So inviting on the nose, with dark plums, black cherries, cassis, with earth, leather, sage, menthol and mint complexities. Gorgeous texture on the palate with structured tannins and bright acidity, balanced, vibrant, pure. Black currants, plums, deep, suave fruit, laced with beautiful notes of violets, clove, mineral, graphite, earth, sage. Such a nuanced, fresh style, but this will age beautifully. Aged 19 months in 73% new French oak. For the price, this wine has such an elegant, complex, “real” feel.

Siduri Wines, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Noir 2018: Siduri, named for the Babylonian goddess of wine, specializes in Pinot Noir, especially single vineyard bottlings. According to their website they make only single vineyard wines from a total of 20 vineyards throughout California and Oregon. Fortunately, they have expanded their production and now produce blended wines from three appellations: Willamette Valley in Oregon, plus two from California, specifically, Santa Barbara County, and the Russian River Valley. These additions to their portfolio are a boon for consumers because each of the wines is easy to recommend and reasonably priced — at least for Pinot Noir. Plus, if you taste the three side-by-side, it allows you to taste and discern the differences among the AVAs. Everything except where the grapes are grown is the same: same vintage, same grape, same winemaking team. So, the only difference is the origin of the grapes. The verdict, as you will see, is that terroir is alive and well in the USA. Siduri’s Willamette Valley bottling comes from grapes grown in three AVAs within the valley: Yamhill-Carlton, Chehalem Mountains, and Eola-Amity. Racy and juicy, it delivers far more that bright fruitiness. Indeed, savory notes are clear and balance the red raspberry-like quality. A welcome hint of bitterness in the finish adds to its appeal. Less ripe than Siduri’s Russian River Valley or Santa Barbara bottlings, this one shows the understated charm that Oregon’s Willamette Valley delivers.

The Reverse Skin Contact Wine: 2018 Maggy Hawk Edmeades Vineyard White Pinot NoirHow to refer to it: white pinot noir, or non-skin contact red wineThis is a contrarian wine, the rare example of a wine made from red grapes that escapes maceration. This is pinot noir that comes out of the bottle looking like a completely white wine. Is your mind not blown? If it’s not, a smell and sip will surely get the job done. But like our macerated Flora Springs, let’s not get carried away with this one’s revelatory power: much of the best Champagne in the world includes or is made entirely from pinot noir and/or pinot meunier, but pours white as well. The absurdity of skin contact being considered something new or different continues to grow.Maggy Hawk’s winemaker is Tony Rynders, whose distinguished career includes Oregon’s Domaine Serene, a winery that sued him after he left alleging he stole the trade secret of making white pinot noir. See supra regarding Champagne to get a sense of the absurdity of the lawsuit. Tony has consulted for Zena Crown, also in Oregon, which is one of Good Vitis’ favorite Willamette Valley wineries. And, he is the owner and winemaker of Tendril Cellars where he makes a white pinot noir as well. I’ve had what I believe to be all of Tony’s white pinot noirs, and they are my favorite wines he produces.Perhaps counterintuitively, what makes white pinot noir fun is what can make any skin contact white wine fun: a grape you know presented completely differently from what you know. The 2018 Maggy Hawk does exactly that in a very appealing package. Tasting note:The nose offers plush fruit-forward aromas of cherry juice, guava, passion fruit, slate, orange zest and white pepper. Full bodied with round, juicy acid that creates significant structure and weight, it offers flavors of cherry, pineapple, mango, sea mist and loads of sweet tangerine juice and donut peach. This unusual and high quality wine is very enjoyable and almost too easy to drink; drink too quickly and you’ll miss some of its depth. Value: A.

Black olive, cedar, pencil shavings and sage define and accent this beautifully made wine, made from high-elevation vines. Stony mineral components make for a chalky, dusty texture of integrated tannin and mannered oak, the wine undeniably earthy and complex.

Made entirely varietal from a vineyard scaling from 400 to 2,400-feetelevation, this red is balanced and elegant in style. Peppercorn, cedar and celery seed accent a mineraldriven intensity nuanced in black olive, currant and clove.

This delightfully bright, balanced wine tastes of freshly squeezed Meyer lemon and mango, with a breadth of texture and weight on the palate. Well made, it has ample acidity to keep it moving through a complex corridor of oak and supple tannin.

The nose is a delicate blueberry, herb and pulverized stones with underlying black cherry. The palate entry is fairly massive with graphite, plum and savory herbs in the core finishing with silky weight. Drink 2020 - 2027.

The nose is a dough-like blackberry and spice box overlaid with mineral. The palate entry is dry, clean and focused with bright tangy red berry in the core leading to a sleek, mouth-coating finish. Drink 2020 - 2026.

The nose is lean, freshly ground herb, sawn underbrush and bread dough with sweet blueberry. The palate offers a massively structured entry of black fruit with sweet, supple dark berries in the core with a grippy sappiness on the finish. A youthful wine that needs another year. Drink 2020 -2027.

The nose is blueberry and mint with underlying sweet essences of marshmallow. The palate entry is narrowly-focused black tea and carbon leading to a sleek mineral and pie-spice finish. Drink 2020 -2025.

The nose is sandalwood, blueberry and floral perfume. The palate entry is a full, saturated blackberry and plum with silky textured mint on the finish. Drink 2020 -2026.

The crisp light/pale gold no oak Diatom Bar-M Chardonnay by Greg Brewer is beautifully detailed and is a totally unique expression with fresh and vivid white peach and mixed citrus fruits leading the way along with delicate spring blossoms, clove spice, quince paste, wet chalk and sea shore elements. Brewer continues his obsession in Chardonnay purity with his Diatom label, a very singular journey or vision quest, more like a Jules Verne novel and Captain Nemo rather than Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab! There is a zen like quiet to these wines, as all the outside world is hushed, again like being on the Nautilus where all the madness of the world and noise are silenced and the wine reveals itself in the grapes truest form and nature. Brewer, founding winemaker at the legendary Brewer-Clifton and known for Burgundy style Pinot Noir and Chardonnays from cru sites in the Sta. Rita Hills, is one of Santa Barbara’s most respected and influential winemakers, he also crafted the acclaimed wines at Melville and over the years has produced some fabulous stuff. These Diatom wines are no compromise and ultra precise Chardonnays, they are intellectually challenging that try to dig down to the core essence of the varietal and the individual vineyard site, but they are also wines of quality and a pleasure to experience, in particular with raw foods and highly focused ingredients, like hyper fresh sushi and masterfully executed, they deserve that perfection to show themselves at their best. People want to compare these wines to terroir particular wines like Chablis, which I can understand, but you can’t explain them that way, they wines that unto themselves. Each year brings a new revelation and understanding of terroir and of Chardonnay self with these Diatom wines, they are fun and thrilling examples of what is possible.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe pale to medium ruby-purple colored 2016 Block 6 Pinot Noir is scented of prosciutto, warm blackberries and crushed black cherries with accents of tar, loamy earth, bitter citrus peel, amaro and nori. The palate is light to medium-bodied with a lacy frame and tangy opposing acidity, finishing long and bitters-laced.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageMedium ruby-purple, the 2016 Pinot Noir Conifer has a layered, perfumed nose of dried hollyhocks, lilac and lavender with accents of fir, bay leaf, forest floor, blood orange peel, tea leaf and woodsmoke over a core of crushed blackberries and black cherries. The medium-bodied palate is silky, intense and very fresh with a grainy frame and long, floral finish.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintagePale ruby-purple, the 2016 Pinot Noir Block 14 has a lovely nose of crushed stone, sliced blueberries, boysenberries, red currant and savory cranberry with accents of bergamot, lilac and dusty earth. The light to medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled with perfumed fruits, silky and fresh with a long finish.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageYouthfully slow to open, the medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Emery takes time to offer up dried tobacco leaves, Earl Grey tea leaves, dried lavender, cranberries and pomegranate aromas with notes of blackberries, fragrant earth, citrus peel and amaro. It's medium-bodied and silky with slowly blossoming fruit, spice and earth layers, firmly framed and fresh with a long, layered finish. This will benefit from another year or two in bottle.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe 2017 Pinot Noir Aliette comes from Pommard and Wadensvil clones. Medium ruby, it offers crushed blackberries, black cherries, loamy earth, oolong tea leaves, bergamot and lavender on the nose with touches of clove and dried leaves. It's medium-bodied and silky with restrained, perfumed fruits, a grainy frame and juicy freshness, finishing long and nuanced. 700 cases produced. This will benefit from another year in bottle, but it's perfectly approachable now.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe medium ruby colored 2017 Pinot Noir Kiana is scented of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries and blackberry pie with allspice, loamy earth, cured meats, dried herbs and flowers and red berry sparks. The palate is medium-bodied and silky with intense, earth-laced fruits, a firm frame of grainy tannins and great freshness to oppose the density of flavor, finishing long and nuanced. This merits another year in bottle.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe 2017 Pinot Noir Zena Crown Vineyard has a pale to medium ruby-purple color and youthfully coiled nose. With time, it offers notes of lavender, licorice, cranberries, pomegranate and blackberries with an earthy core and nuances of black tea leaves and citrus peel. Medium-bodied, silky and intense, it has fragrant fruits with a fine-grained texture and juicy freshness to lift the long, layered finish. This will benefit from another year in bottle.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintagePenner-Ash's medium ruby-purple colored 2017 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is a beauty! It has a perfume of blood orange peel, dried roses, woodsmoke and black tea leaves with a core of red currants, licorice, red cherries and cranberry sauce with saline touches. The light to medium-bodied palate is delicately styled but intensely flavored and juicy, finishing very long and very perfumed.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe 2017 Pinot Noir Upland has a medium ruby-purple color and a perfume of autumn leaves, spiced cranberry sauce, warm blackberries, fragrant earth, tangerine peel, violets and lilacs with notes of stone and dust. The palate is medium-bodied, silky, intense and fragrant, with a firm frame of grainy tannins and lip-smacking acidity, finishing long and nuanced. Give it another year in bottle.

USA, Oregon: Searching for Hidden Gems from Willamette Valley's 2017 VintageThe 2017 Pinot Noir Cascade is medium ruby-purple in color and scented of candied blackberries, warm cranberry sauce, allspice, nutmeg, tree bark, black tea leaves and forest floor with oodles of lilac and rose petal perfume plus touches of aniseed and charcuterie. The medium-bodied palate is intense, spicy, grainy and layered with seamless freshness and a long finish. This has the stuffing and structure to benefit from another year or two in bottle and to age well over the next decade.

Sourced from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, the 2016 ‘Estate’ Pinot Noir starts off with a beautiful bouquet of red currant with forest floor, cran-cherry and touches of cardamom that all combine nicely on the nose. The mouthfeel here is really good as this silky Pinot Noir glides across the mid-palate. Bright bing cherry pie, cigar box, blood orange and suggestions of peat moss all come together on the palate. Bright, with a good sense of minerality, this beautiful Pinot Noir will have a long life in the cellar.

Seeing 20/20 – Sonoma & Anderson Valley New ReleasesThe 2018 Chardonnay Sky Crest is supple and wonderfully nuanced. Apricot, lemon confit, white flowers and light tropical notes all run through this pliant, creamy Chardonnay. Drink it over the next handful of years.

Seeing 20/20 – Sonoma & Anderson Valley New ReleasesThe 2017 Pinot Noir Stormin' is a wonderfully complete wine that captures so many of the qualities that make these wines so appealing—sweetness, perfume and depth, to name a few. Rose petal, blood orange, mint and sweet red cherry all grace this super-expressive Pinot.