But perhaps the most exciting current release from the Santa Cruz Mountains is the Estate Bottled 1896 Cabernet Sauvignon form Mount Eden Vineyards ($28) (95).

This is an amazing wine with finesse and breeding. It has an enormous depth of flavor with lovely herbs and soft plums. The wine was made from vineyards that are “2,000 feet above the floor of the Santa Clara Valley.” It is an exceptional achievement.

This impressively-endowed, youthful Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a deep ruby/purple color with lightening at the edge. The backward yet promising nose of hickory smoke, chocolate, minerals, black-cherries and currants is just beginning to emerge. Rich, structured, medium to full-bodied, and powerful, this wine needs another 2-3 years of cellaring; it should age effortlessly for 10-20 years.

The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore.

While a bit tight on first pouring, the deep, well-extracted aromas expand nicely with air and reveal a potent sense of ripe currents along with suggestions of olives, herbs and toasty oak. The flavors too take a similar course in slowly broadening from their compact beginnings and parallel the nose in their display of deep, herbal-tinged, carefully oaked fruit. Medium-full bodied with good acidity and well-proportioned tannins, the wine finished with a but of toughness but will develop nicely if given five to ten years of age.