The 2004 Red Wine “Tapteil Vineyard” is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Dark ruby-colored, it delivers a very good perfume of toasty oak, spice box, cassis, and black currants. This is followed by a moderately intense wine with ample ripe fruit, soft tannin, and a medium long finish. Give this solid effort 2-3 years to fill out, and drink it through 2022. Cadence Winery takes all its fruit from the Red Mountain AVA, some of it from a recently planted estate vineyard. Of the five wines I tasted, two merited recommendations. Tel. (206) 381-9507; www.cadencewinery.com

Soft, spicy and complex, but also muscular; this Cabernet-driven Bordeaux blend may be the most complex of Cadence’s three vineyard-designates. The wine has more heat and power than the other two, and I love the way the spice kicks in. There is considerable toasty and coffee flavor in it as well; all wrapped into a lush and harmonious, smooth and contiguous whole. ——P.G.(3/1/2007)—— 93