The most complex and boldest of the pinot noirs, the Afleet has a reserve quality. Rich, layered and tannic, it shows off floral aromas and an earthy combination of red and black fruit.

The meat, the bones, the sinew, the pucker, seems to be a theme for the top flight reds of Yangarra. The soils kept alive with biodynamic activity, a plot here set aside for this wine. Holds 35% new oak but smells a bit more, tastes a bit less. This is beautiful, held to medium weight but with a cornucopia of spice an absolute and dominating feature. Garam masala, Chinese five spice, paprika in there and a dash of white pepper, it’s hauntingly scented and flavours are fresh albeit doused in this souk. Ripe and dark fruit characters, a touch of rum n raisin, dried plum and earthy berries. Shale-like minerality here too. Magnificent length unfurling over layers of fine, silty tannin and cool, faintly herbal acidity. Shapeless but tight, lacy and yet stacked with flavour, this is such a great shiraz.

Ye olde bush vines and biodynamic farming. All old oak here. Inky thing this release. More brooding. More/different tannin. Quite rich and ripe feeling, slippery texture segues to sheets on sheets of grippy, puckering, powdery tannin. It’s quite brutish and rough house as a release under this High Sands guise, not lesser for it, but misses a little of the finesse of previous. Booze soaked cherry scents and flavours, a bit breathy and warming in sniff and tongue, around this, lavish spice, ripe fruit, dried fruit and savoury things like salted liquorice, salt bush and faint game meat characters. Packs in plenty of detail, lots to sink teeth into.

The Pinot Noir Zena Crown Vineyard is an elegant wine offering a medium ruby color and aromas of black cherry fruit. On the palate it displays a beautiful silky texture with perfect balance and acidity, round firm tannins and a lengthy finish. A gorgeous wine! Premier Pacific Vineyards developed this vineyard in the early 2000s. It’s located due east of the Van Duzer corridor, which allows cool Pacific breezes to flow through, decreasing temperatures beginning in the late afternoon, helping grapes retain acidity, thickening skins, and firming tannins. Jackson Family purchased the 115 acre Zena Crown vineyard in 2013, their first foray into Oregon. The southwest facing vineyard is diverse in terms of clones, aspects, and altitude, ranging from 300-650’.

The Pinot Noir Pratt Vineyard-Sexton Ranch is a beautiful wine offering pure dark red berry aromas and flavors. It is soft and delicious on the attack and is intensely flavored of dark berries, black cherry and dried herbs. It reveals an elegant texture and mouth feel and is beautifully balanced with soft round tannins and a long finish. The Pratt Vineyard is south of Graton and west of Sebastopol in an area known as the Sebastopol Hills. It was developed by Jim Pratt in the late 1990s. It’s a southwest facing vineyard at 453’ with 2697 GDD and Goldridge soils.

The Siduri La Encantada Vineyard is a hedonistic wine. Semi opaque, it offers pure and spicy dark cherry and plum fruit on nose with a touch of cola. On the palate it is silky smooth, ripe and rich tasting with a hint of chocolate on the finish. Originally planted by Richard Sanford, La Encantada is located close to the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard on Santa Rosa Rd.

Semi-opaque in color, the Siduri Clos Pepe Vineyard offers a spicy dark fruited nose. It is full bodied and elegant on the palate with excellent concentration of ripe dark red cherry fruit complemented by herbal brambly notes. A wine packed with flavor. Located in Hwy 246 and planted in the mid-1990s to mostly the Pommard clone, Clos Pepe has established itself as one of the top vineyards of the Sta. Rita Hills.

A dark earthy wine, the Pinot Noir Gran Moraine Vineyard offers ripe dark berry and dried dark cherry fruit flavors. It is elegant and superbly balanced with a soft texture, dense extract, and savory notes. Still quite youthful, it displays firm round tannins and a long, rich finish. Yamhill Carlton is located in a relatively warm area of the Willamette Valley with the earliest harvest dates, but Gran Moraine and its 220 acres is located to the west and receives a cooling influence from the Pacific.

The Pinot Noir Barbieri Vineyard offers aromas of dark red berries and plum with spice notes. It has a silky texture and a full mouth feel with considerable purity of flavor. It is an elegant wine, beautifully balanced and persistent on the finish a good sense of refinement. The Barbieri Ranch was originally planted by an Italian immigrant, Italo Barbieri, on Olivet Rd northwest of Santa Rosa. It was later (1970) purchased by the De Loach family and when they filed for bankruptcy in 2003, it was resold to the Boisset family, and the old vine Zinfandel was ripped out in favor of Pinot Noir.

The Pinot Noir Perry Ranch Vineyard is light bodied with a savory mid-palate.It offers a silky elegant mouth feel, pure light red fruit flavors with notes of earth, firm acidity, fine tannins, and excellent focus. A significant portion of the fruit is whole cluster fermented with a significant amount of whole clusters; matured in 40% new French oak. Perry Ranch (formerly part of the Keefer Ranch) is a 16 acre vineyard subject to intense morning fog planted in Goldridge soils and managed by the Dutton family in the southwestern part of the Green River Valley.

Medium to medium dark red. Nice dark cherry and pomegranate with floral notes and an earthy/underbrush edge. Good focus, firm backbone, nice savory and brambly edge. Dry finish. A versatile food wine. Sourced from three appellations: Yamhill-Carlton, Chehalem Mountains, and Eola-Amity.

The Pinot Noir Parsons’ Vineyard displays a dark garnet ruby color and intense aromas of dark ripe cherry and plum fruit. It is full-bodied on the palate with big fruit flavors and mouth feel and is rich in alcohol with hints of forest floor, tea and earth. Parsons’ is a relatively warm site located west of Santa Rosa on the Santa Rosa plain.

The Russian River Valley Pinot is a pretty wine, offering very fresh scents of red cherry and raspberry with a slight candied edge. The wine is fruit forward with pure flavors and a suave mouth feel. Finishes with good length.

The Pinot Noir Lingenfelder Vineyard displays a medium ruby color. It exhibits lovely freshness with notes of cherries, red plums, tangy mulberry and hints of herbs. It’s a vivacious wine with an uplifted finish. Although technically on the Santa Rosa plain, Lingenfelder is a cool climate, 3 acre vineyard west of Fulton planted in 1996 with a mix of Pommard and Martini clones. About 40% whole clusters on the Pommard which lends a brightness to the wine.

Medium dark ruby. The Pinot Noir Ewald Vineyard offers earthy aromas and flavors of cherry. pomegranate and smoky spice. The palate reveals brambly notes of blueberry and blackberry with moderate intensity. The wine is well-balanced with good acidity, fine grained tannins, and a persistent finish. Ewald is a 3.1 acre vineyard of clones 115 and 777 located directly behind the Kistler winery in the Vine Hill area of Forestville. Matured in 30% new French oak for 14 months.

The Pinot Noir John Sebastiano displays a medium ruby color and aromas of spicy and brambly red berry fruit. On the palate it is seamless with an elegant texture, good concentration and a long finish. Planted in 2007, John Sebastiano is a relative newcomer to Sta. Rita Hills; it’s located on the eastern end of the appellation with steep vineyards and highly varied aspects, some exposed to strong winds.

The Siduri Santa Rita Hills displays pretty red fruit with a touch of spice. Full in the mouth, it is nicely balanced with good acidity and a pleasant finish. An easy drinking wine.

Medium ruby red. Red fruit shows on the palate with herbal notes. A light bodied, easy drinking wine showing dried red cherry on the palate.

Red wine might be the perfect fit with breakfast; much like a Bloody Mary. French Toast goes very well with Oregon’s La Crema Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2018. The light oak in the wine melds with the honey and vanilla in the French toast, and if bacon or ham is on the menu, the pairing would be exquisite.

Very deep, dense glass-staining purple colour. A dusty, earthy, oaky bouquet, which turns very sweetly-fruited on the palate, soft and succulent, almost syrupy, but nicely balanced in the final analysis. A big, hedonistic style of shiraz that will age well. (3% malbec, 10% whole bunches, 50% whole berries. Matured in a mix of barriques, foudre and puncheons, 30% new oak)

The 2018 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is medium ruby-purple and dark-fruited on the nose, with black cherries and berries accented by forest floor, mushroom, spices and minty touches. The medium-bodied palate offers bright, earth-laced fruits with a grainy frame, good freshness and long finish.

Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Russian River opens with dark cherries and warm blackberries with accents of potpourri, dried citrus peel and dusty earth. The palate is light to medium-bodied with good concentration of spicy fruits, a soft frame and juicy finish.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Perry Ranch used to be known as Keefer Ranch in the Siduri portfolio, but it will be called Perry Ranch moving forward. Medium ruby, it opens with touches of tar and fragrant earth over a core of cranberries and cherries with nuances of dried leaves and spices. Medium-bodied, it has bright, open-knit, spicy fruits with a grainy frame and long, juicy finish.

It’s no secret that I love wine, food… and all things French. When I received, as a sample, a bottle of Les Cadrans de Lassègue 2016 ($30) located on the Côte de Saint- Émilion, I knew I’d be impressed. This light, fresh wine from Château Lassègue is the estate’s second label launched in 2008 and offers less oak influence than the estate’s flagship wine, Lassègue...Les Cadrans de Lassègue 2016 is a glorious expression of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc from 40 to 50 year-old vines grown on clay and limestone soil. On the nose, I discovered intense aromas of blackberries, rich plums, crushed blueberries, black cherries, dried lavender, earth and wet moss. Lush, round flavors of herbs, blue and black fruit, green tea, oak and spice were lifted with bright acidity and soft tannins. A bonus? Its finish offered another beam of acidity and flavor. Aged for 10 months in 20% new French oak, this beautiful, refreshing wine can be enjoyed now or over the next several years.

This light-yellow colored Chardonnay opens with a musty oak, lemon and pineapple bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied and slightly acidic. The flavor profile is an oak influenced baked apple and Bosc pear blend with notes of ginger and cooking spices. I also detected hints of almond butter and chamomile tea. The finish is dry and its flavors linger for quite a while. This rich and flavorful Chard would pair well with lobster bisque.