peach. The fruit is rich but not overly sweet, and sports accents of cinnamon and allspice. This balanced, medium-weight wine finishes long and easy with nice nuttiness.

This seductive, creamy Chard wraps smoky, spicy, vanilla-laden oak flavors around the core of lush tropical fruit. There's lively acidity and a lot to like here. The finish shows a slight edge that may smooth out in another three or four months.

Taste this wine and you'll agree: It's big. even fat. A fragrant, buttery apple-floral bouquet opens into a banana, orange ad hay palate. The mouth-feel is creamy, round and lively -- it's full-flavored without being too weighty. Pear and butterscotch linger on the finish.

Four different clones are separately fermented and then blended to make this uniquebottling. An expansive nose shows vibrant pineapple, peach, and orange fruit with lemondrop and butterscotch accents. It's rich and mouthfilling, like a bite of banana cream pie, and turns maybe a it orangy-sweet. Shy on subtlely, it packs in a lot of juicy flavor.

Remarkably complex, with rich tropical fruit flavors framed by pretty toast, vanilla and smoky oak notes. The core flavors of peach, fig and nectarine are bright and complex, gaining nuance on the finish.

Features a tight beam of citrus, pear and lemon drop, and subtle nutmeg shades that are deep and complex, finishing with a lively aftertaste. Drink now through 2006.

Features a tight beam of citrus, pear and lemon drop, and subtle nutmeg shades that are deep and complex, finishing with a lively aftertaste.

Elegant and polished, with understated apple, melon and light hazelnut flavors that build, offering depth and complexity.

Nicely proportioned, with rich, intense, smoky, toasty oak built around the core of pear, fig and citrus flavors. Gains complexity and nuance.

Lively, with fresh wild berry, blackberry and cherry notes, picking up hints of cedar, sage and cranberry. Nicely balanced.

Closing in on four years of age, this dense and complex wine hasn't come together yet. The tight structure seems to absorb all of its supple black raspberry and cherry fruit, giving the impression of richness and leanness at once. Give it time to mature and the tension between the fruit and structure should bellow into a satisfying and compelling whole.

Initial suggestions of sweet lemons take on a slightly sour edge as the wine opens, and its attractive vanilla bean and creme brulee qualities and a more rounded impression on the palate simply so not drag it back into contention.

The aromatic nose of raspberry, cola, blackberry and wood smoke is just plain huge. Exotic and very forward flavors of black fruits, cherry, clove, nutmeg, brown sugar and pepper expand in the mouth...this wine has a ease about it, as if nothing were forced. Extremely ripe...it could become liquid velvet with a couple of years in the bottle.

Plums and black fruits on the nose are rich and full bodied, buffered by a good dose of vanilla. This merlot is immediately likable but has a weight and grip on the mid palate, in addition to a supple and well rounded finish. Finally, a merlot that does not disappoint.

You can literally smell the rich texture along with the aromatic complexity in this wine after one swirl of the glass. Dark plum and blackberry fruit flavors are well extracted with a deep, chewy texture, perfect balance and fine, flavor sustaining acidity. A classic Napa cab, with Rutherford dust, that deserves some bottle age to really blossom.

Dark berry flavors, along with overtones of cherries and dried herbs are juicy and soft in the mouth. Well concentrated and moderately complex, the wine's stream of flavors doesn't quit and is enhance with a dollop of oak. More polished than the Napa bottling and delicious to drink now.