Napa Valley

2000 Shafer Firebreak, Napa Valley ($33). This proprietary red wine from the red-hot Shafer winery isn't exactly cheap, but it more than justifies its price tag. A blend of 94 percent sangiovese and 6 percent cabernet sauvignon, Firebreak is Shafer's answer to Italy's so-called "super-Tuscan" blends. This complex, rich wine doesn't duplicate the style but comes close enough to interest the same tasters. It's a full-bodied wine with fascinating notes of black cherry, blueberry, chocolate, herbs and Asian spices.

2001 Franciscan Oakville Estate Chardonnay, Napa Valley ($17). This well-made chardonnay offers lively flavors of green apples, white pepper and lemons -- and even a suggestion of lime oil. In many ways, it's a standard California chardonnay but rendered with more vibrancy and finesse than is common for wines in this price class. The oak is well-integrated and not at all dominant. It should go well with most chicken, ham and salmon dishes.

2001 Mason Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($15). This appealing white wine shows the elegant balance that can be struck when a winemaker uses a blend of barrel-fermented wine with wine that has been fermented in stainless steel. The oak barrels add a touch of softness and a vanilla taste to the melange of flavors: fig, peach, pear, melon, Asian spices. It has a lightly sweet edge, as much from the oak as any residual sugar, and excellent intensity. Serve with full-bodied seafood such as salmon or with spicy Cajun or Caribbean cuisine.

1997 Napa Ridge Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($20). Twenty bucks might not seem inexpensive, but it's dirt-cheap when you are talking about Napa Valley cabernet from the 1997 vintage. It's even better when the wine is as complex, rich and seductive as this one. It offers bright, vibrant, black-cherry, black-currant and vanilla flavors. Superbly structured, it can be expected to improve over the next five to10 years, as the oak flavors integrate and the bouquet emerges. But it will be hard to resist drinking it. This wine cries out to be served with a fine preparation of beef or lamb.

Food for thought Just in time for the holidays, Cambridge University Press has issued a two-volume set, "The Cambridge World History of Food." The 2,000-page work includes anecdotes about foods ranging from chili peppers to sea urchins as well as analyses of the role of food in warfare, immigration and the rise and fall of civilizations. The hardcover set retails for $150. Grateful for the grapes California vintners can't keep a cork in their enthusiasm for this year's grape harvest, calling it one of the best ever.

1997 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Centennial Release, Napa Valley ($20). There was a time when B. V. was the premier name in Napa Valley wine. That's no longer true, but B. V. can still rise to a special occasion, as it shows with this 100th anniversary bottling of cabernet - the grape to which it owes its renown. This is a rich, classic, stylish Napa Valley cabernet - accessible but structured, full-bodied but not overstuffed. It's an elegant wine with hints of black currant, smoked meat and black cherry.

1998 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($20). Generally, California sauvignon blancs can't justify a $20 price tag. This exceptional effort from the much-respected Stag's Leap is a glorious exception. It's a full-bodied yet graceful dry white wine with nuances of figs, nuts, pears and toasty oak. Smooth texture, tremendous length, complexity -- this sauvignon blanc has it all. (If you prefer chardonnay, Stag's Leap's 1998 from the Napa Valley is also a spectacular special-occasion wine at $26.)

When you're talking prestige in California wine, you're talking cabernet sauvignon. A winemaker can fashion a celestial chardonnay or a magnificent merlot, but the true vin d'ego is cabernet. It's the wine world's boss grape and the one on which reputations are built or destroyed. Is it any wonder then that California wineries are scrambling to make their mark in the luxury cabernet market? More and more, it seems that every social-climbing winery has to have a $30-plus reserve or single-vineyard cabernet to challenge the state's longtime elite.

In last Sunday's Travel section, an incorrect phone number was given for Loew Vineyards in Mount Airy, Md. The correct number is 301-831-5464.The Sun regrets the error.Sitting on the veranda of Fiore Winery in Harford County, one could easily mistake it for a winery from a few decades ago, when Napa Valley was struggling to become a world center of fine wine production. A refreshing breeze wafts across the picturesque vineyards, and you can smell the sweet grapes just emerging on the vine.