We opened a middlin' number of bottles during dinner at Jim Kronman's and Dianne Ward's digs in LA tonight, where Dianne fed us homemade gravlax and lots of other good things while Jim raided his cellar.

La Viarte 1990 Colli Orientali del Friuli ($9.99). I brought this one along, persuaded by a "shelf talker" at Robert Rogness's generally reliable Wine Expo shop in Santa Monica. "Roberto" usually gives good advice, but we didn't think this one was up to it. Pale straw color, yeasty nose with forward, rather coarse oak dominant on the nose and palate.

Charles Melton 1992 Barossa Valley Pinot/Syrah. An Oz red "imported" from London by Dianne. Dark ruby in color. Oak very forward in the aroma and flavor, but it's good oak, with aromatic vanillins conveying a sensation of sweetness. Still, a whack in the face with an oak plank is hard to ignore.

Stony Hill 1986 Napa Valley White Riesling. After a couple of mild disappointments, Jim went to the cellar for this treasure. One of the best California Rieslings I've ever tasted, it's aging gracefully, with "diesel" and honeyed pine aromas and an almost bone-dry flavor, rich and full, evoking comparisons with Alsace and the Rheingau. Delicious, and an inspired combination with gravlax.

Cafaro 1993 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Infanticide, but it was a delicious baby. Very dark in color; tight and closed in the nose department, but good cherry-berry aromas and a whiff of oak find their way out. Big, extracted fruit flavor, well balanced and full, showing through a curtain of heavy tannin.

Louis M. Martini non-vintage California Moscato Amabile. Always a treat, seems to keep forever under refrigeration, despite its noted fragility in transit. Clear brass, with tiny bubbles lining the glass. Luscious peach nose, and light, sweet-fruit peach-nectar flavor, clean and fresh, with a prickly petillance on the tongue.

Day two of the California wine odyssey finds me working my way north from LA, I caught up with forumites Alan Boehmer and Kathy Hardesty in the Santa Barbara region, where we wandered through two Santa Ynez Valley wineries, then enjoyed a bottle from another winery of the region with our lunch.

BABCOCK

Our tour began at the Babcock winery on the far western end of the Santa Ynez Valley, where wine maker Bryan Babcock (who, like his mom, Mona Babcock, is a member of the CompuServe Wine Forum) took time out from bottling to offer us samples of just about everything he's got in the 1995 vintage ... and impressed us thoroughly with all of them:

Babcock 1995 Eleven Oaks Sauvignon Blanc. Lovely nose, walks a tightrope between a good herbaceous green-chile quality and crisp citrus; tart grapefruit and restrained grassiness on the palate, delicious. (Short of barrel tasting, I've never enjoyed a younger wine: Bryan grabbed this bottle off the line before the cork went in!)

Babcock 1995 Gewurztraminer. This is an amazing Gewurz, unquestionably the finest of the varietal I've ever tasted from California. Bright in color, with a huge, intense nose of litchees. Tremendous fruit flavor, dry and tart -- not merely "Alsatian" in style but reminiscent of a top-notch Vendange Tardive. And now the bad news: The '95 vintage was so tiny that exactly 37 cases of this incredible wine were made.

All the rest of the Babcock wines were tasted from barrel:

Babcock 1995 Mount Carmel Chardonnay. Clear golden color. Lovely chestnut aroma, rich and full flavor, already showing lovely body and structure almost reminiscent of Meursault. This is from a 10-acre, three-year-old vineyard owned by Carmelite nuns; Babcock has contracted for its entire production.

Babcock 1995 Bien Nacido Block W Gravelly Vein Chardonnay. Chablis to the Mount Carmel's Meursault; ripe apples and shining steel; very intense.

Babcock 1995 estate (Grand Cuvee) Chardonnay. Pineapple and tropical fruit; rich and buttery, good acid. Nice, but more traditional CalChard, pales a bit after its predecessors in the barrel tasting.

Babcock 1995 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir (to be labeled "1 ton per acre"; 50% estate grown, 50 percent Bien Nacido. Inky purple, with a remarkable, huge aromatic nose oddly (and pleasantly) reminiscent of church incense. Ripe, full, a bit "plump," with soft tannins and large structure. Will sell for $25 to $30. Will be worth it.

Babcock 1995 Sangiovese. An experimental five-barrel batch aged in new Hungarian oak. Black cherry aroma, tart-cherry flavor, definitely in the Chianti family.

Babcock 1995 Syrah. Grown in a coolish microclimate in quest of a Northern Rhone style. Ripe berry fruit with herbaceous leafy notes, mouth-filling and tannic; the typical black-pepper of warmer-grown Syrah is muted, as the wine maker intended.

MOSBY

Next it was off to Mosby vineyards near Buellton, where Bill Mosby (father of CompuServe Wine Forum member Gary Mosby) is trying to create a market niche for his small family winery by fashioning Italian-style varietals -- and doing it very, very well.

Mosby 1994 Santa Barbara Pinot Grigio ($12). Very fruity, peach, almost Muscatty nose; bright, tart and crisp on the palate, good food wine.

Mosby 1994 Santa Barbara Traminer Aromatico ($14). Actually Gewurz with the original Northeastern Italian name restored. Impressive even on the heels of Babcock's remarkable Gewurz: Rich lichee and apricot nose; lean but forward fruit flavor, fully dry, with a pleasant bitterness in the finish.

Mosby 1994 Santa Barbara Rosso di Nebbiolo ($14). Bill Mosby says he's not yet satisfied with his Nebbiolo, but we thought he was being too modest. Barolo it's not (actually, it's more like a Dolcetto), but a lovely, violet-scented, bright and tart light-red wine it is.

Mosby 1994 Santa Barbara Sangiovese "Vigna della Casa Vecchia" ($18). Lovely nose, black-cherry with chocolate notes. Juicy fruit and firm acidity, well-balanced and delicious.

Mosby 1992 Santa Barbara County "Primativo" ($14). Mixed-berry and herbaceous grassy and damp hay aromas, typical of Santa Barbara Zinfandel (which is why you don't see much Santa Barbara Zinfandel). Well-handled, but not the pick of the Mosby litter. The odd spelling of "Primativo" is necessitated by Hop Kiln having registered the Italian "Primitivo," allegedly the Zinfandel ancestor, as a trade name, Bill Mosby said.

LUNCH AT HARADA SUSHI, MORRO BAY

Outstanding sushi indeed is served at Harada, a pleasant little Japanese restaurant on Morro Bay's seaside Embarcadero. Alan brought along another good wine of the region:

Eberle 1994 Paso Robles Fralich Vineyard Viognier.

Pale straw color with a distinct greenish hue. Nice floral nose, but it's a bit oaky in the aroma, and even more so on the palate, full and strong (almost 14% alcohol). A bit odd for a Viognier, but definitely authoritative, and it went very well indeed with sushi and other Japanese goodies.

Ahh, back on the wine trail again after a few days hard at work on my "day job." A small group of CompuServe Wine Forum members -- Doug Powers, Craig Thompson, Bob Spector, Dave Sit, Chuck and Memy Miller and yours truly -- gathered for a late, leisurely lunch at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. The day's wine study: A mini-vertical of Domaine Tempier, all imported by Kermit Lynch. Barnyard-haters need not apply.

Domaine Tempier 1987 Cuvee Speciale La Louffe Bandol: Earthy but clean aromas. Spector says, "tree bark," and we all nod approvingly. Intense fruit flavor, smooth as silk, so extracted that it comes across as sweet. Dare I say, "gobs of hedonistic fruit"? Naaaaah ...

Domaine Tempier 1982 Cuvee la Tourtine Bandol: HERE's the "merde." Clear edge, no sign of browning. Rich, earthy "barnyard" aromas with a definite touch of the "merde"/manure quality that makes Tempier controversial, but none of us pushed away our glass. Ripe, sweet fruit with earthy flavor notes; finishes dry and tart, flavors consistent in a long finish.

Domaine Tempier 1988 Cuvee Speciale la Louffe Bandol: Inky dark purple, with meaty, gamey notes and an intense undertone of dark chocolate. Dry, tart red-fruit flavors, tannic and tough but very deep. Opens up across the palate into a huge finish. Needs lots of time.

Well, Sacramento JazZIN weekend '96 is underway in fine style, with applause to Dennis Sienko for arranging a spectacular evening of great food and fine wine last night at The Kitchen in suburban Sacramento. This is an amazing place, which I jokingly described as "Benihana for foodies." A large, U-shaped counter set for 24 surrounds an open kitchen where a boisterous chef and staff of assistants prepares amazing dishes before the diners' eyes, enlivening the process with chatter. You can pay attention or not, but it's hard not to pay attention to the food, which included such goodies as "Parfait of Big Eye Tuna, cucumber and Housesmoked Salmon with Wasabi cream, Basil-Ginger oil and campfire toasts," or "Duet of pan-seared Beef and Grilled Wild Boar tenderloin, buttery mashed potatoes, Morels (actually shiitakes) stuffed with a Squab liver mousse, Cabernet and Veal stock."

But I digress. About two dozen online wine lovers -- most of them CompuServe Wine Forum members -- gathered, bearing wine, and enjoyed the food, the wine and each other. By previous agreement, most of the wines brought were Rhones or Burgundies or the U.S. equivalent. I tried to taste just about everything (I know I missed a few, including a St. Innocent Seven Springs Pinot ), but I caught most of them. The notes that follow are casual and brief; I said I'd take notes, but I didn't promise to take analytical notes.

In the order tasted:

Mas Champart 1994 Saint Chinian Rosé ($12) - Pretty pale pink. Light watermelon nose, crisp and tart on the palate. (Kermit Lynch)

Delas 1990 Cuvee Marquise de la Tourette Hermitage ($30) - Meaty, almost like raw hamburger and bacon fat at first, softens with time; massive structure and tannins, too young. (Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.)

M. Chapoutier 1989 Ermitage "Le Pavillon" - Spelling "Hermitage" the old-fashioned way, Chapoutier earned a Parker 100 with this outing. That seems a little extreme, but the wine is certainly fine. It's ripe, extracted and balanced, youthful and brooding; one sip makes you want to come back for more. (Paterno)

Domaine l'Aigueliere 1993 Montpeyroux Cotes du Languedoc Cote Rousse - Characteristic Aigueliere herbs and "iodine" (Bob Spector's term), earthy and organic (but no "merde"), with huge, mouth-coating tannins.

Domaine l'Aigueliere 1993 Montpeyroux Cotes du Languedoc Cote Doree - Similar to its sister above but lighter, more delicate, less "over the top."

Chateau de Beaucastel 1981 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - As discussed in another thread, this particular bottle of this controversial vintage didn't display the Beaucastel "stink" in the slightest, raising a serious question about whether there's massive bottle variation or whether it responds radically to cellar treatment. This was a delight, showing perfumed fruit, clean, ripe and fresh.

Jean-Louis Chave 1983 Hermitage - Rather light garnet in color, with a lovely, appealing aroma of violets and spice. Delightful wine, one of the best of the evening.

Michel Colin-Deleger 1990 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly - One of the few whites of the evening, with the stuffing to stand up to the reds (and a beautiful match with the tuna/salmon parfait mentioned above). Bright gold in color, with light, fresh-apple aromas and a wonderful, rich flavor over a firm acidic structure; a clean, shimmering finish that lasts until sundown. (K. Lynch)

Domaine Tempier 1988 Cuvee Speciale Cabassaou Bandol - Dark-chocolate nose, tannic, rich and dry flavor, deep and intense; needs time. (K. Lynch)

Garry Farrell 1992 Rochioli Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Clear garnet, with a rosy floral aroma and intense, candied fruit flavor, well-balanced and lasting; gains focus with time in the glass.

A. Clape 1988 Cornas - Jammy, blackberry, pepper and smoke. Still tannic and tart; good, full-bodied Rhone, needs more time. (Lemma Wine Co., Portland, a Christopher Cannan Selection)

Heitz Vineyards 1987 Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (magnum) - Bob Foster warned us about this one years ago: The notorious "sour milk" is present and offputting, along with musty (but not corked) aromas. Pass pass pass.

Emmanuel Rouget 1989 Echezeaux - Rich, almost indescribably complex Pinot character, velvety and silken. Intense. Delicious.

Lucien et Andre Brunel 1989 Les Cailloux Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Ripe Syrah characteristics with complex but restrained gamey notes and black pepper; structured and balanced, tannic and large. (Robert Kacher)

E. Guigal 1990 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Interesting side-by-side comparison with the Cailloux. This one's much more gamey and herbal, with plummy fruit and pleasant "barnyard" notes; full and rich, more forward than the Cailloux. Both went very well indeed with the beef and boar entree. (Classic Wine Imports, Boston)

Adelsheim 1989 Polk County (Oregon) Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot Noir - Vanilla and milk chocolate, smells like a candy bar! Simple, straightforward fruit; nice, but not complex; Dave Sit notes that it's all fruit, no terroir.

Paul Hobbs 1991 Carneros Napa Valley Hyde Vineyard Pinot Noir - Pale, hazy. Earthy, strawberry juice. Simple, light, a little disappointing.

Noel Verset 1985 Cornas - Plummy fruit and vegetal green-bean aroma and flavor with black pepper. Complex and interesting, but a little too "green" for my taste. (K. Lynch)

Alain Graillot 1989 "La Guiraude" Crozes Hermitage - Plums and prunes and a gamey whiff. Juicy fruit, tart acid. Better with food than alone. (Atherton Imports, San Jose)

Yalumba 1994 Barossa "Family Reserve" Botrytis Semillon - Bright-gold, luscious apricots and honey aroma and flavor, intense botrytis, beautiful sugar-acid balance. Sauternes-quality, a delight -- and Dave Sit says it cost $10 at Garnet in NYC! (Negociants USA, Sonoma)

David Coffaro 1995 Late Harvest Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc - another winner. Pale gold, peaches and honey. Rich, tooth-achingly sweet, backed by a firm acidic structure.

Yesterday's activities of the Sacramento ForumFest brought a rare treat: Although I've occasionally driven through the scenic Sierra Foothills (Gold Rush) country above Sacramento, I had never toured the region's wineries before.

Sticking closely to the schedule that Dennis had arranged with military precision, our group of 20 boarded a half-dozen cars and vans for a six-hour trek that would take us through Amador (including the Shenandoah Valley) and El Dorado counties to four wineries and a picnic on a perfect spring day.

We started at a small, fine Shenandoah Valley winery that Dennis predicts is going to become a well-known name in coming years because of the very high quality of its Rhone-style wines. Winemaker Bill Easton was on hand to show us around:

DOMAINE DE LA TERRE ROUGE
10801 Dickson Road
Plymouth, Calif. 95669
209-245-4277.

Terre Rouge 1993 Fiddletown Vin Gris d'Amador ($9) - Pale salmon, lovely herbal scent. Tart, crisp herbs and citrus, Provence in style. The cuvee is 55% Grenache, 22.5% Mourvedre and 22.5% Cinsaut.

Terre Rouge 1995 Sierra Foothills Blanc ($13.50) - Very pale color. Light minty and floral aromas. Crisp, tart, full. It's 67% Sauvignon Blanc, 31% Semillon and 2% Viognier.

Next came an interesting diversion: Barrel tastings of three 1995 varietals that Easton will blend to make his Chateauneuf-du-Pape-style blend. All are being barrel-aged "on the fine lees" to build complexity on the mid-palate, or so he says ...

Mourvedre: Deep purple. Very grapey (Dave Sit calls it "vinous"), tart and green.

Grenache: Similar grapey quality, but with more dimension than the Mourvedre. Better flavor than scent, full and bright, with a long finish.

Syrah: Intense, peppery, complex.

We also barrel-tasted:

1995 Zinfandel: Tobacco-leaf, green, and an unexpected peachy scent. Ripe, sweet fruit flavor.

Returning to the tasting room, we then tried two earlier vintages of the Chateauneuf-influenced blend:

Terre Rouge 1990 California Rhone Reserve ($13.50) - Rosy color, rather light. Lovely perfumed fruit, old-rose petals. Mouth-filling flavor, with a slight nutlike edge that warns against holding it much longer. Contains 35% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 29% Syrah, 6% Cinsaut.

Terre Rouge 1991 California Rhone Reserve ($15) - Rosy color, again on the pale side. Perfume and spicebox aromas. Lean and complex, flowers and fruit. Tasty wine, but surprisingly delicate, given that its model is Chateauneuf. This vintage's cuvee features 40% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre.

Easton 1994 Fiddletown Zinfandel ($18). Reddish-purple, light for a Zin. Brambly berry fruit. Spicy, mixed-berry flavors, tart and lean, at the opposite pole from the "jammy" style. (Easton, by the way, is Terre Rouge's alternate label for non-Rhone varietals.)

Terre Rouge 1995 Shenandoah Valley Muscat a Petits Grains Vin Doux Naturel ($15/375 ml) - Easton, grinning, announced "Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise" as he poured this tasty dessert wine. Good call! Clear as water, it breathes a lovely peach aroma, light on the palate with a clean, delicious peach-nectar taste.

At our next stop, wine maker Buck Karly was out in the vineyard working with "his children," some 900 Marsanne and Roussanne vines, when we arrived; he took a break to walk us through a tasty selection in the winery's attractive tasting room surrounded by gardens and a flock of "pet" wild turkeys:

KARLY WINES
11076 Bell Road
Plymouth, Calif. 95669
209-245-3922.

Karly 1995 Amador County Marsanne ($16) - Pale color. Luscious honeysuckle nose. Intense fruit flavor, soft at first, firms up with crisp acidic structure as it crosses the palate. Excellent! Contains 76% Marsanne, 24% Roussanne. Sees 100% French oak, 1/3 of it new; six months sur lie. Just 225 cases made.

Karly 1994 Amador County Syrah ($16) - Inky purple. Deep, subtly gamey aroma. Full of delicious Syrah flavors -- plums, pepper and smoke -- big and full. 600 cases made.

Karly 1995 Amador County Sauvignon Blanc ($9.50) - Pale straw color. Good green-chile and green-olive aromas with a nice, herbal note like sage. Good balance of "green" and citric flavors, ripe and intense.

Karly 1994 Amador County Sangiovese ($13) - Pretty ruby color with an orange glint, Chianti-like. Delicious rosy-floral nose with herbal notes. Ripe, approachable cherry-berry fruit; easy quaffing, finishes dry and clean. Contains 10% Petite Sirah in the cuvee.

Karly 1994 Amador County Zinfandel ($11) - Dark garnet color. Good raspberry and vanilla scents. Jammy, tannic, loads of fruit, with ample structure to hold it together.

We didn't meet the wine maker at our next stop, a winery with OK wines but frankly not up to the standard of our other three visits; I suspect our primary reason for stopping here was proximity, history (founded in 1856, it's one of the state's oldest wineries), and the presence of a very enjoyable museum of local history and local wine. The winery itself makes mostly quaffable wines, many of which it sells along with sausage and cheese for picnics in its shady grove. There's a high-volume tasting room staffed by employees who rattle off canned "tasting notes" while you're trying to concentrate on what's in the glass. You could call this one Amador's answer to V. Sattui:

SOBON ESTATE
14430 Shenandoah Road
Plymouth, Calif. 95669
209-245-6554.

Sobon Estate 1995 Amador County Semillon ($8.95) - Pleasant melon scent, crisp and dry.

Sobon Estate 1995 Shenandoah Valley Viognier ($15) - Full floral and aromatic pine; soft, oaky on the palate.

Sobon Estate 1989 Sierra Foothills Zinfandel ($12.95) - Light ruby, significant haze. Strong, unpleasant scent of acetone did not invite a taste.

Sobon Estate 1994 Shenandoah Valley Cougar Hill Zinfandel ($13.50) - Good blackberry scent; full fruit, powerful and a bit monolithic.

Sobon Estate non-vintage Shenandoah Valley Muscat Canelli ($9.95) - Light peach scent, fresh and appealing. Simple and sweet, sugar water.

Our last stop of the day was my favorite, not only for the fine, mostly Rhone-style wines but for the spectacular setting and the kind, affable and modest wine maker, John MacCready, who planted Rhone grapes back in 1979, when such a thing probably seemed like an amiably nutty idea ...

We enjoyed a picnic here, sitting in a sunny hilltop grove with vineyards around us, falling away to reveal the snow-capped Sierras in the difference. A balmy breeze, great food (catered by Terre Rouge), and excellent wine -- it doesn't get much better than this.

SIERRA VISTA WINERY AND VINEYARDS
4560 Cabernet Way
Placerville, Calif. 95667
916-622-7221.

Black Oak Ridge non-vintage California Chardonnay ($7.25) - Pale-gold color, with a good crisp-apple scent. Tart, lean, fresh-fruit flavor; a delightful break from the usual CalChard style. (Uses Sierra Vista's second label because it's made from purchased fruit.)

Sierra Vista 1995 El Dorado Fume Blanc ($8.50) - Pale straw color. Good citric fruit with light grass in good balance; crisp and tart, very good.

Sierra Vista 1995 El Dorado Belle Rose ($7) - Clear bright rosy color. Pleasant herbal aromas; crisp, fruity and tart; the spec sheet calls it "barely sweet," but I'd have called it bone-dry. Nice Provence-style rosé made from Grenache and Mourvedre (about 40% each) and Cinsaut.

Sierra Vista 1994 El Dorado Fleur de Montagne ($12) - This is Sierra Vista's "Chateauneuf" blend. Clear garnet, with pleasant spicebox and plum aromas. Fresh, clean and mouth-filling, quite tannic. Contains 50% Grenache, 33% Mourvedre, 15% Syrah and 2% Cinsaut.

Sierra Vista 1995 El Dorado Fleur de Montagne (pre-release) - Deep reddish-purple, dominated by good Syrah pepper and spice. Grapey, black-pepper aroma, full and rich; BIG fruit. John dramatically altered the cuvee this vintage, and it shows: It's 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache and 15% Mourvedre.

Sierra Vista non-vintage El Dorado "Lynelle Fourth Cuvee" Red Table Wine ($7.50) - Billed "non-vintage," it's actually an intentional blend, incorporating two-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) with one-year-old Grenache (20%) and smaller amounts of Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsaut. The result is very pleasant, ripe and aromatic with oak and fruit. It's tart, lean and herbal, with blackberry notes; an excellent value.

Sierra Vista 1993 El Dorado Red Rock Ridge Syrah ($16.50) - Deep purple, a bit shy on the nose; forward peppery-fruity flavor.

Sierra Vista 1994 El Dorado "Five Star Reserve" Syrah ($25) - John MacCready doesn't use the "Five Star Reserve" label unless he really means it. This is a remarkable wine, opaque in the glass (unfiltered, unfined), with a huge aroma of chocolate-covered cherries and blackberries, mint and eucalyptus. Big, chewy fruit and lots of tannins; will reward cellaring.

Sierra Vista 1993 El Dorado Zinfandel ($10) - Heady, aromatic Zin berry fruit with an odd but not unpleasant note that Dave Sit nails as "soy sauce." Extracted, big fruit, almost seems sweet, but it's too nuanced to call a blockbuster. Fine wine!

Sierra Vista 1993 El Dorado Cabernet Sauvignon ($12) - Oaky vanillins dance with aromatic cassis. Good blackcurrant and herbal notes carry over in a firm, well-structured flavor. Fruit punches through heavy tannins, but cellaring will pay dividends.

I almost hate to say this, but after all the wonderful Rhones and Burgundies and California equivalents that our gang has been slurping during this delightful weekend in and around Sacramento, the collection of Zins poured at last night's ZAP event, JazZIN' 96, almost seemed like an anticlimax.

The event was a splendid success, with a happy crowd sipping lots of fine Zins and chowing down on a great buffet brought in by the good folks from The Kitchen. Dennis and Doug and their associates with Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) have a right to be proud.

But from a strictly hard-nosed, beady-eyed wine-tasting perspective, a squadron of Zins, while fruity and appealing and with hardly a loser in the bunch, faced rough competition against all the other wines we've been tasting in the past few days.

With some three dozen wineries pouring samples of more than 60 wines, a strategic plan was called for. I used a three-point approach, knocking off the list a number of wineries that I didn't expect to impress me or from regions not known for their Zin; passing by (reluctantly) the excellent wines that we had already tasted yesterday on our Sierra Foothills tour; and then zeroing in on the remaining wines that either enjoyed a first-rate reputation or that others in the group had tried and recommended. This brought me down to a manageable 20 tastes, and even so, I found myself taking short, telegraphic and not particularly informative notes.

With those caveats, here they are, presented in alphabetical order by winery:

Ernest & Julio Gallo Sonoma 1994 Dry Creek Frei Ranch Julio's Tree Zinfandel ($14) - Closed, tight and hot.

J. Fritz 1994 Dry Creek Old Vine Zinfandel ($14) - Deep fruit, herbal, a whiff of caramel. Soft, fruity, almost seems sweet.

Lava Cap 1991 Reserve Zinfandel (library selection) - Big, luscious berry and floral notes. Smooth, "sweet" fruit.

Lava Cap 1994 Reserve Zinfandel (pre-release) - Oak rather evident. Structured, young.

Peachy Canyon 1994 Westside Zinfandel ($18) - Light in color. Good mixed-berry and spice. Full fruit, hot.

Peachy Canyon 1994 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel ($22) - Dusty, closed nose. Supple, appealing fruit flavor, berries and herbal notes. One of my favorites of the evening.

Quivira Vineyards 1994 Zinfandel ($14.75) - Easy quaffing, gobs of hedonistic, well, you know ... I do like Dry Creek Zins, and this is a highly approachable one. Another favorite.

Ravenswood 1994 Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel ($14.50) - Delicious black-raspberry, good structure, good balance.

Ravenswood 1994 Napa Valley Zinfandel ($12.50) - "Where's this from," asked Dave Sit, handing me a glass. I breathed in the rich, heady black-raspberry aroma and said, "Sonoma, of course." Wrong-O! But there was a point to this practical joke: The wine was consciously made in a "Sonoma style," full of fruit and extract, juicy and ripe. Wherever it's from, I really liked it.

Renwood 1994 Amador Old Vine Zinfandel ($16.95) - Refined fruit, nose a little tight. Big but well-balanced. Good wine.

Renwood 1993 Grandpere Vineyard Zinfandel ($22.95) - Dark chocolate and mixed berries. Jammy fruit and herbaceous elements, big and structured.

Schuetz-Oles 1993 Korte Ranch Zinfandel ($14) - Inky, big fruit nose, brawny and big -- a bruiser of a Zin.

Sierra Vista 1993 El Dorado "Five Star Reserve" Zinfandel ($20) - I had to stop by to say hi to John MacCready, even though we had tasted at his place earlier in the day ... especially since he was serving a couple of bottles that we hadn't opened earlier. As previously mentioned, he uses the "Reserve" label sparingly and legitimately for his finest products. This one meets the test: Huge blackberry and raspberry nose and humongous extract, but it's not just a "fruit bomb." Balance and finesse makes it one of the evening's most memorable Zins.

Sierra Vista 1994 El Dorado Zinfandel ($10.50) - Not tasted earlier. Good, balanced fruit nose and blackberry-jam flavor, quaffable and appealing.

Sky Vineyards 1993 Mount Veeder Zinfandel ($17) - Dark chocolate, tight. Good balanced fruit, big and hot.

Summit Lake 1992 Howell Mountain Estate Zinfandel ($12.50) - Tight, tannic, brooding; lots of depth.

Topolos 1994 Rossi Ranch Zinfandel ($18.50) - Dark chocolate and "barnyard," markedly bretty aroma carries over and dominates the flavor. I tried to convince Bob Spector that it resembled his l'Aiguelierre, but he wouldn't bite.

Two of the most memorable wines at the tasting, frankly, weren't poured at the booths but were shared by pals after making the rounds of the Zinfandel booths:

Remoissenet Pere & Fils 1990 Chambertin - Thanks to Chuck and Memy Miller for hauling this one along from Atlanta. Big Pinot fruit, black-cherry and tomato skin and all those elusive elements that I lack the words to describe but that elevate top Burgundy from all the other wines in the world. Silken and full flavored, appropriately tart and still quite tannic. (Importer: Stacole Co., Boca Raton, Fla.)

David Coffaro 1994 Dry Creek Valley Estate Bottled Old Vines Zin - Dave sent this one via Dennis Sienko for the crowd to taste, and a fine taste it was, impressing even our Zin-jaded palates; most of us agreed that it equaled or probably outranked anything poured at the ZAP tasting. Big berry fruit aroma and flavor, clean and intense yet refined, with everything in perfect balance.

It just goes on and on and on ... as Dennis said this morning, the entire Sacramento ForumFest weekend has followed a pleasant cycle: Eat, drink, rest, eat, drink, rest ... sort of a well-balanced sine curve.

This morning, the group gathered for an excellent brunch at Paragary's Bar & Oven in Folsom. Nice place, good chow. We brought our own wines and glasses, with the focus on Burgundy and U.S. Burgundians (plus a couple of German goodies happily fetched in by Spector and Sit).

Quick notes, categorized by type and casually by preference (that is, my favorites first) within type:

BURGUNDY

Leroy 1980 Vosne-Romanee - Light ruby, edging toward bronze, but still clear at the edge. Lovely, delicate floral-herbal aroma; on the palate, it defines Burgundian "velvet" over a sturdy structure. Another of Chuck Miller's stash, and bless 'im for sharing it.

Louis Jadot 1990 Clos d'Ursules Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches - Good, complex Burg nose, silken texture; lush, grows in the mouth, develops in the glass into stunning complexity. (Importer: Kobrand, NYC)

Bonneau du Martray 1988 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru - Clear, pale gold. Fennel and butter, I joke that it reminds me of an Italian pasta topping. Delicious but so rich that it's almost like too much dessert; it takes an effort to drink more than a taste of it.

Domaine Michel-Niellon 1991 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers 1er Cru - Bright greenish-gold. Appealing appley aroma, rich, mouth-filling flavor. Impressive, still very youthful. (Importer: Seagram Chateau & Estates, NYC)

Charles Moncaut 1990 Morey-Saint-Denis Les Millandes - Light rosy-red. Funky Burgundian nose, meat and a bit of merde. Tart fruit, finishes a bit short. (Imported by Grape Expectations, Emeryville, Calif., for the now defunct Pacific Wine Co.)

Mommessin 1990 Volnay Taille-Pieds - Tart cherry and vinous scents; simple fruit, clean but fails to live up to expectations. (Importer: Marie Brizard USA, Princeton, Minn.)

U.S. PINOTS

St. Innocent 1993 O'Connor Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($17.95) - Clear garnet, with good Pinot/black-cherry aromas with well integrated spicy oak and a desirable hint of earthy terroir. Ripe fruit flavor, consistent with the nose, full and clean; seems to gain complexity with airing. Excellent, I'm proud to be the one who brought it.

Gary Farrell 1991 Allen Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir - Very ripe aroma, tart-cherry and oak. Full, extracted, tart and tannic. Quite nice!

Panther Creek 1993 Willamette Valley Winemaker's Cuvee Pinot Noir - An Oregon name to conjure with, but it suffered in comparison with the St. Innocent. Ripe black-cherry nose and flavor so extracted that it hits the palate soft and almost sweet; firms up nicely with good acidic structure, but it's all fruit without the desirable terroir or complexity that elevated the St. Innocent.

The Ojai Vineyard 1994 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir - Bright reddish purple. Definitely Santa Barbara, stands out among the Oregon Pinots and Burgs with its bright color and candied maraschino-cherry nose. Tart-cherry flavor, a bit more restrained than in the aroma, dry and tart and well-structured.

GERMANS

Weingut Toni Jost 1993er Hahnenhof Bacharacher Hahn (Mittelrhein) Riesling Auslese (500 ml) - Bright brass color. Lovely nose, apple and pine and a honeyed touch of botrytis. Rich and full, blossoms in the mouth with honeyed sweetness and steely acidity. Wonderful wine. (Hand-imported by a friend of Dave Sit's)

Dr. Loosen 1993er Erdener Pr„lat (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Riesling Auslese (375 ml) - Bright brass color. Apple and faint "diesel" aromas closed and tight. Luscious peach and apricot flavor, unctuous texture. Excellent wine, but for now it falters alongside the bright and accessible Jost. Try it again after a decade's cellaring. (Importer: Rudi Weist/Cellars International, Carlsbad, Calif.)

DOWN THE ROAD

Later in the day, Dave and I drove over to Sonoma, where we're holed up in Santa Rosa, getting ready to join a huge crowd for a forumfest tonight at Mixx.

We made a couple of quick winery stops on the way, something of a mistake with the huge crowds packing in to wine country on this pretty Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. We left St. Francis and Ravenswood without tasting anything (although we did pick up a bottle or two), and stayed at Kunde only long enough for a couple of quick tastes:

Kunde 1995 Sonoma Valley Magnolia Lane Sauvignon Blanc ($11) - Pleasant flowery nose, crisp and full flavor, just off-dry but well balanced. Nice. (It's 75% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Semillon and 9% Viognier. The Viognier shows.)

Kunde 1994 Sonoma County Century Vines Zinfandel ($14) - Berries and a load of spicy oak. Big, juicy fruit flavor; tartly acidic, lots of tannins.

Another night, another fine CompuServe WineForum Fest in Northern California, this one at Mixx in Santa Rosa, where a crowd of 30 gathered for chow and vino. Along with the usual collection of happy wine lovers, a number of local wine makers and other winery types were among the attendees, including Rod Berglund (Swan), Patrick Campbell (Laurel Glen), Adam Lee (Benziger and Siduri), Joe Coffaro (Coffaro) and Joe Naujokas and Carol Shelton (Windsor). Most of these folks brought samples of their own wines, and they turned out to be some of the best of the evening.

Thanks to Melanie Wong for organizing and to the folks at Mixx for turning out really excellent meals. And to all the participants, of course, for bringing along a remarkable and eclectic collection of wines.

Notes, as usual for these things, are casual, unblind, idiosyncratic, taken with food, etc., and thus are far from analytical. Still, for what it's worth, here they are, more or less in the order tasted. I'll list the two I brought first:

Domaine Bru-Baché 1991 Cuvee des Casterasses Jurancon Sec ($12.95) - Bright gold. Light, nutlike (pecans) aroma; crisp, full and very tart. Vaguely reminiscent of a Fino Sherry. (Kermit Lynch)

Il Podere dell'Olivos 1994 California Riserve Ragazzo Legnoso ($17.95) - Dark garnet. Intense bing-cherry nose. Tart-cherry and sweet oak flavors, mouth-filling, big and clean. Good wine, but based on my experience with others in this line, I was expecting something less oaky and more multi-dimensional. (Contains 60% Barbera and 40% Nebbiolo.)

Frick 1993 Dry Creek Valley Cinsaut - Dark reddish-purple. Plummy fruit. Simple, one-dimensional.

Quivira 1987 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (magnum) - Muted blackberry aroma; tart and fruity, definitely claret-style, aging well.

Laurel Glen 1990 Sonoma Mountain Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (magnum) - A rarity from Patrick Campbell's private stash, only a tiny quantity made. Deep purple; cassis and dark chocolate. Intense, hulking, brooding wine, monstrously tannic at first, but fruit punches through. After an hour in the glass, it's beginning to show a startling resemblance to a first-growth Bdx. One of the top wines of the weekend. Or any weekend.

Beaulieu Vineyards 1966 Georges de la Tour Private Reserve - Dark, murky. Funky, leathery, not much fruit on the nose and less on the palate. Over the hill.

Heitz Cellar 1983 Bella Oaks Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (magnum) - I say it's corked; Patrick agrees. Others say no, it's just "musty." A distinction without a difference. Pass.

David Coffaro 1994 Estate Cuvee Dry Creek Valley Estate Bottled Old Vines Red Wine - Very dark purple. Rhonelike nose, complex plums and red fruit. Full and round, juicy and ripe. Soft tannins, almost imperceptible behind all the fruit. Another wonderful wine, made from a tutti-frutti smorgasbord of varietals: 29% Zinfandel, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Carignane, 12% Petite Sirah, 6% Merlot and 3% "Other."

Chateau Cadet-Piola 1985 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru - Cassis aroma. Juicy fruit, appealing, but short on complexity, and not much finish.

Joseph Swan Vineyards 1992 Sonoma Mountain Pinot Noir - Hazy ruby color. Black-cherry and tomato-skin aromas and earthy terroir. A bit barnyardy in a pleasant sense, well integrated with good, fresh fruit. Very good wine!

Gerwer 1982 El Dorado Ruby Cabernet - Here's a real oddity! Inky dark purple color. Oak on the nose, oak on the palate. Like eating wood ...

Windsor Vineyards 1994 Alexander Valley Carignane - Light red-fruit aroma; soft, sippable, so fruity it almost seems slightly sweet, but Carol Shelton says it's bone-dry. Lots of fruit, a good, quaffable red.

Windsor Vineyards 1995 North Coast Semillon - Light, pleasant honeydew melon scent, and a clean, fruity and crisp palate mpression, dry and tart.

Richardson Vineyards 1994 Sonoma Valley Synergy - Black cherry and spicy oak; tart, juicy fruit flavor. (It's 50% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.)

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1992 Fay Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Blackcurrant nose, closed. Bright, full fruit, much more open than the nose suggests; firm tannins behind the fruit.

Michael Ogier 1989 Cote-Rotie - Very dark in color. Smokey, earthy, leather aromas; a hint of "barnyard" is more evident on the palate than in the nose, but it's held in restraint in a full, ripe wine with a large structure. (Robert Kacher, Washington, DC.)

Joseph Swan Vineyards 1978 Sonoma Pinot Noir - Clear rose color. Characteristic Pinot notes entwine with a herbaceous, damp-hay quality; finesseful and complex, but I think it may be a little past peak.

Joseph Swan Vineyards 1990 Russian River Valley Frati Ranch Zinfandel - Subtle berry fruit scent; rich, claret-style Zin.

Chateau de Beaucastel 1989 Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Plums, slight barnyard that diminishes with airing in the glass. Massive fruit, big structure.

Siduri 1994 Pinot Noir - Not the regular commercial release but a special bottling that Adam Lee put into bottles from the unfiltered barrel ends after they had additional time to settle and clear. Reminiscent of the regular Siduri but even more intense, leaps up from the glass and offers to arm-wrestle. Just a faint touch of volatile acidity adds complexity and is no distraction. Amazing wine, another top wine of the night.

Michel Gaunoux 1988 Pommard Grands Epenots - Light, fresh-cherry nose. Tart and thin on the palate, with an odd bitter edge that I found offputting.

Bertrand Ambroise 1987 Corton Grand Cru le Rognet - Good, subtle Burg, fruit and pleasant leathery aromas. Very ripe and juicy fruit, supple and appealing.

Pata Negra 1983 Tinto Gran Reserva Valdepenas - Clear ruby, rather light. Simple fruit and oaky vanilla contend for primary billing; clean red fruit and sweet oak flavors.

David Coffaro 1995 Dry Creek Valley Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc - Second tasting this weekend, but I found this bottle quite different from the first (at The Kitchen on Friday). Blame me or blame the wine, I dunno, but I detected a marked edge of volatile acidity -- not atypical of a white dessert wine -- in this bottle that was totally absent from the other sample. Otherwise, it remains subtle, sweet and rich, a fine way to end a meal.

Joseph Swan Late Harvest Zinfandel (unlabeled, vintage unknown) - Hazy reddish-purple. Raspberry and damp hay aromas; thick, potent "raspberry syrup" flavor, laced up with firm acidity.

Dang! It's back to work in the morning, with a long weekend of great wine, great food and great pals fading into history. Today's forum-related outing: A lazy tasting trip hitting four particularly fine wineries in Sonoma County's Russian River and Dry Creek sections between Santa Rosa and Geyserville.

Here are my random jottings, in the order visited:

DEHLINGER

Dehlinger 1994 Goldridge Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($20/sold out) - Ripe, fruity nose. Good tart-cherry fruit and spice with substantial tannins.

Dehlinger 1993 Russian River Valley Syrah ($18) - Inky purple. Peppery Syrah fruit in good balance with spicy oak. Chunky, chewy, spicy flavor, big fruit and ample acidity. Fine wine.

Barrel tastings:

Dehlinger 1995 Goldridge Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (April 1997 release, $150/case) - Minty, stemmy, perfumed. Flavors consistent with the nose, lean and tart; seems lighter than the '94.

Dehlinger 1995 Russian River Valley Estate Pinot Noir (October 1997 release, $190/case) - Characteristic Pinot nose, red-fruit, tomato-skin. Juicy fruit flavor, very tart; lots of structure and fruit. A lovely wine.

Scherrer 1995 Alexander Valley Zinfandel - Opaque. Deep, brooding, black raspberry and blueberry and spicebox. Rich fruit flavor, but too structured to dismiss as a "fruit bomb."

JOSEPH SWAN VINEYARDS

Joseph Swan 1995 Angelo's Old Vine White ($10) - Tasted from two bottles. One freshly opened was delicate and light. One left open overnight was actually more interesting, with a lovely perfumed floral nose, dry and tart, with a pleasant bitter-almond quality in the finish. (This is made from very old vines that wine maker Rod Berglund has been unable to identify or to have experts identify. He suspects it's a rare Northern Rhone white varietal.)

Joseph Swan 1994 Sonoma Mountain Pinot Noir ($15) - Clear rosy color. Classic Pinot nose; spicy and light vegetal qualities on the palate, full and tart.

Joseph Swan 1994 Russian River Valley Mourvedre ($16) - Clear dark reddish-purple. Lovely fragrant pepper aroma and spicy black-pepper mingled with green, leafy, forest-floor flavors, tart and crisp. One of the best varietal Mourvedres I've tasted.

Joseph Swan 1994 Stellwagen Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel ($18) - Aromatic cherry-berry and rose potpourri flavors; high alcool (14.9%) adds a volatile edge; intense and hot, impressive but awkward. Needs a little time.

Joseph Swan 1994 Zeigler Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel ($18) - Rather light reddish-purple. Blackberry jam and vanilla aromas; ripe fruit flavor, big but clean, well-structured.

Joseph Swan 1995 Russian River Valley Cotes du Rosa Red Table Wine ($12) - Deep purple, a tooth-stainer. Light peppery red-fruit scent, peppery and chewy flavor; Cotes-du-Rhone type, clean and full. Mostly Carignane.

From barrel:

Joseph Swan 1995 Stellwagen Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel - Ripe berry fruit with elusive herbal notes (bay leaf? sage?) on the nose; rich and strong.

Joseph Swan 1995 Frati Ranch Russian River Valley Zinfandel - Meat and bacon fat nose; peppery on the palate, very tart; rich and strong.

DAVID COFFARO

Coffaro 1993 Dry Creek Valley Carignane - Not a commercial wine but one of David's last "amateur" efforts before he turned his hobby into a bonded winery. Deep purple color. Black-fruit and spicy oak aromas; peppery, intense black-fruit flavor, full and tart, texture enhanced by 15.3% natural alcohol.

Coffaro 1989 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Again, one of David's old "amateur" wines. Very dark purple, hints of bronze. Cherry-berry fruit with an odd resinous edge that's probably oak but almost hints at pine. Loads of fruit, but the aromatics are a little strange.

David Coffaro 1994 Dry Creek Valley Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon ($15.81) - Dark garnet. Appealing cassis and spicy oak, luscious fruit aromas and big, extracted fruit flavors over medium but accessible tannins.

David Coffaro 1994 Dry Creek Valley Old Vines Zinfandel ($14.88) - Second tasting of the weekend, with consistent results: Jammy, black raspberry, full and ripe fruit and a firm structure. Excellent Zin.

David Coffaro 1994 Dry Creek Valley Estate Cuvee ($15.81) - Third time tasted this weekend, and seems to get better every time. Delightful, extracted, rich, well-balanced wine, demonstrating the benefits of creative blending. (To review, it's 29% Zinfandel, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carignane, 12% Petite Syrah, 6% Merlot and 3% "other.")

From barrel:

David Coffaro 1995 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (futures sold out) - Loads of fruit, smooth and concentrated.

David Coffaro 1995 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel ($12.95/futures) - Excellent black raspberry on the nose and palate; intense, clean fruit.

David Coffaro 1995 Estate Cuvee ($12.95/futures) - Tasted three components, one in American oak, one in a toasted "innerstave" barrel, and one in "neutral" oak. All similar, with big, forward red-fruit, juicy and full, with subtle oak in the first two samples, particularly the second.

TASTED WITH LUNCH

In addition to continuing to direct our attention to Coffaro's fine wines during a picnic in his vineyard, we also pulled cork on:

Harris-Kratka Ranch 1994 Alexander Valley Zinfandel (made by Rosenblum for the owners of the named vineyard) - Spicy, clean fruit; full, round and supple.

Scherrer Vineyard 1993 Alexander Valley "Old & Mature Vines" Zinfandel - Blockbuster fruit, hulking structure. A BIG Zin.

PETERSON

Peterson 1994 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (from 375 ml bottle) - Deep purple color. Big, intense, complex. Structured, hot. This is one Zin that will keep and improve with two or three years in the bottle.

Peterson 1993 Bradford Mountain Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel - Dark reddish-purple. Spicy oak and blackberry in a complex aroma. Oaky vanillins and tart acidity build a sturdy structure for intense black-fruit flavors. Powerful and lasting. Another Zin that WILL age. (A field blend with 6% Carignane from a 100-year-old block.)

From barrel:

1995 Zinfandel components: Norton Vineyard - Big, tannic, brooding, intense. Lewis Vineyard - Bright fruit, cherry, raspberry. Structured, relatively lean.

1995 Petite Sirah - Dark, inky. Obnoxiously sulfury (due for racking); past the nose, it's chalky and tough, rough-hewn and chewy.

1995 Syrah - Plummy, red-fruit, pepper and plums, light tannins. Nice!