Cabernet

2000 Chaddsford Cabernet Sauvignon, Pennsylvania. $17. This soon-to-be-released cabernet has a style all its own - and a most appealing one it is. You won't have to be a Master of Wine to recognize at one sip that this is not a California cabernet. The gripping black cherry and black currant fruit flavors and nuances of earth, herbs, vanilla, coffee, mint and eucalyptus could come from the Napa Valley, but the structure is distinctly different. What it lacks in heft it more than makes up for in intensity and the racy character of its finish.

2000 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley ($15). This smooth, concentrated, intensely flavorful Washington state red wine delivers that rare combination of aging potential and early accessibility. Where many Washington cabernets are encased in hard tannins, this one is deliciously supple but with fine underlying structure. The flavors are textbook cabernet -- dominated by black cherry but with hints of chocolate and black currant. With cabernets like this on the market, who needs merlot anyway?

2005 Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon From: Alexander Valley, Calif. Price: $30 Serve with: Top beef cuts, leg of lamb Good things seem to be happening at Sebastiani, a venerable Sonoma County winery. This cabernet is as good a wine as I've ever tasted from this Calif. company. This is a full-bodied, structured wine with layers of intense flavor - black cherry, herbs, smoked meat - and a persistent finish. While enjoyable now, it should age well for 15 to 20 years. Despite its youth, it's already throwing some sediment (a good sign)

1999 Stonehaven Shiraz Cabernet, Southeastern Australia ($9). This medium-bodied blend of Shiraz (the syrah of the Rhone) and cabernet sauvignon is a surprisingly elegant version of this common Australian combo. It's a medium-bodied wine with a lot of intensity, offering flavors of black cherry, black pepper, blueberry and chocolate. There's a racy quality to the wine that would make it an excellent companion to grilled food and pasta. This might not be the most complex red wine on the market, but it offers a lot of vibrant character for such a low price.

1997 Mirassou Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Coast ($12).This was a big surprise. I've never been a big fan of Mirassou, but this cabernet is a real sleeper. It offers intense black cherry fruit with notes of chocolate, blackberry and herbs -- with none of the green pepper that can creep into Central Coast reds. It's quite accessible now, but has the structure to age well. The length of the finish is impressive. This will hold its own with many $25 California cabernets.Pub Date: 06/30/99

1999 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley ($15). This widely distributed wine from one of the nation's finest large wineries shows just how classy a midpriced Washington state cabernet can be. This full-bodied wine is packed with black cherry, black currant, chocolate and toasty oak flavors. The tannins are soft but ample, giving the consumer the option of drinking it now or letting it develop for five to eight years. Its complexity level compares well with many California cabernets in the $20 to $40 range.