Napa Valley

1996 Beringer Chardonnay, Napa Valley ($18).Warning: This is not an imitation white Burgundy. This is a ripe, full-bodied, toasty, unapologetic California chardonnay with plump fruit, lavish oak and loads of buttery flavor. Often this style of wine descends into vulgarity, but the ultra-reliable Beringer keeps it on a higher plane. Its apple, lemon and spice flavors would work marvelously with salmon in a rich cream sauce.Pub Date: 4/29/98

Let's just come right out and say it: The 1994 California cabernet sauvignons are spectacular.Not just excellent. California cabernet achieves that standard about five times a decade. I mean better than such legendary vintages as 1990, 1985, 1978 and 1970. That would make 1994 the best year for cabernet in the modern era of California wine.The vintage's combination of impeccable quality and lower-than-normal quantity has led to a serious escalation in the price of the top-of-the-line boutique cabernets (and cabernet-dominated proprietary blends)

1994 Joseph Phelps Insignia, Napa Valley ($65).Two years ago, this Bordeaux-style blend astonished me at a tasting in Washington, where I thought it was the best California barrel sample I had ever tasted. Now that it is bottled and on the market, it has lost none of its incredible concentration, supple texture, enthralling complexity and captivating charm. It is simply loaded with flavor: black currant, black cherry, exotic spices, raspberry, smoked meat and cedar. It is so appealing now that you might think it couldn't age, but there's plenty of tannin lurking behind the enormous fruit.

There was a time, not long ago, when red zinfandel -- the only kind that matters -- had few pretensions. It was just a hearty California red wine that cost less and was ready to drink earlier than cabernet sauvignon.But zinfandel has gone uptown in a big way. Once it was commonplace to find excellent zins for under $10. Now it could require the services of a Sam Spade to find such a wine. Many producers whose wines sold for $10-$12 a few years ago are now flirting with $20.At these prices, you have every reason to be picky.

This hearty, full-bodied red wine offers concentrated blackberry fruit with notes of herbs and smoked meat.There's enough fruit to offset a considerable lashing of tannin, which indicates this wine could age for five to 10 years (although not that many people bother to cellar budget-priced petite sirahs).Petite sirah can yield rather rustic, raspy wines, but this version retains the grape's strength and shows some class.Pub Date: 2/09/97

1995 Beringer Chenin Blanc, Napa Valley ($6) People who can't abide a trace of sweetness might not like this fresh, lively, off-dry white wine, but most wine drinkers will be thrilled to find such a tasty beverage at such a reasonable price. The fragrant floral aromas are followed by a rush of fruit flavor. It's a natural to serve with fiery Oriental cuisine. Drink it over the next six months or so to capture its freshness.Pub Date: 2/02/97

Chuck Carpy,68, considered one of the founders of the modern Napa Valley wine industry, died Monday of a heart attack in St. Helena, Calif.His grandfather went to California from Bordeaux, France, at the end of the Civil War and eventually founded Christian Brothers cellars in St. Helena.Mr. Carpy founded Freemark Abbey Winery in 1967 and co-founded Rutherford Hill Winery in 1976 and Napa Valley Bank in 1982. He also directed the Napa Valley Wine Library and was president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association and the Wine Institute.

1995 Honig Sauvignon Blanc, Barrel Fermented, Napa Valley ($11)This excellent California sauvignon blanc offers a broad range of flavors: herbs, juniper, gooseberry, figs, pears and tropical fruit. It's a crisp, smoky wine with real sauvignon blanc character -- not a chardonnay wannabe. This intense, lively wine would be perfect for drinking with barbecued shrimp on a warm June night.

California is blessed with scores of artisan winemakers -- folks who devote their lives to crafting tiny quantities of exquisite wines for fortunate collectors.But save some praise for the big guys too -- the folks who make wine you can actually find at an average liquor store at reasonable prices.If those affordable wines are also consistently excellent, then you know that behind it is a winemaker of extraordinary skill. For making excellent wine in vast quantities is a much tougher task than making it in small lots.