2007 Andrew Will Red Ciel du Cheval Vineyard

The 2007 Ciel du Cheval is a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, and 15 % Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 40% new French oak for 20 months. Medium purple in color, it offers up an enticing nose of pain grille, pencil lead, herbs, olives, violets, cassis, and black currant. Ripe, smooth-textured, and mouth-filling, it has enough structure to evolve for several years. This lengthy effort will offer prime drinking from 2013 to 2027. Andrew Will, located on Vashon Island, a short ferry-ride from Seattle, is where Chris Camarda fashions his blended, Bordeaux-style wines. Without prompting Camarda told me (as he did Lettie Teague in a Wall Street Journal interview) that business has been very difficult, that he is cutting production, and that in the 2008 vintage he has fashioned two varietal wines that can sell within the range that American wine consumers are willing to spend. That said, the current releases of Andrew Will wines from the 2007 vintage are as good as or better than anything Camarda has done before. Tel. (206) 463-9227; www.andrewwill.com

40% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot. Fresh dark berry fruit. Refined in its lack of evident sweetness on the nose. Then much richer and bigger on the palate, almost like a baby light port in the texture and depth of fruit though without the sweetness. A bit too heavy for my liking in a table wine though there is plenty of concentration. (JH)

(45% cabernet franc, 40% merlot and 15% cabernet sauvignon) Deep red. Reticent but pure aromas of blueberry, spices and dark chocolate. Juicy, spicy and intensely flavored if a bit imploded today; more vibrant than the Two Blondes. The fresh dark berry flavors and this young and serious wine's broad, fine, tooth-dusting tannins suggest that it will be superb with four or five years of cellaring. One of many terrific Bordeaux blends I tasted this year that downplays cabernet sauvignon in favor of cabernet franc and merlot.