December 2004 Over the last twelve months, Wine & Spirits tasted 748 cabernet sauvignons and cabernet blends. The following 15 wines received the strongest praise from our critics. A list of all chardonnays wines tasted, with the recommended wines highlighted, is available on www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet Blends
95 I Pine Ridge $60 2001 Napa Valley - Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon The good earth captured in small black berries, preserved in this sleek, black wine. The fresh core of fruit tastes of black cloud ear mushrooms, smells of mossy woodlands, all of which intensifies the berry flavors, gaining substance and volume as the wine takes on air. A bold, succulent cabernet, the finely wrought image of a place. (500 cases) (W&S 12/04) Pine Ridge Winery, Napa, CA
95 I Ridge $120 2001 Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello When I taste this Monte Bello, I think of the Pacific. The flavors approach like a wave, a rise of pure black currant flavor allowing light through to the seabed below. It's the work of old cabernet vines grown on a sunny ridge 2,600 feet above the Pacific, their roots deep into limestone that was once the ocean floor. There's something voluptuous about the wine they give, a stylish drink that bears the history of the place where it grows in its flavors. (3,000 cases)(W&S 12/04) Ridge Vineyards, Cupertino, CA
95 I Von Strasser $100 2001 Napa Valley - Diamond Mountain District Reserve Von Strasser's Reserve is an unusual red blend incorporating 40 percent petit verdot. Together with cabernet sauvignon and merlot, the blend has potent flavor intensity without weight, a cool red currant and violet perfume. The tannins grow richer and more succulent with air, releasing a taste of the volcanic soils of Diamond Mountain under all the beautifully ripe fruit. One of the best vintages we've tasted of Von Strasser's Reserve. (255 cases) (W&S 12/04) Von Strasser Wine Co., St. Helena, CA
94 I Amizetta $75 2001 Napa Valley Vigneto del Tacchino Selvatico Cabernet Sauvignon Go beyond the explosion of flavor and you'll find a balanced, bright wine. It smells like Napa in waves of juicy black currants and darker, umami earthiness. Then the flavors are complete, harmonious, sweet fruit in the service of velvet tannins. The finely meshed soil and fruit expression lasts over a minute after each taste, shifting and changing. It will live up to an elegant dinner now as well as it will with five or ten years of age. (396 cases) (W&S 6/04) Amizetta Vineyards, St. Helena, CA
94 I Cosentino $100 2001 Napa Valley M. Coz This sleek blend of red fruit, black earth and savory oak flavors has the texture of a grand cru. The blend delivers amplitude through deep, roasted flavors of plum and five spice, the fruit seeming to derive its sweet succulence from the soil. The wine improves over the course of several days, as it will over the course of years in the cellar. Age it, or decant it for roast duck. (392 cases) (W&S 12/04) M. Cosentino, Yountville, CA
94 I Cayuse $50 2001 Walla Walla Valley Camaspelo Christophe Baron's Bordeaux blend (90 percent cabernet sauvignon, the rest merlot and franc) sets out on a wave of purplish, vibrant extraction, so impacted you might think it's just a fruit bomb. Then spice fills the glass, the earthiness builds complexity, and what was going to be a powerhouse becomes powerful and balanced. Decant this wine for a steak. (324 cases) (W&S 10/04) Cayuse Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA
94 I Diamond Creek $175 2001 Diamond Mountain, Napa Valley Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon The rich language of grand cru cabernet, here spoken with a Diamond Mountain dialect. I'll leave off all the delicious exclamations from my notes and focus on the textural power of the wine, an integration of the red and black cherry fruit with glints of mineral. Altogether opaque as a young wine, this still gives succulence, like a comfort food for kings. (450 cases) (W&S 12/04) Diamond Creek Vineyards, Calistoga, CA
94 I Frias $60 2001 Napa Valley, Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon This builds in complexity over the course of days, the texture increasingly more expansive as the flavors grow more precise. The first impression is pure cabernet in its red mountain-berry fruit and firm, mountain-grown tannins without bulk. The fruit continues to extend, the texture becomes voluptuous and the ferrous character of the tannin turns toward fresh wild mushroom. (500 cases) (W&S 12/04) Frias Family Vineyard, St. Helena, CA
94 I L'Ecole No. 41 $42 2001 Walla Walla Valley Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard L'Ecole's 2001 Apogee, a blend of cabernet and merlot with a touch of cabernet franc, proclaims its Walla Walla roots from the first savory aromas right through its extraordinary length. Those aromas range from olives to black earth and beef tea, melding with expressive red and black cherry flavors and rich, persistent oak. As a young wine, the flavors are broad rather than deep, charged by a vibrant current of freshness, a beautiful contrast to braised beef. (1,600 cases) (W&S 8/04) L'Ecole No. 41, Lowden, WA
94 I Lail $80 2001 Napa Valley J. Daniel Cuvee This wine's complexity builds over the course of days, starting from an orientation on fresh fruit, the deep, succulent, plummy flavors of a fine young cabernet, constricted within its structure. Revisit the wine the next day, and the tannins are still potent, now earthier; a day later, the flavor detail has continued to increase. It's already apparent this will grow into a gorgeous wine. (1,000 cases) (W&S 12/04) Lail Vineyards, St. Helena, CA
94 I Merryvale $75 2001 Oakville Beckstoffer-Vineyard X Cabernet Sauvignon The gorgeous robe of color and huge hit of expensive oak come first. Then zesty, fresh fruit and perfectly matured tannins fill the wine with depth and a graceful intensity. Finely grown, this has power without over-ripeness, the pure currant flavor lasting with the quality and richness of a grand vin. A great 2001, this is delicious now, and should continue to improve for ten years from the vintage. (W&S 10/04) Merryvale Vineyards, St. Helena, CA
94 I Robert Mondavi $100 2001 Oakville, Napa Valley M-Bar Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon This is a classical Oakville cabernet from its deep, concentrated color and flavor to the resonance of those flavors as they build with air. The main elements are sunny red cherry fruit and chocolate rich tannins, but what makes the wine impressive is their savory counterpoint, growing more layered and symphonic over the course of several days. Delicious now, this will be a knockout with ten years of age. (W&S 12/04) Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville, CA
94 I Spring Mountain $90 2001 Napa Valley Elivette My first notes on this wine were all about structure: its refinement, balance and harmony. And when a wine leads with complete integration, it's bound to be good. Slowly, over the course of a day, this opens to a spiciness in the tannin, like black puer tea. The fruit remains tight, black as plum skin, but generous in its depth and texture. It all hangs together in a supple whole, to cellar for ten years or more. (W&S 6/04) Spring Mountain Vineyard, St. Helena, CA
94 I Three Rivers $39 2001 Columbia Valley Champoux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon When first uncorked, Three Rivers' third vintage from Champoux is broad and monolithic, redolent of oak and dense black fruit, powerful but hard to read. In a day the wine yields aromas of cedar and cassis, but what's so impressive is the integration, the seamless texture, rich and poised at once, with a fruit-derived tannin that gives the wine length. Three Rivers Winery, Walla Walla, WA
94 I Von Strasser $60 2001 Napa Valley - Diamond Mountain District Post Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon This is the inaugural vintage for Rudy von Strasser's Post Vineyard bottling, from two acres of cabernet in deep, heavy soil where the vines are less stressed than his other Diamond Mountain sites. He believes it makes the softest of his single-vineyard wines, and it is juicy with lush red and black fruit. It's also packed with tannins that might as well grab the sides of the mouth and shake. A dynamic balance of deep-hued fruit, explosive mineral tones and floral high notes, intended for the cellar. (282 cases) (W&S 12/04) Von Strasser Wine Co., St. Helena, CA