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.

Impressively concentrated, backward, and full-bodied, it exhibits aromas and flavors of blueberries, minerals, cherries, and root vegetables. Tightly knit, full-bodied, structured, and concentrated, it needs 2-3 years of cellaring and should keep from 10-12+. If my instincts are correct, this is going to be a very special Pinot Noir.

An outstanding effort, as well as a curiosity, is the 1999 Pinot Noir Marin Vineyard. Most Marin County real estate is stratospherically priced, as this county has more than its share of multi-million dollar homes as well as some of the wealthiest residents of the San Francisco Bay area. Made from a 14-year old vineyard planted with the Mt. Eden clone, cropped at a meager one ton of fruit per acre, and bottled with no filtration, this earthy, dark ruby-colored Pinot reveals abundant qualities of sweet black fruits, dry tannin, good structure, and notions of melted fudge intermixed with black cherries, plums and raspberries. Dense, deep, youthful, and unevolved, it will age nicely for a decade. Don Hartford's winemaker, Mike Sullivan, told me that, like all their Pinot Noirs, it enjoyed a six-day cold soak prior to fermentation. About 70% new French oak was utilized.

The 1999 Pinot Noir Velvet Sisters Vineyard comes from the cooler northern area of Anderson Valley. Made from such clones as Dijon #115 and Pommard, this dark ruby-colored offering exhibits a sweet, raspberry, brown sugar-like bouquet as well as smoky, attractively integrated toasty scents, medium to full body, decent acidity, and outstanding purity and ripeness. Sixty percent new French oak was utilized during the aging process. While accessible, it promises to drink well for 5-8 years.

The dense ruby/plum-colored 1999 Pinot Noir Bench Break exhibits abundant quantities of vibrant berry fruit intermixed with smoke, charcoal, and mineral. The wine was aged in 100% new french oak, and is slightly more structured and denser than the open-knit Julia's Vineyard. This wine will benefit from another 6-8 months of bottle age up to a decade.

Sees about 40% French new oak and is made from totally destemmed grapes. Ot possesses ripe cherry and cranberry fruit, along with notes of pomegranate, pepper, and spice. Tangy, medium to full-bodied, and fruit-driven, it should drink nicely for 4-5 years.

tasted last year & just being released, is also powerful, but the tannin is sweeter & the wine riper, richer, & more expansive on the mid-palate. It should last for 15-20 years.

More monolithic and less evolved, but potentially outstanding, the 1999 Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch/Sanchietti Vineyard was muted the day I tasted it. Nevertheless, it is a plump, full-bodied, tannic effort with force and muscle, but not the charm or aromatics of its siblings. Those characteristics may develop over the next year, but this forceful, moderately tannic, dense 1999 does not lack concentration or intensity. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2009

Readers looking for a more understated, restrained effort will enjoy Hartford's 1999 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard (204 cases). This 90-year old vineyard produced 204 cases of Zinfandel that finished with a mere 14.5% alcohol. Offering up spicy red and black fruit aromas, medium to full body, excellent harmony, good acidity, and impressive balance, it should drink well for 6-7. All of these old vine 1999 Zinfandels are made from yields averaging under two tons of fruit per acre.

There are 2638 cases of the artisinal '98 Pinot Noir, a big, rich, earthy, animal-styled Pinot with plenty of black cherry fruit, pepper, & plum aromas as well as flavors. Medium to full-bodied & fruit-driven, with good glycerin & a silky texture, it requires consumption over the next 2-3 years.

is surprisingly soft, round, & forward for a Petit Syrah. The wine has plenty of character, an opaque ruby/purple color, & good peppery, blackberry & licorice notes. It should drink well for 10-12 years.

Among current & upcoming red wine releases, the 1998s reflect the strict selection Stonestreet employed. They usually make about 15,000 cases of Merlot, but in '98, after the selection process, there are only 6,000 cases available. A blend of 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Cabernet Franc, this wine is showing much better from bottle than it did last year. It reveals smoky, chocolatey, & black cherry notes with well-integrated oak. Full-bodied, powerful, yet slightly angular, it should drink well for a decade.

The dark ruby/purple-colored '97 Merlot offers an expressive nose of cocoa, fudge, herb-tinged blackberry & berry fruit. The wine has some tannin to shed, but it is a muscular, full-bodied, robus Merlot to drink over the next 10-12 years.

Tomato skin and black cherry aromas and flavors are presented in a fuller-bodied, more powerful, tannic style. Hardly a profound Merlot, it will last for 7-8 years.

The 1998 is a clean, crisp, straightforward, pleasant, medium-bodied Chardonnay with hints of tangerine and orange. It needs to be drunk up.