On the plate: A rib-eye steak from a grass-fed, pasture-raised all-organic bovine. I marinated the steak in red wine and garlic for an hour and grilled it outside over hardwood charcoal, about five minutes on the first side and four minutes on the second, so it came out a rosy medium-rare. Wow, it was scrumptious, with that perfect balance that great steaks have of ripe, fleshy meatiness (or beefness) with succulent texture and earthy minerality. Hey, sounds like a great cabernet!

In the glass: Five cabernet sauvignon wines and one cabernet franc that had been waiting for me to open and try on the right occasion. It’s much better to sample wines like these at the dining table with the appropriate food than standing up in the kitchen going through them as if in a laboratory, though sometimes that situation has to prevail, too, as in, “O.K., guess I better do these 12 pinot grigios under $12.”

Mainly, these cabernet-based (and cabernet franc-based) wines do not display the over-ripe, over-extracted, over-oaked character that has turned California’s cabernet wines into parodies of cabernet and into a sea of sameness from producer to producer and year to year. Mainly, these are wines of vigor and rigor that allow structure and fruit and acid to speak both for themselves and in harmony. One is a bargain; the others are expensive, though with the way prices have risen, does $30 still count as an expensive wine? Now $90, yes, that’s a kick in the wallet.

Here are the wines in the order of tasting.
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Spellbound is a label from Folio Fine Wine Partners, a company launched by Robert Mondavi Jr. and his wife Lydia after the sale of Robert Mondavi Winery to Constellation late in 2004. The Spellbound Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, California, offers lots of personality for the price. Composed of 76 percent cabernet sauvignon, 9.5 percent petite sirah and 14.5 percent “other proprietary reds,” the wine, a dark ruby color with a deep purple center, immediately delivers a snootful of dusty plums and black currents permeated by lavender and licorice, cloves and sandalwood. It’s ripe, meaty and fleshy in the mouth, quite dense and chewy, fit for rolling around on the tongue, and the oak comes up from mid-palate back, contributing serious touches of walnut shell and underbrush. Drink now through 2011 or ‘12. We were immensely impressed with the quality of this wine. Very Good+, and at about $15 it represents Great Value.
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One of the problems with being around for 30 years is that you disappear into the background, a circumstance that has lately befallen the venerable Markham Vineyards. To sample what this winery is doing right, however, try the Markham Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Napa Valley. The color is dark ruby shading to a purple-black center; aromas of woody spice and spicy wood, like old church altars permeated by centuries of smoke and incense, testify to oak aging, but the wine also smells of mint and minerals, and intense, concentrated roasted plums and black currants. The wine tastes ripe and fleshy, but neither too ripe nor too fleshy; black fruit flavors are infused with licorice and lavender, while the structure of dense, chewy tannins is bolstered by lively acid. The wine reveals lovely poise and balance but power too, while on the finish a few minutes bring out its underbrush and brambly character, leading to a bit of austerity from mid-palate back. Try from 2010 to 2015 or ‘16. Excellent. About $30.
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Lord have mercy, the Tom Eddy Wines Elodian Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Napa Valley, teems with iodine and granite; it’s as savory as rare beef strewn with sea salt and as winsome as spiced, roasted and macerated black currants, cherries and plums can be, with their keen mineral edge and vibrant acid. The wine gets “darker” in the glass, more intense, rootier, earthier, yet it offers beguiling and impressive class and character. This is 100 percent cabernet sauvignon, aged 28 months in French oak, 70 percent new, yet one does not smell, taste or feel the oak as anything but an essential, supporting role. A cabernet wine for grown-ups. Drink 2009 or ‘10 through 2014 or ‘15. Production was 400 cases. Excellent. About $40.
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The Oakville Ranch “Robert’s Blend” 2004, Napa Valley, is composed of 83 percent cabernet franc and 17 percent cabernet sauvignon. This is truly a serious wine; it’s dark and deep, profoundly spicy, indubitably tannic and minerally, bursting with the untamed wild blueberry, mulberry and dusty leather notes, the bitter chocolate and walnut shell of the best cabernet franc. Lots of gravity, broad dimension and detail — the wine feels fathomless, inexhaustible. In the practical sense, this should be consumed from 2010 to 2018 or ‘19; in the world of my fevered imagination, it feels ageless. The wine spends 25 months in French oak, 80 percent new barrels. Production was 122 cases (244 six-packs). Excellent. About $90.
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The highly publicized first release of Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Alexander Valley, a project of Rodney Strong Vineyard, speaks of its pedigree in every aspect, from the tall, etched Bordeaux-style bottle with its deep punt and broad shoulders, to its team of winemakers and consultants and vineyard managers; did it really take all these people to make this wine? The price tag confirms that pedigree, or at least its delusions of grandeur. The wine is 92 percent cabernet sauvignon and four percent each malbec and petit verdot; it ages 24 months in new French oak. I wanted there to be more “here” here; certainly the wine has many of the contemporary virtues going for it, but it feels as if it had been designed by a committee, a trait that many California “cult” cabernets share. Of course the wine is dense and intense, concentrated and minerally; of course the tannins and oak feel packed in, polished, sleek. We would expect no less. And I’ll admit that the next day, the Rockaway 2005 offered tremendous vigor and resonance; 12 or 14 hours added detail and complexity to the wine. I still sensed something missing, however, call it heart and soul, call it character and individuality; Rockaway 2005 is typical of the best that Sonoma County can produce, but it doesn’t go beyond that common standard. Drink now through 2015 or ‘16. Still, I have to rate it Excellent. About $75.
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The Tom Eddy Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Napa Valley, the current release of this wine, is 100 percent cabernet sauvignon, one-third of the grapes drawn from high in the Diamond Mountain District and two-thirds from the loamy soil of the valley floor in St. Helena and Oakville. The point is that the wine is not an expression of a particular vineyard or designation but of the Napa Valley itself, and that’s certainly how it feels, as deep, as rocky, as alluvial as its historic origins. This is a cool, clean and powerfully minerally cabernet, effortless in its confidence, eloquence and elegance but with foundations that rest on bulwarks of polished oak — 28 months in French barrels, 85 percent new — and grainy tannins. And let’s not forget the vibrant acidity that keeps the wine lively and resonant and courses through structure and ripe black fruit flavors like dark electricity. Yeah, damnit, I love this wine, though I could never afford to buy it. 544 cases (1088 six-packs). Drink from 2010 through 2018 or ‘20. Exceptional. About $90.

When I wrote about cabernet sauvignon wines from Napa Valley and Sonoma County last week, I omitted one because I thought it deserved mention by itself.

The first vintage from this new winery, the Phifer Pavitt “Date Night” 2005, Napa Valley, made from cabernet sauvignon grapes with a touch of petit verdot, is a dark, heady, smoky, exotic scrumptious wine, and before you say, “Oh, right, typical modern California,” let me add that it is not over-opulent, not overdone’ it’s stylish but not mannered. Yes, the black currant flavors, threaded on a line of mulberry, are rich and ripe, fleshy and meaty — and deepen as moments pass into platonic plums — but the wine is kept taut and controlled by chastening elements of mocha powder and dried ancho chili, by an immense mineral character, and by polished tannins that lend some earthy austerity to the finish. Seventeen months in French oak, 65 percent new barrels, provide firm, close to formidable, foundation and framework. Almost the most notable aspect of this wine is its complete sense of confidence and presence, its liveliness and vitality, its supple expressiveness, its dark and statuesque charisma; there’s something of the ultimate reaches of the cabernet sauvignon grape about it, it’s that pure and intense. We drank this with a medium rare strip steak, grilled outside over hardwood charcoal, and the match was pure delight and gratification. We nibbled some exquisite dark chocolate to finish the meal, sipping the rest of the wine, and the synergy practically blew our heads off. This is one of the best debut wines I have ever tasted from Napa Valley. Drink now through 2015 or ‘17. Production was 300 cases. Exceptional. About $75.

Vintage 2005 was a splendid year for cabernet sauviignon in California, a year perhaps to rival 2001. Much depends upon the winemaker, of course; many a ton of terrific grapes has been ruined by over-oaking in the winery, while in lesser years thoughtful and careful winemakers can turn out great wine; this is a principle that prevails in all the world’s winemaking regions.

These 12 examples of cabernet sauvignon or cabernet-based wines were tasted within the last six months; I’ve been saving them for a moment when they could logically work together in one post. They are not all excellent wines, but neither are any of them marred by the contemporary bedevilments of too much oak, too much alcohol and too much ripeness. My favorites here — and they will be readily apparent — display the best balance between elegance and power, between fruit and structure. They don’t give too much away too quickly; they prize gravitas and detachment and austerity. Well, o.k, a couple are pretty shamelessly appealing, but then they roll out their serious natures.
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It’s a bold move to name your cabernet blend Maximus and then give it the nickname “Feasting Wine;” shades of banquets and revelry! The Bennett Lane Maximus “Red Feasting Wine” 2005, Napa Valley, however, is densely structured enough that I would hesitate to open a bottle for tonight’s banquet; feasting in 2010 through 2015 or ‘16 would be more like it. The blend is 64 percent cabernet sauvignon and 25 percent merlot, and you would be forgiven for thinking that we’re on our way to something modeled on St. Estephe or St. Julien, except that the other 11 percent is syrah, a grape that the Bordelaise don’t even dream about. Maximus ‘05 opens with distinct aromas of cedar, tobacco and walnut shell that unfold around elements of intense and concentrated black currant, black cherry and plum. The flavors are similar, but deep, rich and spicy, quite earthy and minerally. The texture is dense and chewy with slightly gritty tannins that help make this a solid and substantial wine rather than a supple or vibrant one. Very Good+ with a nod toward Excellent potential in three or four years. About $35.
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For 2005, winemaker Marco DiGuillio took the Black Coyote Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 100 percent cabernet, from the Stags Leap District to Atlas Peak. The immediate impression is of roots and branches, briers and brambles and cedar; then come black currants, plum pudding, saddle leather and licorice. Aged 22 months in French oak, 85 percent new barrels, this is a wine that almost vocalizes its marriage to the subtleties and blandishments of wood, while stewing in a welter of immense polished, grainy tannins. The wine is very smoky, very minerally and increasingly austere, yet its core feels not ponderous but resonant and lively. Production was 800 cases. Try from 2010 or ‘11 through 2015 to ‘18. Excellent. About $65.
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If you are like me — and you may be in ways that I cannot begin to fathom (or want to know about) — then you think that the Blackstone label represents the cheap seats of restaurant wine lists and grocery store shelves, especially that ubiquitous merlot, so serviceable, so innocuous. So who can blame the producer for wanting to move up the scale? I tasted the Blackstone Rubric Sonoma Reserve 2005 blind and was knocked out by the quality, especially when I learned the price. The salmagundi of a blend is 65 percent cabernet sauvignon, 14 percent syrah, 9 percent cabernet franc, 8 percent petite sirah, 2 percent merlot and — ready for this? — 2 percent teroldego. No one would blame you, mon lecteur, for never having heard of this grape — nor had I — but a few minutes with my research staff, Miss Google, provided its provenance; it’s a rare red grape found in Italy’s northeast region of Trentino-Alto Adige, especially in the zone called Campo Rotaliano, where its wines are highly valued.

So, Blackstone’s Rubric 2005 radiates purity and intensity of black fruit scents and flavors; it’s dark, high-toned and vibrant, and it offers lovely balance and integration, though it could use a slightly lighter hand with the easy fix of spicy oak. The wine is both tightly wound and generous, in the way that wines can be when a resolute structure supports lavish notes of lavender and licorice twined with minerals and walnut shell. Not a great wine, but I’ll happily rate it Very Good+ — it could use some fine-tuning — and recommend consumption through 2012 or ‘13 with hearty red meat dishes. About $19.
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The grapes for the Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Sonoma County — 88 percent cabernet sauvignon, 10 percent cabernet franc, 2 percent petit verdot — derive from vineyards in Knights Valley, Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley. This is a “vinted” wine according to the label. Nothing wrong with purchasing grapes to make your wine; many a venerable house in Burgundy was built on the same principle. This all-too-typical example however, while competently-made, feels as if it were fashioned by a committee. Yes, it’s pungent and savory with ripe, dusty, minerally black currants, black cherries and plums; yes, the tannin and oak are sleek and polished; yes, it gathers notes of leather and minerals and charcoal, briers and brambles, cedar and tobacco; yes, it’s dense and chewy. So do and so are a hundred other cabernets from Napa and Sonoma. From Chateau St. Jean, we need more personality, if actual character is not too much to hope for. Very good+. About $27.
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I have probably said this a thousand times, but once more won’t hurt. Because they are elegant rather than monumental, because they are poised instead of exuberant, wines from Clos du Val tend to be undervalued if not downright ignored. Whenever possible in a restaurant, if I’m dining on beef especially, I order a bottle of Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon, because I know that it will have both the character and the sensuous appeal to match the dish and satisfy my palate. “Oh,” you’re saying archly, “a restaurant wine,” as if that’s a term of condemnation, as if wine’s primary purpose were not to, you know, be drunk with food.

The Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Napa Valley, delivers exquisite balance and equilibrium along with purposeful intensity and concentration; it is, in other words, a perfect example of the permeation of power and elegance. The blend is a Pauillac-like 85 percent cabernet sauvignon with 10 percent cabernet franc, 3 percent merlot and 2 percent petit verdot; the winery’s co-founder Bernard Portet was born in Bordeaux, and his father was, for many years, technical director at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. The wine is drenched in ripe cassis and black cherry etched with nuances of cedar, walnut shell, dried flowers and dried spice; these aspects rest on formidable, completely present but never overdone elements of polished oak and well-oiled tannins that layer suppleness over a foresty character — briers and brambles, moss and dried mushrooms — that increases in austerity through the long finish. Paramount about this wine is its quality of vitality and resonance. There has been comment, if not complaint, from critics that Clos du Val has within the last decade forsaken its righteously tannic and austere fashion for a more stylish, approachable wine. If that has happened, I see the benefit in a cabernet that might be drinkable now — Clos du Val cabernets are wonderful with medium rare steak — but that will age gracefully for 10 or 12 years, properly stored. Excellent. About $32.
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You could swim in it. That’s my first impression of the Fritz Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Dry Creek Valley, it’s that seductive and sumptuous. Billowing dried spice, ballooning cassis and black cherry, unfurling lavender and licorice; and then, inky minerals that form the wine’s bed-rock, bold tannins and polished oak that sculpt a firm, supple Brancusian structure and bring in the burgeoning austerity on the finish. Perhaps it’s the 10 percent malbec that lends the wine an intriguing, slightly tart note, a hint of cranberry and blueberry and exotic spice. Lest you worry that this sensual carnival of a wine is too heady to bear, consider that the alcohol level is a sensible 13.8 percent. The ultimate impression is of muscular elegance. Try from 2009 through 2012 or ‘15. Excellent. About $30.
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