From a 15 acre site just north of Gaston half of whose fruit they get, the mere hundred cases of Boedecker 2009 Pinot Noir Cherry Grove is scented with dark berries including juniper, and its pungently herbal side segues into prominent if relatively fine-grained tannin on a palpably dense palate. A suggestion of meat broth makes me begin to think that such a clean carnal dimension is typical of Boedecker Pinots. This needs some time to show its stiff and for the tannin to become yet more completely integrated or resolved, but it is sure to prove versatile and interesting to follow over at least the next half dozen years. The affable and articulate husband-wife team of Stewart Boedecker and Athena Pappas moved from hi-tech to winemaking; pursued the latter for five years at the Carlton Wine Studio; then moved in 2008 to their own facility in Portland. The Boedecker regimen for consistently excellent Pinot involves - in addition to close and creative collaboration with just a few long-term suppliers - only a few days cold soak; spontaneous ferment; sparing pigeage and otherwise highly cautious extraction; but up to a week's post fermentative cap contact; and regular stirring of the lees in barrel, where all of the top wines remain for 19 months. Incidentally, there is a Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir from this cellar and I can't explain why the proprietors didn't choose to show it to me even though, for example, they showed me rose. A fascination from this cellar - to call it a curiosity would suggest too little respect - is that each partner arrives at his or her own barrel selection which is in turn bottled under his or her name, the latter Athena cuvee - which tends to originate more in sedimentary rather than eroded basaltic soils - being released later based in an impression that it remains both tighter and in a phase of primary fruitiness for longer. (White wines from this cellar are bottled under the "Pappas Wine Co." label, but following an existing Wine Advocate convention - and so as to address wines of common authorship in one place - they are reviewed under the "Boedecker Cellars" heading.) Tel. (503) 866-0095

This fresh and vibrant red is distinctive for a rhubarb note that swings through the jazzy blackberry and white pepper flavors, lingering easily on the polished finish. Drink now through 2017. 150 cases made. –HS