Ripe and rich; intense and complex with plum and berry fruit; long and luscious with amazing layered flavors.

Plummy and rich with deep, complex fruit flavors and a long, ripe finish; intense and dark.

Smooth and elegant with lovely fruit and varietal depth; smoky, lush and very long.

Dense and luscious with intensity and richness; long and smooth on the finish with lovely complexity.

Sense with lovely spice and rounded fruit; ripe and long.

Smoky and spicy; velvety texture and a long finish; elegant and pretty.

Plum and spicy, smoky and a bit overripe; dense and intense.

Young and firm. Has pretty core of currant, chocolate, berry and spice flavors, picking up a slight leather note on the aftertaste and finishing with firm tannins and good length. Best to cellar into 1998 to '99. (Also appeared 6/30/97).

"Pleasant enough, with ripe sherry, smoky oak and cedar notes, but it tastes tightly wound and finishes with crisp, firm tannins." (Also appeared 6/30/97).

"Pleasant enough, with hints of cherry, herb, cedar and spice. Drinks well now." (Also appeared 2/28/97).

Inviting tropical-fruit aroma, honey and citrus notes; textured flavors; good acidity, lemon and vanilla accents; long finish. Good with lobster chow mein.

Blessed with a wealth of fruit, a surprising level of glycerin and a perfectly proportioned, layered finish. A beautifully made medium-to full bodied Zinfandel that manages to hide its lofty alcohol content.

Stonestreet is a star winery in Jess Jackson's Artisans and Estates stable and one taste of this wonderful Chardonnay will help you understand why. This is a delicious, powerful, fruit-forward Chardonnay made in the textbook Sonoma style that California Chardonnay drinkers have come to expect and love. It's dense, structured and shows great aging potential. Blended from fruit grown in various sub-appellations of Sonoma County, including Carneros, Russian River Valley and Jackson's own Alexander Mountain Estate in the Alexander Valley, this wine has everything going for it. It's lush as can be, but 100 percent malolactic fermentation thankfully did not strip this wine of its zing. With ample acidity, it recently matched up superbly with grilled, spicy shrimp and a hunk of aged Pecorino cheese. The goal of Stonestreet winemaker Mike Westrick is to create heavyweight and middleweight wines at the same time. A strange goal, you may say. But the wine achieves what it sets out to do. About 30,000 cases were released nationally in May. Suggested price is about $25.

"A full-bodied wine, with a delightful pale yellow color. On the palate, a luscious, rounded cocktail of lemon, lime and big flavored oak, complemented by uplifting acidity. Good length and depth add to its charms." (Also appeared 10/1/97 in Wine Magazine.)

Very rich in the nose with a fine balance of deep fruit and sympthetic oak, this sizeable, comparatively chunky Pinot is anything but refined in the mouth. It tastes of ripe plums and lots of oak, but its richness comes at the cost of no small degree of phenolic toughness. Elegance may well be beyond the wines ken, but a few years of softening will certainly help here.

Dark cherry red appearance with a deep cast. Medium-bodied. Highly extracted. Moderately oaked. Moderately tannic. Bramble fruits, blackberries, spice. Deep brooding dark fruit aromas. Assertive and extracted flavors show a concentrated character through a full spicy finish. Youthful and gutsy.

Platinum color. Moderately light-bodied. Balanced acidity. Moderately extracted. Tropical fruits, strawberries, citrus, kiwi. Very pretty, fragrant nose. Nice fruit flavors are balanced with uplifting acidity. Almost silky-creamy in the mouth. Nice crispness in the finish.

Full dark cherry red appearance. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Moderately oaked. Mildly tannic. Vanilla, earth, black tea, jammy fruits. Full tea-like aromas. Jammy entry contrasts with a citrus-like acidity running through giving this an assertive edge.

Full dark cherry red apperance. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Moderately oaked. Mildly tannic. Vanilla, earth, black tea, jammy fruits. Full tea-like aromas. Jammy entry contrasts with a citrus-like acidity running through giving this an assertive edge.

Bright cherry red appearance. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Mildly tannic. Red fruits, toasted oak. Bright red fruit character up front. Simple, mildly chocolate finish. Quite youthful at present, with some high-toned acids, though still very approachable.

Full ruby red with light purple highlights. Medium-bodied. Moderately extracted. Mildly tannic. Red fruits, earth, vanilla. Nice crisp fruit flavors on entry give way to some dry tannins through the finish. Soundly balanced and drinking well now.

Deep dark red appearance. Moderately full-bodied. Moderately extracted. Moderately tannic. Plums, black fruit, tea. Dark fruit aromas. Fleshy flavors and texture on the palate with some dry tannins coming through strongly on the finish. Quite structured, this should cellar for a year or two.

Smooth, ripe and lush, with a pretty core of herb-accented plum and cherry flavors. Turns supple and fleshy on the finish. Ready to drink.

This chocolatey, smoky, lavishly wooded Merlot is a flamboyantly-styled wine. The color is a healty dark plum. The nose offers up plenty of vanillin, smoke, and spice. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with noticeable wood tannin and spice. It needs another 1-2 years of cellaring, but should drink well for a decade. Those readers without the patienece to wait several years a advised to decant this Merlot 45 minutes before drinking.

Fairly well balanced, with hints of herbs, citrus and melon. Finishes with bright acidity.