A big, mountain-styled Cabernet Sauvignon from longtime Beringer winemaker, Ed Sbragia, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon has become even more impressive than I initially thought. Lots of crushed rock, blueberry, black raspberry and black currant fruit intermixed with a distinctive earthiness as well as subtle oak make for a full-bodied wine that is still in its pre-adolescent stage of development. The color remains an opaque ruby/purple and the wine smells and tastes more like a 4-5 year old Cabernet than one that is a decade old. Tel. (707) 473-2992

A big, mountain-styled Cabernet Sauvignon from longtime Beringer winemaker, Ed Sbragia, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon has become even more impressive than I initially thought. Lots of crushed rock, blueberry, black raspberry and black currant fruit intermixed with a distinctive earthiness as well as subtle oak make for a full-bodied wine that is still in its pre-adolescent stage of development. The color remains an opaque ruby/purple and the wine smells and tastes more like a 4-5 year old Cabernet than one that is a decade old.Tel. (707) 473-2992

Beringer’s longtime executive winemaker Ed Sbragia finally has own brand, and this is his first, eagerly anticipated Cabernet. Like Beringer’s Private Reserve, it’s a gigantic wine. Concentrated and intense in currant, cherries and cocoa, solidly oaked, and those Howell Mountain tannins are sweet and ripe. Delicious now. Soft, so it’s hard to predict how long it will age. Through 2010? ——S.H.(5/1/2005)—— 94