Here is a elegant Bordeaux blend from Sonoma and Napa vineyards owned by Jess Jackson. Archipel serves as a scond label to the acclaimed Vérité and is made by winemaker Oliver Rousset. This wine is a serious cellar candidate but really drank very well after a 30-minute decant.

Archipel Red Wine 2002 Napa & Sonoma Counties California $42
We Bought a Bunch $27.99
What the Wine Critics Thought: Wine Advocate 90 Points
The 2002 Archipel is fashioned from 100% estate fruit grown in both Napa and Sonoma counties. A blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and 18% Cabernet Franc, it is a fruit-forward, elegant offering (a small amount of American oak is used in its upbringing) revealing pretty, chocolate, smoky, black cherry, currant, and plum characteristics. Heady and succulent, it is ideal for drinking over the next 7-8 years.

What We Thought: This big Bordeaux blend begins with a heavily scented Cabernet nose of cedar and cassis, but reveals all its varietals on the palate. Medium- to full-bodied, it displays plenty of ripe blackberry and black cherry fruit accented with notes of dark chocolate and supported by some firm, well-structured tannins that designate this as a keeper, three to five years should round it out nicely. We decanted for about 30 minutes.

September 5, 2007