About this Wine: "The 2001 Rudd Oakville Estate is the second vintage from the newly replanted vineyard at the corner of Oakville Crossroad and Silverado Trail. The vineyard is planted in rock...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: (40% mourvedre, 28% syrah, 27% grenache and 5% counoise): Vivid ruby-red. Sexy, highly perfumed aromas of candied raspberry, potpourri, Asian spices, sandalwood and licorice...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: (40% mourvedre, 28% syrah, 27% grenache and 5% counoise): Vivid ruby-red. Sexy, highly perfumed aromas of candied raspberry, potpourri, Asian spices, sandalwood and licorice...

Wine Spectator: This is tough-edged, earthy and chewy, revealing a dense core of extracted dark berry, plum and roasted herb flavors. Needs time, but has much to admire. Best from 2014 throug...

About this Wine: "Our Reserve chardonnay is created in our small lot winemaking facility, a "winery within a winery." Under the direction of consulting winemaker David Ramey, we employ cutting...

Wine Enthusiast: A fancy Chardonnay, whose 50% new French oak gives a delicious layer of buttered toast and vanilla, but is in keeping with the volume of the underlying wine. Made from grapes ...

Wine Spectator: Firm in texture, with fine tannins around a plush core of cherry and guava, showing a grenadine hint as the finish sails on nicely. This has a refreshing quality. Cabernet Sau...

Wine Enthusiast: A Blend of 64% Merlot and 27% Cabernet Franc, with splashes of Malbec and Peite Verdot, this is built for the long haul. Raspberries, cherries and rich Chocolate run through t...

Wine Spectator: The generous ripe plum and blackberry fruit is intense and vivid. The texture offers the raw graininess of youth, ending with firm tannins. Drink now through 2022.- J.L.

Wine Enthusiast: Another great release from Sequana of this single-vineyard bottling, which hails from the golden slopes of the cool, southwestern part of the Russian River Valley. It's rich i...

Wine Spectator: This has a lovely transparency to its currant and plum fruit, shaded with tar and mineral notes, riding easily over buffed tannins into the long, expressive finish. Drink now ...

Wine Spectator: Intense and concentrated without being weighty, delivering ripe, rich, vibrant dark and blackberry flavors that are pure, spicy and snappy. Drink now through 2022. -JL

About this Wine: Lee Gnesa (pronounced knee-sa) and his family planted this intimate four-acre vineyard in 1996 on Highway 246 on a ge...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District shows off considerable focus and depth, not to mention terrific overall balance. Dark plums, cherries, spices, licorice and cas...

Wine Enthusiast: Distinctly Sonoma Coast in the forest berry fruits and feral, earthy notes of anise, balsam and Dr. Pepper cola. Fine and silky in the mouth, with modest alcohol and a burst o...

Wine Enthusiast: Dry, smooth and distinguished. Shows Mondavi's ability to get the grapes ripe in blackberries and currants, yet the fruit pulls back at the last moment, letting earthy, herbal...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Opaque purple. Dark berries, cherry pit and chocolate on the nose, with licorice and black cardamon nuances adding complexity. Sappy, expansive blackcurrant and cherry flavo...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Vivid ruby. High-pitched, pure, floral-accented aromas of red berries, Asian spices, blood orange and potpourri. Concentrated, lithe and precise, offering juicy raspberry, c...

Wine Spectator: This shows a distinctive sense of place, featuring aromas of huckleberry and fresh underbrush, as well as complex, potent flavors of berry cobbler, minerals and roasted sage. ...

Wine Spectator: Pushes ripeness, but stays in bounds, offering a chewy, muscular presentation of fruit, with blackberry, mineral, black licorice, cedar and graphite flavors. For all its heft,...