A best-of-barrels blend from the classic Bordeaux varieties, this wine is delicious. It’s not hard for Napa to ripen fruit to blackberry and cherry perfection, or for the winemaker to age the wine in the best oak. What’s difficult is to house all this richness in such smooth tannins, with such depth and such a pure finish. A spectacularly good wine to drink now, and it should develop for at least a decade. ——S.H.(12/1/2011)—— 95

Fruity and jammy, showing intensely ripe, crushed wild blackberry and foxy mulberry flavors. A little rustic in tannins, with a bristling texture, but the finish is long, dry and spicy. Could surprise after 5–7 years in the cellar. ——S.H.(6/1/2011)—— 88

Pure elegance and a savory style characterize the 2006 Marriage, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. This wine was aged longer (30 months in barrel), and the result is a savory, more complex, and polished wine. Dense ruby purple-colored, with a big sweet kiss of Allspice, black cherry, and black currant intermixed with tobacco leaf, white chocolate, and espresso, it is deep, rich, full-bodied, and backward, but at the same time extraordinarily pure and elegant. This is a beauty that could actually get better over the next 3-4 years and drink well for two decades. These are the most impressive wines I have tasted to date from Terra Valentine.Tel. (707) 967-8340