The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Stillwater Creek Vineyard is purple-colored with aromas of wood smoke, pencil lead, violets, blackberry, and black currant. Firm, structured, and medium to full-bodied, it has plenty of savory black fruit, well-integrated oak, and a lengthy finish. Several more years of bottle age should add complexity to the mix. Novelty Hill and Stillwater Creek Vineyard are owned by Tom Alberg. The vineyard, located on the Royal Slope of the Frenchman Hills (way off the beaten path), was planted in 2000 and is beginning to acquire a reputation for the high quality of its fruit. A year ago the winery moved into its new quarters in Woodinville which it shares with Januik Winery. The Novelty Hills wines are made by the talented Mike Januik. This portfolio over-delivers in a very big way. Tel. (425) 481-8317; www.noveltyhillwines.com

Excellent winemaking by Mike Januik, as with all these Novelty Hill wines, keeps the fruit, acid and tannins all in perfect proportion. The flavors mix blackberry and black cherry; and this young wine is still firm and wound tight. ——P.G.(12/1/2009)—— 89