Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine is a bit of a splurge, but it is well worth it for admirers of classic Napa Valley cabernet. Joseph Phelps has been producing great cabernet for three decades, and I've been around long enough to taste most vintages. This one is as fine as any young Phelps cab I've tasted - and that's saying a lot. It's about the perfect combination of youthful accessibility and long-term aging potential. The texture is velvety, and the flavors are typical Napa - black cherry, black currant, chocolate, herbs - but with just a little more nuance and roundness than most of its peers.

Many things that are famous are just well-hyped, but that is not the case with Napa Valley cabernet. Napa is the real deal for cabernet. I'm not sure how Rutherford manages to sell a Napa cabernet at this reasonable price, but the smooth texture and intense, pure black-cherry and black-currant flavors show the winery wasn't cutting corners. Serve with beef, lamb. Michael Dresser

Even in its battered condition, New Orleans sets gustatory standards. So as Mardi Gras approached, I called a couple of prominent New Orleans restaurateurs for suggestions for wines to pour in my glass. Traditionally the Mardi Gras carnival has roared on for almost two weeks, culminating in indulgent "Fat Tuesday" revelries that precede the beginning of the penitential season of Lent. Lately, life has been hard in the Big Easy as the city attempts to rebuild from the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding.

This moderately priced, medium-bodied red wine from Washington state is a very appealing, widely available wine with a supple feel and fine varietal character. It delivers pure and penetrating black-cherry flavor tempered by sweet American oak. Ready to drink young, it will go well with a wide variety of foods from poultry to red meat. Serve with --lamb or beef

2002 Dona Sol Cabernet Sauvignon ($5) This is not a great wine, but it is cheap and palatable - a California red for the struggling graduate student or skinflint in all of us. Sure, it's a bit coarse, but it is very much a cabernet - with the characteristic black-cherry, black-currant and chocolate flavors, along with a hint of less-than-elegant charcoal. Don't think about it too much and by the third glass, it'll taste great. Serve with --hamburgers, pizza, chili

This well-made cabernet has a touch of the "dusty" quality that distinguishes wines from the prestigious Rutherford Bench of California's Napa Valley. Combine that with the smooth, intense flavors of blackberry, black currant, anise, chocolate and spices and you've got one heck of a cabernet for the price. It doesn't have the rustic, leathery flavors of many Australian cabernets. Serve with --beef, lamb, hard cheeses

Most $10 wines are strictly for early consumption, but this full-bodied Spanish red has the structure and intensity that make me suspect it will be even better in five to 10 years. There's no need to wait, however, to enjoy its vibrant blackberry and black-currant fruit and meaty, earthy flavors. It's a little tight when the bottle is first opened, but it develops added complexity and a smoother texture in the glass. Ludovicus is a skillful blend of grenache, tempranillo, syrah and cabernet sauvignon.

2002 Wine Block Cabernet Sauvignon ($10/1.5 liters). A wine writer recommending a boxed wine? Horrors! What gives? Well, this uniquely packaged item from California just happens to be an impressive cabernet for the equivalent of $5 a bottle. Its cubed shape makes it very compact for travel, and the bag-in-box format renders it immune to cork taint and quick spoilage (more than a few weeks would be pushing it). The wine itself is medium- to full-bodied, with an admirable smoothness. Its black-currant and black-cherry flavors are not ultra-complex, but this wine competes well with its bottled counterparts in the $10 to $15 range.

The U.S. Apple Association predicts that 216.2 million bushels of apples will be harvested this season. Among the popular varieties are Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Golden Delicious and Rome, as well as Red Delicious, the classic apple always found on the teacher's desk. And a new study shows the proverbial "apple a day" may keep both the doctor and the pounds away. Brazilian researchers found that participants who included an apple with every meal successfully lost more weight when dieting than those who did not eat the fruit.

2001 Hahn Estates Merlot, Monterey ($12). This plump, chewy merlot exhibits a soft texture but has plenty of structure underneath. Its rich flavors of blackberry, chocolate and herbs give it more of a resemblance to syrah than to cabernet sauvignon. This merlot, which compares well with Napa Valley counterparts that sell for $20 and up, would pair well with roast chicken or red meat.