Because I taste hundreds of under-$15 wines each year, when I sit down to a blind tasting of pricier wines, I'm prepared to be impressed.  But the wines don't always comply.  A recent tasting of several elite West Coast reds, mainly Cabernets priced at $35 to $50, was punishing because of the huge amounts of alcohol and tannin that the wines had, and distressing because of the sweetness they displayed, from extremely ripe fruit and alcohol.  I knew that they were good wines, but judging them was purely an intellectual exercise--no pleasure involved.

In that context, Ferrari-Carano's 2001 Trésor was a breath of fresh air.  Yes, it's full-bodied and yes, it has aromas and flavors of very ripe, almost jammy fruit, and even a slight suggestion of sweetness on the attack.  But it also has a gracefulness and ease that none of the other wines did.  It didn't make me work to appreciate it.

Trésor is Ferrari-Carano's top wine.  The 2001 is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.  Bordeaux is obviously the inspiration for the wine and compared to the sweeter, louder, more powerful wines that I tasted it against, this wine did in fact resemble a Californian Bordeaux.  It has the complexity of aroma and flavor that a blend brings.  When first poured, it smells and tastes spicy and fruity (tart cherry and plum, with a slight baked fruit note) and has the vaguest suggestion of vegetal character; with air it shows herbal nuances (eucalyptus), a charry oak note and a suggestion of lead pencil minerality.  Altogether, it's more subtle than overtly fruity, by California standards.  The wine has good flavor concentration, smooth texture and an appropriate amount of grainy oak tannin on the rear palate to balance the fruit's ripe softness.  It has finesse.

I remember attending a seminar more than ten years ago at which Ferrari-Carano winemaker George Bursick demonstrated his use of umpteen yeast strains as a tool to build complexity into his Chardonnay.  "Contrived!" I thought.  But his goal was admirable, and with this Bordeaux blend, he has achieved it.  This wine has complexity in terms of multiplicity of aromas and flavors, as well as that more vague, holistic "complexity" that a wine has by virtue of being harmonious, its elements all working together.  Although it is only four years old, it is lovely right now.

Outstanding:  90 points