Medium red-ruby color. Complex nose melds raspberry, currant, leather, pepper, coffee and fresh herbs. Sweet, high-toned flavors of blueberry and black raspberry, with a peppery element that does not cross over into greenness. This boasts a sappy sugar/acid balance and lovely intensity. Finishes with ripe tannins and very good length.

Grown well, Cabernet Franc can provide the sleek textural beauty of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon without the weight. This one, grown on the border of Napa and Sonoma counties at the top of Spring Mountain, is mostly about that lovely feel. A fine cut of acidity keeps it lifted & fresh, while oak provides most of the flavor for the moment, in scents of espresso and chocolate-rich tannins. A beef tenderloin served with mushrooms will bring out the fruit, as will bottle age.

A showy wine that has substance and depth, with lots of fresh, ripe, vibrant cherry, currant and earthy berry flavors, fine acidity and tannins and a nice splash of toasty oak. The flavors sail on through the long, complex, integrated finish. Drink now  through 2012.

Winemaker/guitar hero Bob Foley made more than 1400 cases of this wine. That would be relatively small production for Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, but for domestic Cabernet Franc, it's an ocean; this may be the easiest wine on this list to buy. That's good because it's delicious and approachable, with generous flavors of blackberry, black cherry, violet and toast and characteristic graphite and tobacco notes in the aroma.

This is a fun wine, easy to like. It's also a serious wine. That's a hard juggling act, but Pride pulls it off so well. Shows the lighter side of the Cabernet family, with a silky, almost delicate body framing cherry and oak flavors. Yet there's tremendous depth, and the exquisite tension between fruit, acidity, tannins and wood is as intricate as a Cirque du Soleil trapeze act.