…wine possesses outstanding concentration and purity, as well as a boatload of hard, gritty tannin. If the tannin becomes better integrated, this Cabernet will merit an outstanding score. However, I am concerned about the astringency level, which gives the wine a compressed feel despite its impressive levels of concentration an richness.

The 1998 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve was a surprise offering. There are 222 cases of this light medium ruby-colored, deliciously fruity Pinot Noir offering scents of plums, blackberries, cherries, and earth. This spicy round, high quality Pinot is largely from several Anderson Valley vineyards…

…dark ruby/purple colors, abundant spicy oak, medium body, and moderate tannin. The Merlot reveals more dried herb, berry fruit, and smoke…

It is a medium to full-bodied, juicy, tropical fruit-dominated effort with nicely integrated toasty oak, decent acidity, and fine purity and balance.

…an elegant, fresh, melon, honeyed citrus, grapefruit-scented and flavored 1998 Sauvignon Blanc. This pleasant Sauvignon will be ideal with Asian dishes as well as shellfish/seafood.

It exhibits chocolate, blackberry, and pepper-like aromas, medium body, and abundant fruit in its soft personality.

…was the finest of all the 1997 Vintner's Reserve reds.

...displays the same characteristics as the Vintner's Reserve, but with more fat, succulence, and ripe fruit.

…offers that varietal's tell-tale tropical fruit cocktail nose and flavors. A touch of Chardonnay was added to the blend.

Elegant and refreshing, with intriguing melon and tropical fruit characteristics, it is a pleasant, dry, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc to drink over the next year.

Once again a fine effort, it exhibits ripe tropical fruit in addition to apple and citrus scents. It reveals more smoky oak than in past vintages, and tastes dry.

Displaying exotic lychee nut, jasmine, and grapefruit-like aromas and flavors, this crisp, dry, medium-bodied effort should be consumed over the next year.

This wine posesses some residual sugar, and should be approached as one would a German Kabinett or lighter-bodied Spatlese.

Relying on high ripeness and high oak, this substantial wine is both rich and somewhat layered but is never quite forceful in fruit. It has good body and a bit of suppleness in the mouth..

Mild, clean, fruity and pleasant, the aromas show neither depth nor focus. Perfectly pleasant in the mouth and fairly fruity, this is a useful, drinkable Merlot…

"Smoky oak scents push forward over moderately fruity tones…

Fairly oaky off the top, the wine's ripe, black cherry fruity aromas take time to open and become accessible. …its frontal impressions in the mouth are also focused on wood spice.

…moderately full-bodied wine also displays a good degree of extract and fairly showy oak.

This wine's vineyard sources include Rutherford, To-Kalon, Mt. Veeder, and Keyers Vineyard on Howell Mountain. The wine's opaque purple color is accompanied by a glorious nose of licorice cassis, lead pencil, and minerals. Sweet, with a terrific attack displaying stupendous ripeness, full-bodied richness, and a natural texture with a super-concentrated mid-palate and finish, this is a star of the vintage.

It is also a top rank wine, and a star of the vintage. A saturated purple color is followed by licorice, cedar, fruit cake, and black currant aromas. Full-bodied, powerful, and concentrated, with low acidity but high tannin, this young, muscular classic should have fabulous aging potential.

This mountain grown cabernet comes from the highest vineyard site in Sonoma County, in the eastern hills of the Alexander Valley. Planted above the fog, the vineyard was originally developed in the eighties as the Gauer Ranch. Kendall-Jackson purchased the ranch in 1995, and created the Buckeye Cabernet from some of its best parcels. It's lush with deep fruit and a crushed velvet texture, in the nose of Steve Test's Stonestreet Cabernets of the early nineties. The fruit is sweet as blackstrap molasses, but held to a freshness so it reads as bright cherries; the structure is built on fine tannins and smoky oak. Overall, a wine as dramatic as the vineyard where it grows.

Good full ruby. Vibrant, brooding aromas of black cherry, dark berries and licorice. Bright and intensely flavored but very tightly wrapped and currant dominated by its structure. Shows a chewy texture but is currently hiding its density. Finishes with substiantial but broad tannins and very good persistence.

This is a sexy, natural yeast/barrel-fermented rind, butter fruit, medium to full body, and a pure, clean, peach-flavored finish. A delicious, food/consumer-friendly Chardonnay, it is also and excellent value.

…mineral and oak aromas, tart peach flavors, big and crisp, with superb balance.

Lean, with a strong toasted oak shade to the tart cherry, currant and herb flavors. Finishes lean, but the tannins are balanced, not drying.