Sugarloaf is a cooler site in south Napa, above a quarry. It usually allows for a longer hang time, often lending a minty or herbal lift to this label. The deep garnet-purple colored 2012 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Deep garnet colored, it offers up notes of fruitcake, exotic spices, prunes, black truffles and Morello cherries with hints of garrigue, tilled earth and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers a firm foundation of ripe, grainy, tannins supporting the bright, vibrant fruit, finishing long and with a minty lift. 225 cases were made.

Another perfect wine is Bevan’s equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the 2012 Proprietary Red Sugarloaf Mountain. Notes of unsmoked cigar tobacco, forest floor, pen ink mulberries, blackberries and spring flowers soar from this inky/purple-colored 2012. The wine possesses great intensity, remarkable unctuosity and thickness, and perfect integration of acidity, alcohol, tannin and wood. Aged in equal parts new Gamba and Darnajou barrels, there are 225 cases of this fabulous wine. Drink now-2032.