The 2009 Stature is a deep, fleshy wine graced with supple dark red fruit, flowers, sweet spices and licorice. This is a radiant, approachable style, but there is lovely minerality and focus from the presence of several high-altitude sites that suggests the wine will drink well for a number of years. The blend is 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 4% Malbec, mostly sourced from Stagecoach, Veeder and Keyes. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. Tel. (800) 769-3649

The 2005 Stature ,the most expensive wine in the K-J hierarchy, is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Malbec that sees one-third American oak and two-thirds French. Perhaps because of that it displays a more noticeable oakiness. It performs like the old Silver Oak Cabernets from the mid-eighties, when they had the concentration to match up to all the oak. Made in a modern, progressive, less classic style than its siblings, it is still very Californian in its opaque ruby/purple color, with a big, sweet kiss of toasty oak intermixed with ripe fruit, low acidity, and sweet tannin. From high elevation Napa vineyards, it is a big wine that should drink well for 10-15 years. As I wrote last year, despite a production of two million bottles of the Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, 110,000 bottles of the Vintner’s Reserve Merlot, and 170,000 bottles of the Vintner’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, these are all good as well as value-priced wines. The third level in the Kendall-Jackson hierarchy is the Highland Estates cuvees, all essentially single vineyard wines from some of Jess Jackson’s finest sites. The brilliance of the Chardonnays in this portfolio needs to be addressed. Kendall-Jackson’s Highland Estates is also showcasing some very fine Pinot Noirs, generally made from the newer Dijon clones planted in cool vineyard sites. The Bordeaux varietal blends are all well-made wines, but except for the 2006 Merlot Taylor Peak (1,500 cases), production ranges from a low of 340 cases for the 2006 Trace Ridge Proprietary Red, to 870 cases of the 2006 Trace Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon.Available through Vin Lux Fine Wines, tel.(866) 462-4641; Fax (866) 853-1707; www.vinluxfinewines.com

Filled with black and red berries and stone fruits that have a smoky, grilled edge, this dramatic Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend hails from several great vineyards, mainly Stagecoach, which is up on Atlas Peak. It drinks well now at the age of four-plus years, showing lush fruit that’s just beginning to dry out and achieve bottle bouquet. Feels sweet and soft in the mouth. A compelling, complex and nuanced wine of great elegance and allure. ——S.H.(6/1/2010)—— 96

The most expensive wine in the entire Kendall-Jackson hierarchy is the 2004 Stature. A proprietary blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, most of this comes from three separate vineyards in Napa Valley. This is a tannic, backward wine that could turn out to be as good as the Napa Mountain, and it is certainly a wine for the long haul. Dark ruby/purple in color, with notes of creosote, graphite, blackberry and cassis with some pain grille notes in the background, this wine has beautiful purity, full-bodied power, high tannin, but is balanced by equally impressive levels of fruit and extract. It definitely needs 5-6 years of cellaring and should keep for two decades. Despite the size of some of the cuvees produced at Kendall-Jackson (2.3 million bottles of the Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay and 300,000 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc), winemaker Randy Ullom is at the top of his game, and of course is given carte blanche authority by the two principals, Barbara Banke and her husband Jess Jackson. There are some terrific values in this portfolio.Tel. (800) 769-3649; Fax (800) 600-5985

Stature is always a Bordeaux blend, but varies in vineyard source each year. This ’04 is soft, utterly delicious and fully drinkable now. It’s rich in black currant, cherry pie filling, plum, anise and spice flavors, generously aged in smoky new oak. Made in the modern style, it will hold effortlessly through 2012, at least.——S.H.(6/1/2009)—— 96