Red cherries can be discerned in the nose of the ruby-colored 2000 Pinot Noir Mount Jefferson. Its black cherry, plum, and juicy blueberry flavors are reminiscent of wines from Morey-St.-Denis. Lush, medium-bodied, and silky-textured, this offering displays good structure in the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2007. "For an Oregon winery, 2000 was a boring vintage because we didn't have to face drought, cold, harvest rains, or any other problems we had to try and surmount," said Steve Doerner, Cristom's winemaker. He went on to say that, "I was so much in love with the 1999s that I overlooked the 2000s until recently. Now I see this vintage as close as can be to 1999 without reaching that year's peaks."Tel. (503) 375-3068

Strawberry fruit and dried spice hints weren’t enough to overcome this light wine’s major herb/vegetal notes. There are attractive smoky notes here, but overall it’s lean and just too green.——(10/1/2002)—— 83