The 2009 Pinot Noir sourced from the Celilo and Underwood Mountain Vineyards in the Columbia Gorge AVA. It was fermented with 30% whole clusters and aged in 20% new oak for 12 months. It displays an attractive nose of cedar, cherry blossom, incense, black cherry, and raspberry. This sets the stage for an elegant, lighter style of Pinot Noir meant for drinking over the next 5 years. James and Poppie Mantone’s Syncline Wine Cellars is on the eastern edge of the beautiful Columbia Gorge, an area better known for outdoor sports (fishing, boating, wind surfing) than wine production.Tel: (509) 365-4361; www.synclinewine.com

It has a delicacy rarely seen in domestic Pinots, with scents of roses and chocolate, and flavors of wild mountain raspberries and tangy cranberry. Acids bring a tartness to the mouth, and the tannins are ripe and proportionate, yet substantial. They suggest that this young wine could have a surprisingly long cellar life. ——P.G.(9/1/2011)—— 91