($200; bottled three weeks prior to my visit) Bright ruby. Claret-like nose offers cassis, minerals, bitter chocolate and strong soil tones. Densely packed and quite tight today, in a classically dry style. But there's also superb sex appeal and excellent energy to the flavors of plum, currant, licorice, bitter chocolate and spices. Most impressive today on the long, chocolatey aftertaste.

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The 2007 Insignia (a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot) looks to be one of the greatest wines yet produced at this historic winery. Beautiful aromas of creme de cassis and flowers jump from the glass of this dense purple-colored effort. Sweet oak is present, but it is pushed to the background by the wine's extravagant wealth of fruit and full-bodied power. This is finesse and flavor authority put into a classic Napa Valley Cabernet with a seamless integration of all its component parts. Already complex and approachable, it should evolve for three decades or more, but who can resist it now? It is a staggering, complex expression of Napa viticulture.

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Firm, intense and concentrated, massive yet well-proportioned, with a dense, focused core of graphite, dried currant, blackberry, black tea, forest floor and blueberry flavors. Full-blown, finishing with rich, layered tannins that beg for cellaring. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

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