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Fife 1999 Old Yokayo Ranch Vineyard Syrah (Mendocino)

Editors' Choice

Price $35

From warm western slopes over Ukiah Valley, a powerhouse combining audacious fruit with impeccable balance. Concentrated flavors of red and black berries, chocolate, white pepper, bacon, tobacco and coffee are rich, yet with only 13.5 percent alcohol, the wine is balanced and gentle. The mouthfeel is stunning. Editors’ Choice. —S.H. — S.H. (5/1/2002)

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Fife 1999 L'Attitude Red (Mendocino)

Cellar Selection

Price $20

A Rhône blend, and the wine that best exemplifies the Châteauneuf-style blend that inland Mendocino is hoping will put it on the map. This is magnificent stuff, lusty and full-bodied, with mixed berry flavors that are dominated by the aroma of white pepper. It’s dry, with complex, dusty tannins and a round, smooth mouthfeel. Lighter than Cabernet but denser than… — S.H. (5/1/2002)

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Fife 1997 L'Attitude Red (Mendocino)

Price $18

A Rhône blend dominated by Syrah’s super-black peppery aromas, paprika and Asian spices. The fruit, and there’s lots of it, comes out in the mouth--juicy and ripe and intense. Impressive for its extract. Very high quality. — S.H. (3/1/2000)

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Fife 2001 L'Attitude 39 Red (Mendocino)

Editors' Choice

Price $18

Fascinating to taste this alongside Fife’s 2002 Redhead Red. Both wines have pretty much the same Southern Rhône blend, although they’re from different vintages. L’Attitude is a bigger, more complex wine, thicker and perhaps softer, but everything is deeper and more intriguing. It’s one of the best Carignane-based wines I’ve ever had. — S.H. (11/1/2006)

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Fife 2001 Max Cuvée Red (Napa Valley)

Cellar Selection

Price $38

This is the most ageworthy of Fife’s current wines, the one to put your money on. Even at this age, it’s still drily tough and tannicly astringent. But it’s a fine wine, and there is no doubt it has yet to show its stuff. Buried deep is a solid core of blackberry and cherry fruit yearning to get out. This is a wine to buy in multiple bottles, and begin opening in… — S.H. (11/1/2006)

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Fife 2004 L'Attitude 39 Red (Mendocino)

Price $18

L’Attitude needs a warm vintage to succeed, and it got one in ’04. The wine, a blend of Carignane, Syrah and other Rhône reds, is dry and complicated, offering rich, earthy, Provençal herb flavors with fruitier tastes of cherries, blackberries and cola. Notable for balance, elegance and power. Drink now through 2010. — S.H. (12/15/2007)

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Fife 2002 Redhead Vineyard Petite Sirah (Redwood Valley)

Price $24

Beautiful Pet, among the best in California. Stuffed with bigtime berry, plum, cocoa, lavender and coffee flavors, with sturdy tannins, and very dry, it’s a wine that will age, although it’s approachable now with rich meats and cheeses. — S.H. (11/1/2006)

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Fife 2001 10th Anniversary Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)

Cellar Selection

Price $32

Dennis Fife brings his talent for rich, gutsy reds to this Cab, a blend of Atlas Peak and St. Helena fruit. It’s a big, powerful wine, but elegant and controlled every step of the way. Ripe black currant flavors and substantial oak shadings combine with firm, intricate tannins to produce ageable wine. Drink now—2013. — S.H. (11/15/2006)

Most Reviewed Designations

10th Anniversary Reserve 3&4 Max Cuvée L'Attitude L'Attitude 39 Max Cuvée Max Vineyard Mendocino Uplands Old Yokayo Rancho Vineyard Redhead Redhead Vineyard Reserve

Most Reviewed Varietals

Cabernet Sauvignon Carignane Merlot Petite Sirah Red Blend Rhône-style Red Blend Rosé Syrah Zinfandel

2009 W.H. Smith Purple Label Piedra Hill Vineyard

This is a gigantic Cabernet, deeply concentrated and enormously tannic…

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