In most parts of the country, Labor Day signals the end of summer. Bathing suits are forgotten in the bottom of some drawer and the barbecue gets a well-deserved rest. But in So Cal, summer sometimes lingers until Halloween, with beach parties going deep into the fall.

Mr. Vino, Chef Kenny and I were on a long stretch of white beach, joined by Lacy Bottoms, Mary Melons and Talley Ho. The aroma of the saltwater filled the air and the seagulls were patrolling the heavens. We felt at home on this gorgeous sunny day. The girls and Mr. Vino were surfing as Chef Kenny and I were working on our tans. We were enjoying a fruit salad with a light yogurt dressing and glasses of ’05 Silverado Napa Valley Chardonnay.

As the well-tanned Chef Kenny turned up the volume on the CD player, I asked him what he thought about the wine.

“I think this wine has well-integrated use of oak and also has abundant tropical fruit flavors and a very pleasant finish,” he replied.

I was sniffing the chard when I saw Mr. Vino get wiped out by a massive wave.

“I think the chard has a very good balance and isn’t over the top like a lot of Napa Valley chardonnays,” I said. “Many Napa chards are flabby and lacking in crispness and minerality, which is the hallmark for the great white Burgundies.”

Talley Ho had finished surfing and came toward us carrying her short board. I asked Chef Kenny to get out another chard, and he pulled out the ’04 Vineburg Chardonnay from Silverado Vineyards.

I poured the white-wine loving Talley a glass. She smiled as she smelled the wine’s bouquet and then put a healthy amount on her palate. “I love Carneros chardonnays, and this wine is full and thick with flavors,” she said. “It has a white peach note and a racy crispness to it, like a cheetah.”

Chef Kenny was doing his thing on the grill and I pulled out a bottle ’03 Napa Valley Sangiovese, also from Silverado. Mr. Vino approached us in a very good mood.

“I decided to give the waves a break,” he laughed. “They must get very tired wiping me out.”

I poured my good friend a glass of sangiovese as I smelled the salmon and Tuscan steaks sizzling on the grill.

“This sangiovese is a very good match with the steaks and salmon,” I said. “I love sangiovese, the great chianti grape, and it grows so well in the Napa Valley.”

Mr. Vino took a sip and said, “The wine is a lovely crimson color and has a delightful flavor of pomegranate and black raspberries.”

“It has an under-layer of chocolate and has nice, bright cherries,” I added. “It has a very good mouth feel.”

“This has a nice vanilla flavor to it,” Mr. Vino said. “It is so different from an Italian chianti – the terroir is so different. This vino has much brighter fruit.”

Lacy Bottoms and Mary Melons finally emerged from the ocean, tired but happy from their surfing adventure. They were ready for food and wine.

Talley had the last drops of the sangiovese and Mr. Vino had just opened a couple of bottles of the ’02 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon from Silverado. The juicy steaks were ready.

As I recall, most of the fruit in Silverado cabernet comes from their estate vineyards in the Stags Leap district.

“I have always liked this wine,” Mary said. “It is about 90 percent cabernet sauvignon and the balance merlot and cab franc.”

After taking a taste of the deep red wine, she continued: “There is a lot of berry and vanilla, which I believe comes from the use of American oak, although you know that most of the oak is French by the mouth feel. Excellent wine! I think it belongs on the wine list at Chez Suave.”

“I put it on weeks ago,” Lacy said matter-of-factly. “What wine I want to finish my steak with is Silverado’s Solo. Have you had it, Mary?”

“Solo is 100 percent cabernet sauvignon and all of it is from the Stags Leap district,” Mr. Vino said as he pulled a bottle of Solo from the cooler.

I opened the very impressive midnight black bottle and poured the wine for everyone.

They were all impressed. The wine was both elegant and huge, and is one of the best of the big Napa 100-percent varietal rich cabernets.

“I like this wine a lot,” Chef Kenny said. “It is a lot suppler than the Napa Silver Oak, with cassis, blueberries and nutmeg. You could cellar this wine for a decade and it would become even more complex.”

As day turned into night and our giant bonfire reached the clouds, we were lost on the beach and in the Silverado trails.