2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Healthy bright, dark red to the rim. Musky nose combines dark raspberry, mocha, chocolate, shoe polish, mint and licorice, plus a suggestion of rocky minerality. Fine-grained and smooth but distinctly minty, conveying good concentration, healthy acidity and a slight greenness to its midweight dark fruit and licorice flavors. A tad sour on the end, with a repeating suggestion of eucalyptus, but the tannins are dusty and fine-grained. I'd drink this soon, before its remaining fruit disappears.

A beautiful opaque purple color is accompanied by equally attractive notes of spring flowers, charcoal, creme de cassis and blueberry liqueur. Richly fruity, pure, full-bodied and layered, this voluptuously textured, dramatic, flamboyant Cabernet Sauvignon needs 2-4 more years of cellaring to hit its prime and should keep for two decades thereafter. Tel. (707) 968-9332; Fax (707) 968-9337

Good full medium ruby. High-pitched aromas of violet, mint and bitter chocolate, with a hint of eucalyptus. Fat and sweet on entry, then quite lively in the middle, with distinctly rocky flavors of blackberry, shoe polish and black licorice, plus a whiff of fennel. From vines planted in 1992 on a southeast-facing knoll rich in boulders and shale; the fruit used to be sold to Duckhorn. Strong on personality. (The 2002 version, with its superripe aromas of cassis, graphite and spice cake and its liqueur-like concentration of fruit, should be at least as successful as the 2001.)