1995 Merlot Bancroft Ranch

Ed Sbragia views the '96s as solidly structured wines; the whites, he says, were especially tight and minerally at the start. In comparison, the wines from 1997 appear to be more forward, he adds, and it remains to be seen whether they will be as big as the '96s. A recent development here has been the growing number of small-lot, vineyard-designated cabernets designed to showcase the different soils and microclimates of Beringer various sites. Yet the winery's Private Reserve cabernet, a blend of components from several vineyards (typically based on Chabot and Bancroft, but often including fruit from State Lane and the Home Vineyard near the winery), remains Beringer's most consistently outstanding and complete red wine.