A blend of 52% Napa and 48% Sonoma fruit (the vineyard traverses the county lines), the 2003 Merlot exhibits notes of sweet oak, mocha, and berry fruit in its pretty, elegant, tasty, medium-bodied, plump personality.

Intense, fully extracted cherry-like fruit moves quickly to center stage here and refuses to relinquish the spotlight to both the lavish oak and chocolate ripeness that, try as they might, never quite steal the scene. The wine admits to a few ragged edges and does let a touch of heat show through at the finish, but it is so tasty as to make moot those few concerns and a brief stay in cellar of some two to four years seems certain to smooth it out nicely.

An openly seductive style, with ripe currant, blackberry and wild berry fruit shaded by splashy mocha, espresso bean and oak flavors. It's complex and concentrated, but also quite tannic, so if you pull the cork tonight, decant an hour. Drink now through 2012