Yates Family Vineyard-Alden Perry Reserve-Napa Redwoods Estate-Mount Veeder-California-2005-$38.00-A nose of dark fruit with spice, dark amber in color.  A full bodied delicious blend, blackberry, licorice, tar with a long finish, has a little heat, decant for a couple hours.     Met Michael Yates in Napa earlier this year, makes some great red wines.             NR              CR-91              Good with steak, chicken, pasta.

Bruce Wayne Winery-Ella’s Blend-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc-Napa Valley-California-2007-$11.99-A nose of ripe dark fruit, black purple in color.   A big full bodied Merlot blend on steroids, blackberry, black cherry, plum, with some chocolate, a very good midweek wine or for a BBQ.              NR                CR-87                  Good with ribs, chicken, pasta.

Caldwell Vineyard-Rocket Science-Proprietary Red Wine-Napa Valley-California-2005-$40.00-A ripe full nose of currants and spice, dark, almost black in color.  Cherry, plum, currants, rich and smooth, good integrated tannins and nice length. This blend is one of my favorites and sadly it was my last bottle.  John Caldwell makes great wine from his Napa vineyard.  Interesting bottle and cork, starting in 2006 this bottle is now tapered like a rocket ship.               WS-89              CR-92        Good with steak, chicken, pasta.

Caldwell Vineyard-Rocket Science-Proprietary Red-Napa Valley-California-2007-$34.98-A nose of dark fruit, dark amber in color.  A full bodied Bordeaux blend, blackberry, black cherries, spice and some vanilla, decant for a couple hours so it can open up.  It is one of my favorite wines, not as perfect as the 2006 but very good (but that could change with time in the cellar), with still one of the coolest bottles in the industry.   I was lucky to spend some time with John and Joy Caldwell in March at a tasting in their Cave, great people.              NR                 CR-90               Good with steak, chicken, pasta.

Robert Foley Vineyards-Charbono-Napa Valley-California-2004-(.375)-$20.00-A huge nose of dark fruit, black in color.  A massive full bodied red, black cherry, wild berries,  still tannic even out of a .375 bottle, long aftertaste, very interesting wine.                 RP-90              WS-90              WE-91            CR-92             Good with meats, chicken, pasta.

Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery-Secolo-Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot-Petite Verdot-Malbec-Petite Sirah-Sonoma County-California-2006-$25.25-A nose of dark fruits and spice, dark purple in color.  A smooth, full bodied blend, blackberry, currants,  chocolate and some earthy qualities, a very good wine.                 NR                    CR-91                        Good with steak, chicken, pasta.

Donati Family Vineyards-Claret-Canernet Sauvignon-Merlot-Petite Verdot-Syrah-Malbec-Paicines-California-2006-$16.99-A nose of dark fruit and spice, dark amber in color.  Blackberry, cherries, chocolate, smooth and full bodied, with a good finish.            NR             CR-87             Good with chicken, meats, pasta.

Trefethen Family Vineyards-Double T-Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot-Cabernet Franc-Petit Verdot-Malbec-Napa-California-2006-$17.99-A nose of dark fruit and spice, dark ruby in color.  A full bodied easy drinking blend, black cherry, black currants, spicy oak.  I visited Trefethan’s in March, beautiful property and tasting room, a must visit if you are going to Napa.              NR             CR-87           Good with steak, chicken, pasta.

H de V-Belle Cousine-Hyde Vineyard-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon-Napa Valley-Los Carneros-California-2005-$29.99-A nose of dark fruit, dark amber in color.  A smooth, medium to full bodied blend,  plum, red currants, earthy with right amount of oak.                 WS-89                CR-90                 Good with meats, chicken, pasta.