2010 Gemstone Red

(a blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 23% merlot and 7% cabernet franc): Good medium ruby. Blueberry, currant, licorice, minerals, mocha and loamy earth on the nose, with some suggestions of superripe fruit. Sweet, plush and approachable, with a faint warmth and a fine-grained texture to the flavors of black raspberry, mocha and earth. Nicely full and pliant blend.

Gemstone's 2010 Red Wine is bursting with freshly cut flowers, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, plums, tobacco and dark red cherries. The 2010 Red Wine captures plenty of the Gemstone silkiness and richness, but it has considerably more finesse in its tannin and far better balance than the Cabernet Sauvignon in this vintage. High-toned floral notes keep the 2010 light on its feet at all times. This is a delicious and subtle wine from Gemstone to savor over the next handful of years.

Good deep ruby. Riper and less green on the nose than the 2009, offering scents of blueberry and smoky minerality. Juicy and firmly built, with very good intensity and lift to the sweet dark fruit flavors complicated by mint and truffle. Good stony minerality carries the fruit on the persistent, firmly tannic finish. This has more supporting density of material to support its spine than the 2009 version.