The 2010 Pinot Noir Monument Tree is laced with sweet red cherries, flowers, mint and spices. A nuanced, crystalline wine, the Monument Tree is delicate, refined and quite pretty. The use of 50% whole clusters adds an attractive upper register to the aromatics. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018. I have to say, it is a bit strange to visit Wells Guthrie’s beautiful Copain winery in Healdsburg, as none of the wines are made from fruit grown on the estate! Guthrie prefers to source fruit from cooler parts of Sonoma, most notably Anderson Valley and Yorkville Highlands. Today the Copain wines are mid-weight, gracious and delicate in style, a far cry from a few years back, when they were much more overt. In cold years like 2010 and 2011, some of the wines are a touch on the fragile side. Readers on a budget should be sure to check out the Tous Ensemble range, as those wines deliver tremendous quality for the money. All of 2011s I tasted from tank were scheduled to be bottled a few days after my visit. Tel. (707) 541-7474

The 2009 Pinot Noir Monument Tree is beautifully direct, focused and articulate. Dark red cherries, flowers, smoke and minerals wrap around the palate in this firm, beautiful Pinot. This is one of the more structured wines in the Copain lineup. Today it comes across as a bit virile but the tannins should soften with further bottle age. Darker fruits and floral notes reappear on the finish, adding further complexity and nuance. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021. This set of wines from Copain and proprietor Wells Guthrie was among the most exciting I tasted from Sonoma this year. Guthrie has decided to release his 2010 Pinots before his 2009s, as he thinks the 2010s will drink better earlier, owing to their mid-weight structures. Unfortunately, I was not able to taste the 2010 Pinots, as they had just been bottled at press time. The Pinots are made with fully de-stemmed fruit and are aged in French oak barrels, approximately 25% new. Guthrie uses 50-100% whole clusters for his Syrahs. These are some of the most refined, subtle wines being made in Sonoma today. Stylistically, the wines are a bit more restrained than they have been in the past, as the fruit is now being picked around 23 Brix as opposed to 24 or 24.5, as was the norm a few years back. Guthrie describes 2009 as a cool vintage with a late set but otherwise even ripening for both Pinot and Syrah, with no late rains during the final phase of ripening. Vintage 2010 was much more challenging. Rain and very cold weather were pretty much a constant the entire year. Frost, rain during flowering and a cold summer lowered yields dramatically. Achieving full ripeness was much more of a challenge in 2010 and some of the wines were lightly chaptalized. Tel. (707) 541-7474