B Cellars 2006 Blend 23 92 points

B Cellars 2006 Blend 23 Sauvignon Blanc-Viogner-Chardonnay (Napa Valley); $28

This wonderfully rich wine combines the best of all three varieties to produce a complex white. It shows rich green apple, pineapple jam, superripe apricot, honeysuckle and smoky oak flavors, and while it’s tremendously honeyed on the finish, it is basically dry. Crisp acidity, probably from the Carneros Chardonnay, provides needed balance.

Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole

Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole (Martinique) $42

The compellingly complex and multi-layered bouquet includes fragrances of nutmeg, oak, wet grass, rubber pencil eraser, white pepper and carnations. The palate entry has flavors of herbs, caney sweetness and flower garden; the midpalate features elements of smoke, tobacco leaf, black pepper, cinnamon, vanilla bean, nut paste and honey. Stupendous.

Pure Love Wines 2005 Layer Cake Shiraz 91 points

Pure Love Wines 2005 Layer Cake Shiraz (Barossa Valley); $15

A new project from Jayson Woodbridge (the owner of Napa’s Hundred Acre label), Layer Cake refers to the soils of his Barossa Vineyard, but it could equally apply to the richness and density of the wine. It’s creamy in texture, and filled with blueberries, spice and everything nice, finally ending with hints of coffee and chocolate.

Sebeka 2006 Cape Blend Shiraz-Pinotage 89 points

Sebeka 2006 Cape Blend Shiraz-Pinotage (Western Cape); $9

This Cape Blend (so-called because it has Pinotage in it) is juicy, structured and easy-drinking. An enjoyable food wine to boot, it has an expressive, approachable character—jammy fruit of the Shiraz gives it life—but has Pinotage reserve and backbone, too. Pair this with grilled ribs or lamb or drink it alone

Hagen Heights 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon 91 points

Hagen Heights 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley); $48

Here’s one for the cellar. You could drink it now, with a little decanting, but such is the structural youth that you’d miss this Bordeaux blend at its best. Rich and savory in spicy black and red currant, cherry and cedar flavors, the wine shows a firm tannic structure, with a crisp bite of acidity. Hold until late 2008; should evolve over the next six to eight years.

Cycles Gladiator 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon 90 points

Cycles Gladiator 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Central Coast); $10

It’s not quite a cult Napa Cab, but you’d be surprised how close the profile fits with this soft, sumptuous wine. Like its competitors costing 10 times as much, it’s velvety smooth, with enormously ripe cassis, milk chocolate, cherry pie, vanilla and cinnamon spice flavors. At this price, it’s a steal, and easy to find, with 15,000 cases produced.

PINK Caffeine and Guarana Infused Vodka

P.I.N.K. Caffeine & Guarana Infused Vodka

The bouquet offers off-dry, delicate aromas of yellow fruit and wet earth with deft touches of vanilla. The palate entry is almost liqueur-like with its fruitiness and coffee bean-like character; the midpalate features bittersweet tastes of cocoa and coffee bean. Finish is bittersweet and beany.

Beauregard 2004 Zinfandel 95 points

Beauregard 2004 Beauregard Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel (Ben Lomond Mountain); $45

The product of a warm vintage in a cool-climate region, this is a very good Zin. It achieves interest and complexity. Structured like a good Cab Sauvignon, it has impressively deep blue and black wild berry and stone fruit, coffee, dried herb and spice flavors, wrapped into firm, dusty tannins.

Yangarra Estate 2005 Estate Shiraz 94 points

Yangarra Estate Vineyard 2005 Single Vineyard Shiraz (McLaren Vale); $20

An impressively endowed effort, this features a slightly lifted, floral component to its bouquet that adds to its complexity, blending seamlessly with scents of dark plum, vanilla, smoke, coffee and spice. The mouthfilling flavors frame bold fruit in firm spice, giving this wine ample structure and length. Drink now–2015

AsomBroso El Platino (silver) Tequila

Opening nose emits zesty scents of fennel, licorice, anise and dried herbs; aeration brings out off-dry elements of milk chocolate, agave juice, olive brine, rye bread and green olive. Palate entry is peppery and astringent, then at midpalate flavors of sweet pepper and ripe agave meld. Concludes toasty and mellow.

Palmaz 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon 93 points

Palmaz 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley); $100

Few Cabs on earth are riper than this, with its enormous flavors of black currants, cherry-pie filling, plum jam and chocolate that overwhelm the mouth with decadence. It’s modern in tannins, which are soft and finely ground, and opulent in smoky, spicy new oak. It is, in short, the very model of a Napa cult Cab.

Don Miguel 2006 Gascon Malbec 88 points

Gascón Malbec (Mendoza); $12

Getting past the giant blast of oak that dominates the bouquet is not an easy task, but the intrepid wood chopper will find another side to this wine, one that’s full of bright, juicy black fruit and syrupy core sweetness. Of course, the oak is always present and with that comes mocha, coffee and vanilla notes.

Jekel 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon 86 points

Jekel 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Arroyo Seco); $15

Jekel has long experience with Cabs from Arroyo Seco, a cool region better known for whites. This Bordeaux blend shows the region’s classic dryness and acidity, and flavors of blackberries and currants.

Des Voigne Cellars 92 points

Des Voigne 2005 Montreux Syrah (Columbia Valley); $27

Here’s Washington Syrah in the flesh, unadulterated, unblended, blasting out aromas of wild berries, spicy cranberry and rhubarb. It leads into a tart and peppery wine with whiffs of smoke and herb; young, wild and just slightly raw. A flavor parade for your mouth.

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