Gold Hill Vineyards 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon El Dorado $24

Clos du Marquis 2004 Bordeaux Blend Saint-Julien, France $40

V. Sattui Winery Preston Vineyard 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena $50

Double Gold, CA State Fair, 2005

91 pts, Wine Spectator

Gold, S.F. Chronicle, 2005

The fruit on the nose was black berry, black currant, black cherry. The initial nose was one of spice; black pepper and clove with a hint of cedar and an overall smokiness.

This had the least fruit and it tended to be tarter. There was red raspberry and cherry, plum and strawberry. It had an earthiness with a good bit of leather, pine, mushrooms and olives.

This was more fruit forward wine with blackcurrant, black cherry, blackberry and gooseberry. There was also leather, vanilla, tobacco, licorice and cinnamon.

The initial attack of the wine was all aboutspice, black fruit and then evolved into a very nice toastiness and smoke. It had good balance, the only down side was a bit of warmth in the final finish which was fairly long. The wine had aged to a nice complexity of fruit and spice.

This wine had some definite earthiness that came through in the palate. The fruit was red and tart and that great smoky, toasty quality came through in the finish, which was very long and wonderfully complex.

This wine was all about a great profusion of fruit in the attack, mostly black. The non- fruit aromas of vanilla and cinnamon carried through, as did that very nice tobacco quality. The wine was very complex with a fairly long finish.

Moderate

Moderate Plus

Moderate

Medium body with good structure

Full bodied with ce dusty tannins.

12.5

13.0

14.0

This wine had aged nicely past the fruity stage to allow all the flavor profiles to shine through. There was still a good amount of acid and the tannins were soft and matured. It wasn't as big in body as some of the others, but it was the most developed. There was little doubt that this was not a young wine.

There was little doubt that this was the French wine; the fruit was not as ripe, the acid was higher and the alcohol was lower in the finish. It was a well balanced wine that all agreed just needed a few more years to be a great sipping wine. It already is a great wine with a good steak!

This was certainly a warm weather wine based on the fruit and moderate acidity, but didn't have overblown alcohol and was no fruit ball. It was well made, well balanced and had good complexity. This wine ranked first or second with most tasters.