2000 Pinot Noir "Marcassin Vineyard" (Marcassin)
The good news with this wine at this point in its life is that it is youthful and sweet. The bad news is that it is simple, relatively unstructured and a bit candied on the finish. The depth is modest, appropriate for Pinot Noir, though, and it tastes reasonably good, but it always has a middle of the road, rather simple feel to it, giving one a sense that it is going nowhere and will develop into nothing interesting or complex.  88 points

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon "Eisele" (Araujo)
This elegant wine is graceful, but the oak overlay gives the fruit a sort of licorice note that I found a little annoying. It never seemed terribly complex as it aired out, nor particularly intense, making me wonder where this relatively young wine from a powerful vintage is going.  This certainly does a lot right in its soft, sexy, suave demeanor, but I was expecting something a bit more even so. Perhaps it is in an awkward stage. 93 points.

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon "RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard" (Schrader)
Nicely focused, with modest depth, this has a debonair feel to it and is quite tasty, with a Burgundian feel. It does seem to have thinned with just a few years of age.  It is easy drinking, but for its price tag, I might have hoped for a little more, something with a bit more flesh and a bit more promise for the future. 90 points. 

2003 Cariad (Colgin)
Ripe, with a touch of herbs on the finish, this initially shows perfectly, with a burst of tannin and little intensity and backbone that should serve the wine well as it ages. As it aired out, I did think the alcohol showed a bit, but this is otherwise a beautifully constructed wine from a big vintage. 93 points.

1999 "Tresor" (Ferrari-Carano)
This wine has finally shed its tannins to come into some reasonable balance, and it is drinking quite nicely now. What's left? The depth is certainly more modest, but it has a bright, lively feel to it. The red berry notes the fruit projected early on have diminished, replaced by the Petit Verdot and Cab Franc herbal notes. There is a certain olive, green note to this now. It is not overly intrusive or offputting, but it is certainly a far cry from how the young wine shows. This is a dead ringer for Bordeaux now, what the British might call a luncheon claret. Very nice, it not quite distinguished. 88 points.

1996 Zinfandel "Old Hill" (Ravenswood)
Served blind, I thought this was mature, but not sure it was Zin, given its sedate demeanor, without the brambles and briars.Of course, many say that Zin as it ages, at least those that can age, becomes more Bordeaux-like, less flamboyant. So it is here. This opened mute and a little too reticent, but it has the structure to actually improve with air. I liked it more and more as time went on for its good balance, focus and gentle maturity. 89 points.

 

2001 Zinfandel "Dogtown" (Turley)
Powerful, beautifully structured and rather tight, the Dogtown shows some focus and power--in a tannic rather than alcoholic sense--that one does not often get from Zin these days. It has beautiful fruit as well, sweet and pointed. As it airs out for a good long while, you do begin to notice the alcohol, which seems almost inevitable these days. 91 points.

 

2003 Zinfandel "Dogtown" (Turley)
The '03 is softer than the '01 (above), sweeter, with not nearly as much depth or precision. It rather quickly becomes a bit hot with air, although there is certainly some nice, balancing fruit here as well This starts off well, but ends less well. 88 points.

1999 Zinfandel "Hayne Vineyard" (Turley)
Another disappointing performance from a Hayne (the '97 had problems recently) at around the 10 year mark. The problem here is that the wines young seem in need of age. They are built to age, showing tannins and structure. The other problem, however, is the alcohol levels. This hits 16.8%. In its youth, it seemed to handle it--or, at least, the tannins and exuberant young fruit covered up any problems. Now, the alcohol is rather obvious and annoying. This still has good depth and good fruit, and it is not as annoying as the '97 Hayne I had recently, but with every passing 30 minute interval the alcohol became more obvious. In the long run, this drank well at times, but was too often clumsy. With that, I'd say this is in decline, notwithstanding the prime time fruit and the good depth. 89 points.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Clos La Chance)
This is the estate Cabernet from this Central Coast winery, just its second vintage. This was bland and inoffensive on opening, showing some vanilla from oak, and little else. The finish was extremely modest, and the wine seemed to have little depth or structure. Sometimes it seemed as if there was no "there," there, a performance better suited to a less expensive wine. Some 40 minutes of aeration did help it a bit. It finally showed a little structure and fleshed out a bit. It still seems like a fairly modest and straightforward bottling. Suggested retail price is $30.00. There were 1,212 cases produced. 85 points.

2005 Meritage Special Selection (Clos La Chance)
This is the second vintage of this Meritage bottling, an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, plus 18% Petit Verdot, 12% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc. Of the Clos La Chance wines here, this was the deepest and best structured, the only one, really, that showed sufficient mid-palate concentration and intensity for a new release. Those merits noted, the  finish was always a little harsh, the oak fairly obvious, and it was hard to warm up to this. The suggested retail price is $50.00. There were approximately 5,800 bottles produced. 87 points.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon "Whitestone Vineyard" (Clos La Chance)
This is the debut vintage of this single vineyard bottling. It opens with notes of licorice and oak. It has moderate tannins, moderate depth--in fact, seems fairly middle of the road in most respects. Although somewhat fuller and better structured than the basic Cab here, it may not be quite worth the price increase. This has some potential for the future though if the vineyard can actually speak out from under the oak. The suggested retail price is $50.00. There were 522 cases produced.  86 points.

1999 "Enveiere" (Burgess)
Light and pleasant, with some tertiary notes around the edges after it airs out, this doesn't have much depth and it has less intensity. Call it fully mature, easy drinking, pleasant, but not much more. 87 points.

1992 "Cask 23" (Stag's Leap)
I've always been a bit underwhelmed by this wine in this vintage, but it should exceptionally well from this bottle. Maybe the other bottles were off; maybe it has just hit stride. In any event, it is singing now, showing earthy, very Bordeaux-like characteristics. It is in beautiful balance, brightness, intensity of flavor, a little grip still on the finish, and some focused complexity.  It is a perfect time to drink this, and while it should continue to hold for some time, I wouldn't expect it to actually improve further. 93 points.

 

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon "Peterson Vineyard" (Switchback)
This always seemed flamboyant in its youth, an immensely pleasing charmer showing sweet fruit and chocolatey notes. I wasn't as convinced it would age well. It seems to be coming along fine. The mid-palate has thinned considerably, which some might view as a good thing. It is no longer jammy or thick. The wine still has that slightly decadent sweet fruit, not exactly classic Cabernet, but awfully hard to resist. Fresh, tasty and ripe, it with a tinge of licorice here and there, it is a wine that you just have to take on its own terms. 90 points.

 

2003 Cain Five

Rich, sweet and oaky on the edges, this drinks very nicely, but doesn't show enough character or complexity for a Bordeaux blend. Some character did show up with air, but I think this is always going to be a wine that is a little foursquare, as much fun as it is. 89 points.

 

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon "Nuns Canyon Reserve" (St. Francis)
This is pretty nice--and better than the first taste indicates. On opening, it is subsumed by oak, too rich, a little too sweet and showing neither fruit nor character. An hour of air improves it dramatically, as the oak integrates, some structure pops out and the wine shows that it actually has fruit, and pretty nice fruit at that. It is not terribly complex or truly distinguished, but it's quite nice and drinking well. It should hold gracefully for several more years as well. 89 points.