The dense purple-colored, angular-styled 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits aromas and flavors of licorice, toasty oak, and black currants. It possesses an austere, firm, sinewy personality as well as a tannic finish. Aging will bring out more flesh, so patience will be required in this excellent Cabernet. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2015. Tel. (707) 963-4949; Fax (707) 963-8364

Dark, plush and elegant, this wine defines style. It’s fashionably dry and ripe, with blackcurrant flavors and low acids. Oak adds vanilla and sweet, woody tannins but does not overwhelm. It’s what consumers are looking for in an expensive California Cabernet. You could object that it’s generically good. It lacks a sense of ground, of individuality, but that’s tilting at windmills. ——S.H.(6/1/2002)—— 90