1987 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon...

1987 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon ($17)--Spicy ripe cherry and cedar notes, a trace of pine, with excellent fruit and a delicate chocolaty note. A more complex and far more approachable red wine than St. Jean has ever made. Tasty now, and it will age nicely for a number of years.

1988 Chappellet Chardonnay ($15)-- For those who like Chardonnay with some sinewy muscle from acidity and harmonies of scale, this is the wine. It is not overblown with oak or butter, but instead offers beautiful varietal fruit, a trace of lime in the finish and some bottle bouquet. With so many wineries ready to release their 1990 Chardonnays, this wine with some bottle age is a joy.

1988 Vignalta Gemola Reserve ($22)-- Grand flavors of Merlot (which makes up 70% of the blend) combined with toasty and earth notes mark this stylish Italian wine from the Veneto. It is a warm, charming wine that needs little further aging. A companion wine, 1989 Vignalta Chardonnay ($18), is lean and delicate with beautiful balance.

1989 Arrowood Chardonnay ($19)-- Ripe apple/pear aromas combine with a citrusy, almost kiwi element and French oak toastiness to make for a most complex, creamy yet crisp wine. Another excellent effort by Dick Arrowood, one of California’s premier wine makers.

1989 Keenan Chardonnay ($15)-- Typically lean, though with more flesh on it than in past years, this wine has delicate tropical fruit notes and a trace of oak. It is relatively rich, though with excellent acid in the finish.

1988 Boeger Zinfandel, Joseph Nichelini Vineyards, Napa Valley ($12)-- In the past, Boeger, located in Placerville, has made Zinfandels from grapes growing in California’s gold country. But Greg Boeger is a grandson of Anton Nichelini, founder of the Nichelini Winery, oldest winery in the Napa Valley under the same ownership. This lovely wine is made from Nichelini fruit grown in the Chiles Valley of Napa County. It is lighter in scope than some, but amply flavored, with bright cherry aromas and soft, complex fruit in the mouth.

Wine of the Week

1989 St. Francis Zinfandel, Old Vines ($13)-- In 1989, Joe Martin, owner of St. Francis, discovered a block of 65-year-old unirrigated hillside Zinfandel vines growing in Sonoma Valley. Wine maker Tom Mackey fashioned this deeply complex wine from them. Although there is 15% alcohol, the wine doesn’t taste hot or harsh. Instead, one gets a violet/raspberry sort of aroma, almost Portlike, but with a spicy-jammy finish. There’s a load of flavor in this wine, which seems best suited for leg of lamb roasted with garlic and rosemary.