Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel Blend Napa Valley Antaeus 2007

Rating: 89/100 - As reviewed by Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine (www.cgcw.com) in the September 2010 issue. Deep, dense and brooding on the nose but still a bit young and unevolved, this unconventional mix of varietals shows Zinfandel's keen berryish fruit played against balanced oak and the slightly higher tannins of Cabernet. It is, in fact, a bit tough and tight at the moment, and fruit seems secondary to structure, but it is deep and vital and should unfold in stages over the next six to eight years.Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine aging recommendation: Cellar for future drinking. Wine will improve with bottle aging.

Rating: 96/100 - As reviewed by Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine (www.cgcw.com) in the September 2010 issue. This bright and buoyant young wine is rife with a wealth of precise, optimally ripened blackberry fruit, and, while rich and nicely extracted, it never once drifts towards the chocolaty excesses that plague so many big Zins. Supple and fleshy with a bit of baby fat at the moment, it exhibits exemplary balance and structure with well-placed acids, and a light touch of tannin adds welcome firmness to the finish. Its stays fixed on deep, nascent berryish fruit all the way to the end, and it comes with reasons aplenty to expect that even more to like will come if it is allowed to develop for a few years.Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine aging recommendation: Cellar for future drinking. Wine will improve with bottle aging.