Another baking hot year, the 2003 Harrison Hill is surprisingly elegant and finesse-driven and doesn't show any of the hallmark traits of a hot year. Made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, this medium to full-bodied, polished and impeccably balanced effort has classic Bordeaux-like characteristics of black currants, licorice, tons of peppery spice and graphite. Drink it over the coming decade.

Waxy blackberries are found in the aromatic profile of the top-flight 2003 Harrison Hill. As with the 2002 Harrison Hill as well as the 2003 and 2002 Chaleur Estate reds (give or take one percentage point here or there), this is an assemblage of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. A sensual, complex wine marrying power and elegance, it reveals a satin-textured, medium to full-bodied core of spicy blackberries. Rich, supple (yet structured for aging), and bursting with flavor, this effort also boasts an immensely long, fruit-filled finish. Projected maturity: now-2022. Tel. (425) 489-0544; www.delillecellars.com

Apart from Columbia’s Otis Cab, this is Yakima’s (and Washington’s) oldest Cabernet vineyard. Newer plantings of Merlot and Cab Franc enhance the blend. The wine is marked by its finesse and exceptional grace. Silky and sensuous, it’s a wine that warrants the old-fashioned term “breed”—suggesting manapricot-scented lemon and lime flavors are tinged with peaches, wildflowers and nered elegance. Cherry, bramble berry, plummy fruit and exotic spices light up the finish. ——P.G.(8/1/2006)—— 93