The dark ruby/purple-hued 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of 83% Napa and 17% Sonoma fruit, displays a slight austerity along with drier, tougher tannin than the Merlot or Cabernet Franc. Medium-bodied and well-made, but Bordeaux-like in its backwardness and inaccessibility, this is one of the few Pride Mountain efforts that requires 2-3 years of aging. It should last for 10-12 years.

Supple and elegant, with a tight, focused band of earth, dried currant, anise, mineral and sage. Well-balanced and moderately rich, finishing with crisp, minerally tannins. Best from 2008 through 2012. 4,500 cases made.

This impressive, generously filled and very solid young wine is at once both powerful and remarkably well-balanced and delivers loads of optimally ripened, curranty fruit juxtaposed with just the right measure of complimentary oak. It is quite full on the palate and comes complete with lots of Cabernet tannins, but even as the astringency crowds in at the finish, its confident fruit refuses to quit. It is not, nor will it ever be the picture of elegance, but its stunning depth and keen varietal precision raise great expectations for a most handsome maturity some eight to ten years hence.