The 2003 Helena Montana Cabernet Sauvignon is richer, deeper and more voluptuous than the Helena Dakota. Inky blue/purple fruit, spice, graphite and lavender are all front and center in this sexy, voluptuous Cabernet Sauvignon. Savory Knights Valley nuances underpin the fruit. Here, too, I would prefer to drink the 2003 sooner rather than later.

Exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, more structure and tannin than its sibling, along with abundant amounts of creme de cassis fruit intermixed with notions of licorice and flowers. Structured with good minerality as well as a spicy, full-bodied finish, it should be at its peak between 2007-2018+.

Anakota Helena Montana Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley); Mountain grapes have yielded an intense, concentrated young Cabernet, grown on the Sonoma side of Mount St. Helena. The wine is brash, dry and astringently tannic now. But it possesses a classic elegance and refinement and a remarkable core of cassis fruit. How could it not develop, given the balance and harmony? Best 2008-2015. Cellar Selection.-S.H.

Anakota 2002 Helena Dakota Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Knights Valley); It's sometimes overlooked that Jess Jackson produces very small quantities of competitive wines such as this. This 100% Cabernet is a mountain wine, dens in tannins and very dry, yet intense in classically Cabernet black currant fruit. The all new French oak feels natural. As good as it is, more refinement is necessary, but Anakota is a label worth watching.-S.H.

Offers pretty raspberry/floral notes with a Château Margaux-like finesse and complexity. Medium to full-bodied with a more elegant, restrained style than its younger sibling, it possesses a Bordeaux-like structure, beautiful fruit, firm tannin, and a long finish. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2024.

A magenta color and ripe grapy aromas of black fruits accented by spice and olive open this plump wide-bodied Carmenère. Spicy black cherry and blackberry flavors are stout and rock solid on a unwavering finish. Drink through 2020.

Sweet tea, spice and blackberry aromas follow through to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish. Drink now.

Plenty of sour cherries, but also some bark, smoke and wild-herb notes. Medium-bodied carignan with rather elegant tannins for this grape. Drink now.

On the nose, this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Petit Verdot smells of spicy berry fruits and black plum along with chocolate and cedar. The palate is a touch drawing and tannic, but in no way harsh or impeding. Spicy black-fruit flavors include notes of olive and herbs, while the finish delivers more of the same. Drink through 2022.

This shows a bright and fresh character of blueberries and lemon. Full body and lively plus a long finish. Intense and fabulous. A tight and layered style that is exceptional for carignan. Better in 2016.

This light gold colored Chardonnay from Chile is a spectacular value. It opens with pineapple and pear like bouquet with a hint of oak. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, smooth and nicely coats your mouth. The flavor profile is a lemon verbena, pear and gentle oak blend with hints of pineapple, almonds, and toasted coconut. The finish is dry and its flavors linger and drift away nicely. This is a very complex Chardonnay for its price point. It way over-delivers. I would pair it with lobster with drawn butter this summer.

Tightly focused and well-structured, with appealing blueberry, sassafras and orange spice flavors that finish with broad-shouldered tannins.

This dark red colored Pinot Noir from Oregon opens with a funky raspberry and dark chocolate bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, rich and smooth. The flavor profile is a very tasty plum and black raspberry blend with notes of cinnamon and Christmas spices. The finish is dry and its flavors linger for a very long time. Our tasting group thought this Pinot would pair well with a pork tenderloin.

Focused and refined, with rose petal and raspberry aromas and well-built cherry, sweet anise and spice flavors that finish with polished tannins.

The nose is a concentrated waxy Luxardo cherry and cranberry with notes of cinnamon and cedar. The palate is a ripe, luxurious cherry and blue plum showing a spicy, savory core along with notes of graphite and spice.

Oregon: Pinot Still King Even In Hot 2015 and 2014 Vintages A precise pinot noir that shows cherries, almonds, violet and light chocolate. Medium body, soft tannins and a mineral finish. Drink now or hold.

Elegant and sleekly complex, with floral cherry and crushed stone aromas and focused, delicately layered raspberry and white pepper flavors that glide along the easy finish.

Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2014 Pinot Noir The Sum opens with underbrush, bay leaves and damp earth notes with a core cranberries, kirsch and raspberry leaves. The medium-bodied palate is seriously earthy, with the understated layers framed by chewy tannins and seamless acidity, finishing long with a mineral component coming through.

Oregon: Pinot Still King Even In Hot 2015 and 2014 Vintages This shows blueberry compote, lemon zest, Indian spices, eucalyptus, violets and some vanilla. This is certainly full-bodied with lots of blue fruit, round tannins, a fine line of acidity and a succulent finish. Drink now.

Supple and expressive, with vibrantly layered raspberry, rose petal and spiced cinnamon flavors that glide toward a polished finish.

Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2014 Pinot Noir Conifer offers up pretty red flower and wild herb notions with a core of red cherries and red currants, plus suggestions of garrigue and Ceylon tea. Medium-bodied, it gives a good concentration of red fruit and earthy flavor layers, supported by firm, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and perfumed.

“Slope” ($100) is a rich, lushly fruity wine with soft, caressing tannins. Aromas and flavors suggest dark berries, leather and dried porcini mushrooms. The texture is velvety and the finish shows grip. I find it impressive that a wine with such ripeness of fruit expression could have such a restrained, controlled structure as this wine does. C learly it is a wine to age. Its grapes come from two vineyard blocks that stretch from the highest point of the vineyard down to the lowest point, together forming a southward facing slope; the wine represents a single Pinot Noir clone (667).

On the label of this wine you will not find those two words, but instead a simple sigma (S), the mathematical sign for a sum. As its name suggests, this Pinot Noir comes from a wider range of vineyard blocks than the other two wines, and from three clones (667, 777 & Pommard). It has a perfumed aroma of cherry, dark plum, spice and herbal notes; forest-like hints here suggest dry leaves rather than pine. The palate is fuller than Conifer’s, as well as softer and more flavorful, but at the core of the wine is pure, precise and concentrated fruit character. Despite its richness and forwardness, this wine has a racy edge, some of which derives from the wine’s energetic tannins. Whole clusters accounted for 40 percent of the fermentation.

The 2013 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot noir ∑ from Eola-Amity Hills in Willamette Valley, Oregon is huge and lithe at the same time; quite the conundrum for this taster’s palate. Winemakers Tony Rynders and Shane Moore both have a deft hand with creating wines with unique, but subtle character, and this wine exemplifies those skills. Clocking in at only 12.9% alcohol, the depth of flavor is impressive. Over ripe dark red fruit and floral aromas lead the parade as you first start to swirl the wine. Flavors of raspberry and a hint of super sweet strawberry lift the first nuances of flavor like a symphony movement reaching a crescendo. The non-tannic finish is memorably spicy expressing considerable length a sheer delight to taste.

13.0% alc., pH 3.65, TA 0.52, 240 cases, $75. A blend of Zena East Block 12 and Zena West 1A and 14. These blocks include 114 and “828,” and Pommard, all seven years old. Harvest Brix 20.5º-22.5º. Aged 17 months in French oak barrels, 75% new, medium to medium plus toast. · Moderate reddish purple color in the glass. Seductive perfume of cherry, strawberry, forest floor and spice lingering in the glass over time. Satiny on the palate, with a mid weight core of delicious dark red and black fruit flavors supported by elegant tannins. As the name implies, there is a conifer thread in the background. Very fresh, and everything is in its place, with a highly enjoyable but not exceptionally intense finish.