Etude is the creation of one of California's most influential and successful wine-makers/consultants, Tony Soter. While his clients include a list of Who's Who of California, Araujo Estate Wines, Spottswoode, Viader, Rubicon, and others, Soter also makes nearly 5,000 cases of wine under his Etude label. He is a Pinot Noir enthusiast and about 60% of his total production is a Morey-St.-Denis/Domaine Dujac-inspired wine. He also fashions a powerful, rich Cabernet Sauvignon and, more recently, some tasty, light, fruity white wines. Etude's Pinot Noir comes from cool vineyards in the Napa section of Carneros. It is a velvety-textured, complex, medium to full-bodied, silky wine that requires no patience. The denser 1992 Pinot Noir offers gobs of jammy black-cherry fruit nicely infused with subtle oak. There is adequate acidity for definition. The wine finishes long and persuasively. It would appear to require drinking over the next 4-5 years. That being said, Tony Soter opened a 1989 that would have made Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac proud! Smoky and meaty, with a touch of animal-like perfume, this wine was gorgeously long, with abundant quantities of rich, berry fruit. Tel. (707) 257-5300; Fax (707) 257-6022