Pretty high tones, with a light touch of oak that manifests more bready than nutty. Then heavier in the mouth than the nose would suggest, and very ripe with pear flavors that even suggest the slightest RS. Finishes with some nice purity to the fruit.

Tight, some lees character and mineral. Drier than the previous wine, with the flavors leaning more to the lemon side of the spectrum, and also more persistent, although the finish is sweet.

Quite heavy on the minerality here, with an overall green impression. Mouthwatering snappy fruit is very pleasing.

Verging on the tropical, this is rather cloying and short. Not my style of Chard by any means.

Less distinguished than my previous experience with this wine. On the nose, this lacks some of the expressiveness it showed before, and the flavors are rather flat and diluted.

Medium dark garnet. Dryly gritty but in an acceptably honest way.

Dark red garnet. Tobaccoey nose and reasonably full palate.

Dark garnet. Raisin and menthol notes let you know it's '03 even without reading the label. But it still works decently for me, as the flavors are surprising in their brightness, although the tannin does have a little drought-dryness. I think in a few years this might be very nice.

Very dark garnet. Undeniably impressive size-wise, but oaky and sweet in a stereotypical-Californian type of way. Flavors are better balanced but less than stellar length. I'm less positive about the evolution of this wine than the Marchese Chianti.

Medium red subtly tinged by violet. Sweet cocoa/tobacco aromas prime you for even sweeter flavors that are nevertheless not really cloying.

Medium red. Very chocolatey yet high-toned nose, with a nice liveliness and decent structure to the flavors.

Medium dark maroon. Toasty and extracted, weighed down by the oak.

Medium dark maroon. Like the Merlot in this series, this shows plenty of rich chocolate in the aromas (similar cooperage, I imagine). Well balanced but unfortunately short.

Very dark red. Not expressing itself as much as I remember from before, but there's still noticeable licorice and tobacco character on display. The intensity and length here are very nice, however. If you want to try a recent release from Columbia Crest, this is the one to get.

Dark maroon. Slightly confected chocolate/yogurt-covered halfway-raisined fruit. Sweet, this develops some spiciness but then just fades.

Medium red. High-registering nose hits some toasty-oaky notes. It takes a lot of chewing to unveil the effect of 15.5% alcohol, but it takes the form of important weight and richness, not overt heat or sticky sweetness. For a Bordeaux blend, that feat alone is impressive! This could very well be just bound up right now, but it might be worth waiting on to see if more nuance and delineation emerges.

Medium dark reddish maroon. Lead pencil and toast aromas. Nice interplay of dryness and fruit, with sneaky acids. This is already showing both balance and complexity, giving me some confidence in its future.

Medium red, with a tinge of violet. High-toned and weedy, then dilute and hot in the mouth, with an even hotter finish!

Light to medium red. Cherry fruited, with a little ash. Slightly juicy, maybe even piquant, with a fair finish. Not very varietal, but interesting.

Very dark red. There's a sweetish cast to the reluctant nose of tobacco and licorice. A little saltiness implies serious concentration here, but there's nothing overextracted about this. Decent acids complete the picture. There should be some improvement in the short term with this one.