Restocking for the Holidays.

• Position: WHAT'S NEW? Holiday Gift Guide - Wines - Buyers guide

As we move into the season filled with holiday parties and get-togethers, we're reminded it's time to restock our liquor cabinets with just the right crowd-pleasing labels. While we're out shopping, we know that there are a few people on our list who would enjoy a gift of fine wine or spirits.

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The most discriminating among us will appreciate a bottle of 2004 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($105). This extraordinary wine offers intense aromas of black fruits, mocha, toast, and briar. It is full bodied with deeply concentrated black currant, vanilla, and anise flavors. This vintage will require seven to nine years' aging to reach maturity, yet tastes fine now. It comes packaged in a wooden gift box, which can be personalized with an engraved brass plaque. Visit www.bvwines.com for more information.

Sourced from the mountain vineyards that rise above the valley fog like an archipelago island string rises above the sea, Archipel 2002 ($40) is a Bourdeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grapes grown in vineyards in Sonoma and Nape counties. It has a vibrant blackberry and black cherry flavor accompanied by a whisper of vanilla and a hint of smoke. Its boldness illustrates the intensity of the highly concentrated small berry clusters grown the mountain. For more information, visit www.archipelwines.com.

From the Stonestreet Alexander Mountain Estate in northern Sonoma County--75 miles north of Ban Francisco--grapes are grown at elevations ranging from 400 to 2,400 feet, where the temperature is cooler and the soil is leaner, rockier, and more mineral-laden than in the valley. The result is a smaller grape with more intense color and concentrated flavors. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, handcrafted from vineyards reaching an elevation of 1,800-2,400 feet, is balanced and layered with blackberry and red cherry fruit flavors and notes of spice, coffee, cedar, and my mocha. The varietal composition is 77% Cabernet Bauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Syrah. The 2005 Chardonnay, made from grapes harvested from three of the Estate's vineyards, features pineapple, citrus, and white peaches, followed by fresh apples, lemon-lime, and a mineral complexity. For more information, visit www.stonestraetwines.com.

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A perfect gift set for a connoisseur who loves to grill would be the Cabemet Gourmet ($134) from Hall in St. Helena, Calif. It includes a bottle...