1999 Pride Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve

(14.4% alcohol; from a cold year "but not a rainy fall," noted Pride; includes 2% Petit Verdot): Good full red-ruby. Sexy aromas of plum, raspberry, spices, herbs, mint and new leather; a distinct pyrazine element contributes complexity without dominating the wine's fruit. Supple, savory and seamless, offering noteworthy elegance and definition to the juicy, complex flavors of black cherry, currant, plum, cocoa powder, espresso, pepper and dusty spices. Not at all a fruit bomb and still a bit youthfully imploded. I recall this being quite powerful wine upon release but today it's a classy, Bordeaux-like midweight with terrific energy and a firm spine of acidity and tannins. A superb showing.

The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (900 cases) is closed, revealing remarkably concentrated creme de cassis fruit intermixed with licorice, mineral, and toasty oak aromas and flavors, along with high tannin in the finish. It tastes like an over-sized Bordeaux given its tannin profile, but the huge wealth of fruit, glycerin, and extract are exceptional. Patience will be essential. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025. Tel. (707) 963-4949; Fax (707) 963-6039

(this and the reserve claret were bottled at the beginning of November of 2001) Good full ruby-red. Very complex, Bordeaux-like aromas of currant, mace, brown sugar and lead pencil. Dense and sweet but laid-back and rather subtle; kaleidoscopic flavors of dried cherry, roasted coffee bean, licorice, shoe polish and tobacco leaf. Here the firm tannins are less obviously buffered by mid-palate material. Finishes with a perfumed note of dried herbs. A bit less sophisticated than the reserve claret, notes Foley.