Pinot maestro Longoria continues to try his hand at Bordeaux blends despite the uphill challenge. This ’07 is a Cab Franc-based bottling. It’s uneven, with cherry pie filling flavors, edgy tannins and unintegrated sweet, caramelized oak. There’s even a bit of heat from high alcohol. Ready now.——S.H.(4/1/2010)—— 85

This is Rick Longoria’s Bordeaux blend. Give him credit for trying, but the wine remains earthy, dry and tough, with fruity, tobacco flavors wrapped into jagged tannins. Drink now.——S.H.(11/1/2009)—— 86

This is Rick Longoria’s Bordeaux-style blend. It’s not at all like a Napa Cabernet, which is the inevitable comparison, but instead shows a crisp, white wine-like acidity, and an underlying herbaceousness, the result of the region’s cool climate. The flavors are fine, offering currants, cherries, mocha and oak, with a peppery finish.——S.H.(8/1/2008)—— 87

Known for his Pinots and Chards, Rick Longoria tried hard with this red, even though Santa Barbara has struggled with Bordeaux. Wisely, Longoria bases the wine on Cabernet Franc and Merlot, which do better in cooler climates than Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is fine, rich and promising. ——S.H.(12/15/2006)—— 87