2003 Rivers-Marie Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-  50 cases produced, 100% new French oak, 14.9% alc.  Due to the coolness of the vintage, this wine carries with it a bit more acidity than the 2004.  Its saturated black hue has an electric quality to it.  Notes of creosote, wet stones, white flowers and smoky cassis precede a palate of menthol, sweet tobacco leaf, melted licorice and blackberries.  As the wine sits in glass, it turns to baker's chocolate, melted fudge and dried herbs.  The tannins are a bit steely revealing its origin as a hillside wine.  Though it has been in bottle 14 months, we still decant this wine in the morning for service with dinner.  Hillside wines in 2003 have an unctuosity that develops with air making them candidates for a long nap in the cellar.

2004 Rivers-Marie Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-  120 cases produced, 80% new French oak, 14.7% alc.    Sometimes there are years in the extreme hills that are perfectly suited to balancing the ruggedness of the wines traditionally produced there.  2004 with its brutal heat in late August turned out to be one of those years.  Everything about this wine is a bit sweeter and rounder than its 2003 counterpart.  More of a saturated matte black color, the nose is pure bittersweet chocolate with waves of cassis.  The palate moves to big Howell Mountain spice, espresso roast, toasted bread, Asian spice and black fruits.  There is no shortage of tannin in this wine, it is just a bit riper and sweeter than more traditional vintages.  Again, patience in the decanter is the key to realizing the full potential of the wine.

2006 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley-- 295 cases produced, 14.7% alc., 75% new French oak

I liked this wine from day one.  A large part of that stems from my love of the vintage.  The great California vintages possess ample quantities of fruit balanced generally by tannin (2002) or nice, firm acidity (1996).  2006 has all the fresh fruit of a great year balanced nicely by both tannin and acidity.  I can smell the wine as it sits a couple feet away from me on the desk.  Saturated black-ruby with a nose of cassis, sandalwood, white flowers and crushed rock.  The classic Cabernet taste components come up quickly:  blackcurrants, more cassis, lavender, sweet tobacco, blackberries, blueberry, espresso and licorice.  The finish is interrupted a bit by structure until the acidity cuts in framing and lengthening the backend.  This wine drinks well earlier than either the 2003 or 2004 but is certainly in no danger of fading for at least a decade.

2007 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley —400 cases produced, 14.3% alcohol, 75% new French oak

This wine has always been highly aromatic.  Starting out with a nose of violets, wet rock and cassis, the entry takes on a richness that betrays its two hillside sources.  There’s brightness to the black fruited quality that pushes the perception of the fruit to the red/blue end of the spectrum until the tannin hits.  As with all hillside sites, the tannin is there it’s just a matter of managing the quality of it that sets the wine apart.  The structure here takes on a fine-grained sweetness and if it deviates from a fruit focus it moves more toward the varietally correct notes of creosote, charcoal and graphite with loamy, minerally tones creeping in.  Time in the decanter definitely helps to prolong the finish and mellow out some of the mountain tannin.