Best Colorado wine

Colorado's once-obscure Western Slope vineyards are gaining quality and stature with each new vintage. Witness the sublime Cabernet Sauvignon made by Canyon Wind, a young winery owned by Norman and Ellen Christianson and overseen by the well-respected Napa Valley winemaker Robert Pepi. Intense and complex, the 1996 cab is deep purple, well-balanced and bursting with mature fruit. At $20 a bottle, the stuff is not inexpensive, but it's exactly the right accompaniment to a slab of rare prime beef or herb-crusted lamb chops.