The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon contains 6% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc aged in 71% new, mostly French oak. It sports an enticing nose of pain grille, pencil lead, Asian spices, incense, black currant and blackberry. Velvety-textured, complex, and spicy on the palate, it has excellent volume, balance, and length. Give it another 3-4 years of bottle age and drink it from 2013 to 2022, perhaps longer. Reininger Winery opened its doors in 1997. The wines are made by Chuck Reininger with lots of family help with winery operations. The Reininger label is reserved for wines produced with Walla Walla grown grapes while the Helix label, reviewed separately, is used for Columbia Valley fruit.www.reiningerwinery.com

From a near-perfect vintage, this is a sleek, stylish, refined Cabernet. It is less forward and broadly fruity than past Reiningers, but showcases the strengths of the vintage—grip, elegance, detail, and balance. There is plenty of fruit – black cherry and cassis – with layers of smoke, anise, coffee, and bitter chocolate. Still quite tight and young, this is a wine to cellar and enjoy for a decade or more.——P.G.(11/1/2010)—— 93