2000 Testarossa Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, 14.5% alc.: Pale – medium gold, though a little paler than the previous selection; pear and a touch o’ pineapple on the nose, with big bright flavors to match. A bit more substantial than the Michaud, with a little more lively acidity and a nice long finish. Another one I’d like to try in about 5 years, as both wines seem to be built to age.

Both of these Pinot Noirs are quite fruit forward, yet have the silky tannins to age for at least 3-5 years. Many thanks to Delia Montesinos for giving us the opportunity to taste all four of these very enjoyable wines.

1999 Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County Pinot Blanc Reserve Bien Nacido, $16.99, 13.5% alc.: I found this in a local grocery store, of all places, and decided that it was a good bet after our nice experience meeting Jim Clendenen and tasting some of his wines last winter. It’s a pale gold with a nice kiss of toasty oak over banana and pear on the nose and entry, and Mr. E mentioned a note of fig. He went on to describe a "slight bitterness on the finish; not a bad bitter, but it lingers." There’s a good density to this, and good acidity as well, and as it opens, something like a Dairy Queen ® cone that’s soaked up some vanilla ice cream emerges as it opens. Oakphobes won’t like it (and you know who you are, don’t you?), but we found it intriguing and enjoyable, and I dare say it has the stuffing to develop and evolve for at least a few years.

2000 Coudoulet de Beaucastel Rosé, 13.5% alc.: This is the first thing that Bree opened when he pulled into town, telling us that it was hand delivered straight from the chateau. (He’d spent a few weeks in southern France last spring.) It’s a strawberry pink, with rich strawberry flavors and aromas shaded with subtle notes of leather and earth. It’s more dense than one might expect from the color, with a smooth mouthfeel, despite deceptive acidity that keeps it moving right along. Very pleasurable, and it might just benefit from a few years in the cellar.

We enjoyed 3 exceptional Cabernet Sauvignons during Alan’s stay, and if these are any indication, maybe we should drink more of this stuff!

1993 Etude Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, $32, 13.5% alc.: There’s little, if any rust to the almost inky dark garnet color of this big beauty, with a gorgeous cedary toasty sweet oak, cassis, black cherry and leather bouquet. Ultra smooth on the palate, with mostly resolved tannins and just enough acidity, the flavors echo the nose loudly and gain a note of chocolate that takes a perfect place in the greater whole of the wine. It finishes long, long, long, and with an hour or so of air, a cigar box element really comes out, adding character and complexity, and this should continue to improve for at least 2 or 3 years, probably longer. What a marvelous wine, especially for what I paid for it 4 or 5 years ago!

1992 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 13.4% alc.: Another inky garnet with nary a hint of rust, this exudes huge "Draper perfume," featuring sweet cassis, red currant and black cherry, with hints of tobacco and leather in the background. These impressions follow through on the palate, where it’s full bodied and extremely silky at the same time, with the tannins, acidity and depth of fruit to keep improving for at least 2 or 3 years. Some sea air and more tobacco come out with air in this marvelous Cabernet, and Bree gushed, "It’s very Monte Bello-like, not just in flavor, but in weight and density as well."

1978 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Stag’s Leap Vineyards Lot 2, 13% alc.: This rusty dark garnet shows textbook Napa Cabernet character; it’s almost perfectly balanced, tasting like a young wine, but for the resolved tannins. "Cassis, plum and cigar box" doesn’t do justice in describing this silky delight, and only a certain lack of weight and density keep it from being truly "classic," relegating it to the merely "mature and delicious."

1996 Ridge Lytton Springs, 78 % Zinfandel, 19% Petite Sirah, 2% Carignane and 1% Grenache, $28.99, 14.5% alc.: This dark garnet is just starting to take on some rust in its color; a big hit of bell pepper on the nose blows off early to reveal "all that Draper perfume," with rich blackberry, black raspberry and lavender that follows through in the flavors, on a full bodied frame with good acidity and some tannins still to resolve. We tasted this on 2 different occasions; the 1st bottle seemed to be drying up a bit, losing some of its fruit without any compensating secondary nuances. The 2^nd bottle however was rich, warm and beautiful, showing everything that we love about Ridge Zinfandel. Having tasted this a number of times since release, I’d say the earlier bottle was simply off a little, and this is a wine that will continue to improve over the next few years anyway.

1995 Rochioli Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Estate, 13% alc.: Bree brought this slightly rusty ruby dark garnet with him, knowing how much Kim likes Rochioli Pinot (like I don’t, yeah right…). And it steps right up with that big smoky black cherry, tea leaf and spice character that screams, what else, Rochioli! There’s still a good dose of tannins here on a full bodied frame, along with good acidity, so don’t be in any hurry to open one of these if you have any. It’ll definitely reward patience.

1998 Carlisle Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah, 14.3% alc.: This inky garnet explodes with flavors and aromas of big sweet toasty oak over spicy black raspberry and black currant that have a certain menthol quality to them. This is surprisingly approachable, not being a big bruiser of a Pettie Sarah, or nearly as tannic as I expected; it has good acidity and a nice, long finish, being very stylish and delicious, and almost Zin-like, in a way. Bree commented that it’s "kind of hot on the nose," adding that "it’s got this really great herbal thing in the aromatics that I really like." As approachable as it is, it will certainly benefit from further cellaring; I’ll probably wait another few years to try another and see what’s what.