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.

A restrained style, showing pepper, cherry, raspberry, and tea notes, finishes with smooth tannins.

Complex, with concentrated earthy currant, anise, mineral, sage, plum, cedar, and spice, turning polished.

Smooth, ripe and rich, with juicy cherry, currant, plum, anise, herb, mineral and spice flavors. Finishes with supple tannins and pretty oak shadings.

Firm, tightly wound and austere, with a compact band of earth, mineral, currant, sage, tea and cherry, Turns tannic and concentrated on the finish, where the flavors sail on.

Wonderful harmony and finesse, with layers of ripe, rich currant, black cherry, toasty oak, spice, coffee and cedar notes. Turn supple, elegant and spicy on the finish, where the flavors linger.

Dense, earthy and detailed, with firm, chewy tannins, wrapped around a core of currant, dried plum, earth, anise and sage. Firms up on the finish, where the tannins are quite evident.

Firm for a '96, with earthy tannins and a tasty core of ripe plum, currant and cherry flavors accented by a touch of sage and spice.

Lots of upfront spicy and plummy flavors, turning elegant and refined. Finishes with a spicy richness and firm, supple tannins.

A clean syrah with everything in sync. Blueberries, raspberries and tobacco on the palate. A bit earthy.

Juicy fruit, more than peppery spice, is the emphatic theme of this open and up-front young Syrah, and the wine is helped along its way by a nice touch of sweet, slightly vanillin oak. Its soft and easy mouthfeel further contributes to its overall immediacy…

A simple, varietally true merlot, its meaty cherry fruit and round, supple texture make it easy to enjoy.

Rich oak, ripe apples and wisps of flower team nicely in the open, easy to access aromas here, and the wine follows with similarly oak-enriched, ripe fruit flavors of medium depth. Rounded on entry, then noticeably firmed by plenty of crisping acids, this one is presently a little clipped at the end, but it should smooth into a bit more length with bottle age.

Jess Jackson purchased two estate vineyards for the Lokoya Napa Valley wines, one on Mt. Veeder and one on Howell Mountain. Winemaker Marco DiGuilio purchases fruit for this Diamond Mountain wine as well as the Rutherford bottling. The Lokoya Cabernets are designed to show off the varied characteristics of Napa's growing regions. Diamond Mountain produces this dense and chocolatey wine, its pungent fruit intensity balanced by equally intense tannins. The tannins have an austerity and dramatic power, struggling for supremacy with the generous nature of the fruit. The battle lasts through a long finish, and won't be resolved for years.