Locals were surprised to learn of late that more than 30 Jewish winemakers and vintners are members of the Napa Valley enological community.

It's not that one's Jewish ancestry has any bearing on wine quality, it's just that these Jewish winemakers and vintners had never come together as a unit, even to identify some sort of solidarity.

Deciding it was time to celebrate their ancient roots in winemaking, Napa Valley Jewish vintners joined together last weekend to produce an event benefiting organizations that focus on youth and the needy, as well as local religious, historical and cultural endeavors.

One of the weekend events featured as part of "L'Chaim" was a wine tasting hosted by Rudd Winery in Oakville. Local eateries sent a variety of hors d'oeuvres to tide attendees over before a lavish dinner at Silver Oak Cellars.

The late afternoon wine event served to introduce consumers to some new producers as well as reacquaint us with friends we'd already made in this cellar or that.

An obvious place to begin was with the new kids on the block. Matthiasson is the handiwork of Steve Matthiasson and Jill Klein, partners in business and life who were regulars at the Home Winemakers Classic lineup prior to launching their own commercial operation.

Their initial release is 120 cases of a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon from vineyards on the far west side of the Oak Knoll District. Both vineyards are on Dry Creek -- Meadowbrook, source of the cabernet, is in the cool mouth of the canyon; Red Hen, from which the merlot comes, is a warm gravel bar at the top of the Dry Creek alluvial fan.

Matthiasson says the Red Hen block produced excellent fruit for Christian Brothers from the '50s through the '70s that was eventually used as part of a much larger blend in recent years. He's been able to lease that 1.7 acre block and farm it himself. He says the "stressed vines are extremely low yielding, barely making over a ton per acre of intense and concentrated fruit."

Benefiting from the cool night air that flows off Mount Veeder, which also blocks intense late afternoon sun, the Meadowbrook cabernet serves as "cool foil to the warmer Red Hen," the winemaker notes.

Unfined and unfiltered, the 2003 Matthiasson Napa Valley Red Wine ($75) has an inviting blackberry nose with a hint of lavender. Lightweight on the tongue, the wine nevertheless is an intense, fleshy mouthful of blueberries with a blackberry/cassis finish. The ripeness of both fruit and tannins is balanced with refreshing acidity. The blend is 60 percent merlot and 40 percent cabernet.

Come August, Matthiasson and Klein will release their first white wine, a sauvignon blanc from the valley floor blended with about 5 percent ribolla gialla, a grape best known for it captivating golden color (gialla means yellow in Italian) and its crisp liveliness in its native Friuli vineyards. Vintner/grower George Vare has a small planting of this Italian varietal here and shares a bit of it with Matthiasson -- what he doesn't use in the small production of Vare ribolla gialla (most of which goes to the French Laundry).

Of the style for this particular wine, Matthiasson said "the fruit was picked extremely early, before the acids dropped and the tropical flavors came on. Our aim was to preserve the minerality and natural acidity." That he did.

Barrel fermented and lees stirred, without going through malolactic fermentation, the 2005 Matthiasson Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($45) is both floral and mineraly on the nose, with a hint of nutmeg spice. It has a delightful mouthfeel, creamy yet full of lively acidity, and tastes of refreshing summertime lemons and limes. It might seem a bit pricey for a white wine, but with only 45 cases it won't be around for very long as fanciers of rare wine styles and blends should snap it up.

Although members of the family have been farming on a choice plot of land west of St. Helena since 1941, Ruston Family Vineyards has been in the commercial wine trade for only seven years. Instead of prune and walnut orchards, the family tends to cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot vines.

For the first few years of production, Ruston wines were crafted by one of the valley's best young winemakers, Bordeaux-trained Philippe Melka. Another young winemaker, Joshua Krupp, joined the team for the 2002 harvest. It's his father who owns the prized Stagecoach Vineyard.

With choice fruit from the Stagecoach Vineyard, Ruston Family Vineyard 2002 Cabernet Franc ($42) combines earthy, lavender aromas with ripe black fruit on the mid-palate and lengthy finish. This is a wine that's almost chewy, a lovely expression of the varietal that incorporates about 7 percent cabernet sauvignon in the blend.

The Ruston Family Vineyard 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon ($50) mirrors the cabernet franc release, only the blend is just the opposite -- in that 7 percent of it is cabernet franc. This is a rich, ripe offering that smells and tastes just like the cabernet sauvignon you'd hope for from the renowned Stagecoach Vineyard. It's not a blockbuster wine, rather one that offers subtle flavors of cassis, black cherries and spice in a well-blended bottling that's well worth the money.

The family also produces an estate Bordeaux blend, La Maestra, a tribute to Lorraine Ruston, who first planted vines on the property and is a local college instructor. The blend for Ruston Family Vineyard 2002 La Maestra ($50) is about half cabernet sauvignon, one-third merlot with just about equal parts petit verdot and cabernet franc making up the rest. Packed with sweet, ripe black fruit, this is a complex wine that speaks to the pedigree of the vineyard. A tasty blend, it's easy to drink, one of those wines that demand a second glass.

Norm Kiken's Reverie on Diamond Mountain produces Bordeaux-styled wines from estate-grown fruit on the steep hillsides of Diamond Mountain. The 2003 A.S.Kiken ($35) is a blend of all five Bordeaux varietals, with a little more than half cabernet franc, nearly 40 percent cabernet sauvignon, with petit verdot, merlot and malbec making up the rest. Rife with fresh cherries on both nose and mid-palate, this playful blend is a well-structured wine that incorporates spice, mineral notes, ripe fruit and a hint of Diamond Mountain woods. Or is that oak barrel? Whatever, this is an outstanding dinner wine at a decent price. I can't wait to taste Kiken's mountain rousanne.

Sasha Match and Randy Sloan are partners in Match Vineyards, located on St. Helena's White Sulphur Springs Road. They produce a pair of cabernets from hillside vineyards near St. Helena. Respected winemaker Cary Gott is responsible for the inaugural release, Match Vineyards 2002 Butterdragon Hill Cabernet Sauvignon ($72). This is a rich, ripe, well-balanced wine that offers refreshing flavors of both blueberry and plum. There's a little herb on the finish, along with some cassis, from fruit grown on a ridge overlooking the Bale Grist Mill. An opulent wine from Cary Gott -- from whom we wouldn't expect anything less.

Veraison wines are sourced from vines growing on the 1,300 acres of Napa Valley property encompassing Stagecoach, Krupp Brothers and Krupp Vineyards. Set amidst a Pritchard Hill landscape that contains giant boulders, these vineyards are unique for their red volcanic soils spanning elevations of 900 to 1,800 feet.

The vines are nurtured by Dr. Jan Krupp who then turns them over to his son, Joshua, for crushing, fermenting and aging in the family cellars. The 2002 Veraison Cabernet Sauvignon ($48) is mostly that (86 percent), with 5 percent each of cabernet franc and merlot, plus 4 percent malbec. This is another easy drinking cabernet, with silky tannins, sweet, ripe black fruit on the mid-palate and a finish that begs for a freshly grilled New York steak or barbecued pork butt. And this one's a keeper as well.

For more information on these wines, log onto one of the producer's Web sites: matthiasson.com, rustonvines.com, reveriewine.com, MatchVineyards.com and veraison.net.