Aged in French oak for more than a year (20% new), this is a full-bodied and layered wine. Strong aromas of French butter and baguette dominate the nose. The midpalate offers more brightness, revealing high-toned accents of apple blossom, lemon and mango wrapped in tart acidity before returning to the richness of crème brûlée on the close.

The outstanding 2011 Chardonnay Russian River reveals a more interesting perfume of buttered hazelnuts, honeysuckle and caramelized citrus in a style reminiscent of a French Meursault. Medium-bodied with copious fruit, good acidity and a subtle and deft use of oak, it should drink well for 2-4 years.

Lush, ripe and concentrated with smooth, creamy texture and lot of oak; rich, dense and showing spice and depth.

2019 Pacific Northwest Rosé Report The 2018 WillaKenzie Estate Rose shows off a pretty pale hue and opens with a bouquet of rose water with guava and bright cran-cherry aromatics. Showing bright acidity, the wine has a wonderful citrus astringency that connects with the red fruit flavors. Downright delicious, enjoy this over the next several years.

Good value wines for summer parties Summer’s humidity is instantly reduced with a glass of chilled 2017 Willakenzie Estate Rose Willamette Valley. This pale salmon-colored wine blends 95% pinot noir with 2% pinot blanc and 3% pinot meunier, a grape usually associated with Champagne. It adds up to a pleasant citrus and cherry-scented and flavored wine with a touch of minerality and a palate-cleansing finish.

Summer Sippers Pale copper color. Super floral on the nose with cut stems, orange blossoms, lilies, nettle, along with peaches galore. Precise acidity from start to finish, dry and tangy, minerality throughout. White cherries, juicy peaches and nectarine topped in rose hips and orange blossoms. Floral, fresh, lovely balance and depth, this is very pretty stuff. Pinot Noir with 3% Pinot Meunier and 2% Pinot Blanc.

On night number two, I took a similar but more narrow approach in choosing two wines that come from the same vineyard, but then added a white into the mix. The latter, a pinot gris, was my first introduction to WillaZenzie Estate, a winery that quickly became a revelation. All of WillaKenzie’s wines come from their own vineyards, and many of their wines are vineyard-designates. I’ll get to a number of their pinots later, but the 2017 pinot gris has a voluminously perfumed nose of grapefruit, peach, gravel, slate lime zest and marzipan. Lean on entry, it gains body as it sits in the mouth. The acid is nicely balanced, neither subdued nor overbearing. Key Lime pie, starfruit and grapefruit dominate the fruit profile, though the stony minerality really drives the length of this linear, focused wine. Impressive effort. 90 points, Value A.

Very light straw color; core apple and stone fruit aroma, hint of nectarine, pleasing, fresh, fine depth; medium bodied, crisp and lively on the palate; dry, nice acidity, well-balanced; bright tangerine with a trace of minerality; medium finish. Another solid effort from one of Oregon's most consistent and top producers of this grape variety.

Bright, creamy and delicate aromas of banana, vanilla bean, light lemon and fresh spice on the nose. Zesty and refreshing on the palate, this shines with leading notes of green apple, lemon and grapefruit notes that soften on the midpalate, leaving behind tropical fruits, sunflower and white blossom notes and a creamy texture that fade slowly.

This entry level cuvée is finished with a screw cap, and pulled from a mix of barrels and clones from across the estate. It's forward, fruity and big, like an especially bold Beaujolais. Along with primary berry fruit there are light touches of pine needle and chocolate. It's full bodied and ready to go with your winter meal's roasted fowl.

Taut and focused, with blueberry and currant flavors behind prickly tannins. Finishes with generosity and point.

Aromas of smoke, berries and spices follow through to a medium body, firm tannins and a fresh and bright finish. Delicate center palate.

A fresh and linear red with subtle chocolate, spice and berry character. Medium body, fine tannins and a crisp finish.

USA, Oregon: 2016 Vintage – Part Two Pale to medium ruby in color, the 2012 Pinot Noir Pierre Leon opens with spiced red and black fruits on the nose with nuances of cassis, cardamom and potpourri with touches of vanilla, smoked meat and dried leaves. Medium-bodied, the palate gives up layers of fruit and spice, with very fine, grainy tannins and mouthwatering acidity, finishing long with sweet fruit and savory nuances. This is just lovely!

A wine of undeniable complexity. More evolved aromatically than the 1999, it reveals notes of minerals, licorice, coffee, black fruits, and smoky oak. Although it can not match the 1999's sheer volume and intensity of flavor, the 2000 is full-bodied and rich, with hints of roasted tobacco, sweet blackberry and espresso-tinged fruit, and a long, opulent finish. It should drink well for 15+ years.

The first vintage of Verite's Le Desir, the 2000 is a blend of 51% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from Jess Jackson's Sonoma vineyards. This well-made wine exhibits fruitcake notes intermixed with round, herbaceously tinged berry fruit and a hint of subtle oak in its medium to full-bodied, tasty, spicy personality. Fully mature, it will not be long lived by the standards of Verite, but it should continue to drink well for another 5-6 years.

Dark, rich and chocolaty, with black cherry and blackberry fruit that's deep and concentrated. Gains complexity with mineral, cedar, coffee and tarry notes, turning dry and tanic. Best from 2002 through 2010.

Clearly an exceptional wine … the plummy fruit coming up after plenty of air, the texture rich and mouth coating … that of a wine packaged for age … completely black, the oak more apparent in a cinnamon savor. For me, it's just about great ingredients, made well, built to age.

Verite is the new, top-flight, merlot based red from Jackson Family Farms, Jess Jackson’s latest project after his remarkable success with Kendall-Jackson. His goal was to produce a wine of the quality of Petrus in California, and he brought in a Frenchman, Pierre Seillan, to grow it and blend it. So the wine comes with high expectations – it’s a blend of lots from the best vineyards in Jackson’s stable. And to be honest, I was more impressed tasting the wine six months ago with Jackson and Seillan than I was tasting it blind. On the first day, I scored it at 90+, clearly an exceptional wine but not showing much. It was closed in, the plummy fruit coming up after plenty of air, the texture rich and mouthcoaing, the character austere, that of a wine packed for age. So I marked it as a wine to retaste the next day, still blind, when it was considerably juicier, yet still completely black, the oak (albeit fine oak) more apparent in a cinnamon savor. Perhaps I am old-fashioned, constantly trying to find a reason, a there there in a wine of such ambitions as this clearly has. Perhaps that reason will come with a succession of vintages, as this wine defines a style, as Seilland begins to state its case. For now, it’s just about great ingredients, made well, built to age.

Deep ruby. Sappy, sweet aroma dominated by black raspberry; impressively ripe for '98. Lush & sweet, with black fruit & lead pencil flavors of noteworthy depth. Finishes very long, with dusty, even tannins. Almost magically escapes the herbaceousness that plages most '98 cabernet-based wines from California's North Coast. This was made possible but severe selection, according to winemaker Pierre Seillan, who added that he used SO2 to protect the fruit & delay the onset of fermentation, then used a faster yeast in order to avoid extracting green tannins.

Firm and well-built, with a chewy core of tannins wrapped around savory herb, cedar, dried berry and currant. Very Bordeaux-like in its structure.

Composed of 49% Cabernet Franc, 41% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, this is one of the more monolithic Le Desirs produced. Although an outstanding effort, in the company of some of the great vintages, it comes across as a one trick pony. Though there is plenty of fruit and body as well as good size, power and an aging potential of 10-15 years, it lacks charm and complexity at this stage of its evolution.

A mix of up-front, supple-textured mocha, currant and vanilla, and harder-edged tannins that gang up on the finish, firming, with leather, herb and a chewy aftertaste. Cabernet (Sauvignon) and Merlot. Drink now through 2008.

Deep medium ruby. Bright, ripe aromas of cassis, black cherry, tobacco and minerals. Quite dense but more backward and less sweet than the Vérité Merlot (1998). But this is ripe, layered and deep. Finishes with big tannins that avoid dryness. The 1999 is huge, thick and silky; still rather unformed but has all the elements to make an outstanding bottle.

A Médoc-inspired wine, the 2011 La Joie (2,800 cases) is composed of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and the rest small quantities of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. It reveals a slight austerity (typical for this vintage) as well as dry tannins in a reasonably long finish for a 2011. The deep ruby/plum/purple color is followed by notes of tobacco leaf, forest floor, blackcurrants, chocolate and vanilla. Medium-bodied with an impressive attack and mid-palate, some hard tannins give the wine an angular aftertaste. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.