The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Brothers Ridge is a deep, dense wine bursting with fruit. It shows more power and depth than the Alexander’s Crown bottling, but without that wine’s aromatic complexity and nuance. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021. Rodney Strong has retained the services of David Ramey to consult on their Reserve program, and it shows in the quality of these wines.Tel. (800) 678-4763

This nearly 100% Cabernet is strongly flavored, bone dry, very tannic and nowhere near ready. It has a tough, astringent mouthfeel, and the concentrated richness of grapes grown on low-yielding hillsides. Intense flavors of blackberries, black cherries, cassis, cola and herbs mark this fine, ageable wine. Don’t touch it before 2013, and it should ride out many years beyond that. ——S.H.(5/1/2011)—— 93

This is a 100% Cabernet, grown further north than the winery’s amazing Rockaway bottling, which is to say in a hotter area. Comparisons are inevitable. Although it’s rich and even dramatic, it’s not as impressive a wine, showing a raisiny edge to the black currants and chocolate. Doesn’t have the balance for aging, so drink now with upscale beef and lamb dishes.——S.H.(2/1/2010)—— 88