The 2007 Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon suffers in comparison to the Merlot but is a solid effort. Purple colored, the aromatic array includes toasty oak, cinnamon, clove, tobacco, and blackcurrant. With some complexity on the palate, it has savory flavors and decent length. Drink it over the next four years. Santa Ema makes reliably excellent wines at fair prices from the bottom to the top of its portfolio.Importer: TGIC Imports, Woodland Hills, CA; Tel: (800) 924-0030

Opens with floral, cherry, cassis and coconut aromas, which are followed by snappy, acid-driven flavors of raspberry, wood spice and vanilla. A fresh, lively, healthy wine with a toasty/spicy finish and young, clamp-down tannins. Drink now through 2012.——M.S.(5/1/2010)—— 89