Nothing better represents American wines - Americans in general, maybe - than the cabernet sauvignons of California's Napa Valley. Big, rich, powerful, unsubtle galoots, but loveable for all that.

In most years, Napa cabs are quintessentially American wines - ripe, lush, concentrated, high in alcohol - wines that, in technical terms, will knock your socks off.

They would never be confused with the leaner, some would say more elegant, cabs of cooler climes . Americans love them that way.

So if you're a fan of that style, the 2004 Napa cabs are for you. That's because 2004 was a particularly ripe year in California. A warm spring and summer that got even warmer as fall approached. Harvest was two weeks early - the earliest in memory, some growers said.

So Napa's 2004 cabs are even riper, lusher and richer than usual. So full-bodied, even thick, that we wine geeks call them ``chewy.'' So sweet it sometimes seems the flavor of chocolate covers the flavor of fruit.

Picture a big box of Brach's chocolate-covered cherries.

That's the 2004 Napa cabs.

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

2004 Luna Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Napa Valley: mint and black-cherry aromas, flavors of chocolate-covered cherry candy, excellent tannin-acid balance, full-bodied and generous; $100.

2004 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: cassis and coffee aromas and flavors; excellent balance; intense fruit; big, ripe and

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smooth; $22.

RECOMMENDED

2004 Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: pure red-berry aromas and flavors, crisp, full-bodied, firm but ripe tannin; $17.

2004 Crane Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon, Crane Ranch Vineyard, Hillside Block, Napa Valley: black cherries, cinnamon and black pepper, youthful acid and tannin, a good steak wine; $44.

2004 Signorello Cabernet Sauvignon, Unfiltered, Napa Valley: aromas of maraschino cherries and mint, flavors of sweet black cherries and mocha; $40.

2004 St. Clement Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: cinnamon and maraschino cherries, sweet and soft; $36.

2004 Stags' Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: aromas of oak, cherries and minerals; flavors of black cherries and bitter chocolate; soft; $48.

2004 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley: big;ripe; rich black cherries and black coffee; smooth; $24.

2004 Robert Craig Cabernet Sauvignon, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley: aromas of cassis and mint, flavors of mint and bitter chocolate more than fruit; $70.

2004 Signorello ``Padrone'' Unfiltered Red Wine (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc), Napa Valley: aromas of mint, black cherries and oak; flavors of sweet chocolate and black plums; sweet and generous; $95.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.