There are 7,000 cases of the prodigious 2006 Proprietary Red Wine (a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec). Most of the fruit comes from the Stagecoach Vineyard and the Waters Ranch. Sweet, smoky, meaty aromas interwoven with melted asphalt, camphor, blackberry, cassis, and charcoal scents emerge from the complex aromatics. In the mouth, the wine is full-bodied, displaying sweet tannin, a concentrated mouthfeel, and a long, heady finish with substantial fruit, glycerin, and extract. It should drink beautifully for 20+ years. Things just seem to get better and better at Pahlmeyer, a long-standing, brilliant, remarkably consistent source for one of Napa’s finest Merlots, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs. Tel. (707) 255-2321; Fax (707) 255-6786

There are 7,000 cases of the prodigious 2006 Proprietary Red Wine (a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec). Most of the fruit comes from the Stagecoach Vineyard and the Waters Ranch. Sweet, smoky, meaty aromas interwoven with melted asphalt, camphor, blackberry, cassis, and charcoal scents emerge from the complex aromatics. In the mouth, the wine is full-bodied, displaying sweet tannin, a concentrated mouthfeel, and a long, heady finish with substantial fruit, glycerin, and extract. It should drink beautifully for 20+ years. Things just seem to get better and better at Pahlmeyer, a long-standing, brilliant, remarkably consistent source for one of Napa’s finest Merlots, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs.Tel. (707) 255-2321; Fax (707) 255-6786

Firm and structured, with a taut mix of dried currant, anise, sage, dusty berry and cedary oak. Full-bodied, concentrated and marked by chewy tannins, this is closed and needs time. The best of two bottles tasted. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Best from 2010 through 2016. 7,017 cases made. -JL

Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, with smaller percentages of the other four Bordeaux varieties, this strongly tasting wine is fruity-sweet in blackberries, cherries, raspberries, cocoa and new smoky oak. It’s a little hot in alcohol, which robs it of some elegance. But it’s delicious and creamy, and could gain some subtlety with a few years in the bottle.——S.H.(4/1/2010)—— 90