The most expensive offering is the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Martin Stelling Vineyard. This is actually the base wine for the Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon, with Nickel and Nickel culling out a small parcel planted in deep loamy, clay, and gravel soils. A big, pure Cabernet, it offers up abundant notes of creme de cassis, vanilla, spice box, forest floor, and licorice. Dense and full-bodied with a decided earthiness to its character as well as plenty of tannin in the finish, 5-6 years of cellaring will be beneficial. It is potentially a 30-year wine. All four of these single vineyard offerings from Nickel and Nickel are in need of 4-6 years of bottle age, and appear to be long distance runners.Tel. (707) 967-9600

An enormously rich, extracted Cabernet, with dramatically layered blackberry, black currant and dark chocolate flavors, liberally accented with smoky new oak. The wine finishes bone dry, with considerable tannic astringency. Too tough and gritty to drink now, but should develop effortlessly over the next 6–8 years, at the very least. ——S.H.(3/1/2010)—— 93