31 J Vineyards & Winery
2000 Vintage Brut
(Russian River Valley); $50.
A great California bubbly, right up at the top. It’s unusual for a sparkling wine house to hold back their basic vintage brut this long, but J did, and consumers benefit. The wine has some bottle age, and is softly picking up nutty, dried fruit, floral and yeasty notes. Enormously complex, it should continue to develop for many years.

32 San Giusto a Rentennano 2004
Percarlo
(Toscana); $70.
Percarlo is an outstandingly intense and complex Sangiovese that is true to its Tuscan roots. Aromas are wide and penetrating and span the gamut of balsam possibilities, voluptuous fruit, lead pencil and spice. It is round and very fragrant in the mouth with plush smoothness and soft extraction. Imported by Marc de Grazia Selections.

33 Karl Erbes 2006
Ürziger Würzgarten
Riesling Auslese * * *
Goldkap (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer); $53/375 ml.
Rich and sweet yet without excessive weight, Erbes’ three-star auslese goldkap features beautifully delineated aromas and flavors of dried apricots, ripe peaches and pineapples as well as great minerality and freshness. The finish is virtually endless. Imported by Chapin Cellars, LLC.

34 Laetitia 2006
Reserve
Pinot Noir (Arroyo Grande Valley); $40.
Laetitia’s best reserve ever. In a word, gorgeous. There’s a soft silkiness, a caressingly smooth mouthfeel that just seduces the palate into submission. Then the deliciousness sinks in, all red currants, cherries, mocha, licorice, pepper and smoke, set off with fine acidity and tannins. So compulsively drinkable, you can’t keep your hands off it. Best now through 2010.

35 Col d’Orcia 2004
Olmaia
Cabernet (Sant’Antimo); $75.
Olmaia is a pure expression of Cabernet Sauvignon that hits all the right marks. You can taste the variety’s natural flavors but they never seem green or medicinal. Instead the wine is plush, soft, round and opulent, with ideal harmony and balance and beautiful delivery of chocolate, cherry, vanilla and herbal aromas. The wine almost exaggerates, if possible, its generosity and roundness. Imported by Palm Bay International.

36 Williams Selyem 2005
Flax Vineyard
Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley); $54.
A brilliant young Pinot that magically combines instant drinkability with ageworthiness. Silky and supple, the wine has broad, deep raspberry, cherry, cola, cocoa and spice flavors that are wrapped into sweet, fine tannins, leading to a long, complicated finish. Just gorgeous from the first sniff to the last sip, and should age well through 2015.

37 Château Branaire-Ducru 2005
Saint-Julien; $80.
This is opulent, but with restraint. The fruit is rich, black and delicious. Touches of spice and wood are present, lending complexity to the ripe fruits and balanced tannins. Impressive.

38 Arista 2005
Ferrington Vineyard
Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley); $54.
Showing the superb structure of the vintage and the spectacular way this great vineyard can ripen Pinot Noir, this polished wine is not only delicious from the get-go, but ageable. Floods the mouth with lush black cherry, red currant, cola, sweet oak, anise, vanilla and cinnamon spice flavors that go on and on. A memorable wine that should slowly gather steam and peak by 2011, then begin a long, steady arc downward.

39 Charles Creek 2004
La Vista Stagecoach Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley); $55.
This is a deft Cabernet, the opposite of the modern cult style, better defined by what it is not. It’s a brilliantly structured wine, with a firm architecture of tannins and acids. The flavors of blackberries, currants, cedar and spice are deeply satisfying. Drink now and for the next six years.

40 Roessler 2005
Clos Pepe Vineyard
Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills); $50.
Clos Pepe is one of those vineyards that rarely fails to dazzle, and Roessler has done as good a job at interpreting it as any of the wineries that designate its fruit. The wine shows a terrific balance of acids, oak and tannins, with an elegantly silky texture and exquisitely ripe, but controlled, cherry, pomegranate, cola, tea and Asian spice flavors that finish with a lip-smacking, chalky minerality.