The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard, also from Howell Mountain, comes across as very, very young. It still needs quite a bit of time in barrel, but I am very impressed with the elegance and finesse of the fruit. Sweet, perfumed aromatics are woven throughout in this juicy, highly expressive Cabernet. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024. This is a terrific set of wines from Ed Sbragia. I was especially impressed with the 2009 Cabernets. The Cabernets are made from mountain vineyards and include a dollop of Cabernet Franc. Readers should note that Sbragia chose not to bottle the 2008 Cabernets, hence the lack of notes for those wines in our database.Tel. (866) 222-4342

From another Howell Mountain vineyard, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa (96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc) , from a vineyard owned by Betty O’Shaughnessy, is a layered, voluptuously textured effort displaying lots of wild mountain berry fruit intermixed with Asian spices, graphite, toasty oak and forest floor. This massive, rich but beautifully balanced Cabernet is aged 24 months in 100% new French oak casks (as are the other Sbragian Cabernets). It should age effortlessly for 15-20 years. Bigger than life veteran winemaker, musician and general bon vivant, Ed Sbragia continues to turn out a bevy of realistically priced wines that offer great value. To add to the excitement, every one of his 2007 Cabernet Sauvignons performed better out of bottle than it did from barrel - always a sign of top winemaking and reassuring integrity. However, Sbragia, who may have the Midas touch with red varietals (particularly his beloved Zinfandel as well as Cabernet Sauvignon) also knows a thing or two about Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. 2008 is an average quality year for most Zinfandel producers, but Sbragia has transcended the vintage’s challenges. Sbragia is producing five separate Cabernet Sauvignons, and the in-the-bottle notes that follow demonstrate that each of them performed better from the bottle than it did last year from barrel.P.S. I tasted through all the Sbragia 2008 single vineyard Cabernets, including the Wall, Cimarossa, Rancho del Oso, Monte Rosso and the Dry Creek Andolsen vineyard. They all appear to be potentially 90-93 point wines. While they are not as impressive as the 2007s, if they improve as much from barrel to bottle as the 2007s, look for the 2008s to compete with that vintage.Tel. (866) 222-4342

One of the best 2006s from Sbragia is the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa. Opaque purple in color, with notes of forest floor, blue and black fruits, graphite, and some subtle background oak, this wine is full-bodied and dense, but with more concentration and texture than most of the other 2006s exhibited. The well-known, former winemaker at Beringer, Ed Sbragia, has fashioned these cuvees at his home estate. His Sonoma offerings will be reviewed in the February issue of The Wine Advocate. However, I have included his Cabernet Sauvignon from the Monte Rosso Vineyard as well as his Andolsen Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek.Tel. (866) 222-4342