The 2005 The Ripper shows beautiful sweet black cherry and cassis fruit intermixed with some smoke, licorice, and underbrush. The wine is full-bodied, opulent, sensual, with low acidity and ripe tannin. This is a gorgeously proportioned, seriously endowed wine with no hard edges. Drink it over the next decade. 2005 marks the debut vintage of Booker Wines, which is a 40-acre vineyard just to the west of Highway 101 on a beautiful hillside not far from the L’Aventure winery. The wines are made by Justin Smith at Saxum, and that no doubt explains their impeccable quality out of the gate. The two most impressive wines in each flight are the 100% Grenache cuvee of The Ripper, which is aged in larger demi-muids prior to bottling. Tel. (805) 237-7367; Fax (805) 237-7368