2002 BOND St. Eden

Saturated red-ruby. Very ripe aromas of black cherry, tobacco and minerals are slightly roasted and liqueur-like in a positive way. Seriously plush, pliant, ripe wine with an exotic truffley quality to its creamy dark fruit and saline flavors A bit aggressive in the style of this very ripe year but the very long, tactile, ripely tannic finish suggests that this wine has plenty ahead. And there's still some baby fat to be absorbed.

The 2002 St. Eden, which comes from a valley floor vineyard in the Oakville corridor, is unreal. I had given the 2001 a perfect score, but the 2002 (made by the brain trust of on-site winemaker Bob Levy and outside French consultant Michel Rolland) is showing incredible elements of cedarwood, licorice, chocolate and creme de cassis as well as exquisite texture, full-bodied intensity, and unbelievable purity and length. It is only the second vintage for this vineyard, leased by Bill Harlan for several decades, and it has turned out to be a killer Cabernet Sauvignon and a great classic of Napa. It should drink well for 20-25 years. These three Bond wines, the third vintage from entrepreneur and proprietor Bill Harlan, continue to validate his visionary belief in their potential. Tel. (707) 944-1441; Fax (707) 944-1444

Good medium ruby. Aromas of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, with a note of coffee; just this side of roasted. Extremely dense and sweet, combining great sucrosity with very firm but fine tannins. Superripe but balanced at an absurdly high level of richness. Complicating notes of redcurrant, tobacco, menthol, stone and leather. Finishes very long. Still a bit youthfully subdued, but extremely long on the aftertaste.