Ruby. Moderately full-bodied, extracted and oaked. Balanced acidity. Vanilla, pepper, black fruits. Firmly structured, with oaky aromas and a prominent spice component. Tannins rise up in the finish, suggesting a bit more cellaring time would be warranted.

Supple and harmonious, with a range of cherry, herb and olive flavors that linger. Drinks well now.

Purple. Medium-bodied. Balanced acidity. Highly extracted and oaked. Quite tannic. Black fruits, flowers, tar. Weighty on the tongue, with well integrated flavors and subtle, complex aromatics. Finishes firmly, but seems a bit closed at present.

From its very dark color to its dense, tannin-laced flavors, this impresses as a bigger, sturdier, tougher wine than Pinot Noir is wont to be. Its very rich, very ripe aromas are long on sweet oak, but, like the ensuing flavors, they are less than fruity in their basic mien. Fairly full in body, moderately astringent and eminently suited to service with heavier meat dishes, this brawny youngster demands at least a few years of quiet cellar time.

From its very dark color to its dense, tannin-laced flavors, this impresses as a bigger, sturdier, tougher wine than Pinot Noir is wont to be. Its very rich, very ripe aromas are long on sweet oak, but, like the ensuing flavors, they are less than fruity in their basic mien. Fairly full in body, moderately astrigent and eminently suited to service with heavier meat dishes, this brawny youngster demands at least a few years of quiet cellar time.

Yellow straw. Moderately full-bodied. Full acidity. Highly extracted. Moderately oaked. Citrus, vanilla, tropical fruits. Flavorful and well-balanced, with velvety mouthfeel and a lengthy, opulent finish.

The 1994 Sauvignon Blanc Grand Reserve is a beautifully made, honeyed, ripe, melony, medium-bodied wine with wonderful freshness and vitality, and a long finish touched gently by spicy wood. It is an attractive, rich, dry white for drinking over the next year.

This nicely-knit Chardonnay possesses a medium straw color, and plenty of spicy oak, which seems to frame the wine's sweet, tropical, buttery fruit. Medium-bodied, with crisp acidity, moderate levels of oak, and a short finish, this is a good Sonoma Chardonnay to drink over the next 12-18 months.

The 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve is good rather than special. I wonder why? The wine offers some tobacco, herbs, and red curranty fruit in its modest nose. Medium-bodied, with a decent attach, it exhibits good concentration, attractive smoke/roasted herb-like flavors, an adequate finish, but a tart, compressed personality. If it cost $15 I might think about buying a bottle, but $42 is a grossly inflated price tag.

The 1994 Fume Blanc Vintner's Reserve is loaded with melony fruit. Crisp, fresh, and lively, it is ideal for drinking over the next year.

The fatter, more monolithic 1994 Semillon Vintner's Reserve offers a fleshy mouthful of wine. It would be ideal with grilled salmon.

Plush yet intense. A hint of barnyard in the aroma, but it works. Flavors are dense, hard to penetrate and the oak seems harsh.

Serves up lots of ripe, zesty flavor--an array of cranberry, cherry, anise and cedar. Finish shows a nice interplay of fruit and light oak shadings.

Stonestreet scored well with Merlot in 1993 and so again finds a most successful formula for Cabernet. A rich, full, fairly weighty effort whose ample extract is always tied to ample fruit, this bottling has a measure more stuffing than is typical in wines of the vintage. Fairly tough at the moment, but no more so than good young Cabernet should be, it is all but certain to develop well for some seven to ten years.

If lead a bit by its very rich, appealing creamy oak, this well-filled wine has a fine reserve of optimally ripened fruit and lots of weedy qualities that keep it squarely on the proper varietal track. It is almost layered in flavor, and, in the mouth, shows a fine sense of balance along with its very ample impressions of size and substance. Very long at the finish, with neatly placed fruity acids providing brightness and buoyancy, this full-blown effort will pair comfortably with flavorful dishes ranging from swordfish to salmon to lightly herbed poultry.

The 1994 Reserve Pinot Noir was the Sweepstakes Red at this year's Harvest Fair, but the regular pinot is a winner in its own right. (It won silver and is $8 less than the reserve.) It has great black cherry aromas and a fleshy, supple texture, with a hint of toasty oak.

Light varietal herbaceousness is set against a bit of withdrawn fruit in the low-keyed nose, and the flavors follow with ripe, loosely defined fruit and trailing oak. Rounded, low in tannin and nearly soft in feel, the wine depends mightily on its relative youth, and all signs point to an early maturity. Fine for current drinking, it should not be held for long.

Because of its softness and light lanolin-tinged flavors, classic for semillon, you'll appreciate this wine but maybe wonder how to use it, especially in the context of a meal. It would work best as an aperitif, well chilled.

Because of its softness and light lanolin-tinged flavors, classic for semillon, you'll appreciate this wine but maybe wonder how to use it, especially in the context of a meal. It would work best as an aperitif, well-chilled.

Not herbaceous at all, this sauvignon is all about tropical fruit flavors expressed with grace, and since its texture is so soft, a solid chill would be in order. I don't find it quite as interesting as the '94, but it's nicely crafted and surely pleasing overall.

Smoky, tarry, blackberry nose with Indian spices mingling with oak. Rich, firm, opulent black cherry flavors in a very special frame, long and harmonious. Pinot Noir World Series.

Pinot Noir World Series. Smoky, tarry, blackberry nose, with Indian spices mingling with oak. Rich, firm, opulent black cherry flavors in a very spicy frame, long and harmonious.

World Series! Fragrant nose of black cherries and smoke. Very rich, saturated, dense black fruit flavors with tar and smoke. A big Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir World Series

Pinot Noir World Series