Year in and year out the Jaboulets fashion a successful sweet wine from selections chosen from the local cooperative in the village of Beaumes de Venise. The 2001 Muscat Beaumes de Venise reveals tell-tale aromas of orange marmalade, apricots, and peaches, copious fruit, and enough acidity to provide vibrancy and balance. This wine is drunk during its first 1-2 years of life, either alone at the end of a meal or with fresh fruit cocktails or tarts. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

The rich, fat, honeyed, fragrant (apricot and peach) 2000 Muscat Beaumes de Venise is an impressive offering that requires consumption during its first year of life. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

The beautiful 1999 Muscat Beaumes de Venise offers abundant quantities of tangerine, buttery apricot and honeyed fruit, full body, an unctuous texture, and moderate sweetness. It should be consumed over the next several years. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

The Jaboulet family deserves a lot of credit for drawing consumers' attention to the Beaumes de Venise appellation. They consistently produce a sweet, dessert-styled Muscat Beaumes de Venise. There is usually not much variation in quality between vintages of this wine, but the 1998 is one of the finest yet made. What sets it apart from some of its predecessors is its extraordinary aromatic intensity. Its soaring bouquet reeks of oranges macerated with brandy. The alcohol is a whopping 15.5% and there are 100 grams of residual sugar. This wine should be served by itself at the end of a meal, or with an open-faced fruit tart. Readers with a sweet tooth will enjoy it served chilled as an aperitif. These wines tend to break up quickly because of their delicate aromatics, so this 1998 should be drunk within its first 1-2 years of life. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

Jaboulet has consistently produced an exceptionally high quality sweet Muscat Beaumes de Venise. They make a selection from the village's cooperative and bottle the wine under the Jaboulet name. The 1996 is another highly successful wine with a light salmon/orange/copper-like color, and sensational Muscat aromatics of tropical fruits and ripe apricots. Sweet, but not heavy, this refreshing, extremely pure, luscious wine possesses enough acidity to provide uplift to its flavors. It is an ideal aperitif wine, or one to sip at the end of a meal with or without a fruit-based dessert. Just be sure to drink it over the next 1-2 years. The northern Rhone 1996 whites offer a rare combination of high acidity and ripe fruit - at least for those producers who kept yields down. Where greedy growers tried to maximize production, the results are white wines that are high in acidity and low in flavor. All of Jaboulet's 1996s were ripe, with good underlying acidity, and plenty of fresh fruit. Importer: Frederick Wildman, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700