The nicely-textured, deep purple-colored 1999 Zinfandel Barricia offers a sweet perfume of black cherries, berries, smoke, earth, and tar. Full-bodied, chewy, and multilayered, it cuts a big swath across the palate with no hard edges. Drink it over the next 5-7 years. Tel. (707) 938-1960

In the mouth, chewy tannins, stewy blueberries, ink and a ripple of caramel run into dark fruit, char, chalk and a green-herb twinge on the back end. One whiff of its blackberry, blueberry and sinus-clearing black peppery bouquet and you’ll know what people mean when they call wines “black beauties.” It is brooding, chalky and has loads of tannin; a fellow taster compared it to a young Barolo. With that in mind, consider aging it as you would its Italian counterpart. As it is now, it will be too big for most palates to handle. —D.M.——D.T.(3/1/2002)—— 89