1 | Wine | Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, 91 to 95

"The 2010 Pinot Noir North Slope is a gorgeous wine laced with freshly cut flowers, spices, red berries and minerals. Saline notes are woven throughout, giving the wine its lift and vibrancy. The North Slope boasts gorgeous inner perfume and fabulous overall length. It will be interesting to see where this goes over the coming years. The future appears to be very bright."

"Delivers a pure, ripe beam of black cherry, raspberry and plum flavors, both layered and focused. Supple in texture, ending with a long, persistent finish."

"The 2010 Pinot Noir is surprisingly juicy for the vintage. Black cherries, spices and flowers burst from the glass in this deep, expressive Pinot. The wine reveals gorgeous depth and purity all the way through to the resonant finish."

"Vivid red. Pungent, highly aromatic bouquet of red berries, candied cherry, Asian spices and fresh rose. Round and supple but energetic, with lively raspberry, cherry, floral pastille and cinnamon flavors. Gains depth on the suave, intensely floral finish while maintaining excellent vivacity."

"Firm, yet well-balanced tannins support cinnamon, cloves, dark cherries and licorice. The 2010 shows excellent energy and verve, but it naturally needs time in bottle to come together. I especially like the energy and focus here."

"Deep ruby. Pungent aromas of black fruits, licorice, violet and fresh herbs, with slow-building spiciness. Then dense and lush on the palate, showing a seductive sweetness to the flavors of dark berry and cherry preserves, minerals and black tea. This palate-staining, vivacious pinot finishes with lingering spice and smoke notes."

"Fresh and snappy. ...with a complex mix of floral, mineral, blackberry and wild berry flavors that are pure and elegant, ending with fine-grained tannins."

"Bright ruby. Seductive aromas of red and dark berry preserves, cola and smoky herbs. Sweet, sappy black raspberry and cherry-cola flavors are framed by velvety tannins and gain weight, spiciness and a licorice pastille quality with air. The spice and cola notes carry through a long, alluringly sweet, youthfully gripping finish. I'll bet this will be better with a few more years of aging."

"The 2010 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley is beautiful. It has a bit more depth and darker fruit than the 2009. Sweet spices, new leather and licorice are some of the notes that wrap around the finish. This is a terrific showing." 91-93 pts.