t's not every day that you visit friends for great food and wine and find the elusive morel mushroom growing right outside their front door, but that's just what happened when we arrived at Mark Schreier and Margaret Marchak's home one recent Friday evening. Margaret wanted to throw a few of her Super Tuscans up against a couple of our California Cabs to see how they stacked up, and who were we to argue or complain? I made a few selections from the cellar from heck, Kim made a killer polenta, and we made our way over to Mark and Margaret's.

As soon as we arrived, Kim had to see those morels. Margaret had told her that there were one or two earlier in the week, but the number had grown to four by the time we got there. Kim took some pictures, harvested all four and sliced them up in preparation for sautéing in olive oil with garlic.

When those four 'shrooms cooked down, there wasn't all that much to them, so everyone got about four or five bite - sized bits, which we proceeded to pluck straight from the pan with our fingers. There is nothing better from the fungi world for this taster than morels straight out of the ground and into the frying pan. They were a delicious supplement to the hors d' oeuvres, which included Sicilian potato salad, jumbo Ecuadorian white shrimp dressed with parmesan shavings and nestled on a bed of arugula, white bean hummus and pita chips and Euro sticks with goat cheese.

By the time the other guests had arrived, the place was lousy with lawyers. Also in attendance were Mark and Margaret's friends Ron Hughes, Gerard Mantese and Cathy Morris. Only Kim, Ron and I are not in and of "the practice," but no matter; it was all good. There seemed to be no interest in aperitifs, so we charged right into the big reds, starting with two 96s.
 

1996 Abreu Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch, 13.2% alc.: This dark garnet colored Cabernet really set the tone for the evening's wines, and would ultimately prove to be my favorite of the lot. Rich, concentrated, opulent and impeccably balanced, it exudes beautiful sea air, aquarium, cassis and black raspberry aromatics that follow through on the palate, picking up little hints of tobacco, cocoa and herbs as it opens. One of the best Cabernets I've ever had the pleasure to taste from anywhere, very food friendly and perhaps best of all, as well as it's drinking now, it has yet to reach its peak. Many, many thanks to Greg Ellis aka Vin Pays Doc for his generosity in gifting this beauty to Kim and this taster.

1996 Antinori Solaia Toscana IGT, 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, 13.5% alc.: Margaret picked up this and the Solengo in Italy some years back, at a price that would probably piss off a lot of American wine collectors, and she thought it was about time to try it. Dark garnet in color, with black currant, cassis, black cherry, a note of tobacco, a bit of chocolate and a kiss of sweet oak in both flavor and aroma, this is another very well balanced, ultra - smooth red, with silky tannins and marvelous presence. Margaret agreed with me that if it has a drawback, it's that it finishes a bit shorter than one would expect from a wine of this stature, but that's a minor complaint in the overall scope of things.

1995 Paleo Bolgheri Rosso Superiore DOC, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Sangiovese, 5% Cabernet Franc, 13% alc.: Ron brought this dark garnet along; it fit the varietal profile of the Tuscans being tasted, and he was curious as to what it was all about. Thick, rich and intense, it shows an earthy black currant, licorice, sour cherry and bitter chocolate character. The most "Italian" of the Italians at this tasting, this is a big wine, with excellent structure, fine balance and a nice finish. Give it at least a few more years in the cellar; it's still on the way up.

By the time we were ready to sit down to dinner, there were still two wines left to try, and they were more than up to the food (grilled lamb chops, polenta and pan roasted asparagus) and the competition.